First, let’s define cloud-based and self-hosted LMSs.

A cloud-based LMS is hosted on the vendor’s servers, and users can access it via the internet. With this option, there is no need to purchase or install any software, and the vendor handles maintenance and updates. Users only pay a subscription fee to access the system.

On the other hand, a self-hosted LMS requires a separate server to be installed on the organization’s premises. The user organization is responsible for purchasing, installing, and maintaining the software. This option provides more flexibility and control over the system, but it requires more technical knowledge and resources.

Now, let’s dive into the advantages and disadvantages of both types of LMSs.

Cloud-Based LMS

Advantages:

Accessibility: A cloud-based LMS is accessible from anywhere in the world, as long as there is an internet connection. This means that users can access their courses and materials on any device, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers.

Scalability: A cloud-based LMS can easily accommodate a growing user base, as the vendor’s servers can be upgraded to handle more users. Additionally, users only pay for what they need, making it more cost-effective than a self-hosted LMS for smaller organizations.

Ease of Use: Since the vendor handles maintenance and upgrades, users don’t need to worry about technical issues. The LMS provider takes care of everything, making it a simple and user-friendly option for organizations that don’t have an IT department.

Disadvantages:

Security: Since data is stored on the vendor’s servers, there is always a risk of a data breach. While reputable LMS providers have strong security measures in place, some organizations may prefer to keep their data on their premises.

Limited Control: With a cloud-based LMS, users have limited control over the system’s functionality and customization. The vendor may not allow certain integrations or customization, which can limit the user experience.

Dependence on the Vendor: Organizations that use a cloud-based LMS are dependent on the vendor for system uptime, maintenance, and updates. If the vendor experiences downtime or technical issues, it can affect the organization’s ability to deliver courses and manage student data.

Self-Hosted LMS

Advantages:

Control: With a self-hosted LMS, users have complete control over the system’s functionality and customization. The user organization can modify and extend the LMS as needed, making it more flexible and customizable. /p>

Security: Since data is stored on the organization’s server, there is more control over security measures, making it easier to implement and maintain security protocols. This option is ideal for organizations that handle sensitive data.

Cost-Effective: Although there are initial costs associated with purchasing and installing the software, self-hosted LMSs can be more cost-effective in the long run. Organizations only need to pay for maintenance, upgrades, and hosting, which can be less expensive than a subscription-based cloud LMS.

Disadvantages:

Technical Knowledge: Setting up a self-hosted LMS requires more technical knowledge and resources than a cloud-based LMS.

Maintenance: Maintaining a self-hosted LMS can be time-consuming and requires technical expertise. Organizations must ensure that the software is up-to-date and secure, which can be a challenge for organizations with limited technical resources.

Limited Accessibility: Since a self-hosted LMS is hosted on the organization’s server, it is only accessible within the organization’s network. This means that users cannot access the LMS outside of the organization’s premises, which can be a drawback for remote learners.

Now that we have discussed the pros and cons of both cloud-based and self-hosted LMSs, let’s consider some factors that can help you decide which one is right for your organization.

Budget: The cost of implementing and maintaining an LMS is a crucial factor for most organizations. A self-hosted LMS requires an upfront investment in software, hardware, and technical resources, whereas a cloud-based LMS is subscription-based and can be more cost-effective for smaller organizations.

Technical Expertise: Implementing and maintaining a self-hosted LMS requires technical expertise, while a cloud-based LMS requires minimal technical knowledge. If your organization has an IT department, a self-hosted LMS might be a good option, while a cloud-based LMS might be better for organizations without technical expertise.

Security Requirements: If your organization handles sensitive data, a self-hosted LMS might be a better option. Organizations can control the security measures and protocols for their data, ensuring that it is secure. However, cloud-based LMS providers often have strong security measures in place, making them a safe option for most organizations.

Scalability: If your organization anticipates significant growth in the number of users or courses, a cloud-based LMS is a more scalable option. Cloud-based LMS providers can easily accommodate a growing user base, while a self-hosted LMS may require significant upgrades to handle increased usage.

Accessibility: If your organization has remote learners, a cloud-based LMS is a better option. Cloud-based LMSs can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, making it more accessible for learners who are not on-premises.

In conclusion, choosing between a cloud-based and self-hosted LMS depends on several factors, including budget, technical expertise, security requirements, scalability, and accessibility. While both options have their advantages and disadvantages, organizations should consider their unique needs and requirements before making a decision. We hope this article has provided you with the information you need to choose the right LMS for your organization.

Do you need further assistance in selecting the appropriate LMS hosting option for your online courses? Feel free to reach out to us for support.

The post Cloud-Based Vs Self-Hosted LMS: What You Need To Know appeared first on Perception System.

Understanding LMS

First, let’s define what an LMS is. A Learning Management System is a software application that allows users to create, manage, and deliver digital content and educational courses. It can be used for a variety of purposes, including employee training, professional development, and academic courses.

Benefits of LMS

LMS has become increasingly popular over the years because of its numerous benefits. It can help organizations save time and money by automating the process of course creation, tracking, and reporting. LMS can also provide learners with a more engaging and interactive learning experience, with features such as quizzes, games, and multimedia content.

Building Your Own LMS

Now, let’s explore the option of building your own LMS. This can be an attractive option for organizations that have specific needs that cannot be met by existing LMS providers. By building your own LMS, you have complete control over the system’s functionality and can customize it to fit your organization’s unique requirements.

Pros of Building Your Own LMS

Customization: As previously mentioned, building your own LMS allows you to customize the system to meet your specific needs. You can add features and functionality that are not available in third-party providers.

Control: You have complete control over the LMS, including its development, maintenance, and upgrades. This means you can make changes and updates at your own pace without relying on a third-party provider.

Ownership: Building your own LMS means you own the system and its data. This can be an advantage if you have sensitive data that you do not want to share with a third-party provider.

Cons of Building Your Own LMS

Cost: Building your own LMS can be expensive, especially if you do not have the necessary technical expertise in-house. You will need to hire developers, designers, and other technical staff to build and maintain the system.

Time: Developing an LMS from scratch can take a lot of time, especially if you do not have experience in software development. This can be a significant investment of time and resources, which may not be feasible for some organizations.

Support: If you build your own LMS, you will be responsible for providing technical support to your users. This can be a significant burden on your IT staff, who may not have the necessary expertise to support the system.

Outsourcing to a Third-Party Provider

The other option is to outsource to a third-party provider. This can be an attractive option for organizations that do not have the technical expertise or resources to build their own LMS.

Pros of Outsourcing to a Third-Party Provider

Cost: Outsourcing to a third-party provider can be more cost-effective than building your own LMS. This is because the provider can spread the cost of development and maintenance across multiple clients.

Time: Outsourcing to a third-party provider can be faster than building your own LMS. Providers already have an existing platform that they can customize to meet your organization’s needs, saving time and resources.

Support: Third-party providers typically offer technical support to their clients. This means you do not have to worry about providing support to your users, as the provider will take care of it.

Cons of Outsourcing to a Third-Party Provider

Customization: Sometimes Third-party providers may not be able to meet all of your organization’s unique needs.

Cost and Time Analysis

Now that we have explored the pros and cons of both options, let’s conduct a cost and time analysis to help you make an informed decision.

Building Your Own LMS:

Cost: Building your own LMS can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $500,000, depending on the complexity of the system and the expertise of your technical staff. This includes development, design, maintenance, and upgrades.

Time: Developing an LMS from scratch can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, depending on the size and complexity of the system. This includes research, development, testing, and implementation.

Outsourcing to a Third-Party Provider:

Cost: Outsourcing to a third-party provider can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 per year, depending on the number of users and the features included in the package.

Time: Outsourcing to a third-party provider can take anywhere from 1 to 3 months to implement, depending on the customization required.

Conclusion

As we have discussed, outsourcing to a third-party provider can be a cost-effective and efficient solution for LMS development. By partnering with a trusted third-party provider like Perception System, you can benefit from their expertise, experience, and resources without the high investment of building your own LMS.

In addition, by outsourcing to Perception System, you can benefit from our proven development methodology, agile approach, and quality assurance processes. We ensure that your LMS is tested and optimized for performance, security, and user experience.

Outsourcing to a third-party provider like Perception System can be a smart choice for LMS development. By partnering with an experienced and trusted provider, you can benefit from their expertise, resources, and customized solutions without the high cost and investment of building your own LMS. Contact us today to learn more about our LMS development services and how we can help you achieve your training and development goals.

The post Building Your Own LMS vs Outsourcing to a Third-Party Provider: A Cost and Time Analysis appeared first on Perception System.

While counties are at their different phases from Coronavirus Pandemic, more than 1.2 billion students in 186 countries are affected by schools and university closures. Most of the organization institutes roll out their calls from their online teaching.

With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some wonder whether the adoption of online learning continues to persist post-pandemic and how much such a change would affect the worldwide educational sector.

Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology, as the global EdTech investments reached $18.66 billion in 2019. The overall market for online education is projected to reach $350 billion by the end of 2025.

Whether it is a language app, virtual classrooms, video conference rooms, or online learning software, there has been a massive surge in education technology since the Coronavirus outbreak.

Perception System has helped hundreds of educational institutes, including Harvard Medical School, to create a robust online presence. Our feature-rich academic portals enabled organizations to address their operations with an uninterrupted interface.

If you are considering bringing an online presence to your educational institute, then read this article.

Types of Educational Websites

The website can be versatile; it can be dynamic or straightforward. There are hundreds of themes that you can go with. Here are a few types of websites that are ruling the current education sector.

E-learning web portals

An e-learning web portal is a website or application that lets you to deepen your knowledge in a specific field. This way of mastering new skills and learning new concepts is trendy this year.

Digital Content Serving Sites

Digital content is any content that exists as digital data. Also known as digital media, digital content is stored on digital or analog storage in specific formats. Formats of digital content include information contained in digitally transmitted, streamed, or digital files.

School Educational Video Websites‎

Educational websites may include games, videos, or websites with resources related to the subject that serve as tools to enhance learning and teaching in the classroom. These websites help make the student entertaining and engaging, especially in today’s age.

Language-Learning Website

This type of website offers many language learning courses with a variety of educational materials. Notable universities that teach lessons in this language have professional-level courses for stage professors. You can learn the general language or get specialized language courses.

Online Courseware

Online courseware is an electronic learning material used in online learning or e-learning, a learning tool that is a reality in the modern education system. Built as software, the digital courseware works standalone or is delivered via a learning management system or LMS.

Tertiary Educational Websites

Higher education, also known as tertiary education in some countries, refers to all secondary education, including all public and private universities, colleges, technical training institutes, and vocational schools.

Learning Management System

Learning Management System (LMS) is software designed specifically to create, distribute, and manage educational materials’ delivery. LMS can be hosted as a standalone product on a company server or a host-based platform by a software firm.

One of the better option for creating custom LMS software is Moodle. It is an open-source platform designed to create e-learning solutions. You can connect with Perception System for robust moodle development services.

Why Your Educational Institution Needs a Website?

A great website can address many challenges facing colleges and universities. The first is an increase in costs. As the cost of college leases increases, so will the pressure to control these costs by optimizing operational efficiency. The web offers better services, more functionality, faster release cycles, wider availability, and significant cost savings.

Easy Interaction with Students

A website represents your online presence. With the student’s web portal’s help, your students can quickly login to their account to check out their academic activities.

Keep Parents in-Touch

The parent’s portal on your website enables parents to check out their kids’ overall curriculum and activities. Thus, they can stay updated with the results, events, syllabus, and everything for their needs.

Better Learning Experience 

A web portal ultimately enhances the overall learning experience for your students. It facilitates them to learn their desired courses at their convenience.

Serve fresh content for teaching material online.

With the help of an educational web portal, you can easily update course material online, right from your computer screen. The new teaching material can be easily accessible to your students, and they can download it with a single click.

Broadcast Information and Updates Seamlessly

The web portal facilitates the management to update information about examinations, results, events, admission, and many other things.

Attracting more Students

A user-friendly educational website is the best way to attract more students and their parents, as it allows them to view everything right from their dashboard.

Importance of having Websites for Universities

Because the younger generation uses social media extensively, many universities turn towards Instagram and Twitter to attract new students. But the recent study shows a different result. The current statistics revealed that it is not just social media that individual international students turn to when checking out a university; it is the website that plays an integral part in enrolling international students.

The report states that 90% of international students apply for admission without contacting the university. Their decision to apply for a particular university is primarily based on the university website. Thus, having a website for university is extremely important for attracting national and international students. Besides, the website can yield fruitful results when it comes to,

Faculty Accomplishments

A website is the best way to show faculty accomplishments and achievements to attract new students. You can easily edit the photos, biographies, and achievement without any technical knowledge.

Student life at the University 

An easy way for universities to weave on the website is to set up a student portal page. The inclusion of all information in one portal/page allows students to access information related to their educational journey quickly.

Campus Amenities 

With the user-friendly CMS, you can edit campus amenities showing the best facilities in your university. This can save valuable time for international students during the research process.

Alumni Networking & Community 

The website enables the students to share a strong bond by connecting through the alumni network. Your website can be a strong link between old friends and their community.

Athletics Recruitment

Students interested in athletics can easily find their desired sports on the list through an educational web portal.

Blogging 

The consistent blogging on the website helps the students to stay updated with the latest educational trends. Besides, it can also serve your purpose for getting good results in SERPS.

Role of Online Learning Solutions in the Education Industry

Today’s learners want relevant, mobile, self-propelled and personalized content. This need is met through online learning; students can learn according to their convenience and necessity. Let’s take an analytical look at the benefits of online learning solutions in the education sector.

Scalability

E-learning helps create and communicate new training, policies, concepts and ideas. Whether it’s for formal education or entertainment, e-learning is a great way to learn!

Compatibility

E-learning enables teachers to achieve a high level of coverage to send a consistent message to their target audience. This ensures that all learners receive the same type of training with this learning mode.

Low Investment 

E-learning is effective when compared to traditional learning. The reason this value is reduced is that learning through this mode is done quickly and easily. A lot of training time is reduced about trainers, travel, course materials and accommodation.

Impactful Online Presence 

E-learning has a positive impact on the organization’s profits. Makes this content easy to understand and digest: It gives a better score on a certificate, test or another type of assessment. Increase the ability to learn and apply new processes or knowledge in the workplace. It helps maintain information for longer.

Less Impact on the Environment

Learning is a paperless way of learning, so it saves the environment to a great extent. According to a study conducted on e-learning courses, distance learning programs consume about 90% less electricity and generate 85% less CO2 emissions than traditional campus-based educational methods. With e-learning, it is not necessary to cut down trees to get paper. Thus, eLearning is an environmentally friendly way of learning.

Articulating your Institutes’ brand values

The website not only informs your potential students but also shows that you are there over time. When you have a website and use internet marketing strategies, likely students will understand that you are interested in your school’s development and innovation. And, as said, you can use it as a place to display information. It’s like an ad that anyone gets when they want. You can use it to post testimonials from alumni.

Learn as per Convenience 

Unlike the classroom, learning with online classes, you can access a wide range of content. This is especially necessary at the time of revision during exam preparation. In the traditional form of teaching, if you cannot participate in lectures, you have to prepare for the subject on your own; In e-learning, you can engage in open classes whenever you want.

Sourcing Accessible Information to your Students

The main advantage of online learning is that it ensures that you are in sync with modern learners. This allows the learner to access the updated content whenever they want.

Address your Educational Website Challenges with Perception System

There is a significant risk on a poorly presented college ledge website. While many focuses on legal risks such as copyright piracy and privacy, there is also a considerable reputation risk. A poorly designed website harms the organization and is beyond the brand and message. Having broken links, ending content, false words, etc., is a feature of a site that does not receive proper care and nourishment, damaging credibility.

Perception system is an award-winning agency when it comes to providing technological solutions to diverse industries. Right from e-learning websites to language learning mobile apps, we have successfully delivered 100+ e-learning solutions to our global clientele.

Connect with us at info@perceptionsystem.com for discussing the endless possibilities of online educational web portals for your educational institute.

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In a recent study, it was found that the millennials of today prefer to invest more of their income on experiences rather than on purchasing material pleasures. The average Joe of today will travel more in his lifetime than his predecessors, and this trend is quickly catching up across the rest of the world. Keeping this fact in mind, this is indeed a great time in history to invest in technologies to better your travel and tourism business.

If you have been in the industry for some time now, you would know the huge impact technological investments can have on the revenue generated by a business. Along with this, other features like greater mobility and better management, are part and parcel of these technologies. Thus if you have a travel and tourism business, now is the time to invest in travel web portal software development.

In this article, we will talk in-depth about the various aspects of travel web portal software development and what it means for your business. Let’s Begin!

What is a Travel Web Portal?

Before we explore the depths of developing a travel web portal, let us first understand what this actually means. A travel web portal can be defined in simple terms as being a powerful as well as a comprehensive web portal that allows users to avail services offered by your business.

In terms of category, as a business owner, you have the ability to develop software for all aspects of your business, be it Business to Consumer B2C as well as Business to Business B2B. Along with this, you have the added option of including API for services like railway ticket bookings, air travel bookings, hotel reservations, tour packages, and much more.

The integration of all these into your travel web portal software will not only enhance your capabilities of providing a better service to your users but also gives you the ability to serve multiple clients from different parts of the globe at the same time.

Features of Travel Web Portals

Now that you know the basic definition of a travel web portal let us understand the features it comes with.

1. Most of the travel web portal software is available in the market today comes with an inbuilt admin dashboard, which lets you monitor as well as control all aspects of your travel and tourism business. Be it monitoring the number of users currently on your portal, the number of reservations made, the total revenue generated, or the payouts to be made, all of these and more can be achieved quite easily on these intuitive platforms.

2. On the client end of your travel web portal, users will have the option of making bookings online, see the status of the bookings made previously, track their travel dates, find the best hotel rates, book a packaged tour, and much more. All these features combined in one will give the user a greater amount of flexibility when it comes to making travel plans online and thus convert them into a loyal customer for your business.

3. Another great feature available in most travel web portals is the option of adding multiple administrators and share unique credentials with each of them. With the help of this feature, you can assign one or multiple of your employees to manage the admin section of the web portal while you can conveniently oversee their activities from the master dashboard while addressing other aspects of your booming business.

The Benefits of investing in Travel Web Portal Software

By now, it must be clear that investing your money in developing a travel web portal software will give you more capabilities and benefits than you could imagine. For your convenience, here are the major benefits, a travel web portal software will have for your business.

1. The only major investment is in developing this software in the initial stages by customizing its features for your business. Once the software has been developed, there is close to no investment in training your employees with all the functionalities of this portal. This is largely due to this software being very user-friendly as well as easy to learn and use both for amateurs as well as professionals.

2. In any business, be it travel and tourism or something, there is always a large operation cost that is involved. With a travel web portal, your operation costs will severely reduce as you will make a one time upfront investment in developing the software, and the rest of the processes thereafter can be automated.

3. Along with this, you have the added option of creating intuitive and interactive reports so that you can understand the ongoing trends in your business and decide upon the areas where you need to improve.

4. You will also have the facility of interacting with your customers and clients in a much easier and simpler manner, given the fact that the majority of the task will be handled by the web portal and not your employees.

5. The travel web portal will give you the option of expanding your business to new horizons, thereby giving you more visibility online and get more coming to your business.

Conclusion

From this article, one aspect that can be concluded is the fact that the development of a travel web portal will give your new business new dynamics to explore upon, while at the same time give you multiple options to grow your business to new heights.

Reach us at Perception Systems to develop an interactive and intuitive Travel Web Portal for your business establishment today.

The post Expand Your Online Business with Travel Web Portal Software Development appeared first on Perception System.

With almost half the world predicted to have access to a smart phone by 2020, businesses need to be capitalising on the potential that mobile apps can offer. You might be under the impression that apps only work for certain types of business, but the reality is that they have wide-ranging potential. This is especially true of the restaurant industry.

New apps like Zomato and Yelp have led the way in terms of the potential of apps for the industry, and new titles with new methods of working are being developed all the time. As an example, consider the fact that an app is now responsible for almost 16 percent of Starbucks’ sales and you begin to see what kind of numbers we are talking about here.

Types of restaurant app

There are already several types of restaurant app on the market. These include coupon apps, wait time apps, rating apps or food ordering apps. One or more of these types will almost certainly be a viable option for your restaurant business.

The key to app success is working out what your goals are for app use and development, and finding the angle that works best for your brand and business model. You may even be able to develop a feature-rich app that combines the best of several different app uses to expand and grow your business.

One of the main types of restaurant app is one that showcases the menu. Adding an interactive menu option to your app lets diners decide what they want to eat before they arrive and also gives you a chance to display the kind of food you offer. The menu should be easy to view, with pictures of certain meals, information about ingredients and portion sizes all helping you to sell yourself.

Mobile ordering and payment apps are another must-have for restaurants. If you don’t currently have a takeaway option, then you should seriously consider it. More and more people are using apps to order their favourite restaurant food to eat as a takeout option, with companies like Deliveroo capitalising on this market. Providing a takeout option is a great way to boost revenue without having to invest in larger premises, more staff and expensive facilities.

The loyalty programme app is another big winner. They give smaller restaurants the chance to level the playing field with the big chains, with superior loyalty schemes keeping customers coming back for more. An app is a convenient way for people to keep track of their accumulated points and produce higher levels of returning business.

Of course, you need to try and integrate your app with social media and other review sites. This will make it easier for customers to leave a review and for potential clients to see what others have been saying about you. You should try and encourage people to take and upload pictures and leverage all your app ideas through the big social media sites.

The benefits of a restaurant app

There are several major benefits to developing or using an app for your business. Apps let customers place orders with the maximum convenience. The easier you can make it for people to get what they want, the more likely it is that they will place an order. If you can make purchasing your food or services as easy as pressing a button on your phone, you will improve your sales conversion rate.

Apps also make it possible to serve a larger number of customers at the same time. So, long queues and frustrated people waiting in line can become a thing of the past.

Apps also have a huge branding potential by promoting awareness about your restaurant. This is your chance to get your logo out there, and get your name noticed in the right places. And once customers know who you are, then they will be more likely to visit your restaurant the next time they feel like eating out or getting a takeaway. It is through these kinds of processes that you can build a loyal client base and an app could be a very important part of doing this.

Why businesses use apps

If you’re still unsure about the potential of an app, then there are some more numbers that should convince you to take them seriously. A massive 83% of adults use their mobile devices to search for restaurants and opening hours. So, if you don’t have an easy to access mobile presence, you could be missing out on almost nine out of ten enquiries.

If you’re considering using your app to offer promotions or discounts, then three out of four people would consider coming to your establishment at off-peak times to make use of these.

In addition, almost four out of five diners say that technology can make the dining experience better. That could be in terms of looking at the menu beforehand, placing orders or getting access to special deals online. Even if it’s a simple table reservation service, you can set up an app to make the entire experience more user friendly.

Of course, developing an app is not an easy thing to do so it’s very likely that you will need some outside assistance. A mobile app development specialist will help you to outline and achieve your app goals. They will be able to assist you in creating the most suitable kind of app for your business, developing a feature-rich app that harnesses all the power of modern mobile technology.

If you currently own or run an establishment and are looking for ways to grow your brand, reputation and revenue then restaurant mobile app development should be something you are seriously looking into. It is by no means just the big chains that can benefit from an app, and you should be seeing this as a way to level the playing field with the businesses that can outspend you in every other way.

Give your branding a boost, access new markets such as the takeout option, integrate with social media and harness the power of good reviews. Successful restaurant app development can help you achieve all of these things, and with the right development partner, it can be a lot easier than you might think. Get in touch with our development team to find out more about how we can help you to grow your business. With our experience in the industry, we think we can help.

The post Things you need to know about mobile apps to boost your restaurant business appeared first on Perception System.

Salon business is an evergreen niche and demands growing for quality service providers and business growing thanks to increased sophistication and remedies. Therefore, people love to spend more time on self-enhancement than ever using beauty salon, hair salon, spa centers, and beauty products available in the market.

In previous eras, mostly women were taking interests in the beauty industry due to inherent instincts to look beautiful. Recently, men also are visiting such places and join in fashion and beauty style trends across the globe. Everyone looks beautiful or handsome, fit, and stylists to stand out from the crowd.

Mobile devices have eased their life to find the right place and best service provider in the vicinity in a big radius. They are ready to drive some more miles to find quality treatments at the best bargaining rates.

Beauty industry users have two ways to access the service providers, a website and mobile app. However, the mobile application provides enhanced user experiences than a website. Therefore, the mobile app is the first preference for such users.

I have taken deep insights in the user-base of beauty and salon industry. My observations and next topic will interest only those users who are a part of the business niche including owners or managers of hair & beauty salon, spa center, and hair & beauty product stores.

Of course, many ecommerce stores investing in beauty and hair products also have some inspirations here to build a mobile application to woo their customers on various mobile platforms.

Why Beauty & Hair Salon Industry Needs a Mobile App?

We have seen some different components of the industry. It means, we have to build a separate mobile application for each part of the hair & beauty industry.

It is true that many entrepreneurs run all parts cumulatively in a single but large premise. Despite they need separate apps or modules in a single, but a big app. Let’s see how each module is benefiting the respective industry and what features should have in it.

Hair & Beauty Salon Mobile App Development

Hair and beauty salon shops require the following common features and functions to help their customers and win the game in the niche business.

Shop Finding App

New customers always looking services in the vicinity and integration of Google Map like services in the app helps them to locate the store on the map and based on GPS services get direction as well as other location info quickly to reach there using the best route and commuting services.

Appointment Booking App

Today, customers prefer to book their appointment first, and an app is the best way to do it. App provides the general calendar of the schedule so the customer can select data and time as per the availability.

Some beauty shops and hairdressing salons are demanding some upfront payment to confirm the customers and avoid unwanted gaps in their schedules. So, the app must have payment gateways integrated to make a quick and secure payment.

For the sake of confirmation of the booking, app notification or email notification, as well as payment receipt via the app, is essential functionality.

Smart Mobile Catalog App

a catalog of services along with photos of styles, reviews, ratings, and testimonials make a great sense to the tech-savvy and smart customers. Price or rate comparison engine integration with standard market helps choosy customers to select your services easily and quickly without going to or browsing other shops.

You can create relevant service combo packages and offer incentives on it. Service video or product usage video is the next thing than beautiful images in your catalog app.

Incentive Offering App

In-app discounts, coupons, vouchers, gifts, gift cards, and various deals like daily or weekly deals as well as loyalty cards are some great ideas to woo one-time consumers and convert them as loyal customers. Incentives can increase your visits and let you sustain as well as grow in the market.

To offer various incentives and collect useful data of customers, the mobile app acts as a catalyst system. You can offer registration and login features for the same purposes as well as let your one-time visitors have guest checkout for the sake of the best user experiences.

Push notification is a great tool to intimate your customers and working staff for updates and fill the communication gap while delivering your services and incentives on it.

Spa & Wellness Center Mobile App Development

Wellness centers used to treat the body and mind to be fit and healthy. Skincare services through natural healing are found as a core activity in modern wellness centers. Spa centers contain a sauna or bath with warm, cold, and medicated water. Natural oils and herbal medicines are mainly used in message centers. Solarium facilities can beautify skins in the most natural ways.

Therefore, a mobile application can help such centers to describe their services with required details, multimedia content including images and videos, and display portfolio or success stories to build the trust.

Spa and wellness centers need all features and functionality described in the hair and beauty salon app section above. For more details, please refer to the beauty and hair salon solutions created by Perception System, San Jose, by being a leading beauty and hair salon solution provider company in the USA.

Hair & Beauty Products Selling Mobile App Development

Product selling apps fall into ecommerce category applications and must have features, which you can expect in ecommerce App Development.

Conclusion

Now, we know how an app can change the scenario of hair and beauty treatment services by providing easy management, best customer-experiences, and efficient marketing tools. Perception System, San Jose, USA is a leading Service Provider for Beauty and Hair Salon Mobile App Development. It has enough experiences and adequate talents to deal with any scale of beauty and hair salon apps in cost-effective ways.

The post Importance of Having Website and Mobile app for Beauty-salon businesses appeared first on Perception System.

Today, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are in every hand. Recent data say iPhone is the first choice for a smartphone in the USA, Canada, and European regions. Android is ubiquitous.

Increased Mobile Usage and Demand for Mobility

The majority of the population of the world prefers access to the Internet and other services through their mobile devices. It means healthcare services are not aloft from the increased mobile usage trends.

This one is solid, and the first reason describes why hospitals must have a mobile application. Of course, mobility comes with mobile devices and mobility has myriads of advantages in itself so, I will not go to explain all here, we all know it well.

Advanced and Technical Reasons for That Hospitals Need to Have a Fully Functional Mobile Application

To describe other reasons, I would like to take a bit different route so you can get technicality involved in it in comprehensive manners.

Hospitals are a part of the healthcare industry/niche. Healthcare industry has a number of components including

Here, I have described the major four categories of users of the healthcare industry in a nutshell. Based on these, you can imagine how large and complex the industry itself. It is true that a single mobile app hardly covers most of the users and meet their advanced expectations of features, functionality, and syncing ability in highly collaborative ways.

If you are a tech-savvy doctor, hospital admin, or a good manager, you can imagine a mobile application with a single back-end may prove inadequate and inefficient in delivering satisfactory results for the large to mid-size hospitals.

As a software developer for years, and serving healthcare industry, I know it demands a data-driven and efficient web application with powerful back-end and website/web portal like front-end would be the first need to support the mobile application/s attached with it.

Now, we will see how mobile healthcare application can fulfil the demands of described user categories. Below are a few much needed features, every hospital mobile application should have-

Healthcare App Meets Demands of End-users:

Patient Module

If we look at the patients’ journey carefully, we can imagine when and where patients need a mobile app. As per my guess, following are use-cases & features in the patient module.

Receptionist Module

The app enables receptionist to attend the following tasks.

Providing accurate patient data to the hospital’s digital system becomes easy.

Physician Module

Physicians or doctors can enjoy the following privileges in an app module devoted specifically to them.

Nurse Module

The app helps nurses and assistants to accomplish their duties with ease and comforts without rising adrenaline in emergencies.

Pharmacist Module

The majority of hospitals have their own pharmaceutical stores and keep inventory to get medicines within the campus, all at no profit basis and provide the best quality. Thus, pharmacy is an integral part of the hospital and attached closely with the entire digital system of the hospital. Pharmacist module can help the healthcare industry in the following ways.

Admin Module

A mobile application attached to the back-end of the intranet or Internet application eases the entire hospital administration in astounding ways. Following advantages are common with admin modules.

Clinical Research Module

Most of the government-sponsored clinical research involves a number of large to small hospitals, medical education institutes, and pharmacy companies working at the global level. If your hospital is a part of it, the clinical research module can help the researchers, scientists, doctors, and field assistants in the following ways.

Takeaway

We have seen how the healthcare software system is large and encompassing myriads of software modules to gain immense benefits to its different kinds of users and public. Today, without a mobile application integrated with the existing software system, hospitals are unable to deliver cutting-edge healthcare services at competitive rates.

Now, the question is who can deal with such large scale and intricate Healthcare Application Development? Perception System, San Jose, USA had prior experiences to create such software systems and delivered excellent mobile experiences in the mobile app development for healthcare and pharmacy industries.

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Over the past couple of decades, a number of major industries have been coming to terms with how the internet is affecting their marketing and business strategies. One of these key areas has been healthcare.

How we source and interact with our healthcare options has changed hugely over time. Where once upon a time our local doctor or GP was our conduit to further healthcare options, these days we are able to go straight to the source using the internet. This has meant that healthcare websites have had to change the way they market themselves as the target audience has changed from healthcare professionals to ordinary members of the public.

Of course, healthcare is a complicated topic, often involving complex scientific principles. So, you need to make sure that your website design and content can simplify complicated material and make it available to a wider range of potential customers. With this in mind, here are some top ways that you can use website design to maximise your digital healthcare marketing strategy.

A website can be an education tool

As we mentioned, customers are now looking directly to healthcare websites for answers to their healthcare issues. Even though these issues can be complex, you should use this opportunity to offer education about the healthcare issues that you aim to treat.

Turn your website into a source of information about the areas of medical care you cover. Try and contain guides about the conditions and potential treatments and ensure that all information is accurate. Think of your website not just as a marketing function but also as a tool to educate.

Social media

The potential of social media should never be underestimated. Use platforms to help you reach out to the people who need your services. Some healthcare organisations can stay away from social media, thinking it’s not the place to discuss what they do, but the more information you can get out there, the better it will be for people who need your help.

Clarity, hierarchy and simplicity build trust

Healthcare presents a whole different series of challenges to other forms of digital marketing. People who come to you looking for answers or services need help and are often very eager. However, the last thing they need is to end up feeling confused or overwhelmed. Even though the products or services you offer may be complex, you need to keep things simple.

The design of your site should be simple and clean. Keep the initial amount of information easy to digest, placing more detailed pages inside the site. You should try and get as much feedback as you can about your design before the site goes live. Make sure that potential users are able to find what they are looking for and try and establish a good design methodology from the outset. If you have a clear goal in mind before you start the project this will help to realise a clearer end product.

If you’re unsure about how to achieve the best results, it’s always a good idea to enlist the support of a website design company. Specialist healthcare development services will help you to focus and deliver your main message.

Quality content

As well as keeping it simple, you also need to make sure you are offering high-quality content. In the world of healthcare, people need clear and concise information that is well written, easy to understand and 100% accurate. Too much detail or scientific language can be confusing so you need to find ways of distilling big ideas into easy to swallow chunks. If you are not able to do this in-house, then it may be a good idea to use the services of a healthcare development company or professional medical copywriter.

Don’t make users think

As a healthcare company, you’re not there to make users think. You’re there to provide answers, support, and assistance. The information you provide needs to be clear and concise, and each page needs to have an obvious purpose and be self-explanatory. Use a clear structure that is easy to follow and use recognisable links and buttons where required.

You need to keep an eye on the analytics and find the areas where you are losing users. These are the areas of your site where you are not providing the right information.

Don’t bury your CTAs

Calls to action are essentially the main purpose of any website where goods and services are on offer. Sure, you need top-quality content to engage the reader and you should always aim to be an authority in the area in which you work. But without the calls to action to turn this authority into results, this is an engagement that is being wasted.

Your CTAs should be front and centre. Once you have got a potential user’s attention, you need to guide them clearly and with a minimum of fuss to the place you need them to be. Big and bold buttons on all pages, well-placed links – whether it’s a link to the sales page or simply to a vote or stats analysis – whatever you want to achieve the CTA is the main way of making this happen. Bury them away in small and difficult to find places and you won’t be achieving your potential.

Test, measure and re-design often

Once your site is live and operating, that is far from the end of the story. Like a high-performance car, you need to keep tweaking and testing your site to make sure everything is running the way it should. You can’t afford to have bad links or pages not working. In healthcare, everything depends on your reputation for reliability. So, use the tools at your disposal to make sure it is all working the way it should. Analyse, test and make the necessary changes to ensure your site is running at top speed. And if you need help to do this, then get in touch with a healthcare website and app development company.

Your website is the front end of the business. It is the way your users perceive your whole operation to be. So, you need to make sure that it is absolutely on point. Everything from the color scheme to the branding needs to make sense. Healthcare is changing, but the fundamentals remain the same. People need reliable, informative and easy to access services that can help them to solve their issues. Focus on these goals and you can develop a site that really works.

The post Tips for Designing a Better Healthcare Website appeared first on Perception System.

Magento is a free open source e-commerce platform. Magento development company was created in 2008 by the IT Company Varien. Natively very rich in features, it is undoubtedly one of the best solutions on the world market. A true professional tool, Magento is also very scalable and will allow you to go from a simple and basic online store, to ambitious and complex projects, simply by changing it over the years and without having to change tools and assisting in best e-commerce website design.

Magento 2 for auto parts stores provides fast and elegant solutions for e-commerce projects. A strong focus is made on the attractiveness of customer attention, excellent product presentation and user-friendly navigation.

Magento models for automotive and motorbike sites

Magento 2 for automotive and motorbike sites provides everything needed to create a professional website for your business. It is perfect for personal or professional use and has a bunch of widgets and modules that turn your site to your personal specifics.

Once you have chosen Magento 2, you can start creating your website that will meet the needs of your business. The features are numerous and give you the necessary options to adapt your site to your personal taste. Achieving the color schemes corresponding to the identity of the original mark is simple.

The template is user-friendly to search engines allowing you to optimize page metadata and headlines to help you rank your site at the top of the best search engine.

Your completed website will be easy to navigate with user-friendly features like back-up buttons and drop-down menus.

Its themes are adaptive and compatible with different web browsers, making them visible from any device and browser. You need only one website, saving your money and effort. In addition, all users come to the same site, improving your SEO.

Use your gallery to present the cars and bikes you sell, and allowing your visitors to share them via social networks. Shared content gives you free advertising.

Why choose Magento 2 for its online car shop?

More and more people are asking for version 2 of this e-commerce CMS and we want to bring you the best on the market.

Magento 2 was built on the same principles that made the success of Magento 1, namely: the flexibility of the platform, the ability to extend the functionality yourself, the ability to easily deploy new custom sites using the same back office and at the best price.

To enter the world of international e-commerce and lift your business to a higher level, you need a decent website, which will help you reach customers.

All you need to do is replace the default content with yours. The Magento platform gives you the necessary control over the look of your shop. You can also add the desired feature to your store since many plugins and extensions are available online.

Magento 2: a powerful solution for e-commerce

1. A feature-rich platform

Magento offers a multitude of features more powerful than each other.

Whether for marketing, with the possibility of polls, newsletters or promotional offers. But also cross and up selling, ie to link articles between them according to different characteristics or to suggest products with a higher value. These tools have a real positive effect on the sales of your shop.

Magento also offers you the possibility to have a multi-language and multi-currency shop. It should be known that French e-commerce is growing more and more internationally and Magento has become aware of it. Thus your e-commerce has the ability to be available in more than 80 languages and a large number of different currencies. Thanks to Magento, your shop will be able to radiate all over the world, especially in the countries where the biggest manufacturers of cars and auto parts are.

The strength of Magento is also the multi-shop. The platform makes it possible to publish one or more e-commerce sites from the same back office. In this way you can easily manage a single database produced for several sites.

Finally, Magento has set up a wide range of features concerning the management of orders and their shipping, this includes the calculation of shipping costs, choice in shipping methods, delivery management, order tracking or still creating invoices.

Magento thus draws its power from the multitude of functionalities that the platform for e-commerce proposes

2. A very advanced catalog management

Magento provides e-merchants with great flexibility in managing their catalogs, regardless of volume. The solution includes features to control stocks, prices, quantities or promotions in a very advanced way. It is thus possible to define infinity of product types that will be different thanks to certain attributes.

The management of the catalog is very important when creating an e-commerce store, the more the catalog will be of quality, the more the customer will be satisfied.

3. High quality graphic themes

One of the advantages of this platform for e-commerce is the large number of graphic themes available.

So you will be sure to find a theme that fits your industry and your universe. This is very important, because the visual aspect of your site will have a direct impact on the consumer who seeks not only to buy but to live a real experience that is a key element for him to return to your site.

Today the customer experience has become very important and many e-commerce experts consider this point as the main purchasing factor in the near future. Having a site with a visual aspect becomes essential.

4. A growing community with many tips and advice

Magento has long suffered, in France, a community too English. But today there are a large number of forums dedicated to this e-commerce solution. This allows, in addition to helping e-merchants, to help developers and thus enable a constant evolution of Magento by creating new modules that are useful and tailored to everyone’s needs.

The community is an essential point about the power of a platform; today the American solution has earned its place in France.

5. An evolutionary platform

Magento is a scalable platform because it allows e-merchants, regardless of size, to initially use the free community version and add thereafter functionalities and modules whose performance level is similar to the version business. This reduces costs, evolves over time and responds to new market demands.

For this year 2018, Magento 2 for your online store offers our new integration which is that of shipping parcels to customers around the world.

Ship your parcels automatically with your Magento 2 store

We know how the logistics of your online store can be a time-consuming and repetitive, so much so that it becomes a significant point of friction for your business.

The major benefits of the SendCloud solution are: You connect your site in 1 click, you divide the time spent preparing your parcels by two and boost your conversion rate by offering many delivery options. Also, the provision of the relay points card allows your end customers to choose a trusted method next to their home. This option is also the cheapest in terms of shipping cost, everyone wins.

Set up relay points with your Magento 2 store

Relay points are an essential delivery option for the development of your business. Indeed, less expensive than home delivery, the latter is a considerable lever for your conversion rate because of one of the preferred methods.

To integrate it at the time of your check-out via SendCloud, nothing simpler: direction your interface in the tab Settings> My shops.

Click on the small stylus to access the settings of your shop and tick the box “Relay Points”.

To then display the method on your site, go to your Magento back office, in the “Stores”> “Configuration” tab.

Then click on the tab “Sales” then “Shipping Method” and add the option of relay points.

You will now be able to access, in your overview of the shipping methods, the option “Service Point” which you must authorize by clicking on “activate”. All you have to do is define your shipping rate according to your products and margins.

Offering free shipping can also be critical to your online sales rate, but be careful to consider any potential cost of return. In short, a real calculation is to achieve to offer the best rates to your customers while remaining profitable at your margins.

Let’s go! Relay points are now available at the time of your check-out.

Here are some benefits of Magento 2 that can help us

Do we really need it?

Magento therefore benefit from multiple strengths but several weak points are still worth noting.

1. Getting started

The Magento website is a bit complex and will offer you various versions of the CMS. The only one free is the “Community” version.

Magento, by the number of features it offers, becomes complex to use. On the developer side, a solid grip can take between 6 and 12 months (against only a few months for Prestashop for example).

Moreover, even if the number of forums dedicated to the Magento solution increases, several questions remains unanswered or is difficult to find, this is a real problem when you start your e-commerce activity.

2. A platform not adapted to all e-commerce

With shared hosting you may encounter some difficulties in quickly displaying a site created with Magento. A dedicated server is therefore preferred.

Even if Magento adapts very well to the graphics level for each field of activity of e-merchants, there is still a difficulty in the evolution. Indeed, online shops are becoming more complex and many are out of the scheme: order / shipment. Unfortunately, Magento has trouble responding to such requests, to remedy the changes are complex and expensive.

3. Slowness

It’s one of the heaviest CMSs, resource hungry.

A major problem of e-shops created under Magento is that they suffer from a considerable slowness compared to other solutions such as Prestashop. The problem lies mainly in a bad initial implementation but several (rather complex) solutions exist to remedy it.

The opinion is therefore formal about the Magento tool and is an excellent platform to create its e-commerce but, as you have seen, it is not for everyone. Between functionality and ease you have to choose. Before you start choosing your solution, do not hesitate to read our article about Prestashop solution, the other great e-commerce solution.

4. The customization of Magento 2

Magento still requires some technical expertise to have a responsive site and maintain it. We advise you not to use it for your first e-commerce site!

That’s why Magento 2 offers to train a Certified Professional Developer, through a mostly scenario-based review, which is designed to validate the skills and knowledge needed to customize Magento 2 in certain areas.

This review is for a Magento 2 developer who has extensive knowledge of Magento 2 development concepts and experience in implementing and customizing Magento 2.

Conclusion

You now have the compelling reasons to choose Magento 2.0 for your car shop and also its disadvantages.
It’s up to you to decide!

The post Compelling Reasons to Choose Magento 2.0 for Your Automotive Store appeared first on Perception System.

During the first few years of running a salon, you need to generate a positive cash flow while facing high overhead costs and an inconsistent revenue stream. This is not an easy task!

Financing the ebb and flow of a salon traditionally required taking out bank loans. That is assuming that the bank approved your loan for an infusion of liquidity to keep your salon moving forward.

These days obtaining money from traditional lending sources, such as banks, is becoming increasingly difficult. Thus many salon owners, like you, are searching for alternative methods to finance their salon operations.

Here are the major overhead costs for operating a salon:

• Payroll
• Equipment
• Inventory
• Real Estate

Unfortunately, many banks consider beauty salons to be high-risk investments. Similar to a restaurant, a beauty salon is highly vulnerable to the state of the economy.

Decreases in consumer purchasing power lead to fewer visits to salons for not only nail and facial services, but also basic services such as haircuts. Salons typically require several years to build up a loyal base of customers. If a salon cannot receive approval for one of the best loans for beauty salons, how does a salon weather the inevitable financial storm?

The answer lies in seeking funding from alternative sources.

The Best New Ways to Finance Your Salon in 2018

From purchasing new equipment to making payroll during the slower months of the year, raising capital for operating a salon requires outside the box financial thinking.

Alternative Online Loans

Over the past decade, the online lending industry has grown enough to compete with traditional brick and mortar lenders. Online lender Kabbage approves loan amounts between $2,000 and $250,000, which offers your salon the liquidity it needs to pay taxes or expand the size of the building where you conduct business.

Repayment terms run between six and 12 months, with no origination or account maintenance fees. Funding takes up to two days, which makes the online lender ideal for salons that require emergency cash.

Fundbox operates a different type of online lender model. The user-friendly system, which you can run on a mobile phone app, processes cash advances that your salon pays back by transferring unpaid customer invoices.

Connected to your accounting software and business checking account, the automated system used by Fundbox increases the productivity of your salon. You spend less time crunching numbers and more time developing a regular customer base.

Merchant Cash Advance

When you need money to pay for unexpected expenses, a merchant cash advance provides the capital you need to keep the business door open.

Merchant cash advances work best for small businesses that generate most of its revenue from debit and credit card sales. Retail businesses like salons can go hours per day without ringing up a cash sale.

Merchant cash advance providers approve access to money in return for a percentage of future sales or weekly withdrawals from the salon bank account.

Rollover for Business Startup

You are aware that taking money out of a retirement account such as a 401K generates substantial penalties and tax charges. However, a rollover for business startup (ROBS) represents a creative option to tap into a 401K for a cash infusion to improve the financial health of your salon.

You do not have to pay an early withdrawal penalty or any taxes on the money withdrawn. Setting up a ROBS typically requires the expertise of a certified financial planner that specializes in helping small business owners acquire more liquidity.

Accounts Receivable Financing

For a salon, cash flow gaps occur for several reasons. Sales decline after holidays such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Summer can usher in a period of slow sales as well. If your salon experiences a deficit caused by declining sales and an increase in expenses, accounts receivable financing might be the alternative way to finance your salon in 2018.

Lenders analyze your salon’s financial metrics not only to decide whether to approve accounts receivable financing, but also to determine how much money to approve. kabbage is an excellent account receivable financing option for salon owners.

Does Invoice Financing Work for Salons?

Your salon has a short window between approving a credit card and receiving the cash derived from the credit card sale. Does this mean invoice financing is not for salon owners?

Also referred to as factoring, invoice financing involves lenders approving cash advances up to 80% of your outstanding invoices. Many salon owners have company accounts, which send several customers to the salon from the same company.

Payment for the entire account occurs during an established billing cycle, which usually lasts 30 days. If you have numerous company accounts and you have to wait up to a month to receive payment for the accounts, then invoice financing is a viable option to finance your salon in 2018.

So, what is the next thing for you should do after having a beauty salon registered under your name. Well, the best thing you can to do is to get a salon website designed or a salon mobile application developed by the Online Salon Design Development Team. This for sure will get you close with your customers, get new clients, over all the better and bigger saloon business.

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