Most of us have an abundance of mobile applications on our phones and tablets – we use them to connect with friends, hail a cab, order food, donate money, and read the news. In fact, it is hard to think of almost any activity that doesn’t involve mobile applications in some capacity.
We should pause and take a second to think about how mobile apps have affected our world economically. Mobile apps have played a more serious role in economic growth as well. Economists and other researchers have for the last few years been discussing the app economy – an economy driven by the surge of mobile applications and the role they have played in growth.
Indeed, mobile apps have provided a significant boost to the economy worldwide. Take a look at the European Union – there were more than 406,000 professional app developers in 2014, according to research firm Vision Mobile. Moreover, mobile apps have resulted in 667,000 direct jobs and more than 1 million total jobs (direct and indirect) created, resulting in $16.5 billion in revenues. That’s pretty impressive for a rather nascent product.
The role of apps in the economy extends well beyond that.
Apps today help people budget their money, manage their portfolio, make payments, find a job, and the list goes on and on. Many app developers make strong statements about how their app is, for lack of a better phrase, “changing the world.”
But despite the rosy vision of apps as a panacea to many of our problems, not everyone is winning in the app economy.
Mobile apps have the potential to disrupt a host of different businesses. Apps like Uber and Lyft make it more difficult for taxi drivers to get business. AirBnb may cause significant disruption in the hotel industry. Even retailers’ mobile apps have the potential to displace millions of salespeople, as people can merely hit a button to buy their favorite products rather than take a trip to the mall.
Yet we at Red e App believe that mobile apps could become a saving grace for an economy that, in recent years, has struggled to gain traction for many people. The initial vision of this company was to provide a private platform between businesses and consumers. Over time, our company evolved into one that connects businesses with their most important asset, their employees. We believe that by doing so, employees become more engaged and productive, helping our economy at large.
We don’t believe our vision is radical: we just believe that if mobile apps can help with anything else in life, they can help us communicate better with one another at the workplace.
For more information about how a product like Red e App could help your business, please contact us for a demo.
Amee Kent
Red e App Marketing Director
