According to “App Annie Intelligence (Usage & Engagement Report) February – July 2020 Japan App Store (iOS only)”, the total number of downloads of all mobile apps has increased due to the timing of requests for self-restraint due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. It has increased by nearly 30%.
Competition appears to be intensifying in the app market as new lifestyles during the coronavirus pandemic take hold. Meanwhile, there was a service that achieved results through innovative advertising strategies.
They are Rakuten Market and Mercari. Think with Google introduces these two examples.
Online shopping has become established during the coronavirus pandemic, and shopping app users are increasing
According to a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of the end of 2019, the Internet usage rate among the people had reached 89.8%. Additionally, 73.8% of these were mobile devices such as smartphones and mobile phones.
This result shows that Internet use is deeply connected to Japanese people’s lives.
In 2020, people’s lifestyles changed significantly in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Of course, it can be expected that the situation of Internet usage through mobile terminals has also changed significantly.
According to “App Annie Intelligence (Usage & Engagement Report) February – July 2020 Japan App Store (iOS only)”, it can be seen that a wide range of apps were used from February to July 2020.
What attracts attention in this graph is “shopping.” While the growth of other categories of apps has slowed down after the state of emergency was lifted at the end of May, shopping apps continue to increase at the same pace.
The graph below compares the number of active users as of February 2020 and July 2020.
As expected, “Shopping” was by far the most popular. Online shopping has become popular during the coronavirus pandemic, and more and more people are using apps on their mobile devices.
Rakuten Market triples CVR results by using “deep link advertising”
As the number of app users increases, competition in the app market also intensifies.
Meanwhile, “Rakuten Market” seemed to be focusing on “improving user experience” and “increasing loyalty through improved user experience.”
Rakuten Market thought that it would be better to protect the quality of the user experience if users who normally use the Rakuten Market app launch the app when they tap an advertisement on the Internet.
To address this issue, the company has introduced “deep link ads,” which allow apps to be launched directly from ads on web pages.
Rakuten Market used both deep link ads and non-deep link ads and compared the results of the two. As a result, deep link ads had about three times the CVR (conversion rate).
Mercari achieved results with Google Ads’ “app campaign” and “feed function”
“Mercari” has attempted to efficiently approach potential customers by using Google Ads’ “app campaigns” and “feed features.”
With “App Campaign,” you can set a goal such as the number of app installs and use machine learning to automatically optimize advertising operations accordingly.
On the other hand, the “feed function” makes it easier for internet users to find the products they are looking for by incorporating a wealth of product images into advertisements.
By combining the two, Mercari has been able to increase the cost per new registration by 16% and improve CVR by 15 points.
These examples will provide hints for continued growth in a highly competitive market.