AppsFlyer, a marketing measurement and experience platform, has released the 2021 edition of its State of eCommerce App Marketing report. The report outlines key global trends to guide marketers in building a mobile-first experience to drive engagement and sales for the holiday season.
The Report analyzed over 750 million app installs across 7250 apps, and 3 billion remarketing conversions across EMEA. According to its findings, the African mobile app market continues to show strong growth with more people accessing goods and services online.
With eCommerce installs increasing 55% on Android and 32% on iOS in 2021, and consumer spend climbing 55% overall, the Q4 holiday season is expected to be record-breaking.
“With the holiday shopping season around the corner, retail brands should be prioritizing mobile, and mobile apps, as part of their strategy. Marketers should look at optimizing the overall user experience, including the transition from mobile web to app. In addition, deep linking can be used to ensure customers reach their intended destination within a mobile app smoothly and contextually. If last year is anything to go by, marketers that get their mobile app strategy right will see significant revenue and acquisition growth,” said Daniel Junowicz, RVP EMEA and Strategic Projects, at AppsFlyer.
Key report highlights.
1. E-commerce installs remained steady throughout 2020 but have already risen by 16% in 2021 (Q1 vs Q2)
2. iOS is showing particularly strong growth, with a 33% increase in the same time frame. By comparison, retail app installs on Android have not changed.
3. Non-organic installs dropped 26% at the start of the pandemic: Marketers throughout the region were cautious when it came to spending budget at the start of the pandemic.
4. Remarketing: The 2020 holiday season saw heavy usage of remarketing as marketers looked to capitalize on key shopping periods. Between Q3 and Q4 2020 there was a 22% lift in remarketing conversion rates. This reached nearly 40% when comparing October to November.
5. In many iOS dominant regions, remarketing took a hit following the loss of IDFA as part of Apple’s update to iOS 14, but given Android’s dominance in Sub-Saharan Africa this hasn’t been felt.
6. In-app purchases increase 55% over 2020 – Consumer spend fell by 50% at the start of the pandemic – between March and April – likely due to economic uncertainty as a result of lockdowns. However, as it became clear that consumers would need to adapt to digital methods of shopping in the absence of physical stores, spending quickly recovered.
7. Spending in 2020 peaked in November, coinciding with Black Friday and the lead-up to Christmas. As a result, between Q3 and Q4 there was a 60% uplift.