Chatbots vs. apps: advantages, coexistence – and where chatbots will dominate
Chatbots are on the rise and their advantages over apps are obvious. Five to seven years ago, experts were already predicting that chatbots would replace apps. In mid-2022, Gartner, one of the leading consultancies and analysts, predicted "that within five years chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for companies".
What does that mean for the app market today? After all, there are still a huge number of apps. Will chatbots replace apps in the future? The answer is probably a clear yes and no 😁.
Here's an overview:
🔸What advantages chatbots have over apps.
🔸Why and in which areas apps will continue to exist.
🔸In which areas chatbots will clearly dominate (conclusion).
Why should you know the pros and cons of chatbots and apps?
Especially for companies with a clear need for customer interaction, it's important to understand the advantages of chatbots over apps, because they can make a decisive contribution to the company's strategy for success. Customer satisfaction and costs are key factors in this comparison.
What advantages do chatbots have over apps?
Chatbots
- are usually cheaper to develop
- need less IT support than apps
- are easier to change and adapt
- don't have to be installed by users
- use no storage space on the user's side
- are available immediately and can be opened from a website or desktop
- can learn and are easy to train for new requirements
- usually deliver faster results
- can run in many environments, such as websites and many messaging services
- speak our language and seem more human than apps
- are more intuitive to use because the chatbot can help when things are unclear or ambiguous
Apps, on the other hand, usually need more development effort and support, and they aren't as easy to change. Using them is often complicated, and they have to be installed and set up. Anyone with a large number of apps installed often uses up a lot of storage and slows down their device.
Why and in which areas will apps continue to exist?
Apps will be around for quite a while yet, because there are already a large number of them that won't be scrapped overnight. Companies that have invested heavily in apps won't replace them lightly. On top of that, the Apple and Android app stores have a financial interest in keeping apps alive.
Applications that are very compute-intensive and need memory and storage on the user's device, however, are still particularly well suited to apps. These include games, videos and image processing above all.
Conclusion: why should you choose chatbots?
As mentioned above, games and videos are still classic app territory, although that may also change with faster and more powerful data transfer.
If you need particularly good, customer-friendly interaction, for example for customer support, e-commerce or company websites, the chatbot is now ahead of the classic app. Development and maintenance of a chatbot also usually cost less. Above all, a chatbot is better equipped for the future: chatbot development, especially in AI, will bring some great innovations, and even a chatbot that's already installed can learn and is easy to adapt when things change.
If you're interested in chatbot solutions that are easy to install and give you freedom in integrating live chat or ticketing, take a look at our offering and let our experts advise you on your chatbot project.
