Tech evolution and the increasingly relevant role of apps in the life of new generations, has led to a cross-sector democratization of services that were previously circumspect to the very few. New retail trading platforms fit the mainstream subscription-based business model, offering commission-free operations to attract a wider customer base willing to invest a lower amount of capital but to be much more active with it. These trading apps are designed to bring trading to a younger and less wealthy customer base by promising effortless profits and implementing easy to use and visually attractive interfaces with social network features.
In this social network models of trading platforms, the role of influencers is key for retail trading to keep driving up the users and operation numbers. In fact, the shifting trading trends that occur every time Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, tweets about a specific company or business issue, serves as true indication of the power of these investment role models. Also, the forum effect of having users posting about their recent operations, and the subsequent interactions with fellow users would both encourage amateur traders to scale up their trading after being successful, as well as ease the upset after failing trades.
These new retail trading platforms are adopting tactics from other sectors that are thriving on the tech transition. For instance, the implementation of prompts, notifications, and rankings to promote user engagement is characteristic from the gamification tactics employed in online gambling sector. They have also focused on improving users experience, so the app interface and functionality doesn’t get in the way of the customer trading operations. In that sense these apps are adopting gaming strategies to grab the user attention and improve UX. They are also partnering with big online retailers to create loyalty rewards programs, so feels like a subtle way to introduce the more cautious or less interested users to retail trading.