Ixonos Experience Store: Customisable Boutique App Store Enables Mobile Services to Better Support Business

HELSINKI, December 14, 2011 -

Ixonos has created an app store platform on which businesses can base their mobile strategy. The Ixonos Experience Store™ is a digital marketing and distribution channel that enables companies to improve brand awareness, build customer loyalty and monetise mobile apps.

Ixonos has been a leader in the design and development of mobile services for more than a decade. “We now offer a turnkey solution for a boutique app store that is always customised to the customer’s brand and strategy”, says Roope Suomalainen, head of the Experience solution area at Ixonos. The Ixonos Experience Store is cloud-based, which provides for easy, cost-efficient maintenance and allows the store to adapt to sudden global expansion of the company’s operations. The platform is also suitable for distribution of other types of digital content such as video, music, e-books and online magazines.

Building their own boutique app store on top of the Ixonos Experience Store offers the greatest benefits to companies with young customers who are also the most eager to adopt new technology and social media services. “Specifically consumer brands, media powerhouses, game studios and record labels are among the companies most interested in the brand visibility an interactive app store enables in social media”, notes Antti Aumo, Vice President, Global Marketing.

Unlike the largest app stores, a company’s own boutique app store does not have to be confined to any particular operating system. App for all mobile and tablet devices can instead be provided through the same channel. In addition, instead of having consumers wade through a myriad of apps, user profiles can be utilised to show each customer the few hundred apps he or she is likely to find the most interesting. “Not all apps offered in a boutique app store need to be built around the company’s own brand. The company can also provide to other businesses supporting its brand a ready-made distribution channel for apps and advertising”, Mr Suomalainen explains.

A boutique app store built around a strong brand allows customer relationships to be strengthened, for instance by using individual user information to target marketing activities. The store also enables a diverse brand experience: as an example, deep Facebook integration allows consumers to share their experiences and recommend apps to others.

In the last few years, and particularly for the younger generation, mobile apps have become a natural way to communicate, enjoy entertainment and obtain services. According to research institute Gartner, the combined turnover of app stores was some USD 3.9 billion in 2010 and it is generally estimated to grow past USD 15 billion in 2012. Ixonos anticipates the number of app stores to double from the current less than 200 to over 400 by the summer of 2012, particularly as consumer brands invest in increasing their customer loyalty. Accordingly, mobile apps constitute a significant market in which more and more companies in every industry want to participate.

For more information, please contact:

Ixonos:

• Roope Suomalainen, Director, Experience, tel. +358-50-564-5988, roope.suomalainen@ixonos.com
• Antti Aumo, Vice President, Global Marketing, tel. +358-40-505-0477, antti.aumo@ixonos.com

Links:

• Ixonos’ website: www.ixonos.com
• Twitter: twitter.com/IxonosTweets
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/IxonosOnline

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Ixonos is a creative mobile solutions company. We develop wireless technologies, software and solutions for connected devices and mobile services. Together with our corporate customers, we design products and services that let consumers enjoy inspiring mobile experiences. We enhance the competitiveness of our customer companies by enabling superior user experiences as well as faster time-to-market for their devices and services. We have offices in Finland, China, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Great Britain, Slovakia, South Korea and the U.S. Ixonos Plc is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. In 2010, the company’s turnover was 84.9 million euros and its operating profit was 5.3 million euros.