Sue Azari, Ecommerce Industry Leader, AppsFlyer
Despite the new privacy environment and cautious consumers, 2023’s Black Friday was a successful one for e-commerce apps, outperforming 2022’s results, according to AppsFlyer’s Black Friday data.
Mobile spending has reached a tipping point compared to desktop, discounts have widened and cash-strapped consumers have turned to buy now, pay later to make even more money. All of this comes on the back of surging install numbers and successful user acquisition efforts on iOS.
The explosion of e-commerce and mobile-driven sales
Mobile has become a major growth driver for the digital economy, and many consumers clearly find the experience comparable to desktop shopping. In the US, smartphone sales drove 51.8% of online sales (up from 49.9% in 2022), and in the UK, mobile overtook desktop spending, with more than half (£12bn) in the UK between 1st and 2020. Of this, £6.5bn) was spent online. November 27th.
UK retailers’ app-first approach led to a 22% increase in e-commerce app spending on Black Friday 2023 and Black Friday 2022, with the US following suit with a 13% increase, according to AppsFlyer data. .
Strategic marketing on iOS is paying off
Marketers are seeing a payoff for their strategic efforts on iOS, even as tightened privacy rules under Apple’s ATT make it harder to target mobile ads. His November installs in the UK increased by 40% on Android and 99% on iOS compared to November 2022.
However, non-organic installs influenced the change between iOS and Android. His iOS non-organic installs in the UK increased by 176% in November compared to November 2022, followed by Android at his 47%. In the US, the growth in non-organic iOS installs has been slower, with a 37% increase in November 2023 compared to November 2022, but Android still lags behind, with only a small The increase was only 6%.
UK brands and consumers have expanded installation and shopping windows
According to data from AppsFlyer, the Black Friday phenomenon has expanded beyond a day of frantic shopping. Consumers say they started downloading apps in early November and only slowed down in downloads until much later in the month, and that the shopping season, or at least the season of willingness to spend, slowed down over the entire month. It has spread to
In recent years, Black Friday has expanded from a marketing moment to filling nearly the entire month of November, with brands looking to secure a larger spending window. The high number of installs over time may be a response to innovative retailers such as Puma Group, H&M and Gymshark adopting an app-first, loyalty-driven approach; All merchants were offering app-only Black Friday offers at a percentage. Turn it off to encourage new users to install your app and reward existing app users.
Innovative retailers that ran early or extended sales were also more likely to make a profit on Black Friday, the week before payday for most workers in the UK. For example, skincare brand The Ordinary is offering 23% off throughout November in a campaign to encourage consumers to shop slowly.
US consumers had the highest number of installs, up 49% on Black Friday itself and the two weeks before Black Friday, but were less likely to start downloading at the beginning of the month.
Deep discounts and BNPL swayed price-sensitive consumers
U.S. discounts are higher in most categories tracked than in 2022, with computers at 24% (vs. 20%), TVs at 19% (vs. 17%), and clothing at 23% (vs. 18%). did. In the UK, average online prices are now 12% off compared to pre-holiday levels.
In the US, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) increased online spending by $940 million on Cyber Monday, a staggering 42.5% year-over-year as consumers sought more flexible payment methods. This has increased. A UK shopper spent his £101m on Black Friday using BNPL. This accounted for 9.7% of his total online spending for the day and was up 3.4% from Black Friday 2022.
The efforts of marketers have borne fruit.
Marketing teams have recognized the critical role of iOS and have allocated resources to leverage the platform and successfully adapt to the changing privacy landscape while securing significant returns. In 2024, marketers must continue to build customer engagement and optimize Black’s post-Friday activity and associated user loyalty to reap the rewards in 2024 and beyond.