Shopping apps enjoy broad reach and strong engagement, particularly among the under-45s. Daily engagement with shopping apps outpaces actual purchase activity, underlining their role as a key channel for sustained consumer interaction beyond transactions. Young men illustrate the potential of shopping apps to connect with harder-to-reach demographics. For example, BPC retailers can leverage in-app gamification to increase young men’s interaction with products and the brand.
Apps are also central to supporting Germans’ hybrid shopping habits: 82% of shopping app users are interested in using apps while shopping in-store. Apps can help reduce offline pain points involving time and effort, while also providing greater transparency for shoppers in-store. However, the growing accessibility of external tools such as AI chatbots offers shoppers similar benefits, meaning retailers must pair convenience with rewards to retain consumers within their app ecosystem.
Financial perks and loyalty programs drive shopping app downloads, but delivering ongoing value beyond purchases is essential to stand out in a competitive market. Offering lifestyle-oriented content and socially interactive features helps retailers remain relevant, while in-app communities can foster deeper connections with younger consumers.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Usage of mobile shopping apps, including frequency, types of retailer categories and devices used
- Reasons to download mobile shopping apps, with financial perks and loyalty benefits being the main draw
- Use of mobile shopping apps in-store, including interest in using apps for convenience and enhanced information offline
- Interest in mobile shopping app features, with features standing out that solve pain points in online search and fitting
- Behaviours towards personalisation and sharing data
Mobile shopping apps are a daily habit for younger generations, but retailers can stand out in a crowded market with seamless features that bridge online convenience with offline experiences.
Lena Rittmann, Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Opportunities
- Outlook
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OPPORTUNITIES
- Leverage mobile apps as engagement drivers
- Hard-to-reach young men can be drawn in through apps
- Meet young consumers where they are – cater to their dynamic lifestyles with mobile apps
- Apps drive cross-channel loyalty
- Use apps to solve offline shopping challenges and boost cross-channel engagement
- Meet shoppers’ need for information without losing them to competitors
- Use shopping apps to create loyal communities
- Connect customers with shared interests
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CONSUMER
- Use of shopping apps
- Shopping by mobile app is widespread
- Under-35s use shopping apps most frequently
- Graph 1: frequency of using mobile shopping apps, by age, 2025
- Online marketplaces are most popular for app-based shopping
- Graph 2: retailer categories consumers use mobile shopping apps for, NET – any use, 2025
- Retail apps compete in a crowded digital landscape
- Graph 3: repertoire of retailer categories consumers use mobile shopping apps for, by age, 2025
- Marketplaces and groceries dominate regular app use for over-55s
- Graph 4: retailer categories consumers use mobile shopping apps for, NET, by age, 2025
- Engage older Germans with shopping apps through in-store value
- Mobile shopping apps hold particular value for busy families
- App functionality can engage men in underrepresented categories
- Graph 5: consumers using retailers’ mobile shopping apps weekly to daily, by gender and age, 2025
- Leverage apps to connect with tech-savvy men in grooming and beauty
- Devices used for mobile shopping apps
- Smartphones dominate mobile shopping, but don’t forget tablet optimisation for a more diverse target group
- Graph 6: devices consumers use most often for mobile shopping apps, by age, 2025
- Germans predominantly use Android devices for mobile shopping – except 16-24 year olds
- Graph 7: operating system of the device consumers use for mobile shopping apps most often, by age, 2025
- Reasons to download mobile shopping apps
- Financial perks drive shopping app downloads
- Graph 8: reasons for downloading a mobile shopping app, 2025
- Loyalty programs must go beyond purchase perks to drive downloads and long-term engagement
- How retailers explore loyalty programs
- Younger users download shopping apps for a wider range of reasons than older generations
- Graph 9: reasons for downloading a retail shopping app, by age, 2025
- Engage young consumers with apps that match their fast-paced lifestyles
- Seamless navigation is key: make accessibility a competitive advantage
- Drive app engagement among over-55s through in-store functionality
- Using mobile shopping apps in-store
- Mobile apps cater to consumers’ hybrid shopping habits
- Graph 10: interest in mobile shopping app activities when shopping in-store, 2025
- Young shoppers seek convenient checkouts – don’t risk falling behind
- Leverage apps to combine online convenience with the immediacy of in-store retail
- Cultivating online reviews is important for offline success
- Help shoppers get the information they need in-store
- Interest in mobile shopping app features
- German shoppers respond most to practical, navigation-focused features
- Graph 11: how likely consumers would be to use each of the following features in a retailer’s mobile shopping app, NET, 2025
- Tap into the growing importance of visual search for the social media generation
- Virtual fitting can resolve pain points
- Unlock shopping assistance through AI while also addressing pain points
- Community-driven apps boost engagement among young Germans
- Target young male shoppers with gamification
- Behaviours towards mobile shopping apps
- Transparency is key to creating personalised shopping experiences
- Graph 12: whether consumers would be happy to share their personal shopping behavior with a retailer for a better overall mobile shopping app experience, by generation, 2025
- Leverage customisable filters to make values visible
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INNOVATIONS
- REWE expands app with mobile payment method ‘REWE Pay’
- Amazon tests AI-powered ‘Buy for Me’ feature to shop directly from other brands
- Google pushes into AI-driven shopping with virtual try-on in the US
- OTTO introduces ‘shake for help’ to make app shopping more accessible
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Market drivers
- Online shopping habits
- Most Germans shop online several times a month
- Graph 13: top five products purchased online in the last 12 months, 2025
- Smartphone shopping habits
- Smartphone shopping is on the rise
- Graph 14: shopped online in the last three months, 2022-25
- Mobile payment methods drive mobile commerce convenience
- Social media expands into ecommerce
- TikTok Shop launches in Germany
- AI in the shopping journey
- AI is reshaping search and shopping
- Regulation
- DSA calls for increased competition in app stores
- Manipulative app designs remain a problem
- Accessibility law targets shopping apps
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APPENDIX
- Abbreviations
- Methodology – consumer research
- Consumer research methodology
- Germany’s generation groups
- A note on language
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