The effects of technological advancement can be most felt in web application development. It is one area where innovation keeps taking place. That is because trends change faster than one can imagine. Revolutionary web application development has enabled businesses to have stellar websites, which help them attain success in the digital domain. Based on a recent survey, approximately 77% of online agencies have recognized low-quality website UX as a core drawback.
The online shopping industry takes a clean sweep on the web with more and more customers making online than offline purchases. Annually, the online sales market grows over 20%. It is anticipated to expand to a $4 trillion market by 2020. With such progressive changes taking place every day, it is essential to have a look at the popular web application development trends that we have witnessed so far in 2018.
Artificial intelligence and useful chatbots
Today, chatbots are useful in attaining all the critical data from a client. It does not require any manager interventions. Though there were several chatbots in 2017, more sophisticated and value-added chatbots are going to be the next significant trend in 2018. Chatbots are here to ensure a better user-experience for those visiting a particular site. Furthermore, chatbots are a useful feature for the e-commerce developers, and they help them to set up websites with adequate online help. It further enables online customers to order movie tickets, food and other products with just a click of the mouse. It is estimated that approximately 85% of customer interactions in the future will take place without any human intervention by 2020. Revolutionary chatbots will use AI to come up with the correct live speech to improve the customer web interface. A prominent example of that is eBay that makes use of chatbot in Facebook Messenger to communicate.
Blockchain
The blockchain is the most efficient process for collective data storage. Today, computers around the world store a vast amount of data that are scattered in many places. Simply put, blockchain offers high-end security here. The primary benefit here is the absence of intermediaries in between the transactions. Also, each transaction is authenticated, and it depends on a sophisticated algorithm despite the presence of many computers. Furthermore, several MNC banks today have been taking blockchain into account and deploying it in their system to guarantee complete security of critical data.
A single e-commerce network
The single e-commerce network offers an easy and flexible system, which enables many online stores to cooperate with one another. For example, when a user buys something on eBay, he or she can pick the product up at a small nearby shop. Hence, it is indeed worth for the e-commerce developers to chip in for this web app development. It maximizes the appeal of online stores to a great extent, especially in the e-commerce domain. Several businesses and brands today are opting in for the single e-commerce network. There is Magento, which is a widely used platform that enables its customers to connect with order management process thereby giving the customers excellent freedom.
Single or one-page websites
A single page website is one that is a long scrollable page offering complete details of the concerned business to the online viewers without digressing to any other web page. It sets the online viewers from all kinds of confusing navigation and offers an easy browsing experience. Though this kind of website is not cut out for e-commerce, they come handy for the mobile sites where the online viewer does not need to switch from one page to the other to have access to the vital information. These are customer friendly web portals. It comes with a set of business advantages by minimizing the expense of website designing, web hosting as well as web application development. It is useful for businesses because it results in increased conversions.
Augmented reality or AR
Augmented Reality (AR) is a fast, easy and communicative web application trend that is slowly catching the fancy of users. On smartphones, it enables the marketers to connect with their target customers. Hence, the most social audience is going to incorporate AR into their platforms. For example, in the recent times Snapchat downloaded an AR feature that enables its users to add Bitmoji and project their products via the app’s camera. Furthermore, brands also have the chance to project their products using specialized filters to social media users.
Progressive web apps
Simply put, progressive web applications are known as websites that are like the native mobile apps working offline. Therefore, it provides a great user experience. In 2018, experts are anticipating that progressive web apps are going to be the primary competitor of the native mobile apps as the former loads much more quickly. Also, its best benefit is that the app can function without any internet connection. That is what will make it a popular trend. Some of the famous names including The Washington Post and Flipkart have also made progressive web apps for their web portals. It has enhanced the user engagement hugely, resulting in conversions on every platform.
Social selling
Social selling is a blessing for online businesses. Several social networks have shown interest in this which is going to benefit many brands as well. It enables the companies to gain good revenue through the social apps along with connectivity. For example, Facebook is all set to diversify its revenue channels soon. It has made many brands benefit in several ways with sales maximization, products getting viral in a less span of time, and developing a great interest to connect to the target customers.
These are a few of the popular web application development trends for 2018 that are estimated to benefit online businesses in a significant way. These trends are aimed to assist the online business owners to develop and maintain a long-term association with their present clientele and generate more customer delight. It will help in wooing new customers as well, which is the best online business strategy that one can find.