Leading Web Development Brands in Q3 2023: A Sensor Tower Analysis

Introduction

In the competitive landscape of web development, brands such as Shopify Inc., Wix.com, Inc., and SquareSpace, Inc. have emerged as leaders in the United States. Leveraging data from Sensor Tower, we can gain valuable insights into their performance from Q2 to Q3 2023. This analysis covers monthly audience trends, app engagement, and advertising efforts across their platforms.

Shopify Inc.

Shopify is renowned for empowering entrepreneurs with its e-commerce solutions. It maintains a robust presence through its websites myshopify.com and shop.app, alongside the apps Shop: All your favorite brands and Shopify - Your Ecommerce Store.

• Audience Trends:

  • myshopify.com experienced a decline in visits from over 245M in April to just above 55M in September, with monthly unique visitors remaining steady around 10M.

  • shop.app demonstrated growth, peaking at over 80M monthly visits in August.

  • The monthly true audience across platforms hovered around 33M in Q3, with app-only visitors leading the count.

• App Engagement:

  • Shop: All your favorite brands maintained over 23M monthly active users, while Shopify - Your Ecommerce Store peaked at approximately 1.6M monthly active users in July.

• Ad Spend & Channels:

  • Shopify's monthly ad spend peaked in August, reaching over $13M, with significant impressions from OTT and YouTube channels.

Wix.com, Inc.

Wix is known for its intuitive website-building platform, offering users a seamless experience. Its online presence is anchored by its website wix.com and the app Wix - Website Builder.

• Audience Trends:

  • wix.com maintained a steady monthly true audience, averaging around 4M. Visits peaked at over 163M in April.

  • The web platform consistently outperformed the app in terms of audience size.

• App Engagement:

  • The Wix - Website Builder app had stable engagement, with monthly active users hovering around 880K by September.

• Ad Spend & Channels:

  • Wix's monthly ad spend reached over $11M in July, with YouTube being the dominant channel for impressions.

SquareSpace, Inc.

SquareSpace is acclaimed for its all-in-one platform that empowers users to build beautiful online presences. It is represented by its website squarespace.com and the app Squarespace: Run your business.

• Audience Trends:

  • squarespace.com had a stable visit pattern, with unique visits remaining around 500K monthly.

  • The monthly true audience was consistent, averaging slightly above 460K.

• App Engagement:

  • The Squarespace app saw minimal fluctuations, with monthly active users close to 27K throughout the quarter.

• Ad Spend & Channels:

  • SquareSpace's monthly ad efforts were notable in April with a spend of over $5.7M, focusing heavily on Instagram and OTT channels.

Conclusion

The web development category in Q3 2023 highlights the diverse strategies of Shopify, Wix, and SquareSpace. From audience engagement to advertising channels, each brand reflects unique strengths. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data offerings, including Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics, provide unparalleled insights into cross-platform user behavior, essential for understanding market dynamics. These insights empower decision-makers with the data-driven knowledge necessary to navigate and excel in competitive markets.