Mobile market expands, conversion lags
Due to the increasing use of smartphones and tablets worldwide, online retail continues to expand to take advantage of the growing mobile population. In 2022, mobile retail e-commerce spending in the United States surpassed 387 billion U.S. dollars, more than double the spending done in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite this, U.S. mobile phone conversion rates have still consistently been lower than for desktops or tablets. Still, nearly one-third of U.S. internet users bought something online each week via a mobile phone as of late 2022, a rate slightly higher than the global average.The top shopping apps and their users
Mobile shopping apps have become more profitable for retailers and are immensely popular among users. Overall, the leading shopping app in the United States, with almost 35 million downloads across the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in 2022, is e-commerce giant Amazon’s shopping app. With this massive number of downloads, the Amazon app is also unsurprisingly the leading marketplace app in the country. The Shein app, ranking second in overall shopping app downloads, is the front-runner in the fashion and beauty shopping app category, reflecting the nation's love for fast-fashion.As for who is using these apps, shoppers from the ages 18 to 34 make up the majority, and within these age groups, most consumers tend to engage in m-commerce with their smartphones rather than their tablets—an unsurprising fact when considering just how many U.S. American smartphone owners there are. Although younger shoppers are more likely to use m-commerce, older shoppers are not excluded. A recent survey revealed that over two in ten U.S. shoppers from ages 50 to 64 used m-commerce at least once a week from their mobile phones, and 11 percent of shoppers over the age of 65 also reported weekly m-commerce shopping. With how convenient m-commerce has become, shoppers of all demographics are bound to continue using their mobile devices while making online shopping decisions.