E-Commerce Application Tests (2024) – Application Business

Mobile e-commerce is a huge and growing industry, accounting for more than $3 trillion in global revenue. The applications at the heart of this industry are used by billions of people, and great care is taken in every design and feature choice.

E-commerce apps need to be memorable, and much of their value comes from the products available. Marketplaces like Amazon, eBay or Shein have achieved success through scale, offering many more products than competitors without worrying too much about quality or cost.

However, scale is not the only factor, as many luxury brands offer a very limited selection of products on their apps. This part of e-commerce places much more emphasis on the presentation of each product rather than simply offering as much as possible.

– Advertising –

Understanding where an e-commerce app falls on this scale, from market to luxury, is key to the kind of consumer feedback loop needed to keep users coming back.

There are many key performance indicators to track with an e-commerce application, including the number of cart abandonments and the number of cart additions. A high rate of cart additions may indicate a good selection of items and an easy path to cart, while a high rate of abandoned carts may indicate payment flow problems and other distractions. Other metrics such as retention and conversion remain important, as in all app sectors.

We have collected data and statistics on e-commerce application tests. Read below to find out more.

Key Statistics of an E-Commerce Application

The retention rate for e-commerce apps was 4.2% in 2023, a rate that has been steadily declining over the past three years.
E-commerce apps have high conversion rates during the winter holidays, with customers in America converting at a higher rate.
More than three-quarters of shopping carts on e-commerce apps are abandoned, with luxury and jewelry retailers having the highest rates.
Less than 8% of users add an item to their cart. In summer this rate drops to 6%.
Mobile devices are the preferred way to access e-commerce applications, with more than 70% of users choosing mobile devices.

E-commerce app retention rate

Like almost all app sectors, e-commerce apps have experienced a decline in retention rates over the past three years, falling to 4.2% in 2023.

E-commerce app retention rate from 2020 to 2023 (%)

E-commerce app conversion rate

Conversion rates for e-commerce apps spike in November, then decline in February and decline for most of the summer. In October it begins to rise again.

E-commerce app conversion rate (%)

Ecommerce App Conversion Rate by Category

Food and drink has the highest conversion rate in all categories listed in Dynamic field based on Mastercard e-commerce KPI criteria.

E-commerce App Conversion Rate by Category (%)

E-commerce app conversion rate by region

America typically sees higher conversion rates than other regions, although it drops sharply after the Christmas holiday.

Ecommerce App Conversion Rate by Region (%)

E-commerce app conversion rate by device

PC users have higher conversion rates than mobile users. Tablet users fall somewhere in the middle, which makes sense given the three form factors.

E-commerce app conversion rate by device (%)

E-commerce app cart abandonment rate

Three-quarters of virtual carts are abandoned regardless of the time of year. The failure rate is actually slightly higher in the summer. High-end purchases such as luxury goods and jewelry, as well as home goods and furniture, have the highest failure rates, while pet and veterinarian purchases have the lowest.

E-commerce app cart abandonment rate (%)

E-commerce app cart abandonment rate by category (%)

E-commerce app add to cart rate

As with conversion, the percentage of users adding items to cart increases in November, then decreases in the spring and then in the summer.

E-commerce app add-to-cart share (%)

Average order value per e-commerce app

Conversely, while conversion rates and cart additions increase, the average cost per purchase decreases.

Average order value per e-commerce app ($)

E-commerce app usage by device

Mobile devices dominate usage, accounting for about three-quarters of all usage in 2024.

E-commerce usage by device type (%)

Total number of hours spent on the e-commerce application

The total number of hours spent on e-commerce apps has nearly doubled over the past half-century, with significant growth occurring during the coronavirus pandemic.