Why app shoppers don’t convert on Sundays, other insights from the Poq Q1 platform report

Knowledge about the typical shopping behaviour of app users is still quite scarce today, especially when compared to the vast amount of information available around ecommerce shopping. For our Q1 platform report, we analysed data from over 200 000 app sessions across over 47 000 users shopping on our clients’ apps to find out more about the habits of retail app shoppers.

One of the reasons why so little is known about app shopper behaviour, is that not many retailers offer transactional apps. Those that do, generally do not share their data publicly. We recently collaborated with Internet Retailing on their IRUK 500 research, lending our expertise to the Mobile and Cross-Channel report and measuring the KPIs of transactional retail apps. We found that only 19% of the UK’s top 50 retailers offer a shopping app. But retailers that do offer apps are finding that this channel is driving an increasing proportion of online revenue, with some retailers reporting that their apps generate over 10% of their online revenue. It’s important that retailers and marketers know more about this customer demographic, so that they know which steps they should take to ensure that this channel continues to grow.

Some of the conclusions we were able to draw from our research include:

• Shoppers browse their apps on Sundays, but don’t convert. They’d rather take the time to find items they like, and put them aside for later.
• iOS users carry out most transactions on Fridays, whilst Android users buy the most on Saturdays.
• App traffic and conversions experience mid-week slumps.
• App shoppers don’t just buy on the go. They mostly shop from their apps when they are at home. Especially in the evenings, between the hours of 7pm to 10pm.

These findings highlight how app shopping and brick-and-mortar store visits complement each other. We believe that when customers add items they like to their wishlists on Sundays, they use the wishlist later in the week to check out these items in store and try them on. This will lead to them buying the items directly in store, or help them make a buying decision on the app later on in the week, at a time when brick-and-mortar stores aren’t open.

We have developed recommendations for retailers and marketers around these and other findings. These recommendations include timings for the broadcast of push notifications to increase conversion rates, and which steps to take to facilitate cross-selling in physical store locations. Check out the full Q1 2015 report to read them. Just enter your details below for a free download.