How Many Ecommerce Stores Have a Mobile App?

Mobile commerce is estimated to account for nearly 70% of all ecommerce sales worldwide (and fast approaching these numbers in the US too).

With more consumers shopping on their smartphones, mobile apps are becoming a bigger and bigger opportunity for ecommerce brands.

Apps offer deeper engagement, greater retention, and consistently deliver higher LTV on a user by user basis.

But how many ecommerce businesses are taking advantage of this? If you don’t have an app yet, are you behind the curve? Or is there still space to be an early mover?

Read on and find out.

MobiLoud helps you create the perfect, high-ROI ecommerce mobile app, by converting your existing website.
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Ecommerce Mobile App Adoption by Business Size

Only 0.66% of US ecommerce stores have a mobile app.

However, this number is heavily skewed by many small online stores, making little revenue (and thus too small or early-stage to think about mobile apps).

It’s better to look at how many ecommerce stores have mobile apps, by revenue tiers:

• Under $50K/month in revenue: less than 0.5% have an app
• $100K-$250K/month: around 3.5% have an app
• $1M-$5M/month: nearly 10% have an app
• $5M+/month: over 21% have a native app

Notably, among ecommerce stores with $100K+ in monthly revenue, 4.56% of stores have a mobile app.

App Adoption by Product Catalog Size

A strong factor in whether a store launches a mobile app is how many products they sell. The more SKUs (stock keeping units) a store has, the more likely they are to invest in an app.

Here’s what the data shows:

• Stores with fewer than 50 SKUs: Adoption is low, between 0.4% and 0.8%
• 50-249 SKUs: Slight uptick, ranging from 0.6% to 1.1%
• 250-999 SKUs: 1.5% have an app
• 1,000-4,999 SKUs: 2.1%
• 5,000-9,999 SKUs: 2.6%
• 10,000-24,999 SKUs: 3.1%
• 25,000-99,999 SKUs: 5.0%
• 100,000-249,999 SKUs: 4.7%
• 250,000+ SKUs: 4.3%

This shows a clear pattern: stores with larger product catalogs are more than 10 times more likely to have an app compared to stores with just a handful of SKUs.

App Adoption by Platform

Not all ecommerce platforms are equal when it comes to mobile apps. Some make it easier than others.

Here’s what the data shows:

• Shopify: Fewer than 0.5% have a native app
• WooCommerce: Around 1.2% of stores have an app
• Magento: Higher adoption at 2-4%, mostly among larger brands
• Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC): Over 6% of stores have an app, many of them custom-built
• Other platforms (Wix, Squarespace, BigCommerce, etc.): App adoption is generally under 1%, with Wix & Squarespace under 0.4%
• Custom ecommerce sites: slightly higher than average at 0.88% app adoption

If we only take stores with roughly 7 figures+ in revenue ($100K+ per month), we find that:

• 4.24% of Shopify stores have an app
• 4.38% of WooCommerce stores have an app
• 2.08% of Squarespace stores have an app
• 8.50% of custom-built ecommerce stores have an app

Takeaways:

Shopify and WooCommerce are the largest, most general-purpose ecommerce platforms, so it makes sense that the average app adoption for these merchants would be around the overall average.

Stores on platforms like Magento and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, or those with custom-built sites, typically have either bespoke shopping experiences, or are enterprise-focused brands, which make them more likely to have mobile apps.

On the other hand, platforms like Squarespace and Wix are typically more beginner-focused, so these are smaller-scale stores that are less likely to invest in mobile apps.

Vertical Trends: Which Categories Dominate Mobile Apps

Mobile apps make a lot more sense in some industries than others. That’s because apps work best when customers shop often, stay loyal, and want the convenience of being able to shop on-the-go.

Here’s how app distribution breaks down by several notable product categories:

• Apparel & Fashion: 13.20% of ecommerce apps fall in this category
• Food & Drink: 12%
• Beauty & Fitness: 9.55%
• Health: 6.92%
• Home & Garden: 6.86%
• Sports: 5.64%
• Consumer Electronics: 4.18%
• Autos & Vehicles: 3.33%
• Pets & Animals: 1.91%
• Travel: 1.82%
• Toys & Hobbies: 1.28%

Takeaway:

The most common type of store to have an app is one selling lifestyle products that people buy regularly or engage with often. 

• Fashion brands use apps to drop new collections and send push alerts for sales.
• Beauty brands use them for subscriptions, reorders, and content like tutorials.
• Food and drink apps support delivery, subscriptions, or loyalty programs.

On the flip side, brands selling big-ticket or one-time purchase items (like mattresses, appliances, or niche electronics) are less likely to build apps. Their customers don’t shop often enough to justify it.

Apps make more sense when there’s a need for fast reordering, strong branding, or community, which is why they’ve caught on in fashion and beauty first.

Data sourced from Store Leads

What’s Holding Brands Back from Launching Mobile Apps?

Only 0.66% of US ecommerce stores have an app. And even among stores doing roughly $1M in annual revenue, only 4.56% have an app.

Why is adoption so low?

Let’s look at a few reasons.

Perceived cost

Many assume apps still come with a massive price tag ($100K+, over months of development). 

As the wording suggests, this was true at one time. Now, however, it’s easy to go live with your own branded mobile app for around $1-2K, and just a few hundred dollars per month after that.

Technical complexity

Along with the cost, teams think they’ll need developers to maintain the app. They expect that the app will come along with a dedicated team to manage it, bringing both cost and operational overhead.

Again, that’s not true anymore. With a web to app service like MobiLoud, you can maintain a beautiful native app with zero development expertise or operational lift from your team.

“Our mobile site is good enough”

A lot of brands believe that, because they have a mobile website that looks good and works well, there’s no need for a mobile app.

Your mobile site is most important – but the app is not supposed to replace the website. It’s supposed to be a home for a brand’s most engaged, loyal fans, who want a more convenient way to make regular purchases.

Smart brands (as you’ll see from the stats – brands that do more revenue are more likely to have apps) recognize this, and offer a mobile app for their loyal, VIPs.

“No one will use the app”

Some are skeptical that customers will download and use the app.

It’s true that not all customers prefer to use an app. New visitors will land on the brand’s website. And some would rather keep using the website than downloading an app.

But brands that launch apps typically see ~10% of their customers jumping on the app – and these tend to be the most engaged, valuable customer segments.

Misconceptions about mobile apps

A lot of brands hold misconceptions about mobile apps. They cost too much. Too much work to manage. Mobile apps don’t work.

These concerns are real, but often based on old assumptions.

Modern solutions (like MobiLoud) eliminate these barriers. You don’t need to rebuild your site, hire developers, or maintain two platforms. Your website powers the app, everything stays in sync, and our team handles all the setup and launch.

You get the benefits for retention, engagement and LTV, without adding more work for your team.

Want to see what your website could look like as an app? Find out now with a free, interactive preview of your website as an app.

Forecast: What’s Next for Mobile Apps?

Mobile apps aren’t just for the biggest brands anymore. The landscape is shifting, and fast.

Here’s how the mobile commerce world is changing, and why it points to apps as a key area of focus for modern brands:

• Mobile commerce is taking over: the majority of ecommerce traffic comes on mobile. And this share is only going to keep growing.
• Acquisition costs are rising, brands are looking for lower-cost, higher-return channels – like mobile apps.
• Email deliverability is declining, SMS is effective but expensive, and brands need low-cost, high-visibility channels like mobile app push notifications to keep in contact with their customers.
• You no longer need to spend months and six figures building an app. Once more businesses realize this, we’ll see more trying an app.
• Customer expectations: Shoppers are used to the speed and ease of Amazon, Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop, and expect similar from all brands.

For now, mobile apps remain a competitive edge. But in the near future, they’ll become table stakes, especially for high-frequency brands serious about retention and customer lifetime value.

Conclusion: The Opportunity in the Gap

Fewer than 1% of ecommerce stores currently have a mobile app.

These numbers rise once you remove small-scale stores, with nearly 5% of US brands doing $100K or more in monthly revenue having their own mobile app (and a higher percentage for brands on Salesforce, Magento, and custom/headless builds).

But for brands ready to grow faster and retain more customers, this is still a major opportunity.

Native apps aren’t just about looking good in the App Store. They give you:

• A direct line to your best customers
• Low-cost, high-visibility communication with push notifications
• A faster, smoother shopping experience that boosts conversion
• A branded space that builds loyalty and keeps you top of mind

Today, launching a mobile app is faster, simpler, and more accessible than ever, with solutions like MobiLoud making it possible in just a few weeks.

Mobile apps aren’t a luxury anymore. They’re a great strategic play for just about any brand, and more accessible than ever, whether your brand is VC-funded or lean and bootstrapped.

Want to see what’s possible? Get a free preview of your mobile app now.