Currently, over two billion people are in possession of smart devices, that sounds like over two billion possibilities of communicating and connecting better with customers, you give a shot at strengthening your brand.

Open Channel for Communication
Communication should not only be restricted to face to face, at times it can be that push notification to let your customers know that you are offering a 30% discount or the new products to check out. Its also a channel to gather feedback from your customers

value-added to services/Products
Technology has made life a whole lot easy for us, Instead of spending hours at the bank we use our phones and transact in minutes that’s time saved, have a deadline to meet but still need to eat? Order in with an app. Regardless of the industry you are in, a mobile app will make life easier for your customers and this will add value to your products or services

Hitting the nail on the head with personalized content
It’s in our nature as humans to love recognition, Mobile apps, it easier for organizations to give consumers content tailored according to their preferences. I once loyally stuck with a bank because they gave me a Christmas card, now imagine what a birthday discount or something as simple as a religious holiday recognition message could do for your organization

Increase Profits
Sales are influenced by the customer’s perceptions. If they feel like they are treated like a valued customer, they are most likely going to be return customers, who in turn, in the long run, are loyal customers. Strong brands have both loyal and satisfied customers.

Social media platforms have without a doubt evolved in the last few years. They come from being a basic messaging, photo and video sharing platforms to being market places where buyers and sellers from all over the world meet. As technology advances, so do the various methods of targeting and retargeting consumers. Below are 3 reasons why, if you did not already have a social media strategy for your organization, you should consider getting one regardless of your industry or company size

Build your brand-
Start with a social media page. As page interactions increase (likes, shares, comments) the potential of reaching out to a wider audience is increased building brand awareness. On the other hand, pages offer a platform where customers can interact with the brand, building a relationship and offering feedback. The former helps retain customers (building loyalty) while the latter gives the organization insight on where to improve.
Expand your market,
Sell beyond the borders. Online stores eliminate physical borders in the sense that your market isn’t bound to where you are geographically but where to as far as you can spread your marketing wings, the internet and social media have made it all possible. Grab their attention with discounts which lead them straight to your online store.
Targeted adverts and retargeting-
Target people who have shown that they are particularly interested in your products ie people who have visited your website, carts hanging on your online store, gently remind them to go back and finish up their purchase by showing them adverts on platforms like Facebook. Retargeting increases conversion rates and Return on Investment.

As more of our work and social lives go online, we have to deal with an increasing number of passwords for different services. From emails for work and personal lives to social media accounts, we now deal with countless passwords. This makes it very difficult to keep track of which passwords are for what and many of us are tempted to use the same password over and over. This is a bad idea because if one of your accounts were compromised, you’d be in a lot of trouble. In this blog post, I’ll show you an easy way to manage your numerous passwords using a password management app called Password Book.

Download Password Book

What is Password Book?

Password Book, as the name suggests, is a digital ‘notebook’ that allows you to keep a record of all your passwords so you don’t have to memorize them. All you have to do is remember one master password that keeps your list secure. If you want to totally do away with remembering passwords altogether, you can use a swipe pattern instead.

Store extra information

The app goes a step further by allowing you to store other useful information along with your username and password. This information includes the login URL, account email address, even secret questions and answers used for password recovery. This information can be stored in the notes section of each entry.

Import & Export backups

Another cool feature that makes Password Book really useful is the ability to backup and restore your password list. This comes in very handy if your phone is lost or if you decide to buy a new one. The app allows you to export backup files in various formats including CSV (Excel), XML or a secure encrypted file.

Password Book also allows you to link with your Dropbox account so that you can backup and restore your password list from the cloud! How cool is that?

Other useful features

The Password Book app is so useful that it’s bound to get quickly filled with a lot of passwords. To make managing your huge password list easier, you can create and add tags to each entry. These tags allow you to easily categorize each entry. For example, you can create a tag for email accounts, under which you will have your work, personal and side business email addresses.

In addition, it also has a search function so you can quickly find the desired password with only a few quick taps.

Download Password Book

Conclusion

Password Book is a simple and extremely useful app to help you easily keep track of an unlimited number of passwords. It allows you to easily store other related information as well as backup and restore your password list. Once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. What’s your excuse for forgetting your password now?

Charles Muzonzini is a Mobile App Developer and blogger specializing in cross-platform apps using the Ionic Framework. He blogs at www.webgems.co.zw and www.muzonzini.com. You can reach him via Twitter @webgemsZW or on LinkedIn.

Introduction to push notifications, what they are, how they work

Push notifications are messages sent directly to your app’s users. They notify users of new content, even when the user is not using your application. They increase user engagement and retention in your app. An example is the WhatsApp “whistle” that notifies you of new messages received. In this tutorial, we’ll dive into integrating push notifications into your Ionic app using OneSignal.

How push notifications work

A push notification is sent from the Push notification platform of the mobile OS: Apple’s Push Notification Service for iOS and Google Cloud Messaging for Android. These push notification services relay the message to the devices that have subscribed to them.

This means that you need to keep track of all the devices that have subscribed for push notifications. But there are some great services out there to simplify the process. One such service is OneSignal.

Read More – https://www.sitepoint.com/push-notifications-in-your-ionic-app-with-onesignal/ 

On 11 February 2017, Sam Levy’s Village played host to the first Fashion Designers Expo (FDE) in Harare. This was the second edition, with the first being held at Nesbitt Castle in the city of Kings, Bulawayo last year. FDE is unique in that it brings together people from the fashion world with the goal of raising funds for the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe. It is also the first charity event to use a mobile app for fundraising in Zimbabwe. The theme for the event was “Fashion fights Cancer.” Fashion Designers Expo Zimbabwe is the brainchild of Aisha DeBeer. She lost her grandmother to cancer and this inspired her to do something to bring hope to others affected by the disease. Webgems was a proud sponsor for this event, having developed the official Fashion Designers Expo app for android.

The main goal of this mobile app was to assist in fundraising. It provides a quick and easy way for people to make donations using their mobile phones. This is especially relevant in light of the cash shortage that Zimbabwe is currently facing. It is also very timely in light of the general trend of increased use of smartphones and mobile money. The secondary goals of the app were to provide a quick reference for attendees to see information about the models and designers that participated in the Fashion Expo.

Fashion Designers Expo Event Mobile App Features

The main feature of the app was the donations page. This allowed users to donate straight to the Cancer Association with a few taps on their phones. Overall, Fashion Designers Expo managed to raise over $1,000 for cancer patients in Zimbabwe.

The app also featured profile pages for the various dancers, models, and designers who participated in the expo. Designer profiles also included information on the various collections that the designers were showcasing. The app provided a unique level of interactivity where attendees could access information about the models and designers as they watched the show.

The event was well attended by some celebrity personalities including Master of Ceremonies Author Evans, popular news anchor Rumbidzai “newsbae” Takawira among many others. Overall, it was an amazing night of fashion and glamor punctuated with inspiring stories from cancer survivors. There was a beautiful candle lit vigil by the models as a tribute to the loved ones we lost to the dreadful disease called cancer. Watch the video below for highlights from the Fashion Designers Expo.

Even though the event is over, there is the Bulawayo edition coming up in August 2017. In the meantime, you can still download the app and make a difference by donating to the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe. Remember, every dollar counts and will help save lives.

Webgems lead developer Charles Muzonzini presenting on freelance development using wordpress at the inaugural Harare WordCamp in December 2016. Video courtesy of wordpress.tv

The smartphone revolution has taken the world by storm and Zimbabwe is no exception. With mobile penetration rates in excess of 94% and ever faster connection speeds, Mobile Apps in Zimbabwe are being adopted at an accelerating pace. Mobile apps in Zimbabwe are being used for a myriad of things. These include for communication (WhatsApp), worship (Bible apps), learning to drive (Road Rules) and everything else under the sun.

More and more local Zimbabwean businesses are adopting mobile applications. Applications give them a competitive edge over their rivals and deliver value to their customers. Below are 5 reasons why your Zimbabwean business would benefit from a mobile app.

1. Create a direct marketing channel with your customers

Smartphone applications serve many functions: they can provide general information, prices, booking forms, search features, user accounts, messengers, news feeds, and much more.

One of the biggest benefits of having a mobile app is that all the information you’d like to provide to your customers – including special sales and promotions – is right at their fingertips. Through push notifications you’re getting even closer to a direct interaction, and can easily remind customers about your products and services whenever it makes sense.

Moreover, you can take advantage of the rich media features available on mobile smartphones including high quality images, video and the ability to make phone calls and send text messages.

2. Improve customer engagement

No matter whether you are selling automobiles or hotel bookings, your customers need a way to reach you. Having a messaging  feature within your app can really make a difference in the way you communicate with your customers. Think about it: OpenTable, for example, built its entire business model around this principle. Instead of calling a restaurant for a table, you can book it with less than five clicks on their platform. Now think about it: How many customers would prefer to communicate with you via text than via phone? Is it more cost effective to have people manning the phone lines 24/7, or having a platform on mobile devices that people are already using.

Closer to home here in Zimbabwe with the biting cash crisis we are experiencing, mobile banking applications have been a godsend. These mobile apps have helped ease the congestion in banking halls with customers able to transact wherever they are. This has brought increased value and convenience to the customer. It has also lowered costs for the banks as conducting transactions online is cheaper for them than in the banking hall. Due to this, the banks that adopted mobile apps and executed them well have enjoyed a massive competitive advantage over their rivals. most noteworthy is that it is the early adopters who benefited most. This is due to the first to market principle.

3. Cultivate customer loyalty

Another one of the most important reasons why you should consider building a mobile app for your business in Zimbabwe is customer loyalty. With all the noise out there — roadside banners, flashing signs, newspaper ads, flyers, websites, Facebook ads, and email marketing — we slowly lose our impact on customers because of the immense amount of advertising surrounding us all. It’s time to go back to making a true and sincere connection with your customers. Make them a loyal lover of your product and/or service. I am not saying a mobile app is going to save your business, but it can be a way of staying closer to your customers, and most of all being just a “fingertip” away at all times.

4. Stand out from the competition

These days mobile apps in Zimbabwe at the local business level are still relatively rare This is because many business owners have not explored how mobile apps can help their companies. Hence, this is where you can take a big leap ahead of your competitors. Be the first in your industry to offer a mobile app to your customers. They’ll be impressed by your forward-thinking approach! Therefore they will reward you because of the additional value you provide over your industry peers.

5. Mobile Apps are affordable

Finally, we come to the cost of mobile apps. Of course, there’s no dearth of vendors and individuals who will create an app for you. Trusted companies like webgems, which has built a solid reputation as a partner to Zimbabwean businesses, are making apps accessible to local businesses of all sizes. Webgems offers flexible payment plans that suit your circumstances. As a result our service makes building apps scalable and affordable.

Finally, marketing on digital platforms like mobile apps is more cost effective than traditional methods. This is because it offers the added advantage of data analytics and also performance reports. Therefor,e the effectiveness of your marketing will be transparent. Consequently, this improves return on investment.

Get your business Mobile Apps in Zimbabwe today!

Contact us using the form below and we will turn your mobile app idea into increased revenue for your business!

Good morning everyone and welcome to my very first webgems tech blog post! Today I am going to quickly share a neat trick that I am using while making a promotional graphic image. I will be creating a text-border or outline around text in the graphic so as to make it stand out and look more prominent. Lets dive in!

Downloading Gimp

First we will be using a free graphical software package called Gimp. It is very similar to other graphics software like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Draw. You can download Gimp here for Windows, Linux & Mac. I will be using gimp on Linux Mint 18 (Sarah).

Creating text-border outline

1. First, we will open our background image in gimp. Open gimp from the start menu and drag your background image into Gimp.

   

2. Next, select the text tool (shortcut T) and apply the text as required.

   

3. Notice how the text is a bit hard to read on that background. Lets make it more legible by applying a white border outline.

   

4. Highlight the text and right click. From the right-click menu select “Path from text”
5. Go to the menu and select Layer then New Layer. Make the layer transparent and give it a name.

   

6. Go to the menu and choose Select then From path. Your text will now be highlighted with ‘”marching ants”.
7. Now go to the menu choose Select again and then choose Grow. Choose how wide you want your border. I made mine here 2px.

   

8. Select the bucket tool (Shift+B). Choose the color your want for your outline. Use the bucket tool to fill the selected area.

   

   

9. De-select your selection. Ctrl+Shift+A or menu Select and None.
10. Now use the layer box (Ctrl+L) and move the layer with the outline down. You should now have a nice outlined text.

    

We at webgems are very excited to be launching our new look website.

We will also be blogging regularly on mobile app development. Bookmark this page and add it to your RSS feed!