As mobile apps continue to develop at an astonishing pace of innovation, the South African market has emerged as a key focal point for global mobile app trends. And these trends are about not just content but how to meet users' growing demands for convenience, efficiency and privacy.
The rise of the mobile app market is no longer just a tech revolution but an important shift in user experience and business opportunities. With threat actors being as innovative and determined to succeed as legitimate platforms, the meteoric rise of mobile commerce (m-commerce) could drive growth while enriched user experiences and higher security will likely follow.
According to global data, consumers worldwide spent $167 billion directly on premium apps and in-app add-ons while brands poured $336 billion on in-app advertising. This signals that the app market has become a huge opportunity with $500 billion in internal revenue in 2022.
While the app market is no longer limited to gaming and business. In the State of Mobile 2023 report, three app categories accounted for 50% of all mobile time spent and all three were video and social apps. Of these, TikTok is now one of only two non-gaming apps to ever surpass $6 billion in historical consumer spend and has been downloaded over 3.5 billion times, double that of legacy YouTube!
However, in South Africa these trends become even more pronounced. With declining smartphone prices and increasing penetration, app adoption has skyrocketed in South Africa along with unprecedented connectivity between populations.
The mobile gaming industry is also growing rapidly in South Africa, creating huge commercial opportunities. The industry continues to push technological boundaries, delivering highly immersive entertainment experiences and chances for brands and marketers to engage gaming audiences. Through in-app advertising and purchases relevant to target consumers, marketers can reach desired audiences regardless of their sophistication.
The ubiquity of mobile services has increased productivity and efficiency for both consumers and brands. This means mobile must be core to brand business strategies to reach wider audiences, improve customer shopping experiences, and boost online conversion rates. Additionally, the rise of e-payments furthers the adoption of digital shopping for convenience to brands and consumers.
However, despite regulatory environments responding to privacy and security concerns through South Africa's POPIA and Europe's GDPR, users remain concerned about the privacy and security of their personal data, especially as identity theft, phishing, and other online crimes become more prevalent. This poses challenges for app teams who must take increasingly more steps to protect privacy and user data through authentication, encryption, and transparency around data collection and stewardship.
With so many apps, users can feel overwhelmed by choice, especially in markets like South Africa where data costs remain high. In this regard, SHAREit is an online and offline close-proximity file sharing platform to help users manage all their phone files more conveniently and seamlessly. In 2022, the app took innovative measures to optimize the mobile experience and boost productivity for users. Along with high-speed file sharing, it offers phone cleaner, phone booster, battery saver, and file manager features to aid performance during gaming on mobile smartphones.
According to Chanel Hardman, Country Manager of SHAREit: “As per Data.ai’s State of Mobile 2023 report, SHAREit has been ranked as the top app globally by downloads in 2022 in the Utilities and Productivity/File Managers subcategory types globally. This includes its ranking at number 4 globally in Non-Games categories by count and reach, number 7 across all categories on the In-App Purchases (IAP) Index, and number 8 on the global retention index among notable media sources. All these categories can drive substantial transactions, according to AppsFlyer data.”
“At SHAREit, we work with over 700 global advertisers to help them run campaigns, acquire users, and achieve seamless user monetization through our vast audience network. These measures directly respond to 2023 market trends, especially in shopping, food & grocery, and video streaming which are particularly pronounced in the South African market.”
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