App popularity grows amongst consumers – Q1 2019 on the Poq platform
The first quarter of the year has come to an end and retail has reached a new milestone. The latest research suggests that ecommerce has finally overtaken brick-and-mortar retail sales for the first time ever, and we’re seeing more and more revenue being driven by mobile. Social commerce has taken off with Instagram, who have chosen to prioritise the app channel and bring app commerce to their users with the launch of their in-app checkout in Q1.
In order to evaluate the role app commerce plays in the wider growth of ecommerce and mcommerce we take a look at the performance of our clients’ apps on the Poq platform in Q1 2019 to 2018.
App usage grows
When comparing like-for-like the apps on the Poq platform in Q1 2018 and Q1 2019, we can see that the number of transactions per user has remained stable year-over-year, however, the volume of downloads has grown 60.8%. With the multitude of users who already have the retailer’s app installed on their phone and with these additional new downloads, overall average monthly active users have grown 20.9% from Q1 2018. This demonstrates the growth in popularity for apps as not only are more people downloading the apps but more people are using them.
With this growth in users and the continued frequency of purchases per user, volumes of sales and retailer revenue have grown as a result. As retailer’s continue to embrace their app channel and develop the content they supply their customers, we’ve seen the average revenue per user and sessions (app visits) grow by 3.4% year-over-year and 15% year-over-year respectively.
With the successful year-over-year growth of app commerce in Q1, you may be wondering how apps shape up next to the rest of ecommerce.
The success of the app shopping experience
App commerce has a reputation for being the home to retailer’s most loyal and valuable users, we’ve dubbed them “super users”, because of the superior experience and engagement they can provide. Q1 2019 has continued to establish this:
Time spent in app per user:
Shoppers spent 5.2x longer in apps than mobile web and 3.5x longer in app than desktop
Percentage returning users:
The percentage of returning users on app was 4.1x mobile web and 3.1x desktop
App transactions per user:
Transactions per users on app were 3.8x mobile web and 2.8x desktop
Not only are app shoppers transacting more than mobile web and desktop users but they are more engaged with the retailer as they spend longer in app and a greater percentage of app shoppers are returning to the app than mobile web users return to the mobile web.
We’re excited to see the continued growth of app commerce and the impact that new technologies will have in shaping the shopping app experience.
Discover how apps performed during the “Golden Quarter” (Q4) 2019 in our latest research, “The Retailer’s Guide to Consumer Behaviour During the Peak Trading Season”.
Reported by Samantha Rigg
