The digital age is here to stay, and mobile-obsessed shoppers have the world literally at their fingertips. Whether it's tablets or smartphones, apps can be used to count calories, refill prescriptions, research vacation destinations and much more. Although the use of mobile apps overall has increased 76 percent during the past year, shopping apps grew 174 percent — surpassing segments such as social media (103 percent), health and fitness (89 percent), sports (74 percent) and gaming (30 percent), according to Barrington, Ill.-based Willard Bishop’s June 2015 report titled “Competitive Edge: Delivering the Killer Shopper App.”
Growing exponentially, shopping apps provide convenience, productivity, price comparison and overall shopping enjoyment along with a basic set of capabilities and features, which typically include store information, weekly ads, shopping lists, recipes, coupons and prescriptions, the report notes.