Commentary
Hot Mobile Shopping Apps
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 17, 2012
According to a new Nielsen study, as smartphones became the majority in the U.S. in 2012 (In March 2012, 50.4% of U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones), 47% of American smartphone owners used shopping apps in June 2012. Overall, 45 million smartphone owners used apps in the Shopping/Commerce category, accessing shopping apps 17 times on average during June 2012.
Major brands, already well-known for online buying, are behind the most-used smartphone shopping apps. In June the eBay and Amazon apps topped the list. Traditional retailers like Target and Walgreens received significant mobile traffic from savvy shoppers looking to find the best deals in their local retail stores.
Top 10 Shopping Apps for June 2012 (Smartphones, U.S.) | |||
Rank | Application | Unique Audience | Avg Time Spent (hh:mm:ss) |
1 | eBay Mobile | 13,161,000 | 1:04:02 |
2 | Amazon Mobile | 12,122,000 | 0:18:39 |
3 | Groupon | 11,942,000 | 0:21:16 |
4 | Shopkick | 6,481,000 | 3:19:11 |
5 | LivingSocial | 4,349,000 | 0:09:10 |
6 | Walgreens | 2,810,000 | 0:08:07 |
7 | Target | 2,215,000 | 0:07:53 |
8 | RedLaser | 1,889,000 | 0:04:10 |
9 | Out of Milk Shopping List | 1,735,000 | 0:31:30 |
10 | SavingStar Grocery eCoupons | 1,573,000 | 0:06:42 |
Source: Nielsen, August 2012 (Read as: During June 2012, 13.2 million smartphone owners used the eBay Mobile application, from Android/iPhone handsets in the US.) | |||
Don Kellogg, Director of Telecom Insights at Nielsen, suggests that “... as more Americans... make purchases directly through apps... retailers should consider personalizing their targeted offerings... “
Summarized key findings by Nielsen include:
- In June, eBay and Amazon topped the list of shopping apps, attracting 13 million and 12 million unique users, respectively
- Daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial saw more than 10 million Americans using their apps during June 2012
- Overall 45 million smartphone owners used apps in the Shopping/Commerce category, accessing shopping apps 17 times on average during June 2012
For additional information from Nielsen, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.