According to Nielsen, the majority of U.S. consumers have smartphones. Of those who have smartphones, 47% of them reported using shopping apps. About 45M smartphone owners claimed they used apps in the Shopping/Commerce category during June 2012. Companies like eBay and Amazon have created top apps, drawing 13M and 12M unique users, respectively. Groupon and LivingSocial reported having 10M consumers using their apps during June 2012.
Don Kellogg, Director of Nielsen’sTelecom Insights, maintained that retailers like Target are using smartphone apps to enhance the customer experience. The most popular apps allow the customer to engage with the retailer while in the store. The top two apps are eBay Mobile and Amazon Mobile. Other popular apps include: Groupon, Shopkick, Living Social, Walgreens, Target, RedLaser, Out of Milk Shopping List, and SavingStar Grocery eCoupons.