Visibility

According to Smashing Media GmbH, there will be 1.7 billion mobile Internet users by 2013. An essential choice facing business decision-makers today is how to best share your company's content and products on the mobile devices that are set to take over. Strategy decisions made now will affect how well your company is positioned to reach the widest possible mobile audience in our rapidly on-the-go world. Complicating these decisions are two widely different methods of broadcasting content, either through native apps sold through third-party stores, or through Web apps, accessible on the Internet by a users’ web browser.

While you develop your company's mobile and ecommerce strategies, it's important to understand the subtle, but infinitely important difference between the Web and the Internet. When accessing the New York Times on your mobile device from a Web browser, you're on the World Wide Web; an interconnected network of billions of data points regulated by an international body. When you access the Times through a mobile app, you're on the Internet; using various technologies like TCP/IP protocol and communicating with the New York Times' servers to deliver content to your device.

As smartphones outsell PCs and tablets increase in popularity, companies have designed apps to accommodate mobile devices’ smaller browsing screens and restricted bandwidths. Developers found that apps could be tailored to complete a handful of tasks in an attractive manner, funneling essential information to the user despite a less powerful device. However, new advances in Web technology, specifically in the form of HTML5 and CSS3, are offering alternatives to downloadable apps.

Pandora, which recently switched to a leaner, Flash-less Web app, now loads, on average, five times faster than the Flash version, a much faster onboarding experience. However, the features of Web-based apps still lag behind those of their flashier, native, counterparts.

The most productive method used to reach customers is far from decided. Below are a set of parameters you can use to target the largest number of consumers and customers when determining the best platform for your company to deliver products or content.

Costs/Profitability

Understandably, one of the most important concerns is the cost associated with programming a new app for your business. Native apps demand a larger investment, as they require a specific set of tools and expertise to program. Additionally, native apps need to be programmed for several different devices. Web apps, which can be written in HTML5, work for all platforms without parallel coding. Native apps are sold through centralized marketplaces, like the Apple App Store or the Android Marketplace; however, these centralized markets maintain ultimate control over the distribution of your content. Web apps, meanwhile, are accessed directly over the Web, so there’s no need to download from a centralized location.

Web apps do require an advanced knowledge of HTML and CSS so hiring a Web developer is usually necessary. Obviously, more advanced techniques will take more investment and time as HTML5 and CSS3 are still relatively young standards. So getting insight from a developer you’ll find that their knowledge of HTML5 stems from Web communities that share lines of markup and new tricks.

Accessibility

When considering accessibility keep in mind web apps are more universally compatible with all devices. Yet on the actual device, as it stands now, there’s no real comparison. Native apps offer a smoother and more streamlined user interface, as they run offline on the device’s processor. Apple wowed the world with its iPhone home page, onto which crisp, fast-reacting app icons were set. The home page was so intuitive, a toddler could use it. In fact, when a native app is live, there’s no comparing its functionality to a Web app. The one drawback; however, is that users have to download the apps individually. Also, the popularity of three different mobile operating systems means that companies have to commission three different versions of the same app to reach the largest possible audience, iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

Web apps offer more open access with lower performance standards. Last year, YouTube unveiled an HTML5 mobile site. The HTML5 version did away with Flash as the site’s video platform and now allows any smartphone device to access videos through pre-installed Web browsers. Although YouTube has a native app for every commonly used platform, the new mobile site is built to work with future devices and is cross-platform out-of-the-box. There will be no need to continually update its mobile app for the three major mobile operating systems. Also, updates and programming tweaks can be made without the user downloading an update directly to their device.

Performance/Features

While Web applications may provide more accessibility, even the most modern Web browsers still can’t provide the performance standards that native apps reach. Web apps, with the exception of geolocation, don’t provide access to the extensive new hardware included in smartphone devices today; however, apps that are coded specifically for certain device classes can integrate with a multitude of advanced hardware, including gyroscopes, cameras, microphones and speakers.

Web apps are a better choice if broad accessibility and search ability are focuses. On the other hand, if your company is planning to deliver complex graphics or content, a native app may be more appropriate.

Web standards are improving; consequently, offering new ways to display content over the Web are continually being developed. HTML5, CSS3 and Java are leading the charge against the closed, native app dominance by offering video and animation features through the typical Web browser. The New York Times unveiled a Web app deemed “The Skimmer” that runs in a user’s browser window and looks startlingly similar to the publication’s mobile app – no download necessary. 

Certainly there are pros and cons to both native and Web applications, so ultimately it comes down to how you want your company to interact with customers. Native apps currently have the user experience advantage, but Web apps are quickly closing the gap. Cost will undoubtedly be a consideration as most app prices are free to consumers; making cost an important business driver. So if you’re looking to develop an app for your business, take some time to sit down with management and decide your target audience and company goals. Apps are an increasingly important way to reach your audience, so whether you choose a Web or native platform, the bottom line is in order to stay ahead of the curve companies should definitely consider a mobile ecommerce platform.