eCommerce app marketers spent $6.1 billion on user acquisition

eCommerce app marketers spent $6.1 billion on user acquisition

The State of eCommerce App Marketing 2022 has been released by AppsFlyer, a global leader in marketing measurement. AppsFlyer’s research examines important global trends and helps marketers create a mobile-first experience that will increase engagement and sales before the holidays.

E-commerce in general and app marketing, in particular, have come into a natural slowdown as a consequence of the huge rise that e-commerce has had over the previous several years as a direct result of the COVID-19 epidemic. The same number of new users is no longer being drawn to e-commerce in the year 2022, and growing costs are beginning to take their toll on marketing expenditures and planning.

Efficiency ought to be at the forefront of marketers’ thoughts as they go into the festivities, which are expected to be defined by an economic slowdown, supply interruptions, and ongoing changes to privacy policies and data limits. Between January 2021 and July 2022, there was an overall rise of 54% in the number of e-commerce applications available on the continent. In-app purchases surged in Q4, especially in November.

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Shopping applications’ percentage of non-organic installations on Android in South Africa fell, perhaps a hint that advertisers are spending less. Two-thirds of an app’s installations were non-organic in 2021. In July 2022, it was 57%.

In Nigeria, non-organic installations make up most of an app’s overall installs, possibly because of a lower cost-per-install (CPI) that has grown over time. In January 2021, non-organic installations made up 64% of all app installations, and in July 2022, they made up 79%.

What is AppsFlyer saying about this?

Shani Rosenfelder, AppsFlyer’s Market Insights Director, commented on the research. “A falling trend for e-commerce applications isn’t the end for marketers, since November is the strongest month for installations and sales in most regions, with Black Friday.

As a result of the inclusion of the World Cup, customers may still be interested in making purchases over the Christmas season, which is particularly true for this year.

Because of this, app developers should concentrate on remarketing in order to keep the people that they have acquired over the course of the last few years, and publishers should make the most of the media channels that they hold.

Global Perspectives on eCommerce

eCommerce app marketers spent $6.1 billion on user acquisition, but worldwide ad spending dropped by 50% YoY due to higher iOS advertising costs, the return to normalcy after COVID, and other macroeconomic factors.

Due to the growing and unstable CPI, app installs ad spending among eCommerce apps had a large decline globally in January, falling 55% YoY for Android and 53% for iOS.

With the exception of India, which had a considerable increase in new visitors, Android eCommerce app installations fell -5% worldwide YoY (H1 2021 vs. H1 2022). Following the spike in downloads during COVID, iOS installations also saw a tiny 4% decline in the same time frame.

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Year over year (July 2021 to July 2022), owned media conversion increased by 360% across all platforms. This illustrates how marketers are now making every effort to maximize limited resources.

In H1 2022, the iOS CPI rose 60% year on year to $4.2 per install. The Android CPI declined 15% despite a 30% increase from April to June.

Android’s 30-day retention drops by 13% as consumers try new applications and services. iOS declined 5% but reported stronger retention than Android, per previous patterns.