• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 13, 2020

Unlike much of the app economy, ecommerce apps were hard hit by the pandemic.

When parts of the country began to initiate lockdowns in March, most ecommerce apps pulled back on spending for user acquisition.

Not surprisingly, many experienced a marked decline in app installs and in-app sessions, according to data provided by app marketing platform Adjust.

As a whole, ecommerce app installs trended down 12% week-on-week through March 2020, with a decrease in paid installs of 35% from March through the beginning of April, according to Adjust.

“The ecommerce industry got a bit shell-shocked in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown in March, with marketers dialing back ad spend,” according to Paul Müller, co-founder and CTO of Adjust.

 Since then, however, ecommerce apps have begun to recover, Müller said.

“We’ve seen the vertical rebound in April, as marketers and consumers alike are learning to live with the situation and return to more established consumption patterns,” he said.

In addition, “There’s been a broader push toward re-engagement and retargeting, in line with bringing customers back into the funnel,” he added.

Meanwhile, some brands have recently shown how hard times can inspire real ingenuity.

Nike, for example, responded to the pandemic by completely rethinking its app strategy. After its workout-at-home coaching app saw an 80% increase in China, the sportswear giant brought the offering to the States.

Such efforts helped the company achieve a model revenue gain during its fiscal first quarter, while digital sales were up by 36%.