The Mobile Payment Apps Attention Problem

New Nielsen research suggests consumers max out at 26 or so apps a month – which means commerce and payments apps have to be amazingly compelling to pry eyeballs from games and other software. Other than hiring George Clooney or Kate Upton as apps spokespeople, what can the payments and commerce players do to capture the attention of an overstimulated audience?

Last week, Twitter paid a reported $100 million for a small startup that specializes in targeting consumers who download apps in an attempt to keep them coming back. The social media site’s acquisition of TapCommerce signifies the growing competition for app use as the number of apps continues to escalate, now topping 1 billion for Android and iOS devices.

Complicating matters for app developers is the apparent limit on how many apps consumers use. Nielsen recently issued a report suggesting that the average number of apps consumers used per month in the last three months of 2013 was 26.8, up only slightly from 26.5 a year earlier. Moreover, in Q4 2013, they spent 30 hours, 15 minutes using apps, a full half-day more than 18 hours, 18 minutes just three years earlier.

“This shows that while there may be an upper limit to the total number of apps users are willing to access within a given month, the amount of time they are spending on those apps is showing no signs of slowing down,” Nielsen said in its report.

Needle in a haystack?

A limit on consumers’ app use also could spell trouble for the developers of payment, retail and wallet apps. Searching the term “pay” on the App Annie website generated a list of 600 apps, while a search for “mobile shopping” turned up 70, “mobile payment” another 50, and “mobile wallet” 28. Moreover, some 26 apps turned up under a “mobile coupon” search.

Though specific in purpose and relatively small in number, such apps still compete time with likes of the Candy Crush and similar entertainment apps that tend to grab people’s attention more and for longer periods.

Indeed, the significance of return users is especially important for mobile retailers who sell goods and services through their apps. It is also is a priority particularly in an environment where smartphone owners download lots of apps, but only actually use a precious few. Today’s payment and commerce app market is an open frontier, but most apps today won’t last. Eventually market leaders will emerge and, as Nielsen’s survey finding suggest, a resulting few survivors should have a better chance at staying high up in consumers’ app use and interest.

App priorities

When looking at the types of apps that are competing for mobile users’ attention spans, social networking and search still rule, as people spent in Q4 2013 an average of nearly 11 hours per month accessing such apps. Entertainment viewing, including video, audio, and gaming apps, grew 71 percent among mobile users over the prior year, Nielsen said.

In terms of app categories by time per person, commerce and shopping apps ranked fifth, and the average time spent on such apps increased by 10 seconds during the last quarter of 2013 from a year earlier, to 1 hour 33 seconds.

“As mobile consumption habits evolve, it’s imperative that app developers continue to add functionality and robustness to their offerings,” Monica Bannan, Nielsen vice president of product leadership, said in the report. “Although there does appear to be a limit to the number of apps people are willing to access on a monthly basis, they’re spending 31 percent more time than they were last year, proving that it’s the content that counts.”

App developers have found themselves striving to compete for the top of app store app lists, with alternative funding companies such as PayPlant providing faster invoice payments to app developers so they can continue marketing their solutions to keep interest up.

“App developers have a problem – they need to get on the top of the list,” PayPlant co-CEO Ronjon Nag told PYMNTS.com in a recent podcast interview. “If you’re not on the top of the list, their app doesn’t get bought basically. … You have to market your app.”

Age differences

Smartphone app use not only varies by the number typically used, but also by how long consumers use them. And age is a factor. Smartphone owners ages 25 to 44 use the greatest number of apps on average per month at 29, but those ages 18 to 24 spend the most time on them, averaging 37 hours, 6 minutes, according to Nielsen.

Importantly, the time consumer spend on apps decreases with age, but apps still play a big role in the lives of all smartphone users, Nielsen said, noting even those consumers ages aged 55 and older spend more than 21 hours across an average of 22 different apps per month, according to Nielsen.