"You need an app to stay competitive."

"Apps are the future of digital business."

"Without an app, you're missing out on 90% of smartphone usage time spent."

I used to make these exact claims in sales pitches all the time. And yes, the data is real— in 2024, consumers spend on average 3.5 hours daily on mobile, and use 26 apps per month.

But does this automatically mean your business needs an app? Not even close.

And in 2025, the rise of vibecoding: the latest wave of AI-powered no-code platforms, makes this decision even trickier. Vibecoding promises to let anyone build sophisticated apps within days (or even hours) without writing a single line of code. The hype is enormous, but where does this leave you and your unique business needs?

After advising thousand businesses at Google on this exact question, I've learned that apps could be a wrong move for many companies. Let's cut through the noise and talk about what actually matters.

First of all: Web & App are two completely different games

First, understand that websites and apps aren't just different channels—they're different business models:

Website business:

• Gets discovered through search and social
• Welcomes first-time visitors with minimal friction
• Focuses on conversion optimization
• Measures success by visits and transactions
• Excels at customer acquisition

App business:

• Prioritizes regular user engagement over pageviews
• Succeeds through retention and habit formation
• Often focuses on lifetime value and retention
• Measures success through multiple engagement metrics
• Excels at deepening existing relationships

This fundamental disconnect explains why so many businesses fail after launching an app. Starbucks is a perfect example—their initial app was simply a digital payment tool, essentially a website function wrapped in an app. When they redesigned it around the rewards program with streak-based incentives and personalized offers in 2016, their mobile orders jumped to 10% in Q4 2017, and the redesign led to a 67% increase in rewards sign-ups and a 48% rise in customer engagement. They were playing the website game in an app ecosystem until they embraced app-specific behavior patterns.

Now, start App-First when these apply to you

Having said that, some businesses genuinely should begin with an app. You're app-first material if:

1. Your business belongs to these categories

Certain verticals are app-native. According to Sensor Tower's State of Mobile Report 2025, these categories consistently outperform others in both user retention and monetization:

• Social platforms (Instagram, TikTok) - 9.8% Day 30 retention
• Utility tools (ChatGPT) - 7.5% Day 30 retention
• Games - $96.4B in annual revenue
• Finance management and banking - 11.2% Day 30 retention
• Fitness tracking and lifestyle (Flo, Strava) - 8.7% Day 30 retention
• Learning platforms (Duolingo) - 10.5% Day 30 retention

Duolingo’s streak feature remains one of their most powerful engagement mechanics. Other education apps like Busuu saw a 15% increase in total sessions within a month of adding streak feature.

2. Your money comes from recurring engagement

Subscription businesses thrive in apps because:

• The app icon itself reduces churn (out of sight, out of mind)
• In-app purchases are frictionless
• Push notifications drive habitual use
• User patterns can be tracked across sessions and personalised

3. Your users need your product on the go

If your core value requires mobility, apps win:

• They work offline
• They access device capabilities
• They load instantly
• They're designed for mobile-first interactions

This is why navigation apps like Google Maps and video editing tools like CapCut are almost exclusively used in their app form despite having web versions. When you're lost, you don't want to type a URL. When you're a content creator capturing spontaneous moments, you need immediate access to your editing tools when inspiration strikes.

Meanwhile, signs your web business is App-Ready

Already have a successful website? Look for these signals that it's app time:

1. Your returning visitor rate tops 40%

When over 40% of your web traffic is returning visitors, you've built enough loyalty to justify an app's higher friction. Wayfair waited for this benchmark before launching their app, which now drives 56.7% of their orders.

2. Mobile dominates your traffic but lags in conversion

When 65%+ of your traffic is mobile but your conversion rates are significantly lower than desktop, an app might be the solution. Booking.com noticed that about 60% of its bookings were coming from mobile devices. In response, they developed a mobile app that now has 135 million mobile active users in 2024.

3. You need capabilities web can't deliver

Apps can do things websites simply can't:

• AR try-ons (ie IKEA's AR furniture placement feature)
• Biometric authentication (ie Banking apps using Face ID logins)
• Advanced personalization based on device behavior (ie Spotify's Release Radar)
• Complex offline functionality (ie Netflix's download feature for offline viewing)
• Deep integration with device features (ie Shazam's music recognition using microphone, ChatGPT's voice conversations feature that's unavailable on desktop)

4. Personalization drives your business model

If you offer thousands of products or content pieces, apps enable better personalization through:

• Consistent user identification
• Cross-session behavior tracking
• More sophisticated recommendation algorithms
• Deeper user preference data

Final thoughts: answer these 3 questions honestly

Before proceeding with any app development path, be brutally honest about:

1. Would you personally download and regularly use this app if it wasn't your company's? If not, you're building it for the wrong reasons.
2. Can your experience beat the industry retention average? According to Sensor Tower's 2025 data, the average Day 30 retention rate is now 5.8% across all app categories, with best-in-class apps in specific categories achieving up to 12%. Most apps still lose over 94% of users within a month. What makes yours different?
3. Can you commit to properly funding and staffing your chosen approach for at least 2 years? Even no-code apps need ongoing attention and resources, and app advertising in the new era of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) make things even more complicated.

If you answered "no" to any of these, stop and focus on your website instead. But if you answered "yes" to all three, you're ready to explore implementation options.

What's Next: How to Build Your App in 2025

In my next newsletter, I'll dive into the practical side of app development in 2025: traditional development realities, the vibecoding revolution, Progressive Web Apps as a middle-ground option, and my recommended staged approach for most businesses.

You'll discover which development path makes the most sense for your budget, timeline, and business goals—and how to implement it without wasting resources on approaches that don't fit your needs.

Stay tuned for part 2!

About me

Thank you for reading until the end :) I'm Loretta, and I've spent the past decade at Google working with thousands of customers all over the world. My work spans digital marketing, business transformation, strategic partnerships, program management, and app development.

I believe AI will empower individuals more than ever, and I'm here to translate my decade of experience into simple, actionable advice to help you achieve your goals. I aim to post bi-weekly.

Want more tips like these? I run mentorship sessions and create low-cost guides designed for businesses at any stage. If you still haven't, check out my Beginner's Guide to Digital Marketing Strategy (2025) and Ultimate Digital Marketing Metrics Glossary 2025 – it's completely free and distills everything I've learned about what metrics actually matter.