With the fast development of mobile technology apps in recent years, consumer behavior has also drastically evolved, with users being more engaged than ever. Mobile apps have influenced significantly people’s everyday lives by fundamentally transforming almost every aspect from ordering food, shopping to managing bank accounts. Nowadays it seems like there is an app for nearly everything. However, the true value of mobile applications must be appreciated the most by almost every business that wants to adapt their strategy to customers’ needs while giving their brands a competitive edge. Understanding the importance of mobile apps as well as the upcoming key trends will allow small, medium and large business owners to attract more customers and establish a whole different connection with them. In what follows we will look at the reasons for investing in mobile technology, and outline ten of the upcoming trends in 2020.

Why businesses should invest in mobile apps 
As technology is moving forward with new inventions and updates coming out to the surface every year, businesses must move rapidly in accordance with the upcoming trends. One way for businesses to achieve that and be relevant in the market is through the incorporation of mobile apps as part of their marketing strategy. Investing in mobile technology applications can be beneficial in many ways; here are just a few:
Easier promotion of products or services is one of the primary reasons why businesses should invest in mobile apps. According to a survey provided by Statista, there were 2.7 billion smartphone users across the world as of September 2019. With that being said, nearly 60% of all digital media usage came from mobile apps, which is why the latter is about to become more of a marketing necessity for thriving or already established businesses. Companies that invest in mobile apps make a much better impression on the market than those that do not. This has to do with the way such businesses are interacting with their customers by constantly promoting their products or services.  

Better customer experience is what every successful business needs in order to keep its customers engaged with their brand. Through easier accessibility and gentle reminders, customers would be much more inclined to buy products or services. A mobile app is also a more convenient way for people to browse, shop or interact with a particular brand, which in turn allows businesses to establish true connections with their customers. Better customer experience also involves the opportunity for customers to share their opinion on what exactly they want and need. Customer feedback is extremely important for a business to run well, and mobile apps allow them to do just that.
Increase of sales and revenue is another reason why brands should consider mobile apps for their businesses. The initial investments in such types of technology can be sometimes quite steep, which is also the reason why there is always some hesitation surrounding the usage of mobile apps. Yet, in a longer term a mobile web can create some great marketing opportunities and help businesses boost their sales and even generate additional revenue. As mentioned above better customer experience can also positively impact sales of a brand’s products and services. In addition, mobile apps can also be easily monetized through in-app advertisements or purchases, for example. This allows brands to offer their products on another level and thus introduce a different revenue stream into their business strategy. 
Analytics: apart from the marketing benefits, mobile apps allow businesses to collect records, in terms of user engagement, tracking downloads, etc., and use this information for analytical reports and statistics. Mobile apps can be designed to quickly and effectively collect real-time consumer data, which allows a particular company to determine what can make its products better. Tailoring services or goods to match customers’ needs and preferences can maximize the overall experience of interacting with a specific brand or organization. 
Remaining competitive: leading companies have already invested in mobile apps, whereas others are still behind in adopting this technology in their strategies. Business organizations must be aware that without a mobile presence their businesses are likely to miss out on huge marketing opportunities that could change entirely the effectiveness of their work. This is why mobile apps are a great tool for those who want to stand out from the crowd and secure a strong presence on the market. With the possibility of every app to be customized, businesses can offer visually appealing and interactive experiences for their customers. A positive image could serve very well to any company that knows how to respond to the needs of its customers. 

Having established the key reasons for businesses to invest in mobile technology applications, it is now time to explore the upcoming trends that will emerge in 2020. Every successful business must keep up with technology development while improving customer’s interaction with its brand. Below we have gathered the top 10 trends that are expected to flood the world of mobile apps.

New trends in mobile application development 
Unlocking the true potential of a modern business nowadays requires following nearly every new trend that comes out in the digital world. Going mobile can be the right choice irrespective of the industry in which a certain business operates, since mobile applications have virtually affected almost every niche and marketplace. Mobile technology has proved to be extremely useful in recent years for attracting new customers while simultaneously retaining old ones. As discussed above it is a great tool for increasing customer experience and engagement with the brand as well as for boosting sales of goods or services. In order to get an impression on how to take advantage of the mobile app market, we have gathered a list of the ten key mobile technology application trends that are expected to take over the digital world in 2020.

5G technology 
5G is a wireless technology preceded by the well-known 4G. It is currently the fastest broadband cellular network technology. The Fifth Generation network is expected to reach a speed of nearly 20 GB per second and take a much larger role than the previous mobile networks. The rise of 5G in 2020 will deliver performance on a whole new level, bringing users new and exciting experiences with their mobile devices. The evolution of the mobile network will be also very beneficial for businesses, as it will create new opportunities for products and services to be launched. In addition, the potential of 5G will make it possible for different industries to connect with each other and thus help them to work more quickly and efficiently, which in turn will increase the overall productivity of a particular business organization.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) 
AI is certainly not a new term in the contemporary world and it has been even present in people’s everyday lives for quite some time, insofar as laptops and computers are able to carry out certain tasks that do not require an intelligent response on the part of the system. Yet, 2020 is expected to be the year when AI technologies, such as voice assistants or robots, will see an even wider application in the working processes of companies and organizations. Some of the innovations include a more personalized customer experience, refined business processes (such as generating reports or filling in forms), and better cybersecurity due to the advanced algorithms that will be able to protect the user from hacking or phishing.

Wearable technology 
Wearable devices, i.e. smartwatches, tracker devices or any type of smart wearable devices, are expected to increase in demand this year. People have already started changing the way they interact with technology and so it is only natural for the digital industry to come up with innovative ideas that will allow an easier engagement with smart devices. Yet, so far not that many mobile apps can be used on portable technology. Business leaders and developers should focus on this upcoming trend and consider consumers’ increasing demand for the adaptation of their mobile apps to a wide range of devices that go beyond smartphones.

Internet of things (IoT) 
IoT has exerted a huge impact already on almost everything that people do in their everyday lives due to its giant network of connected devices. Experts expect the total number of IoT devices to reach approximately 20 billion by the end of 2020, a prediction that only underlines heavily the importance of IoT in customers’ engagement with technology. Businesses organizations must work on making their mobile apps IoT-friendly in order to simplify the shopping experiences for users who like to purchase things online. In addition, such technology can also bring a lot of benefits to businesses themselves by providing them with better data analytics, bigger security and predictive maintenance.

Blockchain technology 
This type of technology has already been incorporated by many companies that wish to provide security to its customers during transactions. Although this was the initial purpose of blockchain, this technology is capable of so much more than solely power Bitcoins. For instance, blockchain technology can be programmed to record and track not only financial transaction but also medical records or supply chains. The inclusion of blockchain in mobile apps, however, is expected to be another trend in 2020 that businesses should consider when creating or improving their mobile technology applications, since more and more customers are expected to shift to mobile commerce (m-commerce). By making use of it developers will be able to provide customers with quick and secure transactions, e-wallets, improved data protection, decrease in data loss and more.

Personal profiling 
With the increasement of consumer behavior, it is vital for businesses to be aware of their customers’ needs. Yet, it could be quite challenging to predict every person’s individual preferences, which is where personal profiling comes in. Consumer analytics are probably one of the top priorities for business organizations that want to stay competitive on the market, so examining how customers interact with their mobile apps is a good investment. There are several things that need to be taken in consideration when it comes to keeping up with one of the top technology trends in 2020. For instance, a personal profiling technology can track the most visited social media apps or what pictures people like or post in order to analyze user spending patterns. 

Beacon technology
Beacon growth is something that businesses should look out for in the new year. Beacons are one of the latest innovations in location technology and proximity marketing. Through the use of wireless transmitters and Bluetooth technology, beacons are especially helpful when it comes to sales-based information exchange. This technology goes very well with IoT devices offering users a rather personalized experience. The original idea behind the creation of this technology was multichannel marketing. Businesses that invest in this trend are much more likely to reach their sales targets. Beacons gradually spread within other industries than retail. Logistics, food services and hotels are only a few of the many businesses that have installed beacons. Some of the mobile app trends in 2020 using this particular type of technology are AI-enabled chips, automated machine learning, and mobile payment beacons. 

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) 
AMP is a project designed by Google in 2015 with the aim to provide the user with web pages accessible from a mobile device that are fast and smooth-loading. The user’s satisfaction of interacting with content is at the core of this concept. Combined with a mobile app, this technology can ensure that businesses will achieve a better conversion rate and increase user retention while demonstrating a high overall performance on the market. Furthermore, business organizations are much more likely to boost user experience. For instance, customers would be much more satisfied if they could access a retail app and browse through it without any interruptions during the process.

Chatbots 
Some of the large companies like Facebook have already integrated chatbots in their mobile apps, providing their users with precise answers without having to wait in a queue while being transferred to customer support and spending hundreds of dollars on a phone bill. As suggested by the name, this technology uses a computer program that is designed to interact with users through the Internet. Chatbots can be very useful for online shopping or food delivery businesses for example, as they can ensure a hassle-free experience by answering all of the customers’ queries. This technology seems to be especially trending as it is receiving very positive feedback from users who are quite interested in interacting with chatbots. Business organizations that decide to implement chatbots in their mobile apps in 2020 could provide a better customer experience to their clients that can potentially be turned into a more personalized one with chatbots analyzing user behavior patterns. 

Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR and VR) 
Another trend that could be a focal point for the development of mobile apps is the integration of AR and VR technologies for a better user experience. By using AR technology, developers are able to project digital content into the real world, while VR enables users to immerse into a virtual environment. Some of the giants on the digital market, like Google, Apple or Snapchat, have already introduced features like stickers or filters based on augmented reality technology. The benefits of incorporating such technology in mobile apps could be various. For example, pointing the camera of a smartphone can show users what is the least busy road, give more information about plants, or even help people find out what kind of problems there might be on the engine of their car. With that being said, both AR and VR can be very beneficial for businesses like retail, real estate, and video games. With the advancement of technology, consumers will be soon able to virtually try on a piece of clothing or see how a furniture would look like in their living room from the comfort of their own homes, which in turn can help them decide better what they want and purchase it straight away without hesitation.