Observations
Wasted Investments: Mobile Applications Are Useless for B2B
Mobile applications have become ubiquitous in the B2C sector. Food delivery, taxis, and marketplaces are all available on smartphones. Seeing this success, B2B companies rushed to develop their own apps, hoping for similar results. However, there is one problem: business users are not ordinary consumers. They don’t browse catalogs on the subway, make decisions in two clicks, or install unnecessary apps.
So why do B2B companies continue to invest in mobile solutions that often remain unused? Is this a marketing illusion or a justified strategy? Let’s figure out if mobile applications are useful for B2B or if they’re just a waste of budget.
Why don’t mobile applications work in B2B?
B2B sales are long, complex, and multi-stage processes. Unlike B2C, where customers can make spontaneous purchases, B2B decisions are made collectively through discussions, approvals, and tenders. Imagine a procurement manager downloading a supplier’s app. What happens next? A meeting, bureaucracy, and a month of email correspondence. The application does not play a decisive role in this process.
Other problems with B2B applications include:
- Limited audience. Unlike B2C, where there are millions of customers, the number of B2B users is much smaller. Not every company can justify the development costs for hundreds of downloads.
- Rare usage. Which client will open the application every day? If the tool doesn’t solve an urgent problem, it simply becomes “digital junk” on the phone.
- Development costs are high. Even if an application is necessary, maintaining and updating it requires constant investment. But is it worth it if only a few clients use it?
- There is a lack of real value. In most cases, B2B applications simply duplicate website functionality but offer a worse user experience, which forces clients to delete them in frustration.
Yes, there are mobile applications in the B2B sector, but more often than not, they are just a passing fad rather than an effective sales tool.
Below are some examples of unsuccessful B2B applications:
Companies continue to invest in mobile applications, but many projects turn out to be failures in practice. Development takes months and budgets are spent, yet in the end, users simply do not download or use the application. Below are several typical failure scenarios (without names, of course):
- It’s an application that nobody was looking for. A large Russian company involved in industrial equipment released a mobile app for ordering spare parts. However, clients were accustomed to working through managers and tender platforms. The result? A negligible number of downloads. The application was abandoned.
- Website duplication. One of the largest distributors of business goods launched an app with a product catalog. The problem? It was an exact copy of the website, but with worse navigation. After a few months, the company quietly removed the link from the App Store.
- There was inconvenience and low demand. A logistics company tried introducing an app for tracking shipments, which works very well in B2C, but corporate clients continued to call managers and send emails. The reason is simple: businesses are not accustomed to using mobile solutions for such tasks.
These examples clearly show that the market does not need every B2B application. Companies that fail to conduct thorough research before launching a product risk wasting money.
When does an application actually make sense?
After seeing all these failed attempts, one might ask: Are there B2B applications that really work? The answer is rarely, and only in specific cases. Let’s figure out when an application is truly justified and not just consuming budget.
First, if the business model is built around mobile usage from the beginning. In logistics, for example, it is more convenient for drivers to receive routes and confirm deliveries through an application than through a browser. However, this is more of a work tool than a classic B2B application for clients.
Second, consider if users interact with the service so frequently that mobile access is critically important. For instance, consider a platform for managing deliveries where dozens of operations must be performed throughout the day. However, if the application simply duplicates the website and does not provide a unique advantage, it is meaningless.
Third, consider if the application replaces complex desktop processes that were inconvenient. However, such cases are the exception. In reality, B2B applications often turn out to be worse than websites because corporate users work on computers and simply don’t need mobile access.
In summary, a B2B application can be useful only if it is an integral part of the work process and not just a convenient button for rare actions. Moreover, such applications are most often used internally by employees performing their daily tasks.
What are the alternatives to mobile applications?
If mobile applications in B2B are ineffective, what can replace them? Fortunately, there are more effective and less costly solutions that benefit businesses.
- Responsive web versions can be installed as PWAs. Progressive web applications allow users to access a website on their mobile device and use it as if it were an application. They are convenient, do not require downloading, and update automatically.
- They integrate with CRM and ERP systems. Rather than creating a separate application, it is better to provide convenient mobile access to existing corporate tools. If a business is already accustomed to working through a CRM, it makes more sense to optimize its mobile version than to produce new software.
- Chatbots and communication automation are also useful. Most clients prefer to interact through messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) rather than install a separate application. Chatbots can handle order processing, support, and even initial sales.
- Email and SMS notifications are also useful. It’s important to understand that B2B users don’t spend all their time in mobile apps. It’s simpler and cheaper to set up smart notifications that arrive at the right moment and direct clients to their preferred channel.
- Облачные сервисы с удобной авторизацией. Если клиенту нужно быстро получить данные или оформить заказ, он скорее откроет браузер и войдёт в личный кабинет, чем будет разбираться с приложением. Грамотная оптимизация сайта даёт тот же результат без лишних затрат.
In short, it’s better to invest in convenient interaction channels that are already familiar to clients than to spend millions on an application that nobody downloads.
Mobile applications in B2B are a trap for marketers and top managers who, looking at the success of B2C, think the same model will work for them. In reality, however, B2B is different. Decisions are made consciously, not impulsively, and most communication takes place via email, calls, and corporate systems.
Companies that have spent millions developing B2B applications often find that nobody downloads them and, if they do, they don’t use them. Why would a client want separate software on their phone when they’re already accustomed to solving all issues through CRM, ERP, or a regular browser?
There are exceptions, but they are rare. A mobile application is only justified if it is a critical part of a business process, such as logistics, field workforce management, or specific industries. In all other cases, it is far more effective to invest in progressive web apps (PWAs), CRM integrations, and messengers, which are truly convenient for clients.
The main conclusion is as follows: B2B applications are only necessary if they are truly indispensable. If your clients can easily manage without a mobile app, then they simply don’t need one.
