2026 State of Mobile is Live!
Seema Shah · October 2024
Amazon Remains Market Leader, as Trends for Chinese E-tailers Slow
Amazon leads in US retail with a wide assortment, fulfillment options, and loyal Prime members. Despite competition from Chinese e-tailers, Sensor Tower data shows that Amazon maintains best-in-class retention and usage. Temu and Shein have surged in ad spend and market share but struggle with retention and advertising optimization, which could place pressure on top and bottom line growth.
Key Takeaways:
Since 2019, Amazon has been downloaded nearly 160mn times in the US, per Sensor Tower estimates, ahead of Shein at 144mn, but 24% fewer times than Temu, which only launched in Sep’22. However, after surging growth in 2023, downloads appear to have reached saturation in the US for the Chinese e-tailers, whose YTD 2024 downloads are down 27% YoY
Likely because of its Prime membership and promotional events, Amazon has the highest percentage of organic downloads amongst all the apps in the US retail cohort, at nearly 90% in 3Q24. On the other hand, Amazon’s competitors, including Chinese e-tailers, hardline retailers, and department stores, saw a significantly lower percentage of organic downloads at 58%, 67%, and 77%, respectively, in 3Q24
Dependence on paid downloads, coupled with a low percentage of retained users, suggests that these brands will likely need ongoing advertising and marketing spend to increase and even maintain usage and engagement. Chinese e-tailers' percentage of paid downloads at 19% in 3Q24 was significantly higher than the 6% average for the rest of the US retail cohort
For the US retail cohort, Facebook is the channel of choice, with 29% share of US ad spend in 3Q24, per ST data. Instagram and TikTok have been the share gainers, likely as retailers pivot to reach a younger audience, particularly an audience that makes purchase decisions based on influencer recommendations
Both Temu and Shein pulled back on their advertising spend, with share declining 3ppts and 6ppts YoY in 3Q24, respectively, potentially due to decreasing returns on investment of this spend, as engagement on their apps has faltered
For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.
