For most small businesses, every expense, no matter how small, must have a direct, tangible benefit. There’s little room for speculative costs and ambiguous returns.
When it comes to mobile apps, this is good news! As mobile usage continues to increase, even small businesses have a lot to gain.
Apps directly increase sales in a number of ways. Each of the features listed below can lead directly to a sale, helping mobile apps for small businesses prove their worth with nearly every click.

Allow Mobile Orders

This is the most obvious way to ring up a sale with a mobile app – by offering a way for users to browse your products and submit orders directly through the app. You might think that users are hesitant to shop this way, but this past holiday, mobile sales accounted for nearly a fifth (!) of all online sales. For fans of your business, a mobile app is simply a natural way to make purchases.

 Push Notifications

When you want to generate revenue, sending a message to users through push notification is a great way to drive sales. You can simply promote a product or service, or you can tell users about a special offer, deal, discount, or event. The key is that your app adds a new promotional channel to your marketing arsenal.

Loyalty Rewards

Rewards are a time-tested way to increase repeat business from fans. By offering a mobile loyalty program, you can reward frequent shoppers without having to print up cards or worry about tracking – everything is done easily through users’ mobile devices. You can increase sales with minimal extra effort!

Social Referrals

Your app can include a simple feature that lets users post a link to your business to their social media profiles. This allows you to leverage users’ social networks to find new fans. Digital word of mouth is a persuasive force, and an app lets you maximize its use.

Mobile Reservations

If your business is a restaurant, spa, personal training studio, or other session-based business, mobile reservations allow you to open up your calendar to users. They can pop open the app at their convenience, browse open slots, and book their own reservations as they like. It makes it easier to make reservations and opens up another channel for increasing sales.

Event RSVPs

If you’re holding an event, you can allow users to register to attend through your mobile app. In many cases, this can make it a lot easier to manage event attendance! Managing RSVPs by email requires reading and data entry, but using automatic forms on your mobile app is super simple.

GPS Coupons

Users can be invited to check in when at your location to unlock coupons. This rewards visitors makes it fun to use your app, and, of course, can increase sales.

Newsletter Signups

Yet another way to boost revenue is by soliciting newsletter signups through your app. By getting users fully integrated with your business, you can meet them wherever they are with information and special offers.
The result, as with the other features we’ve discussed, is that you can earn additional sales!