Black Friday Will Be the Biggest Mobile Shopping Day in the U.S.

Eyeing an expensive pair of headphones? Looking to buy a new camera lens for your growing photography business? You may want to download a few apps to watch prices and wait until Black Friday to get an amazing deal. Alibaba held a Singles’ Day sale on November 11th and brought in a record $25 billion in sales. 90% of those sales were placed on a mobile phone. That number is so astounding you might think it’s fake at first glance.

Black Friday is Trending Towards Mobile

In a recent report by market expert App Annie, Americans are set to spend 45 million hours browsing shopping apps during Black Friday week this year. Mind you, this figure only refers to Android, not including iOS and other non-Android phones.

The trend for Black Friday started with in-store shopping, shifted to browsing products from home, and now leans towards shopping in mobile apps. Last year’s Black Friday was the first ever $1 billion mobile shopping day in the U.S. This year, total time spent in shopping apps on Android is expected to grow over 45% in the U.S.

The Retail Disruption Can Be Felt Worldwide

But it’s not just the U.S.—Japan and the U.K. are also expected to spend more time browsing shopping apps this year. Tokyo and London-based mobile app developers should look at retailers who could use mobile strategy optimization for extra business this holiday season.

AliExpress will most likely take a big chunk of mobile money during the 2017 Black Friday; its download rate increased in the weeks leading up to the Singles’ Day sales.

It’s important that traditional brick-and-mortar retailers work on a mobile strategy to attract more customers. The mobile strategy should seamlessly complement their physical stores, driving app engagement and in-store browsing to create a unique brand experience.

Making Mobile Shopping Sophisticated

As we head into 2020 and 2025, we’ll see more shopping apps integrate AI into their apps, which will continue to improve user experience from acquisition to order confirmation. With major tech companies open-sourcing and shipping AI and machine learning tools with their newest products, mobile app developers are experiencing an AI renaissance that will last for at least the next 10-15 years. App-exclusive deals will retain users well beyond December.

The numbers above are undoubtedly impressive, but as mobile apps become more sophisticated, we have no doubt that Black Friday mobile shopping will continue to break records with each passing year. Happy shopping!