Retail app usage hits an all-time high over Cyber Weekend - report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 28, 2018

Retail app usage in both the UK and US grew “significantly” over Cyber Weekend, data released by Poq from its own platform has shown, and it looks like fashion apps were big winners as it handles the apps for a number of fashion labels.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based app platform analysed consumer behaviour on retail apps over the long shopping weekend and looked specifically at revenue and time spent within apps on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in those two countries.

As a result, the company that powers the apps for retailers such as PrettyLittleThing, Missguided, and made.com among others, said time spent within the apps on its platform on Black Friday alone rose 40% year-on-year.

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Across both territories, the data showed that mobile apps' share of mobile web revenue grew more than three times in comparison to Black Friday 2016.

App usage was bigger as a percentage of overall e-tail activity in Britain than in the US although it’s interesting that in America, apps had a bigger share of overall m-commerce activity. What that means is that UK consumers using their smartphones are still using retailer websites in large numbers rather than their apps.

In total, Poq said that Cyber Weekend 2018 saw app-generated revenue account for 34% of mobile revenue and 20% of e-commerce revenue.

Retailers using the firm’s apps saw £2,091.71 revenue per minute going through its platform on Black Friday, which is a 61% increase in revenue per minute from 2017.

The research also showed that over Cyber Weekend, 89% of shoppers returned to an app they had previously visited. The number of returning users was 20% higher compared to an average day in Q3 2018. Poq said this could be due to “the way in which retailers engage and build loyalty with customers via their apps - the use of push notifications has been cited as a driver of this to entice users back to apps with the promise of offers and deals.”