December 2019 - Mobile App Development Company UK

Mobile App Marketing Funnel: Converting Users into Customers

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Redbytes UK SEO

What is Mobile App Marketing Funnel?

Mobile App Marketing Funnel is a model that breaks down the stages of the customer journey. It starts with general awareness and ends with leads that converting prospects into customers.

One of the most critical and complicated of all business funnels, Mobile app marketing funnel involves a lot many considerations and strategic challenges.

From their very discovery, onboarding process to final conversion and even beyond, customer acquisition funnels have users move through multiple stages and channels.

Your close examination and analysis of user journey through these funnels lead you to a better position in conversion tactics.

In this blog, we are going to understand 5 major phases of app marketing funnel and what tactics have potential enough to yield returning and loyal converted customers.

The role of Mobile app marketing funnel

A little different from traditional marketing, most tactics used to propel customers through acquisition funnel are unique in its scope and effect.

The funnel for app marketing helps in the following parameters:

Discover friction points and business challenges
Areas of strengths and weakness
Target areas with great Impact on business growth
Customer retention solutions
Strong methods of customer interactions
Drop off, retention and conversion points
Realization of user-friendly engagement/support channels
Discovery of action plan
Key spots of investment

Read Also: Effective Post launch App Strategies That can Drive Success

Different stages in mobile app marketing funnel

Discovery and Awareness phase
Consideration
Conversion and Acquisition
Customer Relationship
Customer Retention

1. Discovery and Awareness Phase

Discovery phase in mobile apps is more crucial than traditional desktop exposure or typical enterprise sales. Here early stages where most purchase decisions are made consists of time taken to download an app.

In mobile app marketing funnel, the purchase or sales time which is nearly equivalent to time to download an app is relatively less.

The discovery and awareness stage is mostly dedicated to getting the product discovered by potential users and driving much awareness around it despite thousands of similar apps in the market.

Hence, the stage requires you to adopt effective app discovery tactics, both organic and paid.

(i) Organic approach

Many of mobile app marketing tactics resemble traditional marketing funnel such as social media exposure, word of mouth, email marketing, influencer or affiliate marketing, partner blogs and forums, etc.

(a) Word of Mouth

One of the ancient form of marketing, WOM type of marketing is still seen as effective in modern marketing funnel. WOM is all about how easily users can share with others, which is made possible by creating reward and referral programs in place.

Many food delivery and ride sharing apps leverage the idea of making it easy for existing customers to share and refer the app to their friends and folks. The tactic eventually drives good WOM marketing and referrals.

(b) App Store Optimization (ASO)

More like mobile app SEO, ASO is the must-have process of App store optimization that ensures your mobile app is optimized to rank top in app store when users come searching for it.

Since ASO accounts for 48% of app discovery, the need for ASO is high.For ASO success, make sure you use right target keywords in app name and description, and design an appealing icon,earn more user ratings and introduce frequent updates.

(c) Social media

Social media is undoubtedly the best tactic to create scores of fans for your app who will vote for you. Go and promote your new mobile app on social pages like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Twitter’s App Cards has people actually downloading the app directly from its page. Find out such healthy ways to connect and engage with active social media audience.

(d) Forums and Q&A sites like Quora and Reddit

Whether it is an app for shopping, meditation, e-sports, productivity or anything else, they all have a thriving community and target customers. It is important to find and reach out to them on channels and platforms they frequently visit such as hot famous Quora and Reddit. Follow their community guidelines and standard practices to achieve best gains on these interactive platforms.

(ii) Paid marketing tactics

Here are a few paid customer acquisition tactics to learn:

(a) App install and retargeting messages

To encourage more app installs, you can capitalize on your app’s in-built referral system. Use the referral links to create ads for retargeting referrals with a message. This way you will have a chance to convert and acquire new customers with existing ones.

Another app install driver is populating ads via social platforms like Facebook, AdWords, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram etc. These widely used networks help drive downloads and grab more attention.

This also works for Google Play store, where upon searching with a keyword, people get to see a list of apps along with paid advertisements of apps. In many cases, this tactic is more effective than organic results especially when you are new in the market.

(b) Affiliate marketing

Most popular these days, Affiliate marketing works like a referral system though other apps here feature your app to their existing users. The featured ad widgets, pages and snippets created by marketers is embedded by other app and web publishers (affiliates) on their platforms.

The app marketers have to pay a small fee to affiliates for such cross-promotion service which is more beneficial when you have multiple apps.

2. Consideration

Before downloading and after discovering your app, the first instinct is to check ratings, images and description or a supporting video on the app page in app stores.

This is called consideration process where trust plays a major role to drive app installs. This is where your app proves whether or not it is worth downloading by means of proof visible to curious souls.

Ratings are especially important if you spend good bucks on paid marketing tactic as many ads show ratings. The app with 4 or 4+ stars emit positive signals and bring more organic downloads as opposed to 2-3 star apps that don’t impress.

(i) Organic strategies

For good consideration, try to build trust for your presence on various marketing channels including emails, social space, website,etc. Here is what you can do for app store consideration:

(a) App page

Put the top quotes and positive reviews on the top space of the app page. You can also take advantage of placing a promotional video that shows the ins and outs of your app and the experience downloaders can expect.

(b) App ratings and reviews

Your app page is only well-optimized when there are considerable app ratings and reviews. As spoken earlier, every penny spent on paid marketing efforts will be worth it when your app shines with 4+ ratings.

You may use a smart rating prompt tool that helps boost reviews and ratings by reminding satisfied customers to leave review about their experience with the app.

3. Conversion and Acquisition

Conversion starts as soon as the installation happens and varies from product to product. If it is a retail app, remember that users never follow a straight line in their journey.

Some browse for new products while others are interested in specific items or special offers for new joiners. For some apps, conversion is in-app subscription or purchases while it is merely account creation for others.

Some users decide instantly to create an account while others spend sessions before creating the account. Mull over all the ways you can lead users to a conversion point.

(i) Conversion Tactics

We suggest you should define the exact conversion metrics of your business and target spots you wish to hit before starting off with these conversion tactics:

(a) Smooth Onboarding

Smooth, fluid onboarding process is what customers expect and what boosts conversion. Get them started with your app and help them familiarize with your in-app environment.

Make sure the road between install and app usage is made effortless and simple for users to get accustomed to the app quickly. This is because onboarding is directly associated with their first experience.

b) UX design craft

The number of people quitting your app due to poorly designed interface and shoddy registration page is more than 40%. This suggests first impression is a key driver of conversion.

This is why marketers need to work together with UI developers to design a user-optimized intuitive interface that delivers flawless interaction. Fusion of marketers and engineers leads to more returning converted customers.

Read Also: Importance of MVP in mobile app development

4. Customer Relationship

Building a customer relationship saves a lot of efforts and dollars spent on customer acquisition and retention activities. Develop a good relationship with them using the services that add value.

Marketers should follow the etiquette of physical retailers who engage with their buyers in store. While connecting with mobile app customers, choosing the right moment to spark off communication is the key to developing healthy relationships.

Steer clear from forcing yourself on customers when you approach them. Go with the flow, remain natural, read clues and reach out when you think they need you.

(i) Viable tactics

Think about how this approach to building customer relationships can translate to your mobile app experience by following these tactics:

(a) The right-moment communication

Communication with customers must happen at a right time and in a way that doesn’t bother them. You can choose to connect with in-app users when they are stuck somewhere, frustrated or had a great experience.

Encourage feedback and respond to them since good customer support, proactive resolution and product satisfaction translate to a lasting customer relationship.

Mobile offers a convenient platform for a brand to initiate communication and be accessible to customers in the nick of time. Leverage special feedback features to create a strong response system.

(b) Element of Personalization

Personalization is the one tactic that is never out of the game. Prepare viable one-to-one personalized messages that incorporate all of customers’ likes, tastes, preferences and tendencies.

Use customer data and try to be as close to customer’s personality as possible to achieve deep personalization and deliver addictive in-app customer experience.

5.Customer Retention

Customer acquisition and replacement cost is quite higher than retention and engagement activities. Mobile apps that constantly stay in touch with their customers have better chance at retaining customers after installing the app.

Engaging customers involves building relationships, listening to their feedback, giving responses and delivering great experience. Customers are most likely to remain loyal when companies respond to their feedback.

Also as you implement their feedback to improve your app service, they feel like being a part of the process – which further translates to more loyalty.

(i) Retention tactics

New offers, feedback, special moments and app updates encourage customers to stick to your app and keep using it.

(a) Engaging content

Make a practice of frequently updating in-app content with fresh perspective as it keeps customers engaged and loyal to your app. You can think of adding dynamic catalogue or special offers banners, new features or fun facts associated with your products.

Offer something fresh and unseen so that every time they open your app, they will be surprised and retained more often.

(b) Push notifications

Unlike in-app messages, push notifications appear outside the app on a customer’s device as alerts or messages when they are not interacting with your app. These notifications help foster good desire in customers to go use your app again for a reason and drive retention.

(c) Loyalty and reward bonus

If nothing else seems to work, Loyalty bonus or reward programs are the best way to retain lost customers or infrequent customers who are less active.

You can customize your own mobile-exclusive reward loyalty program that boosts engagement and brand loyalty. For instance, make them purchase on specific occasion and promise a reward in return as soon as they hit a milestone.

Read Also: How to reduce the mobile app development cost

Final words

We hope you could learn and collect some insight from our attempt to explain ideal mobile app marketing funnel strategy to convert users into customers. You can work on these tactics, discuss with your marketing team and implement them to smoothen user journey.

When executed perfectly, the precise visualization of customer acquisition funnel leads you to exact target business metrics and a bright opportunity to achieve improved customer retention, conversion and loyalty while reducing drop off number.

How to Create an App like PayPal [Features & Cost Included]

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Redbytes UK SEO

PayPal is one of the first entrants in the P2P market and today it is the pioneer and leader in the space. Many businesses today across the globe are using PayPal as their payment service provider.

There are a few distinct features that set PayPal apart from its counterparts.

For example, PayPal uniquely performs as a merchant account as well as a payment gateway. And even though there is no setup fee involved, consumers transacting on the app will have to bear a service and transaction fee.

The number of users using digital payments in some form or the other to make financial transactions is expected to reach 3.7 billion by the end of 2019.

Hence, there is no better time than now to create a PayPal app clone

Need to Create an App like PayPal

Recent studies show that 3 out of 4 millennials access one or more online or mobile P2P payments regularly. It is not surprising that users love to send money with only a couple of clicks and swipes.

There have been unprecedented advancements in technology and innovations like NFC and biometrics ID that have fuelled these apps to become more self-reliant.

This establishes the fact that there is ample demand in the market to develop a PayPal app or something similar to that. With the growth expected to reach $336 billion in 2021, investments have been free-flowing for fintech start-ups.

Hence, what do you need to do to create a similar app like PayPal and ensure that it becomes a success?

Read Also: 10 Best Free Budgeting Apps 2020

Steps to Create an App Like PayPal

With the decision taken to create a PayPal like app, you need to follow these steps:

1. Project Scoping

Outline the scope of the project that should include the provision for building web, iOS and Android versions of the P2P app. Core features in the project that are a must are opening user and merchant accounts, online payment, transaction/balance reporting, etc.

2. Choose the Correct SDLC Model

Launch with an MVP model that targets specific geography and a limited set of features. Eventually, you can enhance the app, step by step, as you get more feedback from the market.

3. Come Up with a Strategic Approach to Development

You can either opt for a PaaS or MBaaS platform for the web and mobile apps respectively. Key features can be implemented here using the SDKs and APIs. Make use of IDES and frameworks to speed up the project.

4. Assign a Scrum Team

Agile projects require scrum techniques. Therefore, have an appropriate team in place that should ideally comprise of Business Analysts, UI Designers, Web Developers, Android Developers, iOS Developers, a group of Testers and Project Manager

5. Get Cloud Services

Cloud service platforms come in handy for start-ups who do not wish to immediately invest in a ton of IT infrastructure. To get the development ball rolling quickly, managed cloud services can offer features such as ready-made infrastructure, networking, server, storage, middleware, operating system, and runtime environment.

6. Get an Online Payment Solution

To create a PayPal app, you need an API/SDK solution. This can be implemented as part of the core online payment features. You can instantly start processing payments online with this built-in solution. Generally, these platforms are compatible with web, Android, and iOS.

7. Procure an ID Verification Solution

You have to be compliant with regulations governing financial institutions. For this, you must have an ID verification solution that should function to verify government provided IDs. It should also be able to handle KYC and AML processes.

8. Sign-Up for a CRM Solution

Once your P2P app is developed, you will need to integrate it with a complete gamut of business activities. For this, you need a powerful CRM solution.

9. Buy a Bulk SMS Solution

With the app deployed, you will want the users to be engaged with it. Push notification is an intelligent way to achieve this objective. A bulk SMS solution that allows you to send continuous push notifications to your users is what you need to incorporate here.

10. Download and Set-Up IDEs

You will need access to a set of development tools. For this, you need to download the following IDEs:

IntelliJ IDEA, for the web app development, along with this Node.js plugin
Android Studio, for coding the Android app
Xcode, for the iOS app development

11. Get on with Testing

Before you launch your web and mobile applications, you should test it out on multiple browsers and devices.

12. Develop Your Web App

Once SDKs/APIs and development tools are sorted; you should get on with developing your web application. It is recommended that you use js to code the web app to make it more scalable.

13. Design the UI for the Mobile App

Ensure that your user interface is simple and easy to use. Also, make sure that it appeals in terms of visual sensibilities combined with smart technology to your user base. Choose the navigation structure carefully and blend it with the right icons, colour schemes, and themes.

14. Code, Test and Deploy the Android App

Once your Android application moves from the drawing board to the developer’s hands, you can expedite the coding process by using Kotlin, a powerful, feature-rich language. Integrate SDKs/APIs into your code. Test your app and be ready to deploy it on Google Play store.

15. Developing the iOS App

Launching the iOS app will involve coding via using Swift that creates fast and performant apps. Develop the app using Xcode and then test it on multiple mobile devices. Integrate third-party applications along with SDKs and APIs. Publish the app as per the guidelines outlined by the Apple store.

Essential Features of the App

The following are the list of recommended features that you need to include when creating a PayPal app clone.

1. User Digital Wallet

Your P2P application must accommodate a digital wallet space where your users can store their card data.

2. Send and Request Money

This is a simple enough feature where users will be able to send or request funds from other users on the same platform.

3. Send Bills or Invoices

Users will be able to use the camera on their smartphones or tablets to scan bills and invoices and share with other users. Moreover, any transaction on an individual level should generate an automatic invoice.

4. Push Notifications

Push notifications should be sent out on credit and debit of funds. They should also act as reminders, for instance, due date to pay your electricity bills, etc.

Read Also: 11 Best Personal Finance Apps 2020

5. Unique ID/OTP

To make any financial transaction via the P2P app, the user must be able to verify and confirm their unique ID and OTP (one-time-password). With the help of the integrated fingerprint scanner in the device, you will be able to verify transactions through fingerprint scanning alone.

6. Transfer to a Bank Account

The app should be developed with a feature that will enable the user to transfer funds not just on the same platform but also to a bank account or card.

7. Multiple Currency and Automated Conversion Process

The application should support the feature where users can send or receive funds in multiple currencies, globally. The incorporation of a mechanized currency converter can be really helpful as the entire process of the conversion rate depends on it.

8. Track Payments & Check History

Users must be able to track their financial history – received and sent payments, dates, and correct time on the app. To substantiate and scale this feature, you need to send weekly or monthly emails to the users, informing of their updated financial transactions during a given period.

9. Chat

If the users wish to seek clarification concerning payment, then introducing a chat feature will be certainly beneficial. It will also add great value and a competitive edge to your application. Besides that, it will reduce the number of possible mistakes.

10. Messaging

At times users may need to add details along with their transaction. This can be done by introducing the messaging feature.

11. Admin Panel

This feature is more relevant to the app owner. A web admin panel needs to be created that will help the owner to manage the app, edit, remove, and so on.

12. Secure Networks

Security is of paramount importance in a payment application as data transmission and storage are at a high risk of compromising. Blockchain technology can come to your rescue here that assists you to take advantage of peer-to-peer networks.

How the App Makes Money?

Online payment apps need to make money too. Therefore, a monetization strategy or a revenue model should be in place to ensure the app’s success. After all, every entrepreneur needs their venture to be profitable within a reasonable time.

You can go with two models of revenue generation when you develop a PayPal app version.

1. Premium Service Method

You can let your consumers access basic features such as transferring funds, accessing transaction history, and more on the free version of the application.

However, high-end features such as cryptocurrency transactions, text messaging facility, currency rates, and conversion facility, etc. should only be accessible on the paid version of the app.

2. Affiliate Marketing Method

Allow complementary financial institutions like banks, credit card companies or similar organizations to advertise their products and services on your app’s interface.

Trends & Statistics

According to the Allied Market Research report, the mobile payment market was valued at over $600 billion in 2016. eMarketer reports that there were around 82.5 million mobile phone P2P payments users in the United States alone.

It is estimated that over 50% of these users will make at least one P2P transaction per month by 2022.

Thus, P2P payments phenomena are quickly growing momentum. And that is simply because of the convenience that it offers to users in transferring funds via a secure and easy environment.

How Much Does it Cost to Create an App Like Paypal

An application like PayPal is a complex entity, especially with its set of security measures. Other parameters that come into play are team constitution, third party integrations, location of the development team, list of features, etc.

Based on the features discussed, Android and iOS apps can cost anywhere between $ 100,000 and $ 150,000.

Similar Apps

There are many players in the online payment app segment that are constantly competing with one another to gain market share. So, when you are developing a PayPal app, it is wise to evaluate your immediate competition.

Take a look at some of the well-known payment apps currently operating in the market:

Venmo
Zelle
Cashapp
Transferwise
InstaRem
Remitly
MoneyGram
TorFX
WorldFirst
OFX

Read Also: How Much Does it Cost to Create an App Like Mint

Conclusion

With P2P apps being the new trend in the financial segment, you won’t be wrong to go ahead with creating a PayPal app or something that closely resembles it. But you will need a lot of help with the actual process.

At Redbytes UK, we have experienced team of developers who have worked on similar high-end projects in the market. With years of industry exposure and hands-on experience, your project could not have been in better and more capable hands.

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s create wonders together. Get in touch.

How to Create an App like Airbnb [Features & Cost Included]

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Redbytes UK SEO

The world around you has undergone a tremendous transformation. The economy has become more on-demand which has even forced industries like travel and hospitality to make changes in how they function.

That is probably one of the reasons why organizations such as Airbnb are at a billion-dollar valuation in less than five years.

Or why apps like Airbnb are in great demand worldwide.

The Airbnb Story

Everyone knows the story of Airbnb and how it took off. Many say it was pure coincidence coupled with a little bit of luck and an idea that was genuinely creative.

2007 was when it started with a small but life changing incident. Founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia decided to rent out a mattress in their room using a bed and breakfast model just to earn a few bucks to pay for their own accommodation.

And Air Bed &Breakfast was born. The potential of the idea hit both the founders pretty much instantly. In spite of several rejections from angel investors, the founders kept it going and managed to grow into Airbnb by 2009. As of March 2018, the platform hosts rentals across 65,000 cities in 191 countries.

Read Also: 13 Best Free Travel Apps for 2020

Why Airbnb?

It is a universally known fact that Airbnb as an application is considered to be progressive. It propagates ways of human interactions within society. Two key factors that can help are:

By developing the concept of a ‘sharing economy’ model, the app promotes a system where services or assets are shared between individuals, either for free or for a fee
They contribute towards building the ‘trust loop’ which creates an environment of reliability and dependency among individuals through the usage of their service or assets

Since you are living in the time of the internet with globalization phenomena working in full force, there is more interest and space for people to travel and experience foreign cultures.

But there are basic hurdles such as the price of accommodation, hotels that leave you disconnected and there wasn’t an easy manner of booking a room from localhost.

When you travel, you want to experience unique hospitality where locals are willing to share, make friends, build relationships and more.

Imagine that you can find all of this in a single platform. A home away from home.

Airbnb can be best described as a peer-to-peer marketplace.

What it does is to offer the functionality that is provided by any booking website, that is, aggregate offers for hotel and motel rooms. However, there is a distinctive difference.

Airbnb acts an accommodation letting service that facilitates private owners of the property to let out their living spaces to individuals, looking for short-term rentals during their travels.

Lately, the over saturation of the vacation rental niche has been the topic of discussion. In the current landscape, 10% to 15% of the market is owned by Airbnb. This leaves a lot of untapped opportunities for new start-ups to enter and disrupt the dynamics.

So, the questions that arise are how to create an app like Airbnb and how much it will cost?

Core Features of an Airbnb-Like Marketplace

Take a look at the essential functionalities to create an app like Airbnb.

Features for Guests or Travelers:

Log-in or Sign-up:

Users can sign-up by creating a new account. The details required to be filled in includes name, number, email id, etc. Sign-ins can be made via integrating your Airbnb account with your Google or social media account like Facebook. In case you have an id, you can use your pre-registered ID to log-in.

Manage Account

Users can edit, manage and update their profile information, for example, email id, mobile number, date of birth, gender, permanent address, etc. whenever they wish to do. They can also change their account password as per their convenience.

Chat and Push Notifications

Airbnb offers instant chat notifications like any other messaging application.

Search Filter

You can filter by parameters like your dates for travel, type of accommodation, your budget, must-have amenities, and more when you are looking for your desired short-term rental.

Host Interaction

Before booking your stay, the Host Interaction feature allows users to communicate with their host through messages. It also enables them to freely accept or decline offers and generate new requests.

Payments

Users have a choice of payment avenues. They can access the receipts post making the payment and check on the details of the transaction. Repeated payments create a transaction history which the users can also view at their end. The currency can also be selected as per user convenience.

Create Wish Lists/Saved

You can create a Wishlist of holiday rentals and save them, in case you have missed out on a place where you wanted to book but it was unavailable at that specific time. With the Wishlist in place, if the rental falls vacant, you get an immediate notification.

Booking

Users can check their bookings at any time. This is applicable for past and upcoming bookings too.

Coupons

The app allows users to apply coupons on checkout. These coupons are generally earned through referral codes.

Maps

Maps have significantly simplified the booking process for Airbnb users. The users can exactly pinpoint the location or area where they wish to stay. All available rentals are then showcased on the map.

Help

If the users need help, for instance, if there is of any confusion with the booking or they need any booking or hosts related help, Airbnb offers a self-help knowledge base access such as the FAQs section.

Rate and Review

Rate and review are the lifeblood of any booking app like Airbnb. Users can share their experience and rate and review the rental as well their host which can be made live to the general public.

Sharing

To earn referrals, users can invite their contacts on social media to download the application.

Apart from these standard functionalities, Airbnb has made some recent feature additions to their application to make it stand out even more.

Receive SMS Notifications

Users can now receive instant SMS notifications once their booking has been confirmed. They can also receive any applicable promotional offers.

Supplementary

The app has an in-built scope to add on more social media channels and payment methods.

Features for Hosts

Registration

To register themselves on the application and list their vacant property, all that the hosts need to do is to fill in their details.

Log-in or Sign-up

Hosts can create a new account by filling in their details like name, number, address etc. Using their email addresses or social channel can also help in the sign-in process. If they are already registered on the application, they can log-in using their pre-registered ids.

Manage Personal Page and Profile Information

The hosts, too, can make changes to their email id, mobile number, address, or any other personal profile information. They can also change their account password at any point in time.

Manage Listings

Hosts can manage their listings which includes all details related to the property, for example, pricing, amenities, experiences offered, etc. The hosts can also upload new images under this section.

Booking Listing

Hosts can systematically view all their upcoming bookings, generally in a calendar view format. Upcoming bookings are showcased against each date of the month.

Request

The host with this feature has the power to either accept or decline any request from the user for their space.

Messaging Feature

The chat interface allows hosts and guests to connect freely. Hosts can resolve any queries that prospective guests may have before booking or confirming their stay. Create and send new requests to guests.

Rate and Review Guests

Hosts too can review and rate their guests as per their behaviour and conduct.

Account Details

This is specific to adding or removing information in the account.

Help

The FAQs section can be accessed by hosts if they need any help regarding the listing of their property or if they require any booking or guest related help.

Read Also: How to Shape Your Smart Homes With Mobile Apps

Sharing

Hosts can also invite their friends to download the application by sharing via their social media accounts.

Booking History

Hosts can track past bookings along with payments received in their Booking History. Also, the revenue generated can be estimated.

Features for Admin Panel

Dashboard

This is a single platform to view all new or old registered users and hosts along with photographers.

Manage New Listing

Airbnb scrutinizes any new listing that is being uploaded by the host before processing it further to make it live on the app. You can edit, add or delete as per your requirement using the admin panel.

Booking History

Previous and new bookings can be viewed using the Booking History along with functionality to receive an update on the current status of each reservation which can also be edited, updated or deleted.

Feedback and Complaints

Feedback received from both hosts and guests can be checked on this screen. Complaints received from both ends are also processed through this feature.

Insights

All previous and current activities along with any relevant details can be observed here. These detailed insights help in future decisions.

Taking Airbnb as A Role-Model

Following the Airbnb model, you have to focus on security which is an exemplary feature on the app. It combines three types of safety within the app which are:

Deposits for the services rendered which will not work if the client works with a service-provider intermediary.
While social media accounts offer the required information, when you decide to create an app like Airbnb, it should have a verification process to ensure that the individual you intend to share space with is not fraudulent.
With a post-charge option, a credit card gets linked to a specific account so that it can be charged for the assistance provided to the guest. Even though it is a slightly risky move, you can opt for a ‘no card’ option. Therefore, sanctions for these should be accounted for as well.

A blended model where deposit and verification systems are combined is the ideal model for a start-up aiming to create an Airbnb clone.

Create An App Like Airbnb

Choosing the right technology stack can be the determining factor between the success or failure of your Airbnb clone. Here are the proposed components that you can use for your application too.

Programming Languages: Ruby, JavaScript
Frameworks: React, Ruby on Rails
Webserver: Nginx
Cloud Storage: Amazon S3, EB3
Cloud Hosting: Amazon EC2
Cloud Database: Amazon RDS, MySQL
Big Data: Presto, Druid and Airpal

With the basics in place, the next job is to build a team. Check out a must-have team composition to kickstart the project:

Business Analyst
Project Manager
UI/UX designer
1 or 2 Android developers
1 or 2 iOS developers
Back-end developers
Front-end developers
QA engineer

Depending on the core features that intend to include in the app will determine your time and cost for development. Here is a snapshot:

Airbnb Core Features for Guests:

Feature	Hours for iOS Development	Hours for Android Development
Registration	13 hours	13 hours
Login	35 hours	35 hours
Search	122 hours	122 hours
Favourites	15 hours	15 hours
Chats	127 hours	127 hours
Profile	15 hours	15 hours
Payments	24 hours	24 hours
Order	38 hours	38 hours
Total Time	389 hours	389 hours

Airbnb Basic Features for Hosts:

Feature	Hours for iOS Development	Hours for Android Development
Advertisements	153 hours	153 hours
Requests	16 hours	16 hours
Push notifications	14 hours	14 hours
GPS	20 hours	20 hours
Total time	203 hours	203 hours

Final Time Estimate:

Feature	Hours for iOS Development	Hours for Android Development
Features for Guests	389 hours	389 hours
Features for Hosts	203 hours	203 hours
Admin Panel (One for All Platforms)	225 hours	225 hours
Frameworks and Libraries Integration	58 hours	61 hours
UI/UX Design	150 hours	120 hours
Quality Assurance	342 hours	342 hours
Project Management	171 hours	171 hours
Total Time	1538 hours	1511 hours

How much does it cost to create an app like Airbnb?

Take a look at the software developer rates:

Region	iOS Development Rates in USD	Android Development Rates in USD
North America	$110 – $250	$150 – $170
Western Europe	$37 – $175	$70
Easter Europe	$23 – $80	$35 – $50
Australia	$35 – $150	$110

Taking into account all the factors, to create an app like Airbnb will cost you approximately $65,650.

Read Also: Effective App Launch Marketing Strategy That Drive Success

Takeaways

There is something powerful in the Airbnb message – “We Imagine a World Where You Can Belong Anywhere”.

With communication that carries so much emotion, the application does contribute to diffusing cultural boundaries and make the traveller feel like someone has just read their mind.

These kinds of app ideas can shake up the market. So, maybe there is something about to create an Airbnb app clone that leaves its users so attached to it.