Mobile app users are key to Amazon’s success (AMZN, TGT, WMT, EBAY)

App users account for approximately 42% of Amazons smartphone visits, while visits to Amazon.com make up the other 58%, but those app users take almost 85% of the mobile time spent with Amazon, according to data from ComScore cited by Internet Retailer.

Amazon's Unique Mobile Visitors by Channel Business Insider Intelligence

This suggests Amazon performs better on mobile with app users, which should influence its strategy in the valuable and growing mobile commerce (m-commerce) space.

Heres what it means: Amazons app users are likely great targets for mobile conversion, but the e-tailer should be doing more to capitalize on its large base of mobile browser users.

Amazon app users' outsized share of time spent with the e-tailer on mobile, combined with app users' higher conversion rates generally, makes these consumers highly valuable to Amazon.Amazon's app users spent 12.8 billion minutes per month in the Amazon app in 2018, on average, giving the firm far more opportunities to make sales than mobile browser users, who averaged 2.4 billion minutes on the site. And considering apps have significantly better conversion rates than mobile browsers and desktops, according to data from Criteo, these shoppers are particularly valuable.
But Amazon boasts far more users on its mobile browser, though its mobile sites flaws may be preventing it from maximizing their value.Amazon had over 162 million unique mobile browser visitors in December 2018 to the apps 122 million. And its mobile web base is still growing faster, adding more than 14 million users in the five months ending January 2019 while the app brought on a little more than 9 million. Despite this huge mobile browser base, Amazons mobile site shopping experience has issues that may be hurting its conversion rate. It has a complicated shipping selection process and slows down new user conversions by prompting them to sign up for Prime both of which are part of why Amazon placed behind Target, eBay, and Walmart in Business Insider Intelligences Mobile Commerce Benchmark .

The bigger picture: All retailers need to find ways to improve the shopping experience on their mobile sites to inspire more usage and conversions through the popular channel.

Mobile web shopping is a top channel for e-commerce, and retailers that improve their mobile sites have the chance to thrive as m-commerce expands.The most popular channel for e-commerce transactions in Q2 2018 in the Americas among retailers that actively promote their shopping apps was the mobile web, which accounted for 43% of transactions, according to Criteo.

So, retailers that can make shopping through it more comparable to their apps by using progressive web apps or improving features, for example can boost time spent on their mobile sites and drive more sales from an even larger consumer base.

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