Comparing Traditional Shopping with On-Demand Services

By Gaurav Parvadiya | Last Updated On November 14th, 2025

An on-demand app builder is no longer a futuristic idea — it’s a requirement for survival. Traditional retail is in decline, and the real winners are brands that meet customers where they are: on their phones. Mobile-first, real-time, no-waiting, and hyper-personalized.

Why On-Demand Services Are Accelerating Past Traditional Shopping—and How Your Business Must Adapt Now

The Industry Is Resetting: What Used To Be Gone Is Replaced With More

The entire retail environment has changed dramatically. It’s not just changing; it’s an explosion of consumer expectation. More than ever, time, tailor made services, and ease of doing business is gained priority. If your business is still clinging to the old ways of doing things with simple websites or a physical store, you are most likely to go bust. Mobile banking has changed the way consumers purchase goods and services. Tailored experiences and seamless interactions offered via mobile devices is the way to go.

The point is simple: most people don’t want to wait in lines anymore. Gone are the days of limited hours and a one size fits all approach. It is clear that on-demand services can offer consumers the services you want right in their hands.

The Paradigm Shift: On-Demand Over Ancient Aisles

The Rise of the On-Demand Economy: Data Speaks

It’s true, the world’s on-demand economy increased by 22.4% and is projected to reach 570 billion dollars, according to the data provided. This is not just a temporary trend. It is a change on how people use products and services. Companies such as Uber, Door Dash, and Instacart use this before mentioned data to change consumer expectation.

Why the change? The consumer experience is placed above owning the product. Having a product brought to you with the smallest of efforts is the ideal. This is particularly true for Gen Z and Millennials. Having quick and digital access is not seen as a privilege, but rather a norm.

The Limitations of Brick-and-Mortar & Static Websites

Despite the ongoing economic downturn, brick-and-mortar stores accounted for approximately 80% of global retail sales, as reported by McKinsey. Stores are projected to lose about 12% of yearly visitors due to the expansion of eCommerce and mobile applications. Traditional retail is not equipped to face the rises of on-demand and online shopping.

Think about this: The lack of interaction in many in-person shopping experiences can cause many problems that can turn away even the most modern of clients:

  • Inconveniently-limited hours of oporations make shopping difficult.
  • Minimalist advertisements fail to connect with the targeted audience.
  • Endless scrolling that leads to nowhere on an unchanged page leads to a boring purchasing journey.

Such factors can lead to lost potential business deals, especially in a modern society where potential clients lack immediacy and personal connections on the devices they favor.

The Mobile App Advantage: The Changing Paradigms of On-Demand Apps

Why a ‘Mobile First’ Strategy Should Be a Priority

In today’s world, neglecting to develop a stand-alone mobile app can hurt business gains. Let’s examine the reasons that necessitate a mobile-first approach for your business:

  • Brand Recall: Mobile applications facilitate the sending of targeted and personalized messages, leading to bookings and branded loyalty.
  • Increased App Revenue: Shopify’s research indicates mobile app sales are 1.5 times greater than mobile web.
  • Data Acquisition: Apps provide the opportunity to conduct advanced customer analyses and ensure that you can run the best targeted campaigns.
  • Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Functions, like easy payment, camera QR trackers, and other smooth interface processes, provide a great mobile experience.

Creating Your App Without Code through Twinr

Changes are being made to the manner in which applications are created. In the past, the process of creating an application would often take a lot of time and resources. Fortunately, no-code platforms like Twinr makes it easier to and less expensive to develop scalable applications. This makes the process even easier for teams that do not have the necessary skills.

Aside from eliminating website barriers, Twinr offers the following:

  • Net new push notifications and incorporates loyalty systems to ensure customer retention.
  • Offers analytics features reporting systems to its clients.
  • Makes integration easier for their clients.
  • Allows rapid testing, iterations and optimizations of an application.

No-code platforms make it easier for teams to focus on value metrics such as the retention and monetary value of a customer.

The Three Pillars of On-Demand Success are Build, Engage, and Analyze

Build: Creating The Customer Centric App

One of the first steps a business should consider taking is the understanding of its consumers. This understanding will come in handy considering that consumers are offered a boundless supply of choices. No-code tools, like Twinr assist in the fast deployment of customer apps. This is achieved through:

  • Custom features that are designed for on-demand shopping and offer seamless integrations.
  • Core functionalities of a website are replicated and made easier to use.
  • Optimize the onboarding process – make it more efficient – to increase user adoption.

Picture this: the user experience of your app reigns supreme among your customers. Every bit of expectation that you have of your app is aligned with the Reality. The app experience is nothing short of superb.

Engage: Convert Users to Customers

User engagement is essential to an app’s success and should be a priority. The app should have elements that include:

  • Push Notifications Keeping customers informed about the order through updates along the customers’ order journey is tremendously valuable.
  • Points and Rewards Systems Customers that make more than one purchase are awarded with a reward, a point. Customers become more loyal.
  • Recommender Systems The Spend Order Value will go up when customers are suggested to order more relevant and necessary items.
  • In-app Chat and Support Customers that are listened to and given support are more satisfied and had more positive user experiences.

These companies that utilize engagement strategies have seen up to 25% increase retention, which proves that customers with a high level of engagement will become loyal to the brand.

Analytics: Growth For The Future By Looking Back

It is essential to incorporate analytics into your app. Data is necessary to:

  • Monitor user activity to identify critical steps taken in a user journey.
  • Improve conversion by tailoring offers to specific behaviors.
  • Maximize return on investment (ROI) for marketing activities.
  • Analyze customer churns and create strategies to increase customer lifetime value (CLV).

Understanding customer behavior is made simple and actionable with Twinr’s Blend. Aligning insights with timely and relevant activities at scale.

The Metrics Don’t Lie: The Effect of Mobile Apps on Business Outcomes

The question is no longer if mobile apps drive growth for businesses; it’s how much. To this end, it’s well-documented that:

  • Increased Repeat Purchases: As reported by Shopify, the launch of a mobile app results in a 30% increase in repeat purchase behavior in app-first merchants.
  • Increase in Average Transaction Value: Mobile-first brands experience up to a 20% increase in average transaction value.
  • Increased Customer Retention: Mobile apps coupled with targeted loyalty integrations and personalized push strategies create effective campaigns that result in up to 2.5x ROAS.

Research by McKinsey shows that mobile app features like order tracking improve customer satisfaction and reduce complaints, which increase customer lifespan value.

Case in Point: Logistics & Delivery

To better understand the value of features in improving the bottomline, let us analyze the case of a logistics company that integrated real-time tracking in its app. It recorded a 35% decrease in customer complaints. In turn, this led to improved customer retention whereby the company recorded 15% increase in lifetime value. The example underscores how business growth is driven by demand features.

Why is Winning by Default is a Total Loss?

In today’s world, the failure to embrace mobile on demand strategies is a sure way to run a business to the ground. Businesses who take the leap will enjoy the following benefits:

  • Customer loyalty will be easier to build.
  • Customer retention rates will surpass those of the competitors.
  • There will be an increase in revenue.
  • The company will be recognized for providing new ideas to the market.

This means that having a static website page is no longer enough. The new age consumer wants a customized, real-time app experience that increases loyalty and satisfaction.

The Time to Act is Now

With the Twinr platform, you can switch to an application from a static website in days and not months. This is enabling the company to adapt, test, and improve based on what the customer needs in real time. All this can be done without hiring an entire team of engineers or having an ever stretching budget and coding as little as possible.

On Demand App Building is Easier Than Ever Before, Start Now

The Future is For The Fast

Change is the only constant in retail. Those who embrace demand driven on the spot mobile apps the fastest will conquer the market, establish loyalty, and keep the revenue flowing.

Always Remember every customer is digital; they expect speed and a smooth process without any hassles. If you do not provide customers on demand apps, your competition will.

FAQs

  1. For an existing business with traditional customers, why should the business switch to mobile apps?

On demand apps provides an industry with instant engagement with customers. This provides on the spot higher engagement, attracts business, and retains the customers.

  1. How much time do I need to convert my website to a mobile application to Twinr?

Twinr reduces time to convert your website to an application to days and provides an extremely needed app. This is faster and cheaper compared to industry standards.

  1. What features are a must for on-demand apps?

The must have features are real-time notifications, tailored suggestions, seamless loyalty and gift checkouts, seamless GPS/location service, and strong analytical dashboards.

  1. What impact does app engagement have on my ROI?

Users that are more engaged with the app tend to not only spend more, but also come back to spend more, thus improving lifetime value, and optimally increasing the Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).

  1. Does it cost a lot to create a mobile app today?

No, with no-code tools such as Twinr, app scalability and professionalism is attainable for every business, removing the engineering barrier.

Gaurav Parvadiya

Gaurav is the founder and CEO of Twinr, a tech entrepreneur with a decade of experience and a passion for SaaS. With a Master's degree in Computer Science, he specializes in no-code development, driving innovation in the mobile app industry. When he's not busy growing the company, you'll find him writing about tech, growth, software development, e-commerce, and occasionally sneaking in a game of badminton.