Consultancy firm Deloitte said that 80 percent of apps published by “a selection of global consumer and healthcare brands” were downloaded fewer than 1,000 times, with just 1 percent seeing more than one million downloads. In its study, ‘Killer apps – appearance isn’t everything,’ the company said that “as app stores become more popular and users become more mature, getting noticed will become ever harder.” However, it also warns that “non-participation in the app world does not appear to be an option either.”

The company noted that apps which included certain features were “far more likely” to be downloaded, including portability (81 percent), accelerometer (77 percent), ‘sophisticated touch-screen use’ (61 percent), location based services (61 percent) and camera (59 percent). The integration of app functionality and platform features will “dominate the next phase of app development by advertisers and brands,” Deloitte said – although this will not be without challenges. Howard Davies, media partner with the company, argues: “Consumers need to see the benefits of receiving more personalised advertising on their smartphones, devices that have previously been advert free. They also need to consent to let their personal data to be used in this manner.”

Deloitte also said that brands need to decide whether an app is needed rather than a mobile website, including “whether that app will offer the user some functionality that is desirable to them.” It said that “if not, then stick with the website as informational or ad-serving apps combine poor download volumes with poor reviews, and may in fact be brand damaging.”

According to the research, the choice of which platforms to target is important, because “the synergies generated by developing apps for multiple platforms are relatively insignificant.” It estimates the cost of developing for two OSs is 160 percent of the cost of developing for one.