Dedicated shopping apps are driving widespread mobile success for European retailers, according to the latest Global Commerce Report from commerce marketing specialist Criteo.

The report analyses shoppers’ activities, behaviours and preferences across all devices and browsing environments. The report, which highlights a growing reliance on apps among shoppers, reinforces the “mobile-first” mindset, and will help inform omnichannel commerce marketing strategies worldwide.

Performance gains

When retailers prioritise app optimisation in addition to mobile web, the performance gains are substantial. The study revealed that retailers with a shopping app see half of online transactions taking place on mobile devices with over half (54%) of these taking place via their app, opposed to on mobile web.

With the report also revealing that mobile apps have a conversion rate three times higher than that of mobile web, the world of mobile shopping has clearly evolved beyond just web browsing.

The Global Commerce Report highlights the increasing worldwide maturity and importance of omnichannel shopping. Omnichannel customers (those who brands can match up based on offline and online shopping habits) were shown to be of the highest lifetime value for retailers, generating seven times more value per shopper than offline only customers.

Jonathan Opdyke, chief strategy officer, Criteo, said: “As smartphone usage continues to soar, increased app adoption and mobile browsing have resulted in interesting omnichannel shopping patterns

“Our latest report illustrates the power of shopping apps to drive significantly higher conversion rates and sales on mobile devices, and also confirms that omnichannel customers provide the highest lifetime value. Retailers and brands can take advantage of these trends to optimise their marketing efforts, allowing them to more effectively connect with shoppers to yield the strongest commerce results possible.”

Other key insights from ‘The Global Commerce Review’ include:

• Even when apps are excluded, mobile devices account for 53% of online transactions in the UK, well above the European average of 40%.
• Compared to the same period in 2016 mobile web usage on a smartphone grew 19% while usage on a tablet fell 20% and desktop usage dropping slightly by 3.5%.
• Fashion, luxury, health and beauty have seen the most dramatic rise in UK mobile sales YoY (56%), while home (48%) and sporting goods (32%) lag behind.
• Desktop usage dominates working hours, with 9-12 am proving UK consumers’ favourite time to shop while mobile wins nights and weekends.
• 24% of post-click desktop transactions were preceded by a click on a different device in the UK.
• Omnichannel retailers who can combine online and offline data have more than four times as much sales data to apply to their marketing strategies.

The Global Commerce Review analysed individual browsing and purchasing data from more than 5,000 retailers, in more than 80 countries during Q4 2017.