App Commerce Sets New Cyber Weekend Records

Poq’s new flash guide to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales reveals record-breaking time spent in-app and transaction volumes, confirming mobile as the channel for retail growth into 2021.

Shopping via apps continues to accelerate in popularity this year, as highlighted in brand-new Poq research examining huge spikes in mobile consumer activity during the recent 2020 Black Friday through to Cyber Monday sales.

The App Commerce Peak Report 2020 published today by Poq Commerce, reveals a monumental increase in the amount of time and money spent shopping in-app over the recent peak holiday weekend period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday based on exclusive data gathered from some 50 Poq-powered retail shopping apps. 

Data showed that shoppers spent 126,940 hours on Poq apps on Black Friday, amounting to a record-breaking 96% like-for-like increase on the previous year. Time spent in-app increased by 90% across the whole of Cyber Weekend, where shopping app downloads increased by 15% across the UK and US alone (which, combined, account for 22% of total global retail sales in 2020*) compared to the same period in 2019. Android also saw increased app shopping download demand, growing 18% YoY compared to 14% for iOS across the two markets.

While app download rates increased, the average transaction value over Cyber Weekend 2020 fell slightly to an average of $66.91, which suggests that retailers responded to an increasingly difficult trading period and constrained consumer spending by offering bigger discounts. However, this year-over-year drop of 0.7% in revenue per transaction was offset by 129% growth in transaction numbers and an increase of time spent in-app, which led to continued growth in conversions.

In fact, Poq tracked double the rate of downloads during the height of lockdowns globally compared to the same period during last year and 27% uplift in the numbers of daily active customers shopping in-app. Moreover, this translated to a much-needed boost to the bottom line for many retailers, some of whose stores were forced to close. 

Based on data from 64 million sessions across more than 50 iOS and Android shopping apps built on the Poq Platform, transaction numbers per user rose 41% over the period and daily revenue per user increased by 22% year-on-year, making mobile the most lucrative channel for retailers right now and into the foreseeable future. 

Data insight paves way to growth 

Search data shows that consumers’ were looking to find bargains this holiday period with the phrases ‘Christmas Gift Guide,’ ‘Sale,’ ‘Clearance’ and ‘Last Chance to Buy’ particularly popular, and other categories such as ‘Most Wanted’ and ‘View All’ also featured highly. Data insights such as these, acquired via app, can be used to tailor ecommerce strategies to appeal to consumers and capitalise on the 40%+ CAGR forecast for in-app home shopping (2017-2021F)*. 

Helen Slaven, Chief Revenue Officer at Poq, commented: “Evidenced by this record breaking peak holiday period, app commerce is set to see rapid growth in the coming year as retailers look to apps to drive consumer loyalty and consumer retention. It’s essential that retailers refine their app strategy if they wish to harness this growing opportunity.”

Building on the findings of Poq’s recent New Normal report, this flash guide also includes guidance on how to maximise app commerce profitability, such as prioritising a mobile-first app commerce strategy for both Android and iOS from the outset and the best times to send push notifications. 

Slaven added: “Rich native app features, such as push notifications, App Stories and personalised offers, can also help retailers convert customers during key trading periods like Cyber Weekend, but also retarget and retain them beyond, both online and instore.”

Find out more about Poq’s App Commerce Peak Report 2020 here. 

* EDGE by Ascential retail sales data