The Shopping category grew by 54% as consumers continue to shift their spending into e-commerce via mobile shopping apps. Users are increasingly comfortable making physical purchases on their phones with now ingrained in-app digital purchase habits. Additionally, digital wallet services such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay allow seamless access to stored payment information for mobile purchases.[caption id="attachment_142888" align="aligncenter" width="1592"] Apps come and go, and users snap them up in droves.[/caption]
Consumer Spending Frames the New App Economy: Study
According to new data from analytics firm Flurry, folks' smartphone use is changing the app economy significantly. Overall, usage of mobile devices has stagnated over the past year. Growth in “mobile session app activity” stood at six percent in 2017, down from 11 percent in 2016. The types of apps we use are also changing: those in the “lifestyle” category saw a massive drop-off, with 40 percent less use year-over-year. (Interestingly, ‘lifestyle’ is a catch-all category; Apptism lists everything from "Tinder" to "Day One" under it.) "Sports" went from 43 percent growth in 2016 to an eight percent decline in 2017. Photography apps were also down eight percent, as were ‘personalization’ apps (mostly Android). Not all categories went negative, however. News and magazine app usage was up 20 percent, perhaps due to the angst caused by the potential (and later reality) of Donald Trump’s presidency. Utility and productivity apps were also up 20 percent, and ‘business and finance’ apps were up 33 percent. Flurry’s "Music, Media and Entertainment" category saw a huge uptick; we’re now streaming 43 percent more than last year. This is a similar metric to App Annie’s, which also noted how streaming and entertainment apps are making a huge play for our attention. And then there's "Shopping," which was up a shocking 54 percent over 2016. From Flurry: