Appsflyer shares insights for Ramadhan marketing for 2019

- Shopping apps revenue growth changes considerably before, within and after Ramadhan

- Travel apps lead in revenue growth trends

- App purchases peak in the early hours of the morning and during lunch time

AppsFlyer, the mobile attribution and marketing analytics provider, has released its first-ever app market insights report around the month of Ramadhan.

Source: Appsflyer report cover.

According to AppsFlyer, mobile marketers must secure a better understanding of the context and activity for each time in the day, as well as periodic user behaviour unique to this period. This includes app usage habits, the frequency of social shares and aspirational festive purchases to plan when ad spends could potentially be most effective.

AppsFlyer's technology is found on 98% of the world's smartphones. The report analysed mobile app usage behaviour by consumers across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore between 2016 to 2018. The data covers a total of 220 million installs and 100 million purchases across apps in entertainment, finance, gaming, maps and navigation, shopping, social, travel, from the period before Ramadhan to two weeks after it ends.

Findings from the study include:

Indonesia leads in app install growth rates across verticals

While all three countries in the survey registered material increases in average installs per app in both 2017 and 2018, Indonesia generated an almost 20% year-over-year uplift in app installs for 2018. Besides the country’s strong economic growth in 2018, smartphone penetration has been steadily on the rise, growing from 24% in 2017 to 26% in 2018.

Shopping apps revenue growth changes considerably before, within and after Ramadhan

In 2017 and 2018, shopping apps saw growth in pre-Ramadhan week revenue, with growth rates of 76% and 55% respectively. We see sharp drops in this metric the week immediately following, displaying fluctuations from period start to end.

Travel apps lead in revenue growth trends

Travel apps register the most consistent Ramadhan period growth over the years. This vertical also displays the strongest revenue growth rate, together with social and messaging apps.

Shopping and casual gaming apps show the best retention rates

Advertisers from casual gaming and shopping apps hold the crown for highest non-organic user retention rates (3.6% and 3.8% respectively) during the Ramadhan period, with shopping apps also experiencing high retention rates for organic users (4.1%) at day 30. Ramadhan typically lasts 29 to 30 days, depending on when the new moon for the next month is sighted.

App purchases peak in the early hours of the morning and during lunch time

Shopping app purchases skyrocket during Ramadhan throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. This boost is particularly pronounced from midnight up until 5-6 am in the morning. The hours before the dawn prayer, in particular, see marked increases of up to 526% in shopping purchases in Indonesia. Also, this activity peaks at 45% higher than pre-Ramadhan periods in Indonesia in the lunchtime hours between 11am to 2pm.