Are we getting App fatigue? In short, yes.
There is an App for just about everything these days, Personal Concierge services included. They promise the best of everything at your fingertips, but do they deliver?
It can be so hard to keep track of which App does what. Which one will order me a taxi? Which one will queue the dry cleaner to collect my trousers? And how do I book a restaurant again?
“I’ve lost track of most of the Apps I’ve downloaded, like stale forgotten browser bookmarks. Many times I loaded them because the web site got huffy about using its stupid App, so I gave it a try. More often than not all it did was suck me into another roach motel, often degrading functionality rather than enhancing it.” Bill Frezza of Forbes.com.
App Store customers around the world spend nearly half a billion US dollars on apps and in-app purchases, and New Year’s Day 2015 marked the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history.
These milestones follow a record-breaking 2014, in which billings rose 50 percent and Apps generated over US $10 billion in revenue for developers. There are over 1.5 million Apps available with new product being brought to market almost daily.
There doesn’t seem to be one perfect Concierge solution offered via an App, As Bill Frezza said, you don’t get to ask questions and you can get automatically directed to another ‘roach motel’, often degrading functionality than enhancing it.
Here are our top reasons why Apps just don’t cut the mustard:
1. Apps will give you a generic solution rather than tailored solution. It is hard for an App to give you an answer to a complicated problem in minutes, let alone a task that takes more than one step, or multiple stages of work.
2. Most apps don’t let you speak to someone personally. You will most likely speak to a computer, or an off-shore call centre.
3. You can’t give contrasting queries to an App. For example, you let the same App know you want your house painted and a restaurant reservation, in the one sentence. You can do that with a Personal Concierge.
4. A real-life Personal Concierge service will get to know your likes, dislikes, and let you know your Brother’s birthday is tomorrow. It is hard for a piece of technology to have empathy, and get to know your preferences. We are real people, and we understand your current situation and the correct and most efficient way to get the job done.
5. When time is of the essence, flexibility is important. You might be running late for a flight on a Friday evening and in a cab to the airport when you remember you were supposed to post a gift to your friend interstate, and her birthday is tomorrow. When you have your Personal Concierge’s mobile number, you can simply send a text and the task is done. No fussing around with an App that tells you there is no service in your area until Monday.