This month in the world of app commerce — May 2019
From Donald Trump’s impact on mobile technology to how our inability to put our phones down impacts our shopping behaviour, we summarise the app commerce news in May.
Smartphones are practically glued to our hands nowadays and we feel lost when we don’t have them to hand.
Our phones are so sticky in fact, that:
- Nearly half of the time spent watching TV is spent also browsing online.
- Two-thirds of shoppers check their phones whilst in store and supermarkets are cashing in on this.
- Shoppers spend 41% more in supermarkets when using their phones while shopping.
- Sixty-nine per cent of shoppers prefer to use their phones to check product reviews than ask a store associate.
Shopping apps in stats
Gartner L2 has published some great stats this month. Sixty-five per cent of iOS app downloads result from searches in the App Store. Of those ads at the top of App Store searches, 50% converted to download the app. The impact of App Store Optimisation (ASO) and ads shouldn’t be underestimated. But creating and then marketing an app isn’t the complete story. Retail apps that are maintained and regularly updated yield better results. Frequent ‘updaters’ (updating over twice a month) had a 4% higher star rating than average and 11% greater than ‘hygiene laggards’ (low frequency ‘updaters’).
Omnichannel retailers are rapidly embracing BOPIS (Buy Online and Pickup In-Store) equivalent to click-and-collect in the UK, across the U.S. Total Retail found a 52% growth in uptake of BOPISby omnichannel retailers compared to 2018.
Retail’s pioneers
Retailers are fully embracing app commerce this May:
- H&M launched their app-based loyalty programme in the U.S and ditched their paper catalogues in favour of digital and cutting costs.
- Nike launched a shoe size measuring app. Utilising AR technology to create a truly omnichannel experience, Nike have established themselves as app pioneers.
- Retailers join forces to create more delivery options: Amazon partners with UK fashion retailer Next and John Lewis partners with Co-op convenience store to introduce click-and-collect services.
- eBay goes omnichannel by opening its first concept store in Wolverhampton, UK showcasing product from 40 local businesses.
- Target embrace Pokemon in a cross between one of the most successful gaming apps and shopping with the Pokemon Pass app. The app enables shoppers to unlock exclusive rewards for their Pokemon games by visiting Target stores.
Want to hear from leading retailers first-hand on how they’re maximising their app strategies for success?
Tech news
Has Huawei been Trumped?
Recent disputes between the U.S. and China have lead to Donald Trump blacklisting Huawei, causing Google to withdraw Huawei’s Android license. This could even have implications across the pond in Europe as suppliers are rumoured to halt shipments to Huawei, causing Huawei to look to building their components in house or sourcing within China. We wonder what implications this could have for Huawei users wanting to download retail apps from the Google Play Store?
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold has become a thorn in the side for the technology giant. It seems Samsung may have been over-optimistic with their product. Recent reports state that U.S. retailer Best Buy have cancelled all pre-orders of the smartphone for the time being. Meanwhile, Samsung apologises to the pre-order customers as the delay continues. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for mobile shopping on bigger screens, but Samsung’s Galaxy S10 with 5G is due to launch in the UK on 7 June.
Apple’s monopoly on their own tech is under threat as they might have to open up their iPhones to other app stores if an antitrust lawsuit against the technology company succeeds. This could have several implications for retailers. Firstly, it could be easier to deliver retail apps to consumers by bypassing the App Store’s rigorous criteria. However, in doing so, iPhones could become more susceptible to fraudulent apps, similar to the problems experienced on the Play Store.
Google encourages app developers to link their apps to Google Assistant to improve engagement whilst also announcing that users will be notified of unused apps and will prompt them to remove them. Additionally, the way apps are reviewed and rated in the Play Store is going to change to be more recent and relevant reviews and ratings.
Honourable mentions:
- Google takes a leaf out for Instagram’s book and tests shopping features within Youtube
- British mail service, Royal Mail, trials bigger postboxes that allow people to post parcels and returns.
Reported by Samantha Rigg
Originally published at https://poqcommerce.com on May 30, 2019.
