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Delivering Great Mobile Experiences —
The App vs. Web Debate
Paul Bevan, Mobile Strategist
Customers are demanding more and more great mobile experiences on phones and tablets. To meet
this need, brands continue to look for guidance on how to best deliver these experiences, whether
through the web or apps. The web versus app debate is a long-lasting and confusing topic, and is
exacerbated by rapid changes in technology, baffling terminology, and a plethora of options.
I want to provide a simple, concise, and business-friendly summary of the different delivery
mechanisms currently available, along with some guidance on how to pick the optimal solution for your
situation.
I hope to not only inform you about this topic, but to also afford you the freedom to stop focusing on
technology considerations in early conversations. This will free you up to concentrate on the business
problem and create a valuable mobile service for your customers.
MOBILE DELIVERY OPTIONS
I will focus on four mechanisms for delivering branded mobile experiences:
1. Mobile web
2. Native apps
3. Web apps
4. Hybrid apps
Mobile web
Mobile websites are simply websites that are accessed via a browser on a mobile device and delivered
to the user in a mobile friendly way. They can be created in a variety of ways including transcoders,
Software as a Service (SAAS), CSS styling, and bespoke builds, with each having their own particular
strengths and weaknesses.
As mobile sites work cross-platform, and on both smartphones and feature phones, everyone with an
Internet-enabled phone and a data plan can access them. Cost to build and maintain mobile websites
can vary widely, but due to their reach they are a low-cost method in terms of cost per potential
viewer. The transcoder option in particular provides a fast, inexpensive way that has been very popular
with retail, content, and travel brands in the last few years. And like any web option, maintenance is
relatively easy with no need for app store submissions. Access is also easy from the user perspective
and is as simple as typing a URL, doing a search, or accessing a book-marked icon from the handset.
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The key downside of mobile websites is that the richness of the experience is not as high compared
to the other options. Aspects of this experience include page load speeds, responsiveness, limited
range of gestural interaction, access to phones features, and ability to work offline. There are also
two specific points to note about transcoders. Firstly, they can cause painful dependencies on dotcom
infrastructure. Secondly, they are often the least optimized user experience as they are typically a
subset of what is on dotcom instead of being a truly optimized or enhanced experience. As such, brands
that use transcoded solutions for quick time-to-market presence often wean off of this approach when
evolving their mobile experience offering.
Overall, mobile websites’ strengths lie in their ability to offer a reasonable (and growing) level of
experience to a wide audience, by offering the bulk of the content and basic transactional functionalities
the web has to offer for smartphones and tablets. A good example of a strong mobile website is Best
Buy, as illustrated below.
Native apps
At the other end of the spectrum sit native apps. These are specific to a platform (e.g., iOS, Android)
and are downloaded from stores such as the Apple App Store and the Android Marketplace. The large
majority of the code and assets for these apps reside on the phone, but often interact with the web
through service requests.
The key strengths for native apps lie in the richness of the experience. Despite the much-lauded
rise of HTML5, the current situation is that native apps provide the richest experience, especially in
demanding environments such as immersive games. This rich experience comes in the form of the
sophisticated gestural interfaces, instantaneous user interface response times, offline capability, and
full integration with all of the phone’s features including the camera, GPS, accelerometer, chips, and
NFC. One consequence of this is that general market statistics suggest that native apps currently
convert 30% more effectively than web for commerce. Marketers have taken an early liking to creating
branded apps that showcase unique ways to interact with the brand. However, many have also failed
with experiences that don’t pose enough differentiation to stand out in the app store or lack the
inherent value for the consumers to make the effort to install and use.
The presence on an app store (especially Apple’s) can provide a real advantage. Many consumers start
their search and browse for a mobile experience in the app store. The dashboard of categories, filters,
and search provides a powerful resource for consumers to find a specific mobile application that serves
their need and/or enables them to simply stumble upon something that looks interesting. Visibility
and promotional value can also get amplified if the app has great feedback or is actively promoted as
“recommended” or “most popular.” Gaining visibility on the app store is often a case of marketing,
timing, and the follow-on headwind of being on the front page. For each of these positive app store
considerations, it is also important to be wary of potential risks. While they can benefit from findability,
the size and number of stores can result in apps getting swamped and lost. It is also important to note
that some consumers still prefer the web for finding mobile experiences, especially where data rates
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are high such as in Brazil. Finally, the noted pedestal effect can have a negative impact if customer
reviews are poor and easily viewed.
The clear-cut downside of native apps is that they are platform specific. A single platform deployment
therefore limits your reach to people with a smartphone on the right platform and potentially on the
right version of the platform operating system. There are currently six major platforms in the market
— iOS, Android, RIM, Microsoft, Bada (Samsung’s newest foray into the market), and Symbian (now
transitioning to Windows, but with a great amount of current marketshare). These platforms have
constantly evolving operating systems, and so brands need to carefully consider which platforms they
want to use, as producing and maintaining experiences across all platforms is expensive and complex.
To address this, brands need to focus on those platforms that deliver return for both the business and
their customers. Many service and software firms have also built frameworks and authoring suites
that provide various efficiencies and successes. Frameworks including Adobe AIR, Kony Solutions, Net
Biscuits, PhoneGap, and Sencha Touch are all now competing in this space, and we continue to monitor
their progress. It is certainly the case that if they do succeed in lowering costs of producing cross-
platform native apps, a rebalancing in the debate will once again take place.
The final consideration for native apps is that app store owners act as gatekeepers. Apple in particular
is strict with their app submission process, which includes rules on sharing data and a 30% cut of all
revenue. On the flip side however, tight gatekeeping has led to a higher quality of iOS apps compared to
the more open Android market.
Overall, native apps are great for customers looking for mobile experiences from app stores, and also
provide the fastest, slickest experiences with the fullest functionalities. A hugely popular example is
Angry Birds, as illustrated below.
Web apps
Like mobile websites, mobile web apps are accessed via the browser, but they also have some
important differences. For a mobile website, each time a new page is accessed, the device will
download all of the page contents (including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and data). For a web app, the
majority of the download occurs on the initial visit and is stored locally. After this, only data is accessed
from the web. This may sound like techno-babble, but it has some important real world impacts.
At a high level, web apps sit between native apps and mobile websites in terms of key factors such as
reach and experience.
Whilst some tailoring is needed to optimize the experience across platforms, in general, web apps work
on all new smartphones. This means that cost to build and maintain experiences on multiple platforms
is typically lower than a native approach that requires separate designs and builds per platform. And
like mobile sites, updates are easy for users and publishers alike, with no need for submissions or
approvals from app stores.
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The web app tech approach and developments in HTML5 have also led to a richer and faster experience
compared to standard websites. The experience is so good that it is quickly closing the gap with native
apps. However at present, there is still a gap in terms of responsiveness and access to certain phone
features such as the camera. In some situations this gap is negligible, but for older platform versions
and certain demanding environments, such as games, it is still there. The other downside, especially
when compared to mobile websites, is that the initial download is quite large. This typically requires a
good connection — ideally WiFi — and can put off some people from downloading the app.
Overall, web apps provide good experiences across multiple platforms, but still do not meet the full
richness of native solutions in demanding environments. A good example is YouTube, which used to be
served as a native app, but is now pushed by Google as a web app, as illustrated below.
Hybrid apps
From a user point of view, hybrid apps appear just like a native app and are downloaded from app
stores. However, as the name suggests, they use a hybrid of native and web technologies. This is
commonly in the form of a thin native shell with web technology in the centre.
Compared to native development, they are easy to build and maintain across multiple platforms. This
is due to the small amount of platform-specific native coding that is required and because the web
part of the app can be largely used cross-platform. This technological approach also makes it easier
to convert to a 100% web experience if desired, as only small a amount of functionality is built natively.
The experience delivered is rich and benefits from access to all of the phones’ native features through
the native shell. The fact that both technologies are available means that native functionality can be
used selectively where it provides most value, enabling great balance between cross-platform flexibility
and richness. Hybrid apps are easy to maintain for users, as they see updates right away thanks to the
web technology. Only changes to native code would require resubmission to app stores. Finally, hybrid
apps benefit from being able to go onto app stores and benefit from a smaller download size. The only
note of caution is to ensure certain rules are met as Apple in particular has been denying hybrid apps
that offer no further value than the mobile website.
Overall, hybrid apps are gaining popularity as they benefit from the best of the web and native worlds.
A good example of a hybrid app is the Facebook app, as illustrated below.
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TEXT
TEXT
Whilst we will not consider texts in detail in this document, this mechanism is well a short of a
Whilst we will not consider texts in detail in this document, this mechanism is well worthy ofworthynote.
Both note. Both SMS still the largest safety net for reaching consumers with basic messaging and
short SMS and MMS areand MMS are still the largest safety net for reaching consumers with basic
preferred method especially in developing
messaging and simple transactions. SMS is still the reaching the massesof reaching the masses
simple transactions. SMS is still the preferred method of
especially in developing countries where smartphone penetration and/or data plan adoption is
countries where smartphone penetration and/or data plan adoption is low. Despite being basic, and
low. Despite being basic, and somewhat crude, SMS provides a low cost and high reach approach,
somewhat crude, SMS provides a low cost and high reach approach, helping to produce some great ROI,
helping to produce some great ROI, especially in opt-in marketing, campaign integration, and
especially in opt-in marketing, campaign integration, and aspects of banking.
aspects of banking.
MOVING FORWARD
As you have seen, there are many delivery options out there, each with their own strengths and
weaknesses, but which one is right for you? I recommend you employ a strategic approach and look for
key trends in key industry segments.
Strategic approach
Now that you have a good understanding of the technology options, it is important to focus on the
customer and business aspects of your mobile experience.
From a customer point of view, ask yourself: Who is the target audience? What phones do they use? Do
they go to app stores? What are their mobile needs? What valuable experiences can be created? From
a business point of view, ask yourself: What are the key drivers for this mobile experience (e.g., brand
engagement, drive to in-store traffic, incremental revenue)? To what degree should you build or buy?
How is the business case justified?
Once you have a handle on these questions, the most optimal delivery option (or options) will become
apparent. And remember, choosing the best delivery mechanism is not a decision to be made in
isolation. An 18-month mobile roadmap will give you the strategic view necessary to choose the best
technology that will create the desired and seamless multi-channel experience.
INDUSTRY CONSIDERATIONS
It is always valuable to look at trends occurring in various industry segments and learn from how
others are tackling the app versus web debate. The number of variables in business means that no two
situations are ever the same and there is no one right answer, but nevertheless, these scenarios can
help provide a useful steer.
Retail
Retail is currently the hottest area for mobile innovation and growth, as customers are showing
their desire to research products both in-store and out-of-store, share information, take advantage
of couponing, and transact through mobile devices. A good example of a retailer using a full array
of delivery mechanisms is Target in the U.S. They have a mobile website to gain maximum reach,
especially for non-smartphone users. In addition, they have rich native apps for the iPhone and Android
that can be accessed either directly through app stores, via a link on the mobile website, or through
a text message, which provides easy findability. These native apps provide slicker experiences, and
enable functions such as scanning of barcodes that a mobile site could not do. There is also an iPad app
that provides a unique shopping experience that best leverages the increased size of the screen. It is
important to note that across all these different mechanisms the look and feel stays constant, helping
the customer to have a common brand experience regardless of how they interact in the digital space.
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MOBILE WEB NATIVE (Phone) NATIVE (iPad)
Content
Another interesting scenario is in content and publishing. Apple’s strict submission process has
encouraged many publishers to pursue an HTML5 web app approach. This includes many mainstream
publishers including the Financial Times whose new web app has led to more customers and increased
pages viewed per session compared to the old iOS version.
Similar to the Target example, the consumer is again given the option of a standard mobile experience
or a richer experience when they first enter the site — with Target this was a native app and for the
Financial Times it was a web app. In both cases the customer is asked to put effort in, and is rewarded
with a better experience.
MOBILE WEB WEB APP
Financial Services
Financial services is another area that is investing heavily in mobile right now. Many of the large banks
use the full arsenal of delivery mechanisms, both to ensure the best experience for their current
customers and to acquire new customers through marketing.
Bank of America, for example, provides a mobile website for basic banking, text banking for quick
functions such as balance enquiries, and hybrid apps providing rich, personalized experiences. The
hybrid approach allows for Bank of America to easily operate across multiple platforms, as can be
seen by the huge number of platforms supported — iOS (iPhone and iPad), Windows, RIM, Palm, and
Android — allowing them to provide a rich app experience for their broad target audience.
This heavy investment across delivery mechanisms can only be justified because of the huge
importance of mobile to their business and the huge variety of users within their target group. For
these companies, “and” (not “or”) is the key word as they continually look to meet the needs of the
customer and use technology to provide the best experiences to the broadest reach of people.
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MOBILE WEB TEXT HYBRID APP
CONCLUSION
We have seen that there are a range of delivery options available, and that each have their pros and
cons. This is summarised in the table below. (High, Medium, Low)
There is no silver bullet to the web versus app debate. The optimal delivery mechanism depends on
your customer, the business needs, and the experience you want to deliver. However, more and more
the answer is not app or web, it is app AND web.
I hope this paper has given you a primer on the landscape and also removed some of the confusion.
I also hope it will allow you to take the initial steps in choosing the mechanism(s) to deliver a mobile
experience in the optimal way. And since mobile is changing fast, an approach of build and learn is
essential. One retail VP said it best in a recent interview: “It’s progress over perfection.”
ABOUT THE Author
Paul Bevan is based in the Sapient London office and is a specialist
in the mobile space. He has worked on an array of mobile projects
over the last 4 years in both a strategy and project management
capacity. Key clients have included Ladbrokes, HSBC, Vodafone, and
John Lewis. Paul is passionate about the exciting and unique role
that mobile can play in a multi-channel context — bringing value to
customers where and when they most want it.
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