Will Bots replace Apps in next 5 years? Let’s take a look

Today, the average user downloads zero apps per month. Yes, ZERO. If you are lucky enough that your app is downloaded, after one month just 5% of the users that downloaded your app are using it. If you consider a cost-per-install of say $1.24 (the global average cost), that means you spend ~$25 for a user that sticks on beyond a month and at least $100 for a user that uses the app 3 months after download - and we are not talking about revenue here, much less profit.

Business Insider had caught up a chat with Carlos Nicholas Fernandes, Founder – Blaze, a digital platform for easy access information to the Indian market.

It is no wonder that only 0.1% of all apps have more than 50,000 installs and the usage numbers on those apps are also a lot lower. In fact, 80% of a user's time is spent on his 3 favourite apps. The important thing is why does this happen? Why does the future of bots look bright?
Fernandes explains the same with logic.

First, each app has its own user interface, Its own on boarding mechanism, and its own learning curve. Consumers want to get "their jobs done" - they don't have an affinity for apps - it's just that apps were the best way 5 years ago. Today, chat bots that work through a conversational interface is the easiest way for one to get the "job done".

Second, no matter how powerful the phone, consumers have app fatigue - they don't want another app occupying space on their phone, sending them notifications etc. They want things that enhance the functionality of their phones in the most frictionless and lightweight way possible. Adding a chatbot is like adding a contact. No installation or download required; no space on your phone, and instantly (and always) updated.

Third, and perhaps most of all, they have a finite amount of time and attention and can't be bothered to switch to a new app for everything. For better or worse, users' favorite apps are Facebook, Whatsapp, Messenger, and Instagram - all that happen to be owned by one company, Facebook.The fact that Snap has steered way from its "Snapchat" roots and identifies itself as a camera company is revelatory of Facebook being a platform and not just an app. Adding a bot allows you to get the information you want through the app you most often use - messaging. This results in substantially higher usage rates and interaction.

What does the future hold?
The growth in messaging apps outpaced virtually every category. Messaging is unquestionably the key communication platform for users today. In fact when you think about it, it has been for a long time - starting with the days of SMS. Businesses want to be part of a conversation with consumers and the best way to do that is to be a contact on the messaging app of choice. When you think about it - bots use the most natural user interface - the interface of language. The ability to understand language as a human does not quite exist with bots today,but through clever conversational interface design and presenting the user with a set of pre-selected responses, one can reduce the amount a user has to type to get to the information he needs. Over time, AI bots will get more sophisticated in their ability to understand natural language, but even now, bots provide far more usable user-interfaces than apps. Facebook, Microsoft and a host of other companies view bots as the future and we are very aligned with that vision. We have seen many platforms come and go - today we see messaging as a platform.

Is Blaze coming to India?

“We would like Blaze to be the top bot for news / trending content. We want Blaze to be that friend that keeps you posted on the hottest videos, news and trends that are happening around the world - you don’t have to search for it or look for it. It delivers it right there to you in messenger and over time it gets more and more fine-tuned to your interests. In fact the predecessor of Blaze (that we called “NowTrendingBot”) on telegram is consistently one of the top 10 bots and hovers at #5. We hope that our bot does as well in the Indian market and that we can power the bots for the wider media industry,” Fernandes told Business Insider.