Author: sunvera

Just as in a typical brick-and-mortar store, customers who visit your online retail store can leave without making any purchase. However, the average eCommerce conversion rate is significantly low compared to that of traditional retail stores. This is because many ecommerce strategies focus solely on optimizing for conversions and forget about customer experience optimization. It is a common mistake to think that customers will come back time and time again just because you make it easy for them to purchase products.

 

Average eCommerce Conversion Rate

According to a Forrester Research study, the average eCommerce conversion rate is just 2-4% while brick and mortar stores have an average of 5-12%. What’s worse is that ecommerce companies tend to lose customers along their buying journey. It has been reported that on average 33% of users abandon carts before making purchases online!

 

eCommerce Conversion Funnel

Let’s take a look at the eCommerce conversion funnel and see where exactly the most common mistakes are made by companies in this business. The customer journey begins with the main page of your website, which is your product landing page or category landing page (if you have a lot of products or categories). Then, your prospect moves to their shopping cart page (with a 40% chance), followed by the checkout and payment confirmation pages. Sometimes the exit point between the shopping basket page and the checkout is an abandoned basket – after you have added products to it, but before checking out.

 

 

ECommerce Strategies for Improving Your Conversion Rate

Here are the main strategies for improving your eCommerce conversion rate and optimizing it with a focus on customer experience.

 

1. Communication with Customers

When visitors land on your website, you should be able to provide them with relevant content that will help them make a decision regarding their purchase. Give them all the necessary information right away to avoid further contact (and possible losses), and provide social proof, which can persuade customers to become buyers. An eCommerce strategy that includes communication with customers is very important for your business, because it can significantly increase your sales.

 

2. Offer Free Shipping

Fewer people will buy from an online retailer who does not offer free shipping. If you charge a delivery fee, your prospects may opt to purchase from a competitor instead. For example, Amazon offers free shipping on all its products and that is one of the main reasons why millions of customers shop there. When it comes to eCommerce conversion rates, offering free shipping is as important as having a quality product line.

 

3. Review Your Product Images

Product images are very important for your online store because they influence customer decision-making. If your product images are not clear and do not show the item to be sold in detail, additional questions may arise that will cause visitors to leave your website. Consequently, if you fail to answer these questions, your conversion rate will take a hit.

 

4. Understand Your Customers

It is essential for online retailers to take some time to understand their customers and find out what exactly they want. This knowledge is crucial for creating a perfect eCommerce strategy that will allow you to reach your target audience. If you keep asking yourself “who wants what” when it comes to eCommerce conversion rates, then you are doing the right thing.

 

5. Use a Helping Hand

Outsourcing is not something you hear about very often in eCommerce, but there are some interesting solutions that can come in handy. For instance, if you strictly follow an SEO eCommerce strategy to increase traffic and sales on your website, this may become too much for one person to handle. With the help of SEO, you can significantly increase your conversion rate and sales.

 

6. Don’t Forget About Security

It is important to emphasize the importance of security when it comes to eommerce conversion rates. You should make sure that all payment information – card details in particular – are encrypted and cannot be accessed by third parties without permission from the customer.

 

7. Send an Email When the Customer Makes a Purchase

Sometimes you simply forget to send an order confirmation email or coupon information, which can decrease your eCommerce conversion rate significantly. It is very important for customers to know that their orders are in progress and what to expect after they pay for them. This will make customers feel more secure and increase the number of orders on your website.

 

8. Don’t Overdo it With the Discounts

It is tempting to use deep discounts to attract as many customers as possible, but keep in mind that price is not always the key factor for eCommerce conversion rates. You should also consider other important aspects, such as the design and usability of your website.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

The pandemic has caused many businesses to shut down and millions of employees are too afraid to even leave their homes. On the other hand, some businesses have been able to adapt and remain running throughout the pandemic without losing any profits or productivity. How did they do it?

The answer is predictive analytics – the analysis of past data to make meaningful predictions about future events. While there is no way to predict whether or not you will be affected by the pandemic, predictive analytics can help you prepare for it.  It helps companies optimize their business operations to achieve maximum profit and productivity with minimum cos t.

 

 

How Companies Are Using Big Data Analytics in Post Pandemic Times

Even before the pandemic hit, predictive analytics was already being used by companies to optimize their business operations. Many call this predictive data analytics or predictive big data analysis.  Some ways predictive analytics helps businesses run more smoothly in post pandemic times are:

 

Key Performance Indicators

Uses predictive data analytics to identify trends that negatively affect a company’s operations. It provides predictive measures of company performance that help companies plan for the future and decrease the likelihood of losing profits or productivity.

 

Data Mining

Also know as predictive data analysis, data mining is a predictive analytic tool that analyzes large amounts of data to find hidden patterns and correlations that help improve business processes in order to achieve maximum efficiency and savings with minimum cost.

 

Data Visualization

Predictive analytics is able to ‘see’ patterns in data that humans cannot see or humans would have difficulty interpreting, which allows predictive analytic tools to communicate complex information that humans can understand and use. This helps people make better business decisions faster because they get presented with information in a way that is meaningful to them.

 

Data Analytics

Predictive big data analysis uses analytic tools to analyze large volumes of data and predict future events or trends. Companies use predictive analytics in order to gain insight into their operations and make more informed business decisions. It helps improve efficiency, quality control, customer service, sales etc.

 

 

Data Analytics to the Rescue: Real-Life Example

In order to better prepare for and deal with the pandemic, predictive analytics has been used by companies in real-life situations.

As mentioned earlier, predictive analytics is already being used by businesses in their everyday operations. One example is IBM’s Smarter Planet campaign – predictive data analytics helped IBM predict new product innovations so that they could market them to their customers sooner.

IBM now predicts whether certain chemicals will turn into new and useful compounds. They are also able to predict the quality of their products in real time. This predictive data analysis helps companies save money and run more efficiently.

One of IBM’s projects is called Hockey Analytics, which uses predictive analytics to help NHL teams make better decisions by using predictive analytics to build predictive models from data mined from past games. It made the Toronto Maple Leafs one of the most successful teams for several years.

As you can see, predictive big data analysis is already being used by businesses across a wide range of industries and it has helped them achieve operational excellence in numerous ways while helping companies prepare for the post-pandemic world.

Predictive data analytics helps businesses remain running in post pandemic times by helping them make better decisions faster, using predictive analytic tools. These tools can analyze large amounts of data and predict future trends or events. Using machine learning and predictive analytics, businesses can optimize their business operations to achieve maximum profitability and productivity with minimum cost.

Analytics is now a key component in organizations’ strategic decision-making process as it allows companies to make better decisions faster that improve operational efficiency and bottom line performance. It helps them prepare for challenges such as the current pandemic or other unexpected events, and makes them less susceptible to the chaos that comes with such events.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

Given the growth of podcasting platforms and applications, it is clear that more developers are making this kind of content accessible for listeners. This in turn means there needs to be a guide for those looking to participate in this growing industry. To help jump-start podcast development, this guide will introduce the necessary tools and services.

 

 

Rise in Podcast Listeners Throughout the Years

The number of listeners is growing as their devices advance. According to a 2014 report by Edison, the average American listens to about six hours of audio every day. The large majority of that content being streamed through smartphones or tablets. So how do they access this content? Podcasts are one answer to this question.

This growth in podcast listeners can be seen in the daily active users (DAU) of podcasting apps. According to App Annie’s data, Pocket Casts peaked at about 3,000 DAU while Overcast showed over 6,500 DAU. With those numbers and time spent listening on the rise, it is a good time to get into this market if you are interested.

 

 

Understanding Podcast Apps

Podcast apps can be split into two categories: media players and aggregators. Media players are dedicated podcast applications that allow listeners to access everything they need in just one app. Aggregator apps on the other hand collect content from syndicated sources, such as local radio programs or certain podcasts, and organize them for easy access.

The first group is made up of established podcast applications: Pocket Casts, Overcast, and Downcast are the biggest players in the game. These platforms are great for highly involved listeners. They give users a good experience whether they want to search through new content or browse what’s popular at any given moment.

As opposed to these players, aggregator apps are a good way for aspiring developers to jump in the game. These platforms are very simple and do not need much maintenance since most functionality comes from podcast syndication technologies such as RSS and Atom feeds which are updated automatically by content creators. Libsyn is one example of this kind of app that has been around since 2005.

The good news is that releasing a podcast app does not require much time or money. Libsyn, for example, requires $5 per month for the service and offers free accounts. It also supports the Apple Podcasts directory which has helped it grow to over 1 million active users . The only thing you need in order to run a podcast platform is a domain name, a hosting service, and some basic knowledge of HTML and PHP.

 

 

Developing a Podcast Platform: Steps Involved

The process of creating a podcast platform is a straight-forward one and involves all the steps you need to take if you want to get into this field. Let’s go over each one individually:

 

Step 1: Choosing the Technology and Services

A podcast platform can be built using a variety of technologies. There are open source options like WordPress and Drupal, both popular for creating blogs, as well as many others. If you want to invest time or money in your project, you could also go with a fully-fledged framework such as Laravel. This full-stack PHP framework is capable of supporting the development of large-scale applications (if you are interested in it, be sure to check out some other Laravel tutorials on SitePoint). Additionally, if you are looking for a hosting service that can support your needs, consider using services such as MediaTemple which will get you up and running with a LAMP stack in no time.

Additionally, you can also leverage existing podcast applications and their RSS feeds to pull content into your own platform. For example, Pocket Casts and Overcast have public feeds that include all of the podcast episodes for users who want to access them outside of the app itself.

As for services, you can use a podcast service platform to manage your content, such as SpeakPipe and IVONA. They give you the option of recording audio that is then transcribed into text. From there, you can push out an episode automatically and post it on your website or even social media channels.

 

Step 2: Designing Your Podcast Platform

Once you have the basics covered, you can get to work on creating your podcast website. Since you are not building anything from scratch, all of your content will come from different sources which means that you need to structure it in a way that makes it easy for listeners to navigate. You can use frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation to do this quickly and easily. In this regard, you will need to know how to use HTML and CSS as these are the languages that give your website its layout and style.

As for the structure of your podcast platform, you can follow others that have done this before you or create something new. To help with organizing content, we recommend using tags and categories that are either manually created by you or generated automatically depending on the keywords present in podcast episode descriptions.

As for SEO, you need to make sure that your podcast website appears in an online directory where users looking for this content can find it easily. We recommend submitting your site to Apple Podcasts which is free and will bring you plenty of listeners .

 

Step 3: Advertising and Monetizing Your Podcast Platform

Once your podcast platform has been created, it is time to attract users. Getting them to subscribe can be as easy as sharing your episodes on social media or through another podcast player. After all, the more subscribers you have, the more exposure you will get which means that more people are likely to want to listen. However, in order to monetize your listenership, you will need podcast sponsors that can promote their product or service in exchange for a fee. In this regard, we recommend Podcast Websites which offers a directory of podcasts and the ability to create an ad-free version of your website for $10 per month.

Sponsorships can come from a variety of sources such as hosting providers, companies that create podcast plugins, and even other podcast hosts.

 

Step 4: Keeping Your Podcast Platform Updated

Once your podcast platform is online, you need to make sure that it stays updated. This involves recording new episodes and publishing them on your website. It also means keeping your RSS feed up-to-date (which is the way most podcast applications access their content). To keep things simple, we recommend using a service such as FeedBurner which gives you the option of updating and publishing your podcast episodes automatically.

We also recommend using a service like Buzzsprout to grow your audience since it has the ability to do things like share your podcast on social media for you. In this regard, make sure that you have plenty of audio files ready before publishing as well as a title that will catch listeners’ attention.

 

 

Unmissable Features of a Podcast Platform

• You need to be able to create an account which allows you to subscribe, rate and review shows easily.
• Which means that your podcast platform should allow users to stream episodes from the website itself as well as subscribe via RSS feed.
• Your platform should also have a rating and review system so that podcast creators can improve their show based on user feedback.
• There should be the option to sort shows by popularity, newness or alphabetically. This will make it easier for users to find content that interests them.
• Your podcast platform needs a directory of podcasts and blog entries which includes direct links to show notes (most podcast applications automatically display these).  Another important feature is an option for users to contact podcast creators directly.
• If the platform is able to identify a user’s location, then it should be possible for users to access content from their local area such as interviews with people in a certain neighborhood or city.
• Another feature that would be useful for this purpose is moderators who can approve or reject new content before it goes live.
• If your podcast platform allows users to create their own show, then it needs the ability for other people to subscribe to these shows through RSS feeds.
• It would also be useful if users could make their podcast private or public depending on their preferences.
• A big plus is an option which allows users to share content easily on social media so that they can attract more listeners.  For example, if a podcast has an episode about pizza, then the platform should be able to alert users who like this food on Facebook and Twitter.
• Because podcast creators need to know what kind of content their audience would like them to create in the future, the easiest way to do this would be for podcast platform to ask users what type of topics they are interested in so that they can filter shows based on these preferences.

 

By taking into consideration the points mentioned above, you will be able to make a platform for podcasts that is popular among users. The biggest reason behind this is because your podcasts platform has been designed with them in mind, which means they will feel more welcome and enjoy using it.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

Healthcare is undergoing a silent revolution. Today’s health-tech startups are beginning to disrupt health data collection, prevention, records management, and medical research on an unprecedented scale. One of the less understood drivers behind them is gamification: as these companies build products geared toward solving health problems through gamified apps (apps that include playful health incentives), health data becomes both actionable and trackable in entirely new ways.

Gamification in healthcare is defined as the use of game mechanics (game elements) designed to foster specific health-related behaviors or outcomes such as health data collection, health record management, disease prevention or health promotion. Gamification leverages core psychological principles underlying health behavior and outcomes to transform health data into actionable behavior.

Gamification in health is not new and it has been used for years, but there are a few key things happening now that have brought this to the forefront. First, mobile health apps – or mHealth apps – for health management are becoming more prevalent than ever before; gamification is a natural fit for health apps because health-related apps are tailor made to encourage health data collection, health monitoring and health management. Second, health data itself is becoming more actionable. As mobile devices allow us to gather health data in real time, gamification gives health startups the ability to turn this raw information into actionable health behavior.

 

 

Why Gamify Health Apps?

Gamification is a proven motivator. It has been used most successfully in health & wellness to drive health data collection and outcomes such as health planning, record management and health promotion. The key motivation behind an gamified health app is the alignment of incentives between both the user and the company providing the health app.

 

 

Key Components of Gamified Health Apps

Gamification health incentives can be implemented in health apps by including the following health incentives: health data collection, health tracking, health record management and health planning. Gamified health apps are most effective when they include all four layers of gamification health incentives. However, some healthcare companies choose not to use all four layers but instead focus on health data collection and health promotions.

 

Health Data Collection

Health data collection is the most basic health incentive used in health apps. The gamified health app will have a goal or purpose that is directly connected to health behavior that must be uploaded to a health tracking tool such as Apple Healthkit, Google Fit or Samsung S Health. There are several ways that gamification can be used to promote health data collection: tracking, competitions & leader boards, achievements, badges and health check-ups.

 

Health Tracking

Tracking health is the most important step in health management as it provides a health record that helps to identify health patterns, risks and status changes. When gamification is used for health tracking, users learn how their actions affect overall health which leads to improved health outcomes. Furthermore, gamification incentives for health tracking lead to health data collection and record management.

 

Health Record Management

Health records are the second most important element in health management because they allow users to track health behavior changes over time. When gamification is used as an incentive for health record management, it encourages a culture of healthy behaviors by providing user-specific health records that are easy to access.

 

Health Planning

Health planning is geared towards health promotion; gamification incentives for health planning help users create plans and goals that they can actually achieve.

Youth health can be a challenging topic to address, but it is especially important given the health risks associated with youth, with issues such as obesity, substance abuse and suicide.

Gamification in health can be used to address challenges early on and make behavior changes that will last a lifetime. Successful health gamification solutions start with understanding health decision-making processes, health behaviors and health interventions at different ages, because how people engage with gamification is influenced by their age groups. Furthermore, gamification can be tailored for effective health outcomes by leveraging what we know about health decision-making.

 

 

How Do Health Decisions Differ From Other Decisions?

Research shows that health decisions differ from other types of decisions because they tend to be high stakes, with a long-term health impact and involve cognitive processing. Health behaviors such as physical activities, health-related lifestyle changes and maintenance are influenced by health attitudes, beliefs and habits. There is a cost to engaging in health behaviors so every decision has both the potential benefit from behavior change and the costs that come with engaging in the behavior itself.

 

 

Health Decision Making Processes by Age Group

Health decisions tend to differ across health lifecycle stages. Health decision making processes can be categorized into health promotion planning, health self-management and health monitoring/health maintenance.

Gamification health incentives are most effective when the motivation aligns with an individual’s health decision-making process.

 

 

Future of Gamification in Healthcare

Developers in health gamification have the opportunity to continue innovating health technology. As health gamification becomes widespread, health-related apps are becoming more accessible and health check-ups are becoming more common. The future of health gamification will be influenced by behavior research and trends in health technology.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

In the internet era, data is more valuable than anything else. It can help you answer your questions about customers, product features and prices, business activities that will give you benefits when used carefully. Data in database systems are usually under strict regulations of many organizations so it cannot be changed or deleted without checking with the IT department which causes risk in analysis due to lack of accurate data. Though, in the era where there is more data than ever, especially from the internet and social networking sites that are now created by most people and companies, there is a new technology called “Data Warehouse” that collect all these information or “data”. It helps to gain benefits when using them carefully. Here are some benefits of a data warehouse.

 

1) A Data Warehouse Allows an Organization To Store the Full History of Their Data and Can Be Used After Months or Years for Needed Analysis, Which Provides an Ability To Create Detailed Work.

Storage capacity is unlimited in a data warehouse, so if the company increases its data in many years, it can be saved without any worry of deleting or changing them. A data warehouse is easily accessible from anywhere in the world.

 

2) It Helps To Find Patterns and Knowledge

Data warehouses provide benefits in finding relations between products, customers or industries through analyzing the data. Pattern and knowledge can be found easily with using tools to help reveal hidden patterns among the data. Management benefits from this pattern and knowledge as they know how customers are using their product, what kind of industry to invest in, when to raise or lower prices and many more benefits in the market.

 

3) It Benefits an Organization To Use Different Analytics Techniques (Such As Segmentation).

For example, company B wants to know the benefits in changing prices of their products, while companies A and C want to compare benefits of their product features. So they can use a data warehouse that contain all previous information for years and benefit from different analysis techniques.

 

4) It Helps Business Owners by Providing Historical Data With Descriptive and Predictive Metrics Which Leads to Benefits on the Key Metrics.

A data warehouse benefits businesses by providing historical data with descriptive and predictive metrics that they can use for decision making, planning, controlling, or forecasting their target.

 

5) Data Warehousing Provides Relevant Information Accurately and Quickly Which Will Help Them in Reaching Their Goal or Purpose Better.

It benefits to reach their goal by providing relevant information accurately and quickly on selected metrics. More benefits are gained from using a data warehouse because benefits of changing or deleting data in database systems will be reduced.

 

6) A Data Warehouse Aids Future Decisions When Collected Data Is Used for Historic Trend Analysis Which Helps Companies To Reduce Risk in Planning.

Helps with future decision-making when stored data benefits in historic trend analysis. It benefits to reduce risks and uncertainty in planning by using collected data over a long period of time.

 

7) It Benefits Companies To Save Money

Benefits are gained when companies use data warehousing carefully. A data warehouse allows an organization to save money by reducing costs in the IT department for maintaining data in database systems and allows companies to use less space and server resources.

 

8) Allows Organizations To Utilize Their Time Effectively

Time is saved when storing data in a data warehouse, as data is already in one place and can be accessed from anywhere.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Although a data warehouse has many advantages, it can be difficult to implement. The advantages of a data warehouse include less time and effort for accessing information from multiple sources and lowers the risk of losing relevant information. However, it takes time to build the warehouse, and must be cleaned before useful data can be added. It is up to the company to decide whether it is wise for them to implement a data warehouse system, or to continue operating in the same way.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

Mobile gamification is a process by which game-like elements keep users engaged with mobile apps to increase revenues from the app. Applications that gamify their mobile products can retain and engage users into returning to the product by providing virtual rewards upon achieving specific criteria, such as playing games and installing other applications. Gamified mobile apps seek to create a seamless experience for users across all platforms, making them feel like they are playing without realizing it.

 

How Gamification Works in a Mobile Environment

Gamification in mobile apps is when gaming elements are implemented in an application. These elements include using gamified user interfaces such as leaderboards, badges, points, and challenges. These gamification elements can be seen in social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, where users earn awards for posting pictures or achieving specific goals. The gamified user interface provides an opportunity for users to gain trophies or virtual rewards by completing tasks that they would typically perform on their own with the aid of additional gamified incentives. By “gamifying” mobile applications, companies can increase gamification retention rates and engagement.

 

Benefits of Gamification in Mobile Apps

Adding a gamified touch in mobile apps helps to increase engagement, retention, and revenue. By gamifying mobile applications, developers can create a user interface that encourages repeated use of the app. The gamified user interface builds a sense of community for users by encouraging collaboration and competition. Gamifying mobile applications also gives consumers something that they enjoy doing while engaging directly with brands or companies within an application, such as watching videos or posting pictures from events to social media platforms like Snapchat. Mobile gamification increases retention rates by making it easy for users to become better at the game through practice and repetition, motivating them to continue playing and become better and achieve high scores.

 

How Your App Should Use Gamification Elements

App developers should use the gamification elements in an application that is easy for users to understand. Minimal text should be used so that it does not distract from the gamified interface or create a barrier between the user interface and users engaging with the elements of the app. The gamification elements should also give rewards immediately upon completion, increasing retention rates by providing instant gratification rather than waiting for a specific time before receiving virtual rewards or prizes. Sliding bars show users’ progress towards goals, like acquiring in-game currency like coins, unlocking achievements, and leveling up quickly. At the same time, spinner wheels can be used to gamify the process of earning gift cards, mobile coupons, and cash prizes.

 

Examples of Gamification in Mobile Apps

Gamification in mobile apps can be seen in leaderboards, such as when users log into their Facebook app. Leaderboards show who has the most friends on the platform or who is ranked highest on certain games within the application. There are also badges that users can receive for achieving specific goals like reaching a certain level or purchasing a product. Gamification in mobile apps can also be seen with challenges: gamified missions for users to complete. These gamified missions allow users to engage and compete against one another by completing tasks like boosting their social media profile pictures or sharing coupons a specific amount of times across different networks such as Facebook and Snapchat. These gamified missions motivate users to work together to complete tasks to receive rewards in the form of points, trophies, or virtual currency such as coins or gems.

Facebook also uses gamification techniques when shopping with apps like Wishbone and Wanelo. These mobile apps allow users to win gift cards from retailers by competing against other users to reach specific points to unlock rewards.

Gamification is also seen within mobile apps for increased retention rates and content engagement to increase click-through rates with social media posts and email marketing campaigns.

 

Conclusion

Gamification is a powerful tool that brands can use to change user behavior by gamifying the mobile application and rewarding users. With the gamification of mobile applications, interfaces aid in retention rates by increasing engagement with users as they carry out tasks within the gamified environment. Consumers are more likely to return to an app with gamified environments because they do not feel like they are doing work or realize that they are playing a game. Mobile gamification encourages users to continue using applications without realizing it by creating long-term engagement opportunities to gain virtual awards for repeated use of an application.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

Learning a language is considered one of the most significant tasks that anyone would like to accomplish. Language learning apps have been becoming increasingly popular as more and more people want to take on the challenge of understanding and speaking in a different tongue, whether it is for travel purposes or learning just for the sake of satisfaction. Language apps are designed for users to learn languages almost anywhere with their mobile device with no language skills required. A language learning app will provide users with exposure, access, and immersion to languages through various media materials available.

 

 

Cost Estimation

Developers can create a language learning app by using existing technologies such as metasearch engines, natural language processing tools, and APIs, which can be downloaded online or developed with the help of other developers alike at a very low cost. But this doesn’t mean that it will not cost anything to build a language learning app. You have to spend money paying for a team of developers and language experts, purchasing language acquisition databases (corpora), creating a language app development kit, etc. The process of developing a language learning app is the same for all technology platforms, whether it’s Android, iOS, or Windows-based operating systems. Still, suppose you are looking at the cost involved. In that case, it will vary because different companies have different pricing structures but, most importantly, look for experienced language learning app developers.

 

Source Code That Developers Should Use Within Their Language Learning App

Code can be created with Java or Python using frameworks like Android, Kitkat, and Windows 8; languages such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript language, AngularJS framework by Google Inc., BackboneJS framework by Microsoft Inc., among others. When it comes to a database language, SQLite is the ideal language. You can create your own data tables and store all information related to user profiles, i.e., username/password, preferences (language & courses) on their mobile devices.

 

Revenue Generation Strategies

A language learning app can generate revenue by charging language learners a certain amount of money for learning a language through SMS or email messages, i.e., paid membership programs or by placing ads within the language learning app (to serve as the source of funding). Language learning apps can be designed in a way such that language learners are not bothered by the ads.

 

 

The Development Process of Creating a Language Learning App

The process of creating a language learning app involves the following five steps: Assessment, Analysis, Design, Development, and Testing.

 

Assessment

You will have to survey the nature and user types (demographic group of people) that can be targeted by your language learning app, which is a vital tool to provide a practical approach towards increasing its revenue generation capabilities. There are five major user groups, including children (young & old), teenagers, working adults, senior citizens, and disabled people. Still, conducting primary research will help you determine the exact demographic group of users you wish to target for a particular market segment such as school students only, etc.

 

Analysis

The development company will have to collect language learning data and other linguistic information. This information includes language students, both local & overseas, self-taught language learners, and language teachers. These people will help determine certain aspects such as types of languages teachers can teach to users on language learning apps, size of market segment target markets like Asia or Europe, etc.

 

Design

The language learning app will need to create a design guideline based on the results gathered during previous assessment and analysis steps in the design phase. It should include an easy layout for students with a user-friendly interface for teachers of various languages. The format is a vital part of creating a language learning app because if you fail at this stage, no one will ever download your language learning app.

 

Development

Once the language learning app design has been created, the development company will have to start developing language learning software by creating programming codes and testing each aspect of the language learning app.

 

Testing

In the last stage, i.e., testing phase, app developers need to test language aspects such as correct usage regarding grammar & spelling, consistency in audio and text messages sent or received by users on language apps, etc.

Ultimately, a language learning app can be created by any developer at home but always remember three major factors when creating apps:

1. The ability to develop a practical alphabet and grammar structure of an app will have to build content and make it available for users on their mobile devices (either Android or iOS-based) to learn languages through text messaging.
2. The strategy behind developing a language learning app should include choosing the correct target market segment that will use this app.
3. You must have a sufficient budget to create such an app because its development cost will vary depending on aspects like technology platform (whether it’s language app development for Android or language app development for iOS).

Innovation is the key feature of a language learning app; it cannot be copied from other language apps, so create your language app using this simple approach and launch it to thousands of language learners across the globe.

After a development company has developed a language app, the developers have to undergo quality testing to ensure the language app works in perfect condition without any issues or bugs. Suppose language learning software fails at that stage. In that case, it will be of no use to language learners, so make sure that you choose an experienced language app company capable of developing software with fewer issues and bugs.

 

 

Features of a Language Learning App

– Makes language communication more straightforward and convenient with multi-language chat support (in different languages) between users of the same or different language background.

– Includes voice input, i.e., speaking in a chosen language, and text input, i.e., spelling words in the desired language through typing.

– Language learners can create their password-protected account, which provides them with complete data security.

– Includes modules such as language translator, language dictionary, text to speech, and many more features such as translation of words from/to languages, i.e., Google Translate.

Language learning apps are the future for those who are willing to learn a language without moving out of their houses or offices to immerse themselves in a new culture to learn a language. As a result, language learning apps make it possible for them to learn a language anywhere, any time during the day, which provides them with complete access without finding someone who speaks another language. Language learning apps will allow learners to break down language barriers and avoid language struggles.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

The web has revolutionized how we conduct our personal and professional lives. And web apps, through cloud computing platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), have become the backbone of web development. Small businesses, non-profits, start-ups, and even Fortune 500 companies rely on web apps to offer a range of services that allow them to thrive.

Gartner estimates that developers created 3.3 million web apps in 2016; they estimate approximately 57 new web apps launched every minute [1]. Imagine the number of web apps that need to be maintained, updated, and overseen. The reality is that a lot more cyber attacks target web applications than any other type of application–even mobile ones.

Cybercriminals can hijack web apps through common vulnerabilities that lead to data breaches. Think about it: web developers are happy with their web app as is and don’t find vulnerabilities or patches; meanwhile, cyber attackers are scanning for these vulnerabilities while they look for ways to exploit them. Cybercriminals are constantly finding new bugs and exploits within web applications; as soon as one is fixed, they’re busy looking for the following web app flaw.

The web app security landscape is constantly changing, and web development teams need to keep up with these changes to protect web apps from cyber attacks. This article will provide web developers guidance on web app vulnerabilities, how web apps are compromised by hackers and standard web app vulnerabilities that lead to data breaches. We will also give you tips on securing web applications against cyber-attacks while developing or updating your web application codebase.

 

 

Vulnerabilities of Web Apps

 

Common web app vulnerabilities comprise of the following:

 

Cross-Site Scripting

This web application vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages that web users access. In web apps, cross-site scripting leads to user information disclosure or session hijacking. It poses a severe risk for financial and eCommerce web applications. An attacker can also use this web app attack vector to execute other attacks such as content spoofing and clickjacking–all of which work together to steal an organization’s proprietary data or access unauthorized features without the knowledge of web app users. With the rise in mobile usage, cross-site scripting is now being exploited on mobile applications through mobile web browsers with auto-complete functionality. Cyber attackers use web app vulnerabilities to target web apps through mobile web browsers such as Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

 

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF/XSRF)

This web application attack takes advantage of web app users’ web browser sessions to execute malicious actions. A CSRF attack is also known as an XSRF attack on a mobile web application; these web app attacks allow attackers to manipulate web applications through cross-domain requests made without the knowledge or authorization of legitimate website visitors. The impact of this web app vulnerability can cause session hijacking, information theft, and denial of service attacks. Web developers should be aware of how this web application flaw works: for example; an attacker may create malicious code within their web application to trick web users into performing unintended web app actions. In eCommerce web apps, this web attack can enable attackers to make online purchases by executing the payment transaction themselves without the knowledge of web app users.

 

SQL Injection

This type of web app vulnerability leads to data theft and information disclosure within a database used by an application. Using SQL injection web app attacks allows cybercriminals to access unauthorized information or data from unprotected databases such as Oracle DBMS (open source) or Microsoft SQL Server (closed source). The impact is severe considering that an attacker can even manipulate financial records for their malicious use or sell them on the dark web market. For example, cybercriminals stole $2 billion in credit card numbers through various web app attacks such as web injects and web application vulnerabilities.

 

Directory Traversal / File Inclusion

This web application flaw allows attackers to access local files or directories through web apps by using an invalid parameter, directory traversing techniques, or a specially crafted URL. Due to this web vulnerability, web users can be exposed to malware distribution, denial of service attacks, and loss of intellectual property data from the organization’s web servers. An attacker’s main objective is to gain unauthorized access into the back-end database server where valuable information is stored; this is done by taking advantage of vulnerable web applications with directory traversal flaws.

 

Insecure Deserialization

Cybercriminals are moving away from exploiting common web application vulnerabilities, like SQL injection. These web app attacks are no longer effective. Web developers can now secure web apps from these web vulnerabilities by implementing SSL encryption while ensuring web app code is always up to date. Insecure deserialization web application flaws allow attackers to manipulate serialized objects to gain unauthorized access into web applications such as Oracle Java, Rails, etc. Deserializing an object involves reconstructing the state of an object or class after it has been converted into a byte stream; this process creates an object graph out of the data received–essentially allowing attackers to execute arbitrary remote code execution (RCE).

 

Web-Accessible Resources

Many web applications use web-accessible resources stored on web servers without sufficient permission; this practice can lead to unintentional file disclosure of web application vulnerabilities. Web application flaws can lead to unauthorized data access, loss of important information and intellectual property breaches. Similar web-accessible resources flaws can arise due to unprotected files in the public folders on external web servers; this flaw exposes web developers to hacking attempts by cybercriminals seeking access into their web apps.

 

 

Methods to Enhance Web Apps Cybersecurity

 

Web app owners must adopt the best practices to prevent web apps from vulnerabilities. It would be ideal for web developers to maintain a vulnerability database that stores all known web vulnerabilities and their corresponding solutions; web app owners can use it for regular updates of web applications. It would also help developers identify web app vulnerabilities before cybercriminals exploit them to carry out malicious attacks like Denial-of-Service (DoS). DoS will force attackers to move away from common web application flaws such as SQL injection or directory traversal and focus on other potential vulnerabilities within the codes of different web apps. This will result in slowing down the rate at which new web vulnerabilities are being published online.

Web app owners can implement web security best practices such as web application firewalls (WAFs) to identify vulnerabilities in web apps. WAFs are web applications that monitor web traffic and scan for application vulnerabilities on web servers; developers can use these security solutions to identify web vulnerabilities like SQL injection within requests and responses before attackers exploit them. They can also block unauthorized access into web apps preventing loss of sensitive data stored on the network or database server.

Cyber attacks are rising, and web app vulnerabilities have resulted in cyber criminals stealing sensitive data from web owners across many industries. To secure web apps, it is crucial web developers maintain a vulnerability database that developers can use to identify vulnerabilities within web apps as soon as they are published online. This will ensure businesses can patch their web applications before hackers exploit common web application flaws like SQL injection or directory traversal.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

People have tried many ways to make money from their computers, and some have wanted to be app entrepreneur. Many people try to promote the products they find online, or even more complicated: design a website and link it up with a network of pages promoting various products – this is called “affiliate marketing” and seems like one of the best ways for an average Joe to start making some cash on the Internet.

Professional programmers are also a profitable market if you know how to grab ’em. Many people do not realize that even free programs have their developers, and they can be quite generous with payouts when you offer them something useful for free. For example, no one will ever get as much money for designing a toolbar than from software that makes money from ads.

If you are inspired to become an app entrepreneur, it is important to realize that there are a lot of similar tools available for developers. If you want to get started with your first app, just go and search online – many sites offer lists of the latest apps trending in the store, as well as interviews with their developers.

 

 

Tips for Becoming a Successful App Entrepreneur

Here are some tips that will help you out in becoming a successful app entrepreneur:

 

Make Sure Your Program Has Some Originality

This is very important – if you are trying to reinvent the wheel, or create yet another dog photo filter , chances are that someone out there already did so – and developed a better product. Try to look for problems in the app market that you can solve with your creation, or new ways of doing something old.

 

Look at Similar Products Online and Search for Their Positive and Negative Reviews

Take note of what people like, as well as what they don’t like about similar apps available on the market.

 

Make a Lot of Clones in Your Spare Time, and Fail Fast

This is how you’ll get experience developing apps – and if you are planning on getting rich off an app, it may be quite possible that you are not the first person to have made this particular concept before (as mentioned before). By creating many copies of similar products (and then improving them over time), you will find out what works, and which things to avoid in the future.

 

Look for Successful Apps Online and Try To Model One of Your Programs After It

But make sure that the app you’re copying is appropriate for translating into something else. This is a great way to learn how to do something different – by copying an existing product and using the same source code for your own app.

 

Spend Time Reading About How To Make Money From Apps, As Well as Looking at Other Developers’ Stories of Success and Failures

There are some good sources online that can help you get a start in the industry. Follow social media accounts of a successful app entrepreneur, and read their blogs.

 

Learn How To Write Code (or Don’t)

This may be the most painful part, but you can start with simple programming tasks and gradually move on to more advanced applications. You don’t need to learn everything at once – for example, if you want to make something as simple as a calculator app, just focus on the arithmetic. If you want to make an educational game, put emphasis on graphics and sound effects. If you do not want to take on the hassle of learning how to code, you don’t have to. Having a great idea is enough, and then its all about partnering with the right app development company to bring your vision to life.

 

 

Preparing Yourself for Roadblocks

Making money from an app is not as easy as it may seem – there are plenty of roadblocks an app entrepreneur can run into, and here are some tips for dealing with them:

 

Don’t Rely on Ads Alone To Make Your Program Profitable

Remember that the more apps you have out there, the less unique they will become. If your income is based on displaying ads from other companies, what will happen when there are no more apps to display them in?

For example, if you decide to create your own game with some timers and offer it for free, you can become quite a darling of the mobile game community. But, everyone who takes advantage of your generosity will eventually get bored and move on to something else. If you want to stay competitive in the app market, consider adding more original features and charge a small fee for your product. Even if this means losing support of some users who would rather have it free than pay even a small amount, you will gain more long-term profits by offering an actual product that people may pay for.

Like everyone else, you have limited resources when it comes to developing apps. It’s easy to get carried away with adding more options and features, but remember that your app needs only those things which make it unique and valuable compared to other products of this kind; anything else is simply a waste of your time, energy, and money.

 

When You Are Offered the Chance To Buy Expensive and Advanced Tools for Making Apps, Do Not Do So

For example, if an online app maker wants to sell you one of their packages with loads of features that can allow you to create applications with almost no programming knowledge, don’t buy it! Their tools may have been designed for people who are more familiar with programming, and they’re simply not worth the price.

 

You Can Always Learn How To Write Code on Your Own

If you want to find out how a particular tool works and create something original, read articles online which explain its functions. You will soon find out that making apps has a lot to do with mathematics, and if you’re good at math already, then this should come naturally to you.

Instead of spending hours on video tutorials which give you very little practice, just experiment with different options in the app maker itself – this will help much more than watching videos. This also makes it easier to save your progress.

 

Learning To Write Code Takes Time

Apps are made mostly with the same programming language (Objective C or Java). So, if you want to become a good programmer, make sure that you have at least a general idea of how coding works. If you still don’t know anything about it after three months of hard work, you should probably consider taking a refresher course at your local college. You can also ask someone to help you out with this; for example, if you need C++ programming done but don’t know how to do it yourself, you could always post your project here and get bids from several freelancers.

 

General Advice

• You should never spend more than you can afford on any aspect of app development.
• If you are just starting out, start with small projects first. You will probably make mistakes and lose time or money which could have been spent wiser. Don’t try to complete a large project during the first few months; this may result in your spending too much money without getting any positive results.
• Your app will not be a huge success right away – you need to give people time to find it and try it out.
• Try everything possible to get your app into the top charts of its category as soon as possible, but do not expect this to happen overnight. You should spend some money on getting good publicity for your app, but don’t be upset if you do not see any major change in your sales figures for the first month or two.
• Be patient and keep working on improving your product; eventually, you will start seeing positive results
• If you can get hold of a simulator which lets you test out how your app works before it’s officially released, do so; this will allow you to make many changes and updates that would otherwise be quite expensive.

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.

Craigslist has been the go-to marketplace app for millions of people for many years now. However, many people have questioned the future of Craigslist in recent times because of some apparent challenges that it is facing. Despite this, most people still prefer to use Craigslist over other similar apps like OfferUp, LetGo or even eBay. This raises the question: how much would it cost to develop an app like craigslist?

App development has become one of the most lucrative businesses today.  People are looking for all sorts of apps that can make their lives easier and more fun. Since online marketplace business is on the rise, it comes as no surprise that there has been a sudden increase in demand for marketplace apps like Craigslist. If you want to create an app like Craigslist, read on to learn about the estimate of the total cost involved.

 

The Cost of Building an App Like Craigslist: Expenses Incurred

There are numerous factors that determine the cost of creating an app like Craigslist. Some apps may be cheap to build, but you will have to include other in-app purchases into your budget if you want them to work completely. That said, there are some general expenses that you should expect to incur if you decided to build your own Craigslist app:

 

Take an Inventory of the Features That Are Available on Craigslist.

Try to make a list of those features that you feel must be included in your app. You may also want to include some new features that will set yours apart from other apps like it.  Once you have made this list, it will become easier for you to decide on the features you need to include in your app.

 

Take a Look at the Technical Specification of Craigslist

This will give you an idea of the platform that has been used in creating it and whether or not it is readily available. If indeed it is readily available, then using the same platform for your app will make developing it a lot easier and faster.

We already know that Craigslist was developed using the Python programming language.  However, you can still have an idea of how easy or difficult it would be to develop an app like Craigslist depending on the programming language used in the development of another similar app. To do this, you can take a look at the technical specification of another app that is similar in nature to Craigslist.

 

Estimate How Many People Are Going To Be Using It.

This also means that the cost will differ depending on if you want to create a mobile-based app or just use a web platform. With a web-based platform, the cost of developing an app like Craigslist will be much lower. However, you might end up getting less downloads this way.

 

Get the App Developed

Finally, there is the cost of hiring people to develop your marketplace app. It is possible that you could develop an app like craigslist yourself or with the help of friends or family members, but it is probably better to hire a professional app development company to do the job. This will not only speed up the development process, but also make sure that your app is delivered on time and as expected.

Mobile-based apps have become increasingly popular in recent times.  That said, most marketers agree that mobile web apps are still far more profitable than mobile apps. This is because people are still hesitant to download and pay for such apps unless they are absolutely sure that they will be worth the money.  As a result, if you want to make your app like Craigslist stand out from the rest, then it might be better to create only a mobile web-based app.

In short, the cost to develop a marketplace app like Craigslist depends on several factors.  It will be better if you do the necessary research first so that you can determine which features must be included in your app and whether or not it is better to create a mobile web-based app instead of a mobile-based one. You also need to determine how many people are going to be using the app.  If there are going to be a lot of users, then you can expect the app to cost a pretty penny.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. We are a premier software and mobile app development agency specializing in healthcare mobile app development, custom mobile app development company, telehealth software, sales dashboards, custom mobile app development services, retail software development, supply-chain software, ecommerce, shopify, web design, iBeacon apps, security solutions and unified access software.

We are proud partners with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.