These days, one of the most prominent questions being asked is: Is Mobile Web dead? In the past couple of years, we have seen many companies shifting towards an app-only strategy by discarding mobile web; simply assuming that the only way forward would be via native apps, driven by increase in smartphone penetration. However, can this assumption be correct?
Theoretically, yes, the aforementioned fact may seem accurate. But, if we check facts, it is evident that most internet users still discover products via google search or ads. Their first interaction is with mobile web, where they can explore more information and can choose download the mobile app if the product can be used frequently (like cab booking apps). Although downloading apps may seem more logical as they can be personalized, they still need to be discovered for download first, and also have longer adoption cycle than mobile web. According to Morgan Stanley – a leading global financial services firm, mobile browser audiences are twice the size of app using audiences across the top 50 mobile properties, and have grown at a slightly faster rate over the past three years.
Usage of mobile and apps in real estate sector
Nowadays, India is witnessing growing demand and acceptance of a brokerage-free real estate marketplace. In fact, the market size of residential rental and resale brokerage alone is a whopping USD 6.5 billion across top 20 cities in the country, and is further estimated to be worth USD 17 billion over the next 5 years.
According to a report by Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the real estate sector in India is globally recognized as one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and is the second largest employer after agriculture in the country. The sector is expected to witness a 30 per cent growth over the next decade, complementing the growth of the corporate sphere that is fueling the demand for more office spaces as well as urban & semi-urban housing.
To meet this growing demand, many real estate agencies/agents are now turning to mobile apps to expand their reach across a wider spectrum. Driven by innovative technology and increasing usage of smartphones among urban Indians, many players in the real estate domain have now begun to develop mobile applications to cater their services to potential customers without any hassle.
Some disruptive real-estate platforms are even making it possible for customers to buy, sell, or rent a house without paying any brokerage, and are available across multiple platforms. Be it web portals, mobile web, or mobile app, these innovative ventures are using the power of new-age technology to transform this space for the better.
But mobile web doesn’t load on slow networks!
In a statement, Anuvrat Rao (Head, APAC Partnership for Google) said, “We depend on our mobile phones for just about everything – finding information when we need it, booking flights, and even enjoying video content online. We just don’t expect to have all the world’s information at our fingertips — we expect to get it the instant we’re looking for it.” Adding further, Anuvrat refers to a study by Google, which states that the average page load time on 3G networks is 19 secs, enough for a person to go up 60 floors using an elevator. Even on a 4G network, the average time is 14 seconds, which is hardly any improvement.
Mobile sites are generally responsive version of desktop sites, which even after mobile specific optimizations, are about 2.54 MB in size and can take ages to load on internet networks with inconsistent speed. Such issues can also slow down growth of several industries like the real estate sector as the market is constantly updated owing to ever changing value of assets. Thus, the need of the hour is to invest in comprehensive technology that can eliminate such problems. This is where AMP comes in.
How can AMP help bring stability and efficiency?
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is gradually influencing the overall real estate industry as a whole by bringing in more efficiency and uniformity. The HTML based program is specifically designed to optimize web browsing on mobile phones.
Consider this: In India, there have been instances where some companies in the realm of real estate that faced issues regarding slow mobile networks. Their highly optimized mobile web app, built using best in the industry frameworks, could not load fast enough on slow networks. Firms that received over 65% of traffic on mobile web were still struggling with user drop-offs (high bounce rates), and needed to load their pages in sub 3 seconds to attract the ever decreasing attention span of users.
Following comprehensive research, it was found that certain news sites were publishing their static content on newly launched AMPs. The result: They could publish their content quickly without having to worry about slow page load time.
AMP ensures that data is available to the nearest Google server to the user, resulting in super-fast user experience. Utilizing this concept, certain real estate service providers were able to bring down their first page load time to sub 3 seconds which impacted in 25% more user registering for their services. They also saw a 77% jump in the connections made between owners & tenants contributing significantly to their subscription plan revenues as well.
Conclusion
Mobile web is still relevant as most of the discovery happens on web on the go, while apps play a critical role only when the product fits the user’s requirements and can be frequently used. For all other uses, it can be said that mobile web will continue to be at the forefront, and will be made stronger via technologies like AMP.
Pingback: 5 apps for home buyers to browse and look for options at their own convenience