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On this day, 7 years ago - Apple introduced the first iPhone. No one could have imagined how popular mobile apps would become.

Apple customers spent over $10 billion in the company's App Store in 2013, demonstrating the continued appeal of native mobile apps and the company's curated software distribution model.

In December alone, Apple App Store customers spent over $1 billion, the most revenue in a single month since the App Store's debut in July 2008.

See how easy it is for Iconic Solutions to turn your simple pencil sketch into a full color design!

Happy New Year from the entire Iconic Solutions team! Here's to 2014 being the best yet for you and yours!

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Iconic Solutions has teamed up with the Raleigh Chamber to take their Business Expo digital.

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Watch This Artist Make A Photorealistic Finger Painting Of Morgan Freeman On An iPad

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U.S. to Consider Cellphone Use on Planes - Proposal Would Allow for Calls Above 10,000 Feet

http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303653004579212210178774516-lMyQjAxMTAzMDIwMTEyNDEyWj

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Satisfaction Increases Considerably When Auto Dealers Use Mobile Technology During the New-Vehicle Sales Process

Sales satisfaction among new-vehicle buyers is 52 points higher when their salesperson uses a tablet device than when their salesperson does not use a tablet during the sales process (844 vs. 792, respectively, on a 1,000-point scale), according to the J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) StudySM released today.

"The study finds that tablets are proving to be versatile and effective tools that may help maintain consistency in the sales process, while providing easily accessible and dynamic product information," said Chris Sutton, senior director of the automotive retail practice at J.D. Power. "Although tablet usage has increased from a year ago, dealers are still missing an opportunity to improve their sales experience by providing shoppers with sales information on a single platform that allows them to easily browse options and features with immediate commentary from their salesperson."

KEY FINDINGS

-- Satisfaction is highest among new-vehicle buyers who are presented with pricing/payment options on a computer screen or tablet (833), followed by a computer printout (820); verbal price quotes (792); and hand-written figures (780).

-- Tablet usage remains relatively limited, with only 10 percent of dealership salespeople using these devices, which is up from 7 percent in 2012.

-- New-vehicle buyers most often indicate that salespeople use these devices to capture their personal information (51%); demonstrate vehicle features (41%); and display price or payment information (38%).

-- During the shopping process, consumers most often use their mobile devices at the dealership to access vehicle pricing information (72%); model information (52%); and search inventory (38%).

Rankings

Rankings are based on the experiences of both buyers and rejecters. Overall sales satisfaction improves 9 points year over year to 673 in 2013.

Jaguar ranks highest among luxury brands in satisfaction with the new-vehicle buying experience with a score of 740. Among luxury brands, Volvo improves the most (+30 Index points) and moves up in the rankings to 9th in 2013 from 11th in 2012.

For a fourth consecutive year, MINI ranks highest among mass market brands, with a score of 718, a 6-point increase from 2012. Among mass market brands, Kia improves the most (+33 index points) and ranks 11th in 2013, up from 16th in 2012.

The 2013 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study is based on responses from 29,040 buyers who purchased or leased their new vehicle in April or May 2013. The study is a comprehensive analysis of the new-vehicle purchase experience and measures customer satisfaction with the selling dealer (satisfaction among buyers). The study also measures satisfaction with brands and dealerships that were shopped but ultimately rejected in favor of the selling brand and dealership (satisfaction among rejecters) and was fielded between July and September 2013.

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Retailers are increasingly turning to mobile coupons to drive traffic in stores and online.

One such company is Advance Auto Parts, which has traditionally focused its advertising dollars in print and TV.

To study the effectiveness of ads online, the company recently ran a promotion simultaneously in print and online through RetailMeNot.

The results were astounding.

The redemption rate for the mobile ads was 30%, compared to less than 1% for the print ads, according to Jag Bath, senior vice president of product at RetailMeNot.

"While they reached less people with [the mobile ads], the [return on investment] for them was great and the ability to target for them was great," Bath said at Business Insider's Ignition 2013 conference.

Bath said the success of the promotion for Advance Auto Parts proves that mobile ads aren't only effective for younger, more Internet-savvy shoppers.

"It isn't just about millennials," he said. "Mobile offers can drive foot traffic for more traditional, established brands like Advance Auto Parts."

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We couldn't have said it any better!

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Happy Halloween!

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Square has a super-cool new way to send cash to people using just an email's subject line. If you have a debit card, you can now send cash to anyone at any time simply by sending an email.

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Intel CEO Says $99 Tablets Are Coming This Holiday Season! Capitalize on this opportunity by letting Iconic Solutions create a custom tablet app for your business!

7 Ways Mobile Apps Are Driving Revenue for Businesses

1. Geo-Targeted Push Notifications

Back in 2010, then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt talked about how the future of mobile would be autonomous and serendipitous. That is, mobile devices would present users with information about the world around them in an automatic way. In Schmidt’s example, as he walked around a particularly storied neighborhood of San Francisco, an app would passively display information about the history of places he passed. But the technology has become a reality, and a boon to business. Here are some ways businesses could use geo-targeted push notifications.

A band on tour could notify fans in a particular city that tickets there are nearly sold out or remind concert-goers to show up early so they don’t miss the opening act

A national chain could easily send city- or region-specific notifications about special offers based on what users in that area are interested in

A restaurant could boost loyalty by sending a special offer to customers who had been in the past year but not in the last two months

A store could announce a sale on umbrellas coupled with a weather alert to nearby users when it’s predicted to rain soon

2. Additional Sales Opportunities

One of the single biggest opportunities for businesses to leverage mobile apps is that smartphones have opened a whole new world of shopping and engagement opportunities. Interactions between customers and businesses have grown to become geo-agnostic. The morning commute, waiting in line for movie tickets and sitting in a doctor's office are all places people could be using their smartphones to shop your store or engage with your brand.

These pockets of free time that were previously biased toward reading, can now be used by consumers for so much more. A mobile app maximizes opportunities for reaching users in these new pockets of time. A push notification might remind users of a nearly abandoned shopping cart, bringing them back into the shopping experience. A more seamless experience of stored login and billing information means an easier path to transact.

3. Geo-Targeted Advertising

The classic targeted ad story goes something like this: A potential homeowner is stuck in traffic on his daily commute home and looks out his window to read a sign on a new housing development that says, “If you lived here, you’d be home by now.”

Now multiply that times a billion and you’ve got the power of modern, smartphone-powered targeted advertising. These smart ads can target users by their specific location, displaying ads that are geographic and contextually optimized. Businesses can make on-the-fly tweaks to campaigns based on what works in a particular geographic location. They can also display coupons to potential users nearby or help users find the business by advertising directly on a map.

4. Dynamic Offers

When you tie in technologies like push notifications and geotargeting, magical things start to happen. Businesses can use data collected through geotracking and ad campaigns to deliver just-in-time offers. Groupon Now is just the tip of the iceberg. The power of mobile apps allows businesses to do all sorts of cool things to boost revenue.

For example, movie theaters and very time-sensitive inventory that goes to waste at a particular time and can’t be recovered. The theater could track and send a coupon to users who are nearby and looked up information about showtimes but didn’t make a purchase. A bar with a slow night could offer an impromptu extended happy hour to past patrons who are nearby.

5. Pushing Through the Funnel

Ever walked into a store, shopped around a bit, and then walked out without making a purchase? That’s called a "bounce." Online, users bounce for a variety of reasons and on mobile the reasons are even greater. Users might not have a credit card handy, typing in account information is considered too tedious or they simply get distracted and put their phone back in their pocket.

Fortunately, one way to combat transaction abandonment is through automatic address fill-in. Using a phone’s GPS, transactional apps can detect a user’s location and automatically fill in address data. Seamless, the leading online food delivery service, has been aggressively marketing its mobile apps that automatically detects a user’s location to fill in a delivery address and display restaurants able to deliver there.

6. Data Gathering

One of the really powerful tools available to online businesses is that they can easily track every move customers make from the moment a user lands on the site. What engaged users and what turned them off? Where, exactly, in the online store did a user go and what did they do when they got there? These are really easy questions for webmasters to answer, but good luck figuring that out in brick-and-mortar store. That is, unless you’re using the Wi-Fi signals emitted from smartphones in your customers pockets and purses. Tracking signals from mobile devices is opening a whole new world of analytics and data-gathering opportunities for retailers stuck in the physical world.

7. Compete Anywhere

Many brick-and-mortar retailers complain about showrooming, the practice whereby shoppers visit a physical store to inspect the goods in person all the while intending to ultimately make their purchase online, where prices are usually cheaper. While the traditional retailer might be on the losing end of that transaction, the customer and online retailer are winning. Price comparison tools are helping etailers drive additional traffic and sales. Amazon, for example, even went so far as to offer a $5 discount to shoppers who scanned items using their price comparison tool.

Mobile apps are helping businesses increase revenue largely by increasing efficiency. Instead of advertising to broad spectrum, users can be narrowly targeted. Businesses can lure back customers who haven’t been in a while but are nearby. Customers can shop during small pockets of time that would have have previously gone to waste. Businesses can precision-discount inventory in the last moments before it would have gone to waste. And all these little efficiencies are resulting in more revenue for businesses while, by and large, enhancing the overall experience for users.

Courtesy of Guest blogger Ryan Matzner

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See how we can help you scare up some new business with a mobile app. Contact us!

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Has ROI gone soft?

More and more brands are moving away from metrics that purport to measure ROI on social media and mobile.

They've realized that social media isn't a transactional engine or sales machine, so they're dropping half-baked indicators that gauge secondary effects, such as financial return.

Instead, the new metrics evaluate social media and mobile strategies in terms of audience-building, brand awareness, and customer relations, known as a soft ROI.

What are your thoughts on measuring the effectiveness of these tools?

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Raleigh Chamber Names Nick Genty to Board of Advisors

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5 Ways Mobile Apps Can Increase Revenue

People are choosing smartphones over using their desktop to research menus, get directions and find nearby restaurants. In 2012. more than 1 billion smartphones were in use and more people are choosing mobile applications over browsing the Internet. Users of smartphones are creating a new, profitable mobile channel in addition to traditional desktop web-channel. Mobile website users are finding Web ordering difficult and embrace native iOS and Android apps that are easier to use and now expect a mobile experience with easy to navigate, fast and seamless ordering. If restaurant owners haven't yet considered mobile as part of their business strategy, here are five reasons investing in a restaurant mobile app can be justified to increase revenue.

1. Stay relevant

The rise in the use of smartphones and mobile apps go hand-in-hand with a new generation of consumers, the Millennials. The National Restaurant Association describes this new bread of customers as technologically savvy multi-taskers raised on cell phones and the web. When you underestimate technology you underestimate the revenue you're missing out on. This new generation of customer is looking for the latest technology to connect with your brand. Show that you're digitally integrated to connect with this type of clientele. Consider this: 73 percent of Millennials are already transacting directly on their mobile devices (Media Post June 2012). This is the future of how people will interact with brands and spend their money.

2. Streamline advance mobile ordering

Smartphone users, especially iPhone users have a high propensity to conduct transactions on their phone like placing a to-go or walk-in restaurant order. By providing customers the ability to order meals and pay for orders before arriving, and store favorites in a mobile app, you have raised the bar to give mobile users what they want; speed and convenience. This value is especially pronounced during a store's peak time. "Let's go somewhere else, the wait is too long." When customers see long lines with long wait times, it's a sign of good food and good service, but sales growth is capped to what processing the line. A mobile app can recapture the "look and leave" customer by providing them the ability to order meals, pay for orders, and store favorites in a mobile app before arriving. Consider promoting the use of a mobile app with a big sign reading, "Skip the line, order ahead of time using our mobile app!" will keep customers loyal and top them from spending their money elsewhere at peak hours.

3. Automate loyalty card tracking

Everyone else is going paperless, it's time you did, too. Trying to keep track of rewards and punch cards are a thing of the past. Many times a customer will lose their punch card, forget it at home or accidentally throw it out, resulting in duplicate cards or never enjoying the rewards they've earned. Smart companies are using technology to make loyalty smarter and save on costs. Rather than paying to print loyalty cards, collateral and coupons that customers have a hard time keeping track of, companies are providing all the same benefits neatly organized in an app. You can also use your mobile apps to drive sales where needed, whether it e a specific day part or menu category. Is it Taco Tuesday? Are you pushing beverage sales with a new drink? Use your app to support those efforts by letting customers know, and sales will reflect this effort.

4. Track customer behavior

Keeping track of customer activity is a good way to watch ordering trends and customer behavior. The data gained can be used to send specific offers, reminders and encourage customers to try something new. It could even result in cost savings by stocking up on high demand items and down on those with less interest. Remind them that last time they ordered a side of rice, and prompt them with an upsell on that item again. If someone hasn't been to your restaurant in awhile, invite them back with photos new menu items they won't want to miss. Imagine the possibilities knowing a customers go-to menu items and behaviors.

5. Stay top of mind

How many times do you get a group of friends together and spend time thinking about where everyone wants to go? The debate on where to eat is a common one, and in a saturated media market you need to get your restaurant's message seen at an opportune time. With a mobile app, you can push messages at certain times of day, such as a special lunch offer at 11:30 a.m. to remind customers you are an option.

How can an app help your business succeed?

Technology is only getting better by the day. Now is the time to craft your mobile restaurant marketing plan. Mobile apps for restaurants are a natural fit as people are most often on-the-go while making their dining decisions. Apps are making customers' lives easier, and increasing efficiency and revenue for restaurants.

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