Shopping app trends and performance insights 2025 | Adjust

Summary

The article highlights the evolving state of shopping and e-commerce app performance in 2025, based on Adjust's shopping app insights report. Globally, e-commerce app installs rose 16% YoY in 2024 but declined 14% in H1 2025, while sessions increased 2%, indicating a strategic focus on user quality over volume. Specifically for shopping apps, installs dropped 18% while sessions fell only 1%.

Regional variances are significant: LATAM leads with installs up 18% and sessions up 27% in H1 2025, followed by APAC (installs +13%, sessions +2%). Fast-growing markets include Thailand (+180% installs), Brazil (+48%), and Malaysia (+12%). Marketplace apps dominate engagement, accounting for 60% of global sessions and achieving the highest day-1 retention at 24.8%, far above the e-commerce average of 13%.

Session length slightly decreased to 9.89 minutes. On cost metrics, global CPI for e-commerce fell to $0.99 in Q1 2025, with marketplace apps at $0.89 and shopping apps at $1.01. North America remains the most expensive at $2.70, while APAC dropped to $0.90.

Revenue per monthly active user (ARPMAU) averaged $7.80 globally in 2024, with LATAM leading at $16.59. The article identifies five key trends: quick commerce projected to reach $195B, voice commerce to generate $151.4B, AI-powered chatbots becoming conversion engines (80% of retailers adopting), privacy-first personalization as cookies decline, and D2C brands investing heavily in mobile apps. Actionable takeaways for ad ops include focusing on high-quality user acquisition via deep linking and TrueLink, preparing for Q4 shopping season with early testing and channel diversification, and leveraging AI for personalization and measurement in a privacy-first landscape.

Analyst Note

The article's data on e-commerce app installs declining 18% while sessions only dipped 1% in H1 2025 signals a broader industry pivot from volume-driven UA to quality-focused re-engagement. For UA managers, this reinforces the need to rebalance spend toward retention and deep linking, especially as CPI diverges dramatically by region—North America at $2.70 vs. APAC at $0.90.

The regional disparities, such as LATAM's 18% install growth and Thailand's 180% surge, highlight where incremental UA budgets may still yield volume without sacrificing efficiency. The five trends—quick commerce, voice commerce, AI chatbots, privacy-first personalization, and D2C app investment—are not new but their convergence is accelerating. The key implication for monetization strategists: the data confirms that marketplace apps dominate engagement (60% of sessions from 20% of installs), making them prime candidates for in-app advertising and dynamic yield optimization.

Meanwhile, the shift toward privacy-first measurement (ATT, cookie deprecation) means legacy attribution models will increasingly underreport performance, pushing teams to invest in aggregated modeling and first-party data strategies. The article's emphasis on Q4 preparation is timely; given the compressed shopping window, early creative testing and channel diversification are now table stakes.