Indians spent 8.7 billion hours on shopping apps in 2022: Report

E-commerce platforms continued to reap the benefits of the pandemic in 2022 too, with shoppers spending more and more time buying online vis-a-vis offline stores. Not only were India’s ecommerce apps among the most downloaded in the world last year, Indians were also among the most active and engaged online shoppers in 2022. 

Data.ai’s ‘State of Mobile 2023’ report indicates that Indians spent a whopping 8.7 billion hours on shopping apps last year, up 16 per cent from 7.5 billion hours in 2021. While the year-on-year growth was slower compared to 2020, in absolute numbers, India — along with Indonesia and LatAm markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina — emerged as the top ecommerce markets in the world in terms of time spent.

Cost-conscious shoppers drove this growth, according to data.ai (earlier App Annie). As a result, homegrown value-shopping platforms like Shopsy and Meesho were the most downloaded ecommerce apps globally in 2022. These were followed by Flipkart, Amazon, and Tata Neu (a new entrant in the space), data.ai revealed. Meanwhile, Flipkart was the biggest gainer during India’s festive season sales around Navratri. 

The report explained, “In 2020, the pandemic prompted rapid growth for mobile shopping, particularly from retailers who needed to maintain sales while consumers were avoiding in-person shopping. Retailer apps saw 43 percent YoY download growth in 2020. As in-person shopping returned in 2022 and high inflation squeezed shopper's pocketbooks, mobile apps became essential tools for cost-conscious consumers to save money. Downloads for coupons and rewards apps climbed 27 percent YoY.”

Overall, time spent on shopping apps climbed 9 percent globally to 110 billion hours, data.ai added.