1. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 1
User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016
MOBILE SHOPPING

2. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 2
User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016
MOBILE SHOPPING
Introduction
Shopping App Costs and Conversion Rates
Shopping App Engagement by Gender
Shopping App Engagement by Operating System
Monthly Trends
Mobile Shopping Behavior
Conclusion
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4
5
6
7
13
14

3. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 3
Introduction
Every day, more and more consumers are making purchases on smartphones and
tablets. In 2015, shopping apps accounted for $40.58 billion in sales as consumers
spent 55.3% more time shopping on mobile devices than computers. In fact, shopping
apps became so popular in 2015 that Apple created a new Shopping Apps category in
the App Store.
With shopping apps for every consumer’s wants and needs - from huge retailers like
Amazon and eBay to specialized apps like Touch of Modern, SeatGeek, and Rue La
La - shoppers have made mobile shopping the new normal. According to eMarketer, in
2016, U.S. smartphone purchases are expected to increase by 49.9%, accounting for
32% of all eCommerce sales.
Mobile shopping is only expected to grow more popular in the future, with U.S.
smartphone sales projected to reach $129.44 billion by 2020. In order to attract the
shoppers who will make those purchases, advertisers will spend heavily on user
acquisition. The U.S. retail industry will spend more than $15 billion on digital ads in 2016,
up from $13.13 billion in 2015. Mobile ad spend will continue to increase in the coming
years, as shopping apps vie for a larger share of the growing mobile commerce market.
To better understand the user acquisition trends of shopping apps, including costs and
conversion rates by season, gender and operating systems, we examined 5.4 billion ad
impressions, 1.4 million app installs, and 31k post-install registrations and first-time purchases.

4. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 4
Shopping App Costs and Conversion Rates
The average cost to acquire a new shopping app user who installed and successfully
completed a first purchase was $113.74, with an install-to-purchase rate of 4.3%.
Purchasers averaged 3.4 purchases within six months of installing the shopping app,
with the first two purchases completed in the first two weeks. The average order size
per purchase was $68.00, returning a positive ROI within two weeks of installing the
app.
Not surprisingly, the cost to acquire a user who registers for an account in a shopping
app was significantly lower than the cost per first purchase, coming in at $5.92, with
an install to registration rate of 56.8%.
Shopping App Engagement

5. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 5
Shopping App Engagement by Gender
Acquisition costs and engagement rates for mobile shopping apps varied between
men and women. Women, who were just 1.4% more expensive to acquire than men,
were 26.8% more likely to complete a purchase. Female users were also 10.4% more
likely to register for shopping apps than men.
Shopping App Engagement by Gender

6. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 6
Shopping App Engagement
by Operating System
The cost to acquire an iOS user who completed a first purchase was $150,
compared to $85.10 for Android users. While iOS users were more expensive to
acquire, they were also 82.5% more likely to install and make a purchase than
Android users, meaning the volume of shoppers on iOS was much larger. In fact, on
Thanksgiving in 2015, nearly 80% of all mobile purchases were made on an Apple
device. iOS users also spent more money in shopping apps, averaging 2.7x more
spend than Android users on a monthly basis.
Android users were more likely to engage in non-transactional events in shopping
apps than their iOS counterparts. 52% of all Android users who installed a shopping
app went on to register, compared to 43% of iOS users.
Shopping App Engagement by Operating System

7. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 7
Monthly Trends
The Seasonal Impact on Shopping App Engagement
Not surprisingly, seasonality has a major impact on shopping app user acquisition
costs and conversion rates. From May 2015 - April 2016, we see two distinct peaks
in acquisition costs, in July ($144.60 per first purchase) and December ($148.76
per first purchase), both big months for shopping. July is widely recognized as
the month that back to school shopping begins, while December is peak holiday
shopping season.
During the months that aren’t traditionally known for shopping, acquisition costs
dropped to their lowest. In September, the average cost per first purchase fell to
$87.25, while in March costs decreased to $88.54. September and November
turned out to be two of the best months for user acquisition, as costs were at their
lowest and install-to-purchase rates were high at 5.8% and 4.9%, respectively.
November also plays host to the biggest mobile shopping weekend of the year,
when consumers spend more than $7.5 billion between Thanksgiving Day and
Cyber Monday. The massive amount of money spent by consumers in November
gives retailers a huge incentive to invest heavily in user acquisition and get new
shoppers to purchase in their apps.

8. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 8
Monthly Trends
Cost per Install by Month
The average cost to acquire a shopping app install was $4.06, but we saw increased
costs during traditionally busy shopping months due to the increased number of
advertisers fighting over a limited amount of ad inventory. During the busy back-to-
school shopping month of August, the average cost per install was $4.60. In November
and December, the winter holiday shopping season, the average cost per install
increased to $4.42 and $4.80, respectively.
Install costs were at their lowest in the off-season months of September and October.
During these months, which aren’t typically seen as big shopping periods, the average
cost per install for shopping apps got as low as $2.78.
Cost per Install by Month
The cost per install during September and October
was 29.1% less than average
$2
$3
$4
$5

9. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 9
Monthly Trends
Registration Costs
The cost to acquire a user who installed a shopping app and registered for an account
averaged $5.85 and did not fluctuate greatly from month to month, save for September
and October. During those two months, the average cost per registration decreased
to $4.30 and $3.89 respectively. The most expensive month for acquiring registrations
was April, increasing to $7.27, a 22.8% increase over the average registration cost.
Cost per Registration by Month
Registration costs during September and October
2015 were 30.6% lower than average
$3
$4
$5
$6
$7
$8

10. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 10
Monthly Trends
Registration Rates
Shopping app account registration rates were consistent throughout the year, hovering
around 60% for most of the year.
January saw registration rates peak at 66%, as Google searches for “shopping apps”
began to increase the week of Christmas and remained above average for the entire
month of January. However, install-to-first purchase rates were second to worst in
January, meaning retailers might benefit from employing re-engagement campaigns
shortly after users download to drive more purchases that month.
In February, registration rates fell to 48% and continued to decrease into March when
they hit a low of 28%. This correlated with first purchase rates, which were 63.2% below
average during the two months.
Install-to-Registration Rate by Month
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%

11. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 11
Monthly Trends
Cost per First Purchase
The costs associated with acquiring a user who completes a first purchase
are greatly affected by seasonality and peak twice during the year. In July,
a traditionally popular time for back-to-school shopping, the cost per first
purchase was $144.60. The second peak was in December amid the holiday
shopping rush, when the cost per first purchase reached $148.76.
In September, the average cost per first purchase decreased to $87.25. With
back-to-school shopping winding down, the month was a cost-effective time
to acquire active mobile shoppers who would make for strong retargeting
candidates during the upcoming holiday season.
November also made for a great month for acquiring mobile shoppers as the
average cost per first purchase was $96.35, while the average purchase size
for smartphone users was $102.20 on Cyber Monday, when consumers spent
more than $3 billion online.
Cost per First Purchase by Month
$60
$90
$120
$150

12. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 12
Monthly Trends
First Purchase Rates
Consumers were most likely to make a purchase in a newly installed shopping
app during the spring and summer months. In June, 6.0% of users who installed a
shopping app went on to make a purchase. In August, first purchase rates dipped
slightly to 5.7%, but users completed 61.7% more purchases than in June.
In September, 5.8% of new shopping app installs completed a first purchase, the
third highest rate of the year. Despite the fact that a majority of back-to-school
shopping is completed by the end of August, shopping apps enjoyed strong
conversion rates in September.
As 2015 came to a close, shopping app first purchase rates decreased slightly,
hitting 4.9% in November and 3.6% in December. Still, mobile devices accounted
for over 30% of online sales, a sure sign that mobile shopping is an important part
of consumers’ holiday shopping strategy.
Install-to-First Purchase Rate by Month
1%
0%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%

13. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 13
Mobile Shopping Behavior
Mobile shoppers who installed a shopping app and made
a first purchase were likely to become repeat shoppers.
The average mobile shopper averaged 3.4 completed
purchases within six months of installing the app, spending
$68 per order.
Although men and women have different install-to-purchase
rates, the amount they spend per order is similar. Men
average $66.10 per purchase compared to $68.39 for
women.
The acquisition costs associated with users making a first
purchase are quickly recouped, as the average shopper
makes their first two purchases within 13 days of installing
a shopping app. The average time between install and first
purchase is 5.5 days, with the second purchase occurring
7.5 days later. Women are quicker to spend than men,
averaging 4.5 days from install to first purchase, compared
to 6.8 days for men.
A significant number of users install shopping apps with the
intent to purchase right away. 25% of those who completed
a purchase did so within 24 hours of installing the app, while
50% of shoppers made a purchase within five days.
BUY
The average shopper
makes 3.4 purchases
within six months of install
3.4

14. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 14
Though not all mobile shoppers make a purchase within the first week of installing
a shopping app, we found that 75% of all users with an intent to purchase do so
within 17 days of installation.
Not surprisingly, registering for a shopping app account occurs even faster than
making a first purchase, with 90% of users who registered doing so within 24
hours of installing the app.
0 20% 40% 60% 80%
0 20% 40% 60% 80%
Install-to-Purchase Time
Install-to-Registration Time

15. Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2016 15
Conclusion
Back-to-school and holiday shopping are the two biggest periods of spending for
consumers. And with increased spending during these months comes a rush of
advertisers into the fold, driving up the cost to acquire users.
The data tells us that while spending on user acquisition during the back-to-school
and holiday seasons gets more expensive than average, the conversion rates and
sheer amount of consumer spending make it more than worthwhile. But the data
also shows us that one way to “win the holidays” is to invest in acquiring shoppers
during September, when acquisition costs are at their lowest. This gives shopping
apps the opportunity to re-engage their existing shoppers and drive low cost
conversions in the winter, when new users become more expensive.
Seasonality isn’t the only thing to consider when growing a mobile shopping
business. Knowing how long it takes the average user to make a purchase after
installing an app allows retailers to make smart decisions about re-engagement.
Finding the best moment to re-engage a new user helps improve conversion rates
and mobile revenue, because those who do purchase are likely to become repeat
shoppers.
Liftoff is a full-service mobile app marketing and
retargeting platform which uses post-install data to run
true CPA-optimized mobile user acquisition and retention
campaigns. With Liftoff, campaigns are optimized to drive
specific actions beyond the install, to acquire users who
engage in more profitable post-install events like booking
a hotel, subscribing to a service or making a purchase.
info@liftoff.io @liftoffmobilewww.liftoff.io