US: The use of mobile apps by small businesses saved approximately USD 17.6 billion annually, estimates a survey conducted by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE) Council.
The most popular type of application used was GPS navigation, with 68 percent, followed by apps for contact management at 46 percent and remote document access at 41 percent. Other popular kinds of apps included travel planning (32 percent), banking and finance management (30 percent), social media marketing (27 percent) and location-based services (23 percent).
The study, which drew on the responses of 304 owners of companies with 20 employees or fewer, found that 51 percent of respondents believe the use of apps on their smartphones and iPads made their companies more competitive. Small business owners, though, say that there is even more room for growth in how their companies use mobile apps in their businesses.
Ray Keating, chief economist with the SBE Council, said that he expects to see more usage from small business owners with apps that process credit card payments, such as Chase’s recently launched Jot app, which allows Ink From Chase cardholders to tag purchases and view all transactions on the account, including those by employees.
Source: SBE Council
