GEC NEWS WIRENine in ten organizations in the UAE now offer their customers a mobile application. This not only highlights just how vital digital channels have become in attracting and retaining customers, but also the growing dependence we as individuals now have on applications. And with this increased utilization and dependency comes greater expectations. People are now more selective about the applications they use and their expectations for digital experience are soaring.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is with younger generation consumers (aged 18-34) that the shifts in sentiment and digital behaviors have been most significant. The latest research from Cisco, The App Attention Index 2023: Beware the Application Generation, reveals how this cohort of application users are more sophisticated, discerning, and demanding in their use of digital services. The ‘Application Generation’ pride themselves on enjoying only the most innovative, intuitive, and secure digital experiences. And worryingly for brands, these discerning customers are ready to take action when the applications they now depend on let them down.
Cisco’s global research, which surveyed over 15,000 consumers in 13 countries, including 1,005 in the UAE, reveals that in the two years since the pandemic, demand for applications and digital services has remained strong. However, consumers now feel more in control about their use of digital services and are empowered to go elsewhere when digital experiences fall short of their expectations.
The key takeaway for brands is crystal clear: you must work harder to impress the younger generation of consumers, or risk losing them forever. That means ensuring applications and digital services are operating at peak performance at all times.
The ongoing application attitude shift
The 2021 edition of the App Attention Index was published when various restrictions were still very much in place across the world. Consequently, applications became essential — the sole channel through which people could shop, connect with friends, stay entertained, and access vital services. Now, over two years on, with restrictions lifted, people once again have a choice over how they do these things, but demand for applications and digital services remains above pre-pandemic levels. From ordering takeaways to streaming content, from staying in touch with friends to working from home, digital services are now entrenched in peoples’ lives, offering total ease and convenience.
A big change however has been the perception of applications. During the pandemic, they were an absolute necessity, and given that so many of these were rushed to market, users were more patient — after all, alternatives were few and utilization was often critical. However, today, function alone is not enough. Application users now demand quality and performance, and they’re looking to try out the most innovative digital experiences available. In fact, the research reveals that over two-thirds (71%) of UAE consumers today have higher expectations for digital experiences than they did two years ago, and 71% are less forgiving of poor digital services.
These results should be a cause for concern for UAE brands. People are no longer willing to put up with bad digital services. They’re deleting applications that let them down or switching to alternative digital services. In the past twelve months, 64% of consumers from the Application Generation (aged 18-34) in the UAE have deleted more applications than they have installed. Additionally, globally, 70% say they’re now more likely to warn other people against using digital services that don’t perform.
Exceptional, enriching experiences now expected
The UAE has long boasted one of the highest levels of smartphone penetration in the world. Just as the nation’s tech-savvy consumers are ever ready to adopt the latest iPhone or Android device, so too are they ready to try out the applications that enhance their experiences on these devices. They’re looking to test out any application that can simplify and enrich their lives. The large majority of them can therefore be expected to be among the 73% of global consumers who responded positively to the prospect of using Super Apps, which bring together a range of different services into one application. And among the Application Generation, this stat shoots up to 80%.
With their one-stop-shop approach, Super Apps promise many conveniences which consumers are keen to benefit from. Respondents point to a range of benefits that they believe Super Apps can offer, such as saving time (52%), simplifying their lives (48%), and reducing application clutter (43%). However, brands who are making moves towards being part of a Super App ecosystem should be aware: 57% of consumers expect that a performance issue with a Super App would be more disruptive than with a regular application, and 53% report that if a Super App failed to perform properly, they would have negative feelings towards all the brands associated with it.
Delivering applications that impress
As competition between application providers is intensifying, the Application Generation is sending a clear message to application owners: deliver seamless and secure digital experiences or pay the price.
Facing this threat, application owners must ensure that their IT teams have the tools and insights required to deliver seamless digital experiences at all times. The problem is that many IT teams are already struggling to manage increasingly complex and dispersed application environments. They lack full visibility into cloud native environments and have no clear line of sight for applications where components run across hybrid environments. It’s becoming extremely difficult to identify and fix issues before they affect the user’s experience.
To overcome these obstacles, organizations must implement application observability as a priority. Application observability helps generate full and unified visibility across both cloud native and on-premises environments. With this solution in place, IT teams will be able to rapidly detect issues and understand root causes before it impacts the consumer. Additionally, by correlating application performance data with business metrics, technologists will be empowered to identify and prioritize issues with the potential to cause the most damage to end user experience. Most importantly, they can focus on what matters most.
As consumers increasingly turn to digital channels to engage with the brands they love, it is clear that the Application Generation has arrived. Being spoiled for choice, these tech-savvy consumers are on a mission to use only the best performing and most innovative applications and digital services on offer. Brands must be ready to impress them, or they risk seeing millions of young consumers walking away, never to return.
