Tired of using so many apps? Now, there’s an app for that too. New York City-based Button is revolutionizing the in-app experience by allowing users to stay within a single app to complete multiple functions, like making a dinner reservation and calling a car service, in a process called “deep-linking.” Back in January, the company raised $12 million in Series A funding (and $14.3 million total) after landing partnerships with Resy and Uber, allowing customers to choose a restaurant with the former and get there quickly with the latter, all in one stop. And now, Button has created a link between Uber and Foursquare, which means that you can now check out your friends’ favorite spots and get there with the touch of — you guessed it — a button.
Michael Jaconi, CEO of Button, told the New York Post, “There are apps all over the place that want to connect and integrate with each other. But it’s not really a simple thing to do and there’s not really a scalable way to do it.” Until now, of course. Button, the app’s website proclaims, catalyzes “smart connections between apps that drive installs, increase engagement, and facilitate mobile commerce.”
The solution Button provides is certainly a unique one — despite the wealth of applications currently available on mobile devices, there is no real one-stop shop that allows you to move between the various components provided by single-function apps. And while creating one mega app probably isn’t feasible, connecting the apps that are already the best at what they do makes perfect sense.
Jaconi added, “Apps don’t have links [like websites]. Every time you use an app, you have to come in through the front door, and that’s a really challenging position for marketers.” But Button provides a sort of side entrance for users to move around surreptitiously within different apps without ever really leaving. This sort of cross-pollination provides a new source of revenue for many of these companies, making Button the ideal matchmaker.
“Companies are trying to get themselves into the path of purchase. It feels like a really cool experience that users see value in,” Jaconi told Forbes. And with the success Button has seen thus far, that value is only increasing.
