E-Commerce Apps and Holiday Season: A Winning Combination

We are in the final stretch of 2022 and for many industries, the holiday season is a huge sales opportunity — one of the biggest of the year— in which marketing strategies need to be fine-tuned. For the Mexican market, it is a seven-week period that begins with El Buen Fin and ends the first week of January with the Three Kings Day celebration.

With the most recent changes in consumer shopping behavior, the accelerated development of e-commerce and the increasing use of mobile devices, it is essential that companies know what is happening now in this field that has become the bet of many marketing specialists. What should we know about e-commerce opportunities, especially regarding mobile commerce (or m-commerce) and the apps environment, in these final weeks of 2022?

Mobile is now the leader in e-commerce

This is not just in Mexico; it’s a global trend. M-commerce, in particular, increased its presence in markets around the world during lockdowns and due to the social distancing rules imposed during the last two years. According to Statista, retail sales in this category reached US$3.56 billion worldwide in 2021, an increase of 22.3 percent compared to 2020.

In the app world, the report Adjust’s Mobile App Trends 2022, based on the analysis of more than 2,000 applications, shows the evolution of this sector: 67 percent of the total e-commerce sales came from mobile in 2021, up 14 percent from 2020. One of the most relevant findings is the 12 percent increase in e-commerce app installs during 2021 globally. The fourth-quarter was the period with the highest performance; in the first week of November, growth reached 34 percent compared to 2020 and 20 percent against the 2021 average. 

In addition, the duration of e-commerce app sessions has  increased globally every year since 2019, going from 10.07 minutes to 10.42 minutes in 2020, and then reaching 10.75 minutes in 2021. The longest duration of sessions during 2021 were seen in APAC, with an average of 11.18 minutes, followed by EMEA, with 10.99 minutes. The sessions in Latin America had the shortest duration.

Latin American user behavior 

The mobile digital consumer behavior has changed in Latin America compared to other regions. E-commerce app installs in Latin America grew 14 percent compared to  the previous year,  only behind EMEA, which reported an increase of 18 percent.

Regarding the number of user sessions, all regions reported growth in 2021. Latin America led this category with a 32 percent increase against the previous year, twice that of  EMEA, which was second on the list with 16 percent, North America and APAC followed, with 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

User behavior can be somewhat different based on specific events. Adjust data shows that Black Friday is consumers' favorite shopping event in most regions. In North America, sessions on Black Friday grew 10 percent and 9 percent on Cyber Monday, compared to the 2021 averages. Latin America proved to be the lone exception, with e-commerce sessions increasing by 14 percent on Black Friday and 15 percent on Cyber Monday.

What’s happening in Mexico?

According to the Online Sales Report Mexico 2022 ,by the Mexican Association of Online Sales (AMVO), in 2021, 98 percent of digital consumers said they had used a smartphone to make purchases online. E-commerce in Mexico reached MX$$401.3 billion in 2021, growing 27 percent compared to the previous year, and accounting for 11.3 percent of total retail sales.

AMVO also reports that Mexico is in the Top 5 of countries with the highest growth in e-commerce retail, along with important markets like  India, Brazil, Russia and Argentina. Mexico is among  the countries with the greatest weight of e-commerce out  of total retail sales, surpassing the world average and developed markets like France, Germany, Italy or Brazil. 

Finally, Statista reports that in 2021, the revenue generated by online sales in Mexico reached US$40 billion, 37.7 percent of which was through mobile devices and 62.3 percent through desktop computers. But the yearly trends forecast to 2025 reveals that mobile is poised to continue growing, while desktop will decrease. 

E-commerce apps and the holiday season

After analyzing these numbers, companies competing in the apps space should be thinking about the best mobile marketing strategy that can help to grow their business. El Buen Fin has just passed, but there’s always a chance to review next steps and mobile marketers must be agile to adjust and adapt to trends.

There’s still time to drive installs and engagement through the rest of the holiday season by following these three steps:

1. Increase growth by prioritizing user acquisition: The holiday shopping season is an excellent time to acquire new users. By focusing on data-driven acquisition tactics, you can identify, attract and engage highly-relevant new customers during this critical period. After acquiring new customers early on, you can implement retention strategies to keep shoppers returning throughout and after the holiday shopping season. 

2. Leverage flash sales: Flash sales make it easy to engage holiday shoppers without much planning. All you need to know is your goal, your target audience, what products you will sell, and how you will let your customers know about your flash sale. Getting the word out about your flash sale is best done by engaging existing customers or influencers. You can also add a countdown timer to encourage shoppers to act quickly.

3. Utilize app analytics to understand user behavior: Mobile marketers must use app analytics to get a holistic view of what their customers are doing. App analytics can help you better understand what shoppers need and expect during the holidays and beyond. Understanding your users' preferences and behaviors will allow you to tailor experiences for them, ultimately leading to sales and loyalty. 

In this new reality where digital and mobility have become a winning combination to succeed in the market, companies that do not have well-planned mobile marketing strategies will have an increasingly difficult panorama in the face of competition. 

Let’s have a great holiday season and a rocking 2023. Happy Holidays!