Today, leading measurement and analytics company Adjust released The shopping app insights report to prepare mobile marketers for the Q4 shopping season and beyond into 2025. Surpassing the overall vertical’s average, shopping app installs rose 61% YoY in H1 2024, while installs of e-commerce apps overall climbed 25% and sessions rose 13% YoY. This growth comes as retail media networks continue to scale, next-generation digital shopping experiences are deployed and mobile wallets become commonplace.
“Shopping apps are transforming how consumers interact with brands and make purchases,” said Tiahn Wetzler, Director, Content & Insights at Adjust. “By working with AI and AR, and integrating dynamic channels like social commerce and CTV, marketers can enhance user engagement and create experiences that drive high conversion rates.”
Marketers should take note of the Q4 shopping season, including holidays like Black Friday and Singles’ Day (Double 11) that result in big install increases. This year, 44% of consumers plan to start shopping for the holidays in October or earlier, according to a survey. Adjust recorded installs 40% above the daily average on October 17, 2023 and 41% higher on October 18.
Adjust’s shopping app insights report provides e-commerce app marketers and developers with key insights across all key sub verticals. Highlights include:
- In-app revenue for e-commerce apps increased 36% YoY with 60% of in-app revenue coming from Android devices. The biggest spikes in 2023 occurred in Q4, with November revenue 34% higher than the monthly average and December up 22%.
- E-commerce app session lengths decreased 6% between 2022 and H1 2024, down from an average of 11.2 minutes spent in-app to 10.5. Shopping apps saw the largest change, dropping 15% – a likely positive indication of more efficient user journeys and the adoption of frictionless payment options.
- Global median installs per mille (IPM) rose from 1.94 in 2023 to 2.28 in H1 2024, indicating improved ad campaign effectiveness. Europe’s IPM fell from 2.08 to 2.02, likely due to the more complex privacy and advertising space.
- App Tracking Transparency (ATT) opt-in rates for shopping apps jumped from 34% in Q2 2023 to as high as 50% on some days so far in 2024.
“In a competitive market where engagement and customer loyalty are critical to moving the bottom line, staying at the forefront of intergenerational consumer expectations – and the technologies behind them – is paramount,” continued Wetzler. “As the shopping app landscape evolves, scalable growth will be achieved through a strategic channel mix, smart personalization and a data-obsessed approach to measurement and analytics.” For additional findings and analysis, download the full report here.