According to Nielsen, almost half of American smartphone owners used shopping apps in June 2012, launching these apps more than twice a day (on average). Not surprisingly, in that same month, the big players in online purchasing had the most-used apps — eBay and Amazon each posting well over 10 million unique users each. And traditional retails — Walgreens and Target amongst the top 10 —posted millions of unique users and some impressive numbers for average time spent as well.
“Retailers are finding that consumers are willing to use smartphone apps to enhance their shopping experience, and this data shows usage of shopping apps is growing,” said Don Kellogg, Director of Telecom Insights at Nielsen. “As more Americans use their smartphones while shopping and making purchases directly through apps, retailers should consider personalizing their targeted offerings around the needs of individual consumers.”
As more consumers use their ever-present smartphones to search out deals and discounts, as well as product reviews, peer-to-peer recommendations, and community insights, we’d do well to consider that these must-have devices — and shopping optimized apps — are changing the way that our customers shop. How are you putting your brand into your customers’ hands?
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 |
Read as: During June 2012, 13.2 million smartphone owners used the eBay Mobile application, from Android/iPhone handsets in the US.
Source: Nielsen
Methodology: A panel of 5000+ U.S. Smartphone owners with measurement of mobile usage on mobile web and application usage activity, on Android OS and iOS platforms.