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A report released by Adobe has shown that this year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the biggest ever in the US, with $11 billion in online sales during the long-weekend sale.
 
Adobe's estimates, based on aggregated anonymous data spread over millions of visits to thousands of websites, show other trends within the record spending.
 
Mobile shopping


As businesses mull over the worth and profitability of mobile app development or mobile-friendly versions of an existing website, figures continue to rise for the popularity of purchasing via a mobile device.
 
According to Adobe, sales via a mobile device accounted for 34% of sales, the majority of which were made on smartphones. Of those, iPhones were used for 67%, leaving Android with 33%. Sales via tablet were down a couple of percent to 15%. In the UK, iPhone and Android mobiles are split about about 50/50 in terms of use, so it's worth noting that this figure may be less relevant when considering the reach of iOS development versus Android mobile development in the UK.
 
Adobe also highlighted how shoppers like to browse via mobile too, accounting for 53% of shopping visits on Black Friday, split 40% for smartphones and 13% for tablet.
 
Mobile use in general was up on last year, and again singled out as a future growth area, this time by analysts Com Score, who have predicted a 14% rise on last year for holiday mobile sales.
 
What does this mean for retailers thinking of mobile development?
 
For those thinking of mobile versions of a site, or mobile friendly layouts, mobile sales aren't slowing down and iOS or Android mobile development would look to be a good investment.
 
Although consumers prefer desktop for certain purchases (usually higher priced items) it is clear that we're increasingly using our mobiles and tablets to make quick, convenient purchases.
 
If your site is not optimised for mobile, you could miss out on sales. It does depend on your target audience, but the expectation is that we want to be able to browse and buy on mobile devices.
 
Incidentally, according to Adobe the iPad Air 2 was one of the top sellers on Black Friday. Another little factoid from Adobe is that of the estimated $905m worth of purchases via mobile devices on Black Friday, iOS iPhone and iPads accounted for 75% of that total.
 
What about mobile ecommerce in the UK?


Ok, so these figures relate to the US. UK mobile shopping is usually in line with the US – we all know Black Friday itself is a US phenomenon based on the Thanksgiving weekend, which Brits have embraced in recent years.
 
However, if you'd prefer to just look at UK figures, please refer to our upcoming article on mobile device sales in the UK.
 
About us

Eastpoint Software Web and Mobile Apps Development Company Cambridge, UK and London. We specialize in iOS mobile software development and android mobile development, as well as bespoke web applications. We also have a strong record of ecommerce mobile development.
 
Visit us: https://www.eastpoint.co.uk/

Swift is a language used by developers to build iOS applications for iPhones and iPads and other Apple devices. Swift was used specifically for iOS mobile app development, and different techniques were used for android devices.But it will soon become available for android app development, and workarounds already exist to allow developers to use Swift for android.
 
How does this benefit developers?


Currently, other than a workaround, you cannot develop one mobile application in Swift that will be suitable for both iOS and android mobile app development.
 
So if you need an app that works for people on both types of devices, it means either developing two separate mobile apps or foregoing a bespoke app for each in favour of a slightly more generic mobile app that will function on both.
 
One means more money (two separate apps) and the other often means some loss of function (if you're creating a 'fits all' app, you cannot build specifically to a device). Even the second option still involves additional development and testing to ensure the app works well across each device.
 
How do the changes to Swift benefit clients?


If developers can spend less time doing something that works on more devices, these app development time savings can be passed on as cost savings to the client. Developers can only offer what is available, and as programming languages progress, we are able to do more within the budget.
 
When will Swift be available for android?


Apple announced plans to open source Swift in the summer. This means they will allow developers access to the core language, allowing them to make changes to suit their needs, and it is this that will facilitate android app development with swift.
 
The idea behind it is that it makes the language more useful, and therefore more people will learn how to use it, and if more people are developing for iOS, more apps are on iOS, and more people will want to buy those phones and tablets.
 
Currently, Swift is not yet open source, but should be by the end of the year.
 
About us

Eastpoint Software Android, iOS and Windows Application Development Services Company Cambridge, UK and London. We are android and iOS mobile app development specialists based in Cambridge and London. if you have any questions and are looking for mobile app development, please give us a call on 01223 690164. Our tech team love building apps, and are keen to take on new projects.
 
Visit us: https://www.eastpoint.co.uk/Mobile-Apps/

Are you waiting for Black Friday?

There were headlines recently that online retailers had experienced the  weakest August in terms of year-on-year growth since 2000.


The  growth for August was 5%, the smallest percentage since the IMRG  Capgemini index started recording retail sales data 15 years ago.
 
But  there is good news behind those isolated stats. Year-to-date figures  are up by a healthier 10% and Capgemini's head of digital, Alex  Smith-Bingham remains optimistic for retailers.
 
Ecommerce growth is “far more positive”
 
Mr  Smith-Bingham said that shoppers during August were most likely taking  advantage of the sun by shopping on the high street, and figures were  also affected by the late bank holidays.
 
IMRG's chief information  officer, Tina Spooner, said growth had been “far more positive” since  the index recorded a 7% growth in the first quarter of 2015, and  considered August's growth to be “a blip”.
 
Speaking to The  Guardian, IMRG's editor, Andy Mulcahy, also pointed out that sales would  likely rationalise over time anyway, and that in recent years, growth  had remained so buoyant because of the rise of mobile and tablet  ecommerce.
 
Nonetheless, IMRG identified five possible areas that  could have affected August's growth. These were: shopping reaching its  peak; disruption from the general election, strength of the pound  affecting custom from overseas buyers; people spending on leisure rather  that ecommerce; and shoppers holding out until Black Friday.
 
Will ecommerce boom again for Black Friday?
 
Earlier  this year, warnings were made by John Lewis about the negative impact  of Black Friday sales – namely that shoppers would buy Christmas  presents early at a discount and retailers would suffer overall.
It  remains to be seen how the rest of the year will pan out for ecommerce  sales, although a year-to-date growth of 10% suggests it has not  plateaued quite yet.
 
Next month will also give us a better idea  of whether shoppers are holding out for Black Friday, or if the  traditional American sale day is not as much of a draw this year.
 
About the author


 
 
We are Eastpoint Software web and mobile app development team based in Cambridge and London.
Eastpoint  Software Web, Mobile Apps and eCommerce Development Company London, Cambridge and UK.  If you have any questions and are looking for eCommerce and mobile app  development, please give us a call on 01223 690164 or Mail Us info@eastpoint.co.uk. Our tech team love building apps, and are keen to  take on new projects.
 
Visit us: https://www.eastpoint.co.uk/

 
 
One of the first considerations when building a mobile app is to decide which device to make it for.
 
This is usually between iOS or Android. In the UK, both phones are very popular, with Android marginally more common. There are ways to make the mobile app suitable for both, but this can limit the scope of what you can build and it not always the best option.Picking which device to develop for is based on your requirements and your audience, but sometimes it really is a coin flip, so seeing overall trends for mobile app development may be of interest.
 
A survey carried out this summer by Telerik asked 3,000 developers, CEOs, CTOs and other IT professionals which devices they were developing mobile apps for. Although this is a US survey, the data is sourced globally.
When talking about Mobile App Development, the apps can be hybrid (able to run on more than one device), native (built specifically for one device) or web (accessed via a browser).
 
So, these were the results:
 
Hybrid 33%
Native 25%

Web 19%Of those developing native mobile apps, the breakdown of which device they are building that native app for is as follows:
 
Android 66%
 
iOS 63%

Windows Phone 40%Of course, within these stats, mobile app developers are not necessarily only building for Android or iOS. The stat for iOS mobile developers who also build for Android is 83%.
 
Although the survey is not specific to the UK, the Android and iOS stats tally up to what you might expect, based on phone usage over here.The survey shows that both iOS and Android phones continue to split mobile app development, with both being viable devices for native mobile app development, while hybrid mobile app development is the most popular overall. And this lines up with our own experiences.
 
About Us
 
Eastpoint Software specialise in web and Mobile App Development. We are based in Cambridge and London.
Eastpoint Software iOS, Android Mobile Application Developers and Development Company London, Cambridge and UK.If you have any questions and are looking for mobile app development, please give us a call on 01223 690164 or Mail Us info@eastpoint.co.uk. Our tech team love building apps, and are keen to take on new projects.
 
Visit us: https://www.eastpoint.co.uk/Mobile-Apps/