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Shopping apps, the third-largest segment of the app industry, have surged in popularity over the past five years, fuelled by the growing number of companies that embraced a mobile-centric approach. 

Today, these apps are the number one choice for millions of shoppers worldwide, helping their annual revenue and user base to skyrocket.  

According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, the annual revenue of the shopping apps market has skyrocketed by 136% in the past five years and hit over $33 billion.

Shopping Apps are Growing Faster than Social Media or Gaming Apps

Shopping apps have come a long way from what they used to be, providing users with a unique experience and bringing an extensive range of features, including daily or hourly deals, member rewards programs, buy-now-pay-later options, and curated shopping content. That is why the global interest in using them continues surging even four years after the lockdowns. 

The surging number of people choosing shopping apps instead of a brick-and-mortar store has helped ecommerce giants like Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Temu, and Shein to grow their revenue significantly. However, it also turned them into one of the fastest-growing segments of the app industry.

According to Statista Market Insights survey, the annual revenue in the shopping apps market has jumped by 136% in the past five years, rising from $14.1 billion in 2019 to $33.4 billion in 2024. 

The triple-digit revenue growth is even more remarkable when compared to other, much larger segments of the market. Although most global app revenue comes from social media and gaming apps, both sectors saw lower growth rates. 

Statistics show gaming app revenue increased by 87% in this period, while social media apps, including giants Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, were much closer to shopping apps, with a 131% five-year growth.

Music apps, the fourth-largest revenue stream in the market, saw a 76% revenue growth between 2019 and 2024, while the food and drink apps were the only ones outperforming the shopping apps market. 

According to Statista, the revenue of apps like Glovo, Deliveroo, Bolt, and Wolt food skyrocketed by an impressive 152% in this period, proving to be the fastest-growing segment of the app industry.

Annual Downloads Almost Tripled and Hit 1.4 Billion

With consumers worldwide enjoying the convenience of shopping online, the annual number of downloads also skyrocketed. According to Statista, shopping apps saw roughly 530 million downloads in 2019. Since then, this figure has practically tripled and hit close to 1.4 billion.

Statista expects shopping app downloads to increase by a further 20% and hit 1.67 billion by 2028. With downloads rising, the annual revenue in the global shopping app industry will jump by almost 40% and hit $46.5 billion in the next four years.