Marie Parry, Group Marketing Director at Scolmore Group, looks at how apps are making life easier for installers.
As the number of people owning a smart phone increases year on year, the popularity and use of apps continues to rise.
In 2015, 52.7% of the global mobile phone population accessed the internet from their mobile phone. This figure is expected to have grown to 61.2% in 2018. In 2020, the number of smart phone users worldwide is projected to reach 2.87 billion, up from 2.1 billion in 2016.
It is estimated that globally in 2017, a total of 178.1 billion mobile apps were downloaded to connected devices. In 2022, this figure is projected to grow to 258.2 billion app downloads. In the first quarter of 2018 Android users were able to choose between 3.8 million apps and Apple’s App store had 2 million available apps.
Professional Help
Using an app to help with electrical work may have seemed unlikely a few years ago. However electrical professionals are now increasingly using Apps that deliver quick answers, manage and customise information consumption and hasten communication.
Now, with information at their fingertips, they’re armed with ever more powerful on-demand IT capabilities. Tasks that used to demand laborious hand calculations or time-consuming diversions to consult hefty code books – and the conveyance of information via face-to-face meetings, phone conversations and emails – have been sped up and simplified.
With so many apps and so much information available, electricians will be looking for those that bring as much material as possible to their fingertips to make their working life easier, rather than having to search through a number of different sources.
The Scolmore app is free to download and features a complete range of searchable products (9,000 in total), product and tutorial videos, catalogue downloads and all the latest news and events to keep users up to date with what’s happening in the company and the industry.
As well as browsing the complete range of products, users can add them to their Favourites or the Quote Basket. Electricians have the facility to email the contents of the basket for future reference, or straight to the wholesaler
providing all the information needed to obtain any quotations or make a purchase. With over 9,000 products currently available, the search facility makes it easy to locate the products required and if further information is needed, there’s an option to email Scolmore. Product videos and tutorial videos can be viewed whilst on a job to facilitate the installation process.
This is where wholesalers can be encouraging their customers to use the app to facilitate a seamless journey from searching and locating the right products for a project, to quickly and easily delivering that order through to the wholesaler.
Product Focus:
We believe what sets the Scolmore App apart is the free ‘Tool Kit’ feature, which includes a selection of valuable calculators, designed to make it quick and easy for electricians to make essential calculations on the job. Included are Zs values; Cable Selection and Voltage Drop; Power Factor; KVA Convertor; Cost Saving Calculator; Downlights Number Calculator; Resistance Calculator; Voltage Calculator; Current Calculator and Power Calculator.
The very latest version of the Scolmore app replaces the previous one to bring even more features and access to information, to help contractors and electricians carry out their everyday work on site.
A new ‘Quick Quote Calculator’ has been added – designed to let electricians and contractors create a quick quote as they are walking around the site. As well as the ability to create a quick quote while on site, the new ‘Quick Quote Calculator’ also has an advanced setting which allows installers and contractors to set up the unit cost of each item and how much they would like to charge for labour. It is also set up so that if a double socket, for example, is added to the quote, it will also automatically add a double back box.
Find out more about the Scolmore app by visiting: www.scolmore.com
