by Kristen Nicole on November 3, 2009
Pizza Hut’s iPhone app has brought the company $1 million in revenue since launch, reports Mashable. The number is significant for revenue brought in via a free iPhone app alone, especially considering the decline Pizza Hut has seen in the past few years.
While the iPhone app was featured in Apple iPhone ads, Pizza Hut’s expectations were exceeded. Compared to the company’s other mobile efforts, a direct and well-integrated application on iPhone’s platform has been a major turning point for Pizza Hut marketing.
Its success also brings hints of how well other iPhone applications can do.
As I’ve mentioned before, some of the most successful applications across Apple’s platform are those that provide value through convenience. In this regard, Pizza Hut’s ability to offer easy meal-ordering at a discount, complete with directions to the nearest location, has provided a service to consumers. It’s apps like these that turn the iPhone into a mini, mobile concierge.
As the success of iPhone apps continue to rise, we’ll see more all-inclusive apps that provide multiple services. These will act as sub-platforms atop Apple’s, interconnecting the features and functionality of other successful applications. For food apps we’ve already seen a little of this, with those that let you order from multiple restaurants. But including even these apps with others that also place reservations, tweet location and recommendation and make a mobile payment will become the power apps in their own right.
These types of apps will be able to do a lot more with the data they collect, providing some useful recommendation fodder. This can of course be used for search engines or advertising, turning that data back over to support the system.
I’m personally excited about applications that make my life easier. These mobile phones are getting pretty handy. Why shouldn’t they be used as our own digital concierges? Democratizing convenience could provoke positive change, if the data is not abused.
by Kristen Nicole on June 22, 2009
Everyone loves doughnuts. They’re a staple at nearly every office across corporate America. Dunkin’ Donuts knows this, and has created a free iPhone application in order to spur some office-related doughnut runs. You know how it goes. You bring in a box of doughnuts for early morning meetings, post-lunch meetings, late afternoon meetings. Or you get a hankering for one of those apple-filled, crumble-topped rounds of fried goodness. So you grab your wallet and selflessly ask your officemates if they’d like anything from Dunkin’ as well.
As this act of kindness (or unpaid internship dutifulness) that Dunkin’ is counting on. From your iPhone you can initiate a group order, and have requests sent via Dunkin’ to your officemates. Everyone can put in their order, and the lucky gopher now has a complete list and exact total for the group order.
What’s interesting about this particular app and the way in which it creates an interactive format for soliciting group orders is that it essentially turns a simple doughnut run into an event. With alerts sent out to officemates regarding an upcoming Dunkin’ run, the doughnuts company is more than encouraging repeat behavior and taking branding to a new and practical level. Simplify the lives of your paying customers and you’re more likely to gain positive brand recognition.
As far as retail goes, I have a tendency to like this approach. The app is mobile, free, and provides a valuable service to customers. I wouldn’t mind seeing other retailers follow suite, though the type of retail this mobile app would work for is rather limited. And while there is a website that provides the same service, having it available on mobile phones makes it easier for all parties involved.
On the market research side of things, I’m sure Dunkin’ will be able to garner a good amount of information from those that use this application. Location-based data and customer history are just two areas of research that could be greatly benefited from this application alone. Of course, this data can then be parsed and given back to the customers in the form of recommendations, some of which could even be used outside of the Dunkin’ Run application. Other personal assistant services such as PageOnce, or food-related applications on the iPhone or Facebook could benefit from such purchase-based recommendations in the long run, especially when combined with recommendations from other retailers.
by Kristen Nicole on May 27, 2009
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Travel site NileGuide has launched an iPhone application, making it easier to plan your trips and access your NileGuide activity while on the go. Called Guide To Go, the new, free NileGuide iPhone app offers all he main features found on the site.
Some features include browsing custom itineraries, exploration options for trip elements, and access to photos, comments and contact information. There are also maps based on planned activities, which also has each point of interest viewable in relation to a user’s current location. Each location also has a guidebook, with the history of that location, weather, best places to stay, eat and drink.
Just as on the NileGuide site, community features are available on Guide to Go. iPhone users can leave their own comments and reviews directly from their mobile phones. A recent feature added to NileGuide, which promotes travel information from local experts, is also accessible on Guide to Go.
I think this mobile app looks pretty comprehensive and is a great next step for NileGuide. The past few months have seen a wealth of upgrades from the travel site, and it’s good to see that the bulk of these updates have been included in the mobile application. Launching the mobile app was the next logical step in NileGuide’s ultimate goals central to the company, and I expect we’ll see even more mobile integration in the future.
For smart phone integration in particular, the customization of the Guide to Go app and its associated content is key for NileGuide. Connecting the main site and the iPhone app can really enhance a user’s trip-planning and travel experience at any point in the process. There are other iPhone apps that aren’t necessarily designed for travelers but offer user-based reviews on locations. Many of these apps are lacking the advantage of an integrated map based on your GPS location, or recommendations based on personal preferences.
So in that regard, the NileGuide app has an advantage for even those that aren’t planning an entire trip but would like to get information on any given point of interest. This means that the Guide To Go iPhone app essentially expands the use cases for NileGuide service itself, which will ultimately enable the company to grow in multiple directions for a very broad range of end users.
