Mobile e-commerce is a huge and growing industry, responsible for over $3 trillion in global revenue. The applications that underpin this industry are used by billions of people, and every design and function choice is given careful consideration.

E-commerce applications need to be efficient and much of their value comes from the elements available. Marketplaces, like Amazon, eBay and Shein, have succeeded because of their scale, offering many more items than the competition without much concern for quality or value.

Scale isn’t the only factor, however, as many luxury brands offer a very limited selection of items on their apps. At this end of e-commerce, a lot more thought goes into the presentation of each item, rather than just offering as much as possible.

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Understanding where an e-commerce app sits on this scale, from market to luxury, is key to the consumer feedback loop needed to retain users.

There are many KPIs to track with an ecommerce app, including cart abandonment and add-to-cart rate. A high add-to-cart rate can indicate good item selection and easy cart access, while a high cart abandonment rate can indicate checkout flow issues and other distractions. Other metrics, such as retention and conversion, remain important, as they are across all application industries.

We collected data and statistics on e-commerce app benchmarks. Read below to find out more.

Key Ecommerce App Stats

• The e-commerce app retention rate was 4.2% in 2023, steadily declining over the past three years.
• Ecommerce apps have high conversion rates during the winter holiday season, and customers in the Americas convert at a higher rate.
• More than three-quarters of shopping carts on e-commerce apps are abandoned, with the highest rates among luxury goods and jewelry sellers.
• Less than 8% of users add an item to a cart. In summer, this rate drops to 6%
• Mobile is the preferred way to access e-commerce apps, with over 70% of users opting for mobile.

Ecommerce App Retention Rates

Like almost all app industries, e-commerce apps have seen their retention rate decline over the past three years, falling to 4.2% in 2023.

Ecommerce App Retention Rate from 2020 to 2023 (%)

Ecommerce App Conversion Rates

Ecommerce app conversion rates peak in November, before dropping back down in February for most of the summer. The climb begins again in October.

Ecommerce app conversion rate (%)

Ecommerce App Conversion Rates by Category

Food & Beverage has the highest conversion rate in all categories listed in Dynamic Field by Mastercard eCommerce KPI Benchmarks.

Ecommerce app conversion rate by category (%)

Ecommerce app conversion rates by region

The Americas generally has a higher conversion rate than other regions, although it sees a sharp drop after the Christmas holidays.

Ecommerce app conversion rate by region (%)

Ecommerce app conversion rates by device

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

Ecommerce app conversion rate by device (%)

Ecommerce App Cart Abandonment Rate

Three quarters of virtual shopping carts are abandoned regardless of the time of year. Summer sees slightly higher dropout rates. Expensive purchases, such as luxury goods, jewelry, home, and furniture, experience the highest abandonment rates, while pets and veterinarians have the lowest abandonment rates.

E-commerce app cart abandonment rate (%)

Ecommerce App Cart Abandonment Rate by Category (%)

E-commerce app add-to-cart pricing

Similar to conversion, the percentage of total users who add an item to cart increases in November, before decreasing in the spring and further in the summer.

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

Average order value of an e-commerce app

Conversely, as conversion and add-to-cart rates increase, the average value of each purchase decreases.

Average e-commerce app order value ($)

Usage of e-commerce apps by device

Mobile dominates uses, representing around three-quarters of all uses in 2024.

E-commerce usage by device type (%)

Total hours spent in the e-commerce application

The total number of hours spent on e-commerce apps has nearly doubled over the past five years, with a sharp increase during the coronavirus pandemic.

Total hours spent on e-commerce applications, 2019 to 2023 (in billions)