With more people shopping online than ever before, shopping via mobile apps has become a fact of life, leading experts to predict a record-breaking e-commerce holiday season this year. A recent survey conducted by Airship in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and India, had 48% of respondents reporting that they expected to shop online during the holiday season. Of those respondents, 47% said they would be using their smartphones and mobile apps to do their shopping versus using a desktop computer.
This coincides with a surge in the download of e-commerce apps as reported by mobile marketing analytics platform Adjust in collaboration with SensorTower. They recently released a report highlighting this trend, with global numbers indicating a 10% growth in 2021 compared to 2020.
Time spent shopping in apps has also increased, up 12% year-to-year. This is good news for retailers with an online presence, especially as the number of average monthly active users among the leading 150 eCommerce apps rose 35% from 14 million in Q1 2019 to 18 million in Q3 2021.
Millennials have been the most eager when it comes to embracing mobile apps to shop, with 81% of Millennials reporting they use retail branded apps more or about the same since the pandemic began. That’s followed by 77% of Gen X, 74% of Gen Z, and 66% of Baby Boomers.
While shopping online is easy and convenient for consumers, bad actors are working overtime to try to scam victims. Ahead of this year’s busiest shopping season, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a warning to both shoppers and businesses alike: Cybercriminals are out in force this season and looking to steal both your money and your personal information. This warning comes just ahead of Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day in the United States. Last year, Americans spent over $10 billion online during the holidays and this year is expected to be even bigger. Scammers are using a variety of tactics to lure in shoppers including phishing scams to fake e-commerce sites and fraudulent apps.
Now more than ever, brands need to be aware of how their trusted names and intellectual property are being used online and by whom. With tech-savvy bad actors quickly adapting to consumers’ embracing this new digital way to shop, it’s critical for brands to incorporate a mobile element into their overall brand protection strategy.
For more information on how to plan an effective mobile app enforcement program to complement your overall mobile and brand protection strategy, download our guide which outlines strategies to find and stop infringing apps and keep malicious actors from ruining your holiday, your revenue plans, and your customer relationships.
