Apps have become so integrated into our daily lives over the past 15 years it is easy to forget what life was like before them or underestimate the influence they have today. Apps have quickly moved beyond the games, media, and social purposes that dominated early years to take on critical aspects in our lives, such as health, banking, and transport functions.

In recent years Memoori has begun to track the emergence of apps for the workplace experience in office buildings as post pandemic demands drive the business world into a new era of work.

According to our new data, the global workplace experience apps market for commercial office space is estimated at $0.8 Billion in 2022, rising to $1.73 Billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 13.8%.

The research shows how ubiquity of smartphones has facilitated strong adoption rates for workplace experience apps in the three major economic regions; Europe and the Middle East, North America, and Asia.

“The market drivers and life-cycles for workplace experience apps vary significantly from region to region. The market is still in a relatively early stage in all geographic areas but can be considered at its most mature in the Europe and Middle Eastern region, where both homegrown startups and large international players are actively developing and marketing solutions in the region,” the new study reads. “Growth will be healthy in all regions, but the Asia region will enjoy the most impressive rise in revenues over the forecast period, with predicted growth of 17.3% CAGR.”

Europe and the Middle East currently lead in workplace experience apps, with the regional market estimated at $294 Million in 2022, according to our research, despite significant levels of market and political uncertainty that pose risks to growth in the region. Numerous expert interviews confirmed the vast number of companies originating in the region, the level of completed deployments in the public domain and the higher market acceptance of flexible working solutions.

The Impact of Hybrid Work on Workplace Experience

Hybrid work and other flexible working models are a major driver for the apps market as they rely more heavily on workplace platforms and apps for space booking, communication and personalization options than traditionally assigned office space. A 2021 survey by Locatee of 51 executives in real estate, workplace and facilities management roles based in Europe found that European firms are significantly more advanced in terms of adopting non-assigned workspace configurations than their US counterparts.

The Locatee survey also demonstrated an ongoing resistance to flexible working by US firms, with only 38% intending to apply hotdesking approaches in the next two years, for example, versus 90% in Europe and the Middle East. Despite that, the US and wider North American market is catching up quickly, growing faster than the global CAGR to overtake Europe and the Middle East as the world’s leading region for workplace apps by 2025, according to our research.

Growth in North America will be boosted by the presence of a significant number of suppliers encouraging innovation and the maturing development of competitive solutions in a demanding tech market.

As with many technology sectors, Asia presents the fastest growth and is expected to significantly outpace other regions in the long-term. The region’s markedly higher economic growth rates and sheer population size underline its huge potential in most markets. The region is also known for its greater acceptance of smart technologies and the strong smartphone penetration in growing Asian business cities bodes well for the workplace experience apps market emerging from its challenging pandemic years.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Asia Pacific Real Estate Outlook 2022 stated that the Asia Pacific office market has shown remarkable resilience since the onset of the pandemic. Demand is forecast to increase further to 74 million square feet reflective of a stronger recovery across the entire region, before returning to pre-pandemic levels of around 83 million square feet within the current calendar year, 2023.

China dominates Asian figures, of course, but growth also comes from Japan and Korea, a maturing Indian market, as well as the emerging economies of Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

“The Asia Pacific Workplace Experience Apps market in commercial office space was estimated at $199 Million for 2022 and is expected to rise to $518 Million by 2028, at a CAGR of 17.3%” our comprehensive new report states. “The Asian market presents a huge opportunity, and we believe it will experience the fastest growth of any region in the world over the defined research period, 2022-2028.”

The pandemic has changed the technology landscape of the workplace, accelerating trends towards greater flexibility for workers and greater visibility for managers. Building on the foundation of smart technology and the Internet of Things, workplace experience app platforms are seizing their opportunities and reshaping the way occupants interact with their office buildings. From London and Paris, to New York and San Francisco, to Shanghai and Bangkok, the world of workplaces is being unified by smartphone apps.