• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, June 21, 2018

According to a new study by mobile marketing company Liftoff, written by author Dan Alaimo, updated from an earlier version, retail app marketers will likely have a very profitable year despite an increase in advertising costs by Facebook. With shopping app use growing 54% in 2017, according to Flurry, an app analytics company, they have become the second fastest growing app category as consumers change their buying habits, becoming more comfortable with mobile shopping, 

Because the convenience of mobile is extending shopper activity for longer periods of time during the year, retail apps are growing rapidly in popularity and use, according to the study. Citing App Annie, an app store research firm, the study noted that shopping app downloads rose 20% year-to-year in the first half of 2017. Consumers may use two to four shopping apps per month, and often Amazon is not on the list. Shoppers use 30 apps per month at the most, according to App Annie. 

Users of mobile shopping apps are showing themselves to be the most valuable customers, the study noted, and women may be more valuable than men. The cost to acquire a purchasing male user is 65.5% greater than females, who have close to two times the install-to-purchase rate. 

And that is paying off with women becoming more comfortable with mobile shopping, as shown by the costs of acquiring a purchasing female decreasing 4.8% from the previous year's study. Aside from demographics, Apple iOS users have higher engagement rates than Android users, says the report, although the install-to-purchase rate for iOS is 8.4%, or one-third higher than Android. 

Liftoff said that costs and conversions are so well aligned that marketers can spur engagement and interaction without spending excessively. The install-to-registration rate is up 17.5%, up 20% from the previous year, indicating that shoppers know the benefits of retail apps. Additionally, marketing campaigns are improving at converting shoppers to buyers. The install-to-purchase rate is 7%, which is up 20% from the previous year.

Meanwhile, Facebook's advertising costs have been rising since the platform changed its news feed algorithm to de-emphasize content from brands and publishers, according to AdStage data cited by Recode. As costs at Facebook increase, data from Liftoff indicates that acquisition costs for programmatic exchanges have dropped 23% since last year.

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