Shopping apps are entering their hottest season, which includes the Black Friday and goes all the way through the Christmas holidays. In the past years we always observed significant spikes of shopping apps during this season, especially in terms of installs and in-app purchases.
All the evidence suggests that this trend is going to continue in 2024, maybe even breaking all previous records. Indeed, according to Statista, in 2023 mobile commerce, that is purchases generated through shopping apps, accounted for 60% of the total e-commerce all over the world.
Therefore, we’re writing this article in order to explore the latest trends about shopping apps ahead of the holiday season and its impact on user acquisition activities, as shown by a success story from the past.
Before taking a deep dive into how shopping apps are preparing for the holiday season, let’s see a few numbers to highlight the current state of shopping apps and their bright future.
The state of shopping apps in 2024
As anticipated in the introduction, shopping apps are riding fast and there are no signs of slowing down. There are three numbers which well describe the relentless growth of the shopping app ecosystem.
2.6 Billion - these are the people who buy at least 1 item per year via shopping apps, worldwide. That’s almost one third of the global population and the number is projected to reach 4B by the end of this decade.
$1.2 Trillion - the projected sales in the United States generated by e-commerce in 2024.
25% - it represents the YoY growth of shopping apps’ installs registered in H1 2024.
We’ve chosen these three specific numbers because they emphasize three reasons why you should bet on shopping apps. First of all, the room for growth, highlighted by the number of app shoppers around the world and its projected growth. Secondly, the profitability of the ecosystem, driven by growing numbers in terms of sales and in-app purchases. Finally, the positive trend, which reflects the increasing interest in shopping apps.
What is the holiday season for shopping apps ?
The holiday season, mostly popular in the United States, is the period which goes from Thanksgiving to the New Year, thus including Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. For obvious reasons, during this season people usually spend more money on shopping and this leads to a boost in the usage of shopping apps.
Therefore, the hottest season kicks off with Thanksgiving, which is the fourth Thursday of November. Naturally, people start shopping in the previous days and even weeks, thus starting the spike in app installs and purchases. Then, the day right after Thanksgiving has become the so-called Black Friday, where special promotions make people go crazy on online sales. And this momentum lasts until Christmas holidays, together with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, and eventually ends with the New Year.
However, sometimes people extend the holiday season to a longer period, making it start during the end of the summer. Indeed, when summer is coming to an end, shopping apps enter the “back-to-school” phase, when students and parents buy all the needed items to start the upcoming school year. It is common then to see back-to-school deals and promotions which drive shopping apps’ usage and sales.
User acquisition for shopping apps during the holiday season: a success story
The surge in shopping apps usage during the holiday season goes along with user acquisition activities. While it’s always difficult to measure the impact of advertising in a season where apps grow organically too, there’s no doubt that user acquisition campaigns play a significant part in this game.
Speaking of which, we are going to show a direct example from last year. While running a user acquisition campaign for a popular shopping app in the United States, we expected to see a boost in all metrics during the holiday season, starting before Thanksgiving Day and going on through Christmas.
Moreover, our advertiser provided us with brand new creatives, both banners and videos, promoting holiday deals and special offers. By implementing such new creative concepts, and by tailoring a specific strategy aimed at reducing CPA, we achieved outstanding results, exceeding everyone’s expectations.
The chart below, taken directly from our dashboard, shows the numbers of conversion events (transactions), from early November to December. While there was a positive trend the days immediately before Thanksgiving (November 23rd, 2023), the real boost occurred on Black Friday, where you see the peak of the chart. And the trend progressed over the following days too, until the end of December.
Amongst the most impressive results of the campaign, we achieved:
- - 30% CPA
- + 25% retention rate
- +139% installs
Shopping apps trends in 2024 and 2025
To conclude our article, we have looked for some of the latest trends about shopping apps. While there are multiple technological developments that will reshape the way people buy things online, we have chosen three specific trends which already have a concrete example to showcase.
Walmart - AI to personalize user experience
According to Statista, Walmart was the 4th most downloaded shopping app in the U.S. in 2023. It is not surprising then that it also keeps improving its product with innovation and tech advancements. For example, Walmart app is relying more and more on AI in order to personalize user experience.
Specifically, Walmart uses AI to learn about users’ preferences in order to give them better recommendations. Furthermore, its AI also carries out predictive analysis to identify the best prices for the listed products.
Last but not least, even though this is now common to countless apps, Walmart leverages AI to have a chatbot, ready to assist customers with any issue they may have.
IKEA - AR technologies to provide immersive experiences
Our second example in the latest developments and trends for shopping apps is about IKEA. The extremely popular Swedish brand has included augmented reality (AR) in its apps, in order to help users better understand how products may fit in their spaces.
Augmented reality is supposed to be the future of the online retail experience, providing customers with something almost as similar as the physical experiences in stores. For example, IKEA technology allows users to rotate and better visualize items, to use the camera in order to see how an item fits into an environment, along with many other features.
While augmented reality is not a must for all types of shopping apps, it will be more and more common for multiple brands, bridging the gap between the online and the physical experience.
Sezzle - Flexible payment options
Payment is one of the most important steps in the customer journey, and it’s no wonder that it is subject to new changes which help shopping apps achieve a competitive advantage. For example, providing users with multiple and flexible payment options is becoming increasingly popular.
That’s the case with Sezzle, a well-known shopping app in the U.S, and Canada. The app’s selling point is that it allows users to buy from different brands and split the due amount in multiple payments, without any interest.
While its advantage is obvious to everyone, it is worth mentioning that providing flexible payment options as Sezzle does is a way to empower young people who have less purchasing power than adults. Therefore, it opens up a new audience segment which drives growth and profits.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, the holiday season is coming and there are good reasons to believe that shopping apps will experience an increasingly positive trend this year too. While an organic boost in the overall performance looks certain, shopping apps’ developers should be ready to profitably leverage user acquisition efforts in order to sustain the momentum and maximize revenues.
If you’re a shopping app developer and are looking for a new UA partner, don’t hesitate to reach out to our sales team! We’re looking forward to designing a customized strategy to bring you high-quality users at a low cost.
