The adoption of mobile devices is the single most rapidly growing and evolving adoption of any technology in the world currently. With huge number of people jumping on the smartphone technology bandwagon, marketers can find it a massive struggle to keep up. The huge potential is ideal to tap into, and businesses are flourishing after adopting the mobile platform. The mobile app industry was in its infancy as recently as five years ago. However, currently it comprises one of the largest markets in the world of technology, with billions of people spending almost 86% of their time using mobile devices on mobile app use.

The holiday season of 2014 can be viewed as a new landmark for retail companies, as they have really upped the ante when it comes to using the mobile app platform for their business. The highly competitive nature of the holiday shopping season saw plenty of effort on the part of retail companies to leverage the mobile platform and use it to their advantage. This has resulted in a massive evolution in the retailer mobile app segment.

Studying the Numbers

An independent study, collecting data from 150 retail mobile apps during the pre-holiday season in 2014, picked up some really interesting data. These trends and strategies have helped change the domain of retailer mobile apps and can be expected to be repeated over and over throughout 2015. Retailers increased their use of mobile communication during this period of time, and customers generally responded with extremely encouraging responses.

Here are some of the more compelling statistics –

• Compared to the previous year, 34% more push messages and notifications were sent by retailers through their mobile apps in 2014.
• Engagement rate for users increased to twice the amount for the previous year as a result of these push notifications.
• Among the total instances of app opens, almost a third was a direct result of the push notifications.

The Importance of Push Messages

Push notifications proved to be the difference-maker in the holiday season of 2014. Consumers appeared to be more engaged as a direct result, and retention rates were found to be considerably higher. Compared to email marketing, push notification scored heavily on all aspects, being seen to increase open rates by 50%, increasing CTR (Click Through Rate) by ten times and even resulting in a whopping 1200% greater conversion.

Retail companies targeted heavy shopping days like Thanksgiving and Black Friday to step up their game with push notifications, and were suitably rewarded. The study also showed that there are defined parameters that can be adhered to for making push notifications a success. The day of choice and the time of day are important factors in this regard.

These are indeed great signs for the future of mobile engagement for the retail industry. Companies who respect the unique nature of the mobile platform and its eccentricities can keep leveraging its huge potential in the holiday season by targeted mobile marketing campaigns.

Mobile apps have totally changed the way we interact. Small businesses out there have recognized the fact that potential consumers are easier to attract through well-designed and highly functional apps. Gone are the days when “buy ten and get one” offers were used to attract the loyalty of existing consumers. This is the era of faster apps and equally prompt in customer purchase decisions. Smartphones and business loyalty applications are loaded with administrating features and unlimited ways to create, explore and manage the consumer behavior. Emerging businesses can easily manage the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns or business loyalty initiatives by bringing these valuable apps to the scene.

The rationale behind loyalty programs

‘When we are closer to our long chased goals, we put in 100% of our efforts to reach there’, says Professor Oleg Urminskey who teaches marketing research at the University of Chicago Booth school of Business. For example – when you are closer to winning a prize from some random retail store, you frequently visit the same.

According to a recent market survey done by Manta and BIA / Kelsey, only 14 % companies admitted to spending their budgets on acquiring new customers. Nearly 61% said that they get their major business from the existing customer base and around 34% accepted that they have a well-developed customer loyalty program in place. This provides ample proof of the degree of traction loyalty programs has gained in the retail segment.

Some Known Names

Digital media is offering free trial issues of online magazines and newspapers that could be read through their exclusive apps. Some leading international newspapers offer cash coupons and also free mobile recharge on installing their app on your phone. Applications like – Belly, Foursquare, FrontFlip, KeyRing, Loyal Blocks, Perka, Slyde and SpotOn are being used by small businesses all over the world. These applications identify the loyal consumers, give points and also reward them depending on the campaign criteria. Through these applications, bulk messages and emails can be sent to the ‘listed’ loyal consumers.

How these help small businesses –

Small businesses can monitor their consumer’s buying behavior and encourage them to buy more. Messages in forms of discount emails, sale, and special offers can now directly arrive in their consumer’s ‘inbox’, from where they have the maximum exposure. Smartphones and apps are saving small businesses from putting in precious manual labor that was used extensively in designing, executing and managing small business loyalty programs earlier.

What you can expect as a consumer?

Being a consumer, you get reward points or earn coins when you buy specific product. Later on, these could be redeemed to buy a free product from the same company or retail store. In addition to this, reward programs treat special customers by giving them advance information about sale, new stock arrivals and lucky draws.

The traditional business loyalty programs involved more physical cards and they were given to consumers on random basis. Majority of these consumers kept these on their refrigerator only to find later that the reward program has expired. With applications especially meant for rewarding consumers at the right time, and influencing their purchase decisions, this scenario has definitely improved. Newer apps that will come to the scene in 2015 will be more targeted, user friendly, specific and meaningful, says a leading industry expert.

Preparing for an exam seems like a very dull and boring task for students. No matter what you do, the exam preparation always runs at a snail’s pace. But wait… you now have a trusted friend that can help you enjoy your exam preparation. It is your Android or iPhone smartphone app. They help you in various ways to prepare effectively and smartly for your exam. Today we present some notable applications offering interesting solutions for exam preparation. Here they are –

1. Exam Countdown – You can install this useful app free of cost on your Android phone. The app offers planning scheme as well as daily to-do list. You can easily manage your daily exam preparation targets through this planning app. You can tick off the finished tasks as they get completed. A vital benefit of using this app is the expert tips and guidelines given by experts. These tips can add to your information base before you take the exam.

2. Flashcards – This app removes the burden of heavy notebooks from your shoulders. No matter if you are traveling before exam or studying on the go, you can store and carry all your exam notes through this app. All your significant remarks and comments can be added on the side to your notes. You can study as well as will not feel bored by the load of books in front of your eyes. This app is available for iPhone at $3.99 only.

3. BigWords – This application makes the best deals on books accessible for you. Through this application you can find the best deals on books. It also helps in doing a quick comparison of the inside data that helps you in making an informed decision. It offers information on the recently launched books from your area of interest. Also, it saves your precious time that could have been spent in visiting market for buying books. This app is available free of cost.

4. Soloman Series 7 Exam iPhone App – if you are polishing your reasoning skills for a series 7 exam, this Android app is certainly the one you should not miss out on downloading. The impressive combination of questions and practice papers give you the freedom to play mind games that sharpen your memory. You can try out around 400 practice examinations created by experts in your particular subject area. You can try this practice app on your Android Phone for $9.99 only.

5. GMAT Toolkit App – If you are preparing frantically for GMAT Examination this year, this app will be a must-have for your iPhone. It has a proven record of success in preparation for GMAT. The substance and quality of questions and abundance of practice papers help immensely in brushing your revision in very less time. You can learn a lot through strategic revision tests taken through this app. If you haven’t used it, try out it this time for $24.99 only exclusively on your iPhone.

Apps that focus on little group study and group discussion too eliminates your boredom while you head on to make a winning strategy for your upcoming exam. To excel in upcoming exams, get out your smartphone and try one of these apps today!

6. PlanWiz
PlanWiz is a powerful tool designed to streamline exam preparation by helping students organize their study schedules efficiently. With its intuitive planning features and study planner templates, PlanWiz allows users to break down subjects into manageable tasks, set reminders, and prioritize based on exam dates. This tool minimizes stress by keeping study progress visible, making it easier to stay on track and avoid last-minute cramming. For students aiming to stay organized and focused, PlanWiz offers the structure they need to approach exams with confidence.

The education industry is currently focusing firmly on the use of technology in facilitating learning in the K12 education sector. With this, popular traditional methods of teaching have undergone a sea change. The usual methods of imparting learning have been bolstered by newer, alternative approaches that make judicious use of the latest available technologies.

With the focus shifting from learning by rote, to making learning a fun, engaging and interactive experience, a number of companies have started successfully developing computer and mobile apps for education. These apps are meant to enhance the transmission of knowledge and aid in student-teacher-parent inter-communication. These make the overall learning process a much more interesting and immersive experience to facilitate better absorption and retention for K12 students. Here are some of the most important education apps meant for use in the K12 education sector –

1. Edmodo – Viewed as the next generation learning tool which will enable both teachers and students to stay connected and share information, Edmodo has been a sought after learning management solution for quite some time. Easy to use and accessible over the web and on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, this app is a platform where teachers can manage their classes, interact with students, set up lessons and perform student evaluation procedures. Setting up multiple classes, sharing documents and creating different kinds of project are easy for teachers, while students can access lessons and complete assignments online. Parents of students also have the option of monitoring their ward’s activity and performance.
2. ShowMe – Used extensively in the K12 education sector, ShowMe is a free app which allows teachers to create dynamic, enthralling presentations for students. With tablet versions and web-based access available, ShowMe does not just allow teachers to create presentation. It also maintains an exhaustive range of free presentation in their database which teachers can access and use.
3. Notability – A popular note-taking app that has found favor among teachers and students for its excellent potential in the education sector. The workflow makes it easy for teachers and students to coordinate, retrieve important class notes, make annotations and share with peers. Integration with popular web-based storage services make things easy, as teachers can create shared folders for class notes for every student in a particular class.
4. Grammar Up – Grammar is one of the most important subjects that student in the K12 sectors need to master. Grammar Up provides students with detailed and comprehensive multiple-choice question sets, with instant evaluation and a system of tracking student performance and progress. The tests are customizable in a variety of ways.
5. Yuzu- With this app, students can have access to a large number of high-quality and interesting textbooks available in various online formats. The vast amount of digital education content will be of great help to any student, and the in-built feature of being able to highlight, annotate and segregate portions of the e-text make the learning process intuitive and focused. This app can be a great replacement for physical textbooks in the K12 education sector.

See any of these apps on your or your family member’s smartphones? Write in to us and let us know.

In the K12 education sector, the focus for quite a while now, has been on learning in an enhanced, intuitive manner which helps with understanding and retention of a particular subject. For learners, it is important to grasp the essence of a topic, go in-depth with its understanding of the subjects and develop good retention, association and recall about those subjects. Creating exciting and interesting courses is now of paramount importance, and that is where gamified learning comes in. The K12 education sector is thought of by many as the most vital and significant period of learning phase for an individual and therefore, for this sector, gamified learning presents an opportunity to deliver education which remains relevant over the years and makes a difference in terms of enhanced engagement when imparting education.

Why Gamified Learning Works

Playing games is always a rewarding activity. In any scenario where a game-like situation is involved, there is the prospect of a challenge and a consequent reward when that challenge is surmounted. It has been found by researchers that this activity stimulates the body and mind and releases the endorphin hormone. Endorphins are essentially neurotransmitters and they make the mind more receptive and ready to accept, analyze and retain information of different kinds. Gamified learning makes use of this stimulus-response and makes learning a fun, engaging and immensely fulfilling experience for those in the K12 sector.

The Many Benefits of Gamified Learning

Gamified learning can be judiciously used to improve the quality of education imparted at the K12 level. It has a number of important benefits that make it one of the best routes to take while devising courses, curriculum and teaching methods. Here are a few important and resounding benefits –

• More Engagement for Learners – Gamified is essentially an “experience-based” learning process which has the power to fully engage and hold the attention of learners. It inspires a positive and conducive frame of mind about the learning process, and by forming the important association of particular pieces knowledge to particular rewarding or fulfilling experiences, enhances absorption and long-term memory.
• Fun and Interactive Learning – The interactive element present in gamified learning ensures that learners feel involved at all times. It brings the participation element to the table and ensures that learners become more invested towards the learning process. The immersive experience also makes things fun and exciting for learners.
• Better Absorption and Retention – By blending the release of endorphins with alternative, interesting ways of presenting information, gamified learning servers to dramatically enhance knowledge absorption and knowledge retention among learners. Not only do learners learn quicker and better, they are also able to easily retain and recall relevant knowledge when they need it later.
• Simulation-based Experience – In gamified learning applications, the environment is usually one of simulation where rewards come consistent with the performance. Better performances bring more rewards, and this inspires learners to try harder and put in more focused effort.
• A Better Learning Experience Overall – For the K12 sector, it is important that the knowledge imparted makes a lasting difference. With gamified learning, the whole learning experience receives a facelift. Learners can take advantage of the experience and situation-based learning to develop themselves better.