Shopping Apps Dominate 2014

Overall app usage grew by 76 percent in 2014 according to new data from Flurry Analytics.

The data, which looked at app usage throughout the year, found that shopping, utilities and productivity, and messaging apps all experienced triple-digit growth in 2014. That said, the shopping category saw the greatest growth.

According to Flurry's data, usage of shopping apps on iOS and Android devices increased by 174 percent year-over-year. On Android alone, however, the shopping category increased by 220 percent. To better understand the shopping category's growth, Flurry took a look at where and when these apps were being leveraged. 

"Based on a sample of Android devices in the US, we were able to plot engagement with Shopping apps by zip code," the Flurry blog states. "We estimated the zip code of 'Home' versus 'Away' by looking at the zip code where the most activity happened in the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. time frames. Activity outside of this zip code we labeled 'Away.'"

The analysis revealed that users tend to shop on their phones when they are away from the house during the day, with usage spiking during 9 a.m. and noon. Then, usage picks back up at home at 8 p.m. This spike in shopping app usage along with the usage patterns provide retailers with many opportunities going into 2015.