Global shopping app installs grew 61% during first half of 2024, but APAC numbers decrease

While shopping app installs rose 61% year on year globally due to shopping holidays such as Black Friday and 11.11, Asia Pacific customers are not contributing to this success. According to a recent report by measurement and analytics company Adjust, APAC saw a 9% decrease in app installs. Meanwhile, Latin America (LATAM) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) saw the highest growth where installs were up 107% and 152%.  

Despite the drop in app installs, the APAC region recorded the highest number of partners per app. Globally, eCommerce partners per app increased from 10.1 to 11.2 in 2024. Whereas in APAC, the numbers grew from 10.7 to 11.8 partners per app.  According to Adjust, APAC's growth in partners per app was powered-up in part by the marketplace and classifieds subvertical, which increased 8% from a media of 12.8 in 2023 to 13.8 in the first half of 2024. 

In-app revenue for eCommerce apps have also increased globally by 36%. Of which, 60% of in-app revenue came from Android devices. This biggest spikes in 2023 occurred in the fourth quarter of 2023, with November revenue 34% higher than the monthly average. 

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In addition, eCommerce app session lengths globally decreased by 6% from an average of 11.2 minutes to 10.5. Shopping apps saw the largest change, dropping 15%. However, this drop is not necessarily a negative thing. In fact, it may be a positive indication of more efficient user journeys and the adoption of frictionless payment options.

That said, the MENAT region recorded the highest session lengths at 12 minutes. This is compared to the global average of 10.5 minutes. This is followed by Europe at 111.2 minutes. 

Indonesia scored the lowest average session length at 7.5 minutes. This is despite the APAC's overall higher 10-minute average. 

In a separate study by Momentum Works released in July, it was revealed that Shopee has remained the top eCommerce platform in 2023 in Southeast Asia, maintaining 48% of market share and earning US$55.1 billion gross merchandise value (GMV). 

TikTok Shop comes in second as the largest platform in Southeast Asia, having almost quadrupled its GMV in 2023 (US$16.3 billion). It is also currently at the same scale as long-timers Lazada and Tokopedia. A merger with Tokopedia in Indonesia pits TikTok Shop against Shopee at a similar scale. 

Across Southeast Asia, beauty has emerged as the top category on both TikTok Shop and Shopee. 

Other top categories include home and living, electronics, women's fashion and Muslim fashion. Men's fashion and food and beverage round out the categories. 

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