Do You Need A Phone App?

I was recently asked from a fellow bar owner friend if I knew anyone that could build him a phone app for his business, I asked him why do you want a phone app?  His answer was classic “No clue, just thought I would keep up on technology”

I’ve been approached by several companies looking to sell me on having my own phone app for Jerseys Bar And Grill, my first question has always been to the sales guys, when people on average have between 25 – 40 different apps on there phone, why do they want to load my app.  They always come back with the same answer, you can do push notifications with different specials to your customers whenever you want, people can make reservations, they can look at whats on special, they can do this, that and blah blah blah!  I always will listen because I always figure someone will create something so unique that I don’t want to miss it.

My answer to them is always the same, I have a website with all the information people need and it’s mobile friendly.  I use email marketing, text marketing and am  already on a lot of the apps people already have on there phone like facebook, yelp, foursquare  and foodspotting.  I feel like people might download the app but then they would turn off the push notifications and it will get lost in the midst of the 40 other apps on there phone.

The only time I think an app is a good idea is if your a huge chain and have thousands of locations.  If your thinking about getting a phone app for your business, ask yourself this question, would you load apps for all the places you go out drinking or eating?