What will the world of app commerce bring in 2018?

New year, new technology. We take a peek at what 2018 could mean for the world of app commerce this year.

Defining the new normal

Mobile payments were particularly prominent last year, millennials and gen Z especially have been driving this movement as they account for over half of online purchases in the UK. We expect mobile payments to boom in 2018 and Forrester predicts mobile payments to triple within the next 5 years.

Amazon is a notorious early adopter when it comes to using technology within retail. The first Amazon Go store launched in December 2016, and last year saw supermarkets in the UK begin to trial the same checkoutless experience, using apps instead. Sainsbury’s trialled it with the On the Go meal deal, allowing customers to make their purchase on the app, without queueing at the checkout. We expect to see more retailers trialling and adapting this concept in the next 12 months.

Futuristic features take off

Augmented reality (AR) started to make a breakthrough in retail in 2017, and with Apple introducing the ARKit on iOS11, we expect AR to skyrocket in 2018. Retailers are beginning to acknowledge the demand for AR, with the benefits already being seen in home furnishing and beauty sectors.

Early adopters introduced visual search capabilities in 2017 and with the release of Google Lens it could be even easier for retailers to include this functionality in their apps in 2018. ASOS saw users of the visual search tool view 48% more products than those who didn’t use it and were 75% more likely to make a return visit. With such successful results, we’d be surprised if the uptake on visual search within retail apps wasn’t high in the near future.

Stories give retail apps the edge

2017 saw Stories take social media by storm. Having evolved from Snapchat into other social media channels to become a raging success on Instagram, we’ve enabled retailers to utilise a concept their users are already familiar with. By introducing app stories into transactional apps, retailers now have another tool to engage users and drive conversions.

Looking to the future

Face ID might not mean the end of fingerprint sensors on smartphones. New technology could see smartphones change again with the ability to scan fingerprints from just under the glass of a smartphone. Eliminating the need to pick up your phone to use facial recognition or access a rear-facing fingerprint sensor, this could make unlocking smartphones and biometric authorisation even easier.

App commerce is a fast-moving and exciting space to be in. Last year in the world of app commerce there was a myriad of advancements and records broken.

Here are our highlights:

Top 10 stats from 2017

1. Google Play hits 8bn app installs per month, 1bn monthly active users
2. Brick and mortar retailers saw a 50% increase in mobile sessions in first half of 2017
3. Smartphones play a role in 67% of online sales
4. Eighty-six per cent of shoppers have made a mobile purchase
5. Downloads across Apple’s App Store and Google Play, reached nearly 26 billion worldwide in Q3
6. Over 85% of time spent on mobile is spent in apps
7. Twenty-five per cent of consumers are digitally obsessed
8. Seventy per cent of smartphone owners who bought something in a store first turned to their devices for information relevant to that purchase
9. Eighty-two per cent of smartphone users say they consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make in a store
10. Mobile’s share of sales grew to 52%, surpassing desktop as the technology of choice for ecommerce.

We’re excited to see what 2018 will bring, and we hope you’ll join us on the journey!

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Reported by Samantha Rigg