Long-held traditions enter the mobile age — and with that, a new opportunity for app publishers. Using App Annie’s Store Stats, we showcase how Chinese New Year has become a significant opportunity for mobile app publishers, and how a few of the most impactful developments in the app economy have fundamentally changed this holiday in critical areas such as transportation and payment.
How Digital Is Becoming A Mobile First ExperienceYuan Wang
We present the latest 2016 mobile marketing statistics and insights, showing increasing consumer adoption and changing behaviour around how people use mobile. We explore various options for using mobile in your marketing such as advertising, apps and campaigns. We summarise the factors influencing how a mobile experience differs from others. We revisit the App vs responsive website debate and propose a new approach. We provide tips on managing your own mobile presence – dos and don’ts, as well as case studies of excellent brand mobile marketing – advertising vs app, larger budget vs smaller budget.
2010 Mobile Influencers: Trend Predictions in 140 Characters, By TrendsSpottingTaly Weiss
"2010 Mobile Predictions" is the sixth report from the series "2010 Influencers Series: Trend Predictions in 140 Characters".
TrendsSpotting Market Research is now running its third annual prediction reports following major trends in six categories. We will be featuring the predictions of digital and marketing experts on the big changes awaiting us in the coming year.
This year we are adopting a new “tweet style” format, easier for you to focus on, comprehend and forward.
In this deck we look at key industries being disrupted by mobile, including transportation and travel, online and offline commerce, and hardware and IoT.
How Digital Is Becoming A Mobile First ExperienceYuan Wang
We present the latest 2016 mobile marketing statistics and insights, showing increasing consumer adoption and changing behaviour around how people use mobile. We explore various options for using mobile in your marketing such as advertising, apps and campaigns. We summarise the factors influencing how a mobile experience differs from others. We revisit the App vs responsive website debate and propose a new approach. We provide tips on managing your own mobile presence – dos and don’ts, as well as case studies of excellent brand mobile marketing – advertising vs app, larger budget vs smaller budget.
2010 Mobile Influencers: Trend Predictions in 140 Characters, By TrendsSpottingTaly Weiss
"2010 Mobile Predictions" is the sixth report from the series "2010 Influencers Series: Trend Predictions in 140 Characters".
TrendsSpotting Market Research is now running its third annual prediction reports following major trends in six categories. We will be featuring the predictions of digital and marketing experts on the big changes awaiting us in the coming year.
This year we are adopting a new “tweet style” format, easier for you to focus on, comprehend and forward.
In this deck we look at key industries being disrupted by mobile, including transportation and travel, online and offline commerce, and hardware and IoT.
Discover the tech trends to watch in 2016 based on our experience: Mobile Commerce, Social payments, Deep linking and App Ecosystem, Push notification, Smart home and Home Entertainment, Deep learning, Cognitive Computing, Smart Virtual Personal Assistants, Algorithms, Ambient Proximity, Ambient Interfaces, Intelligent Cameras, Personality Analytics, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Vertical Collaborative Software, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality will change the way brands interact with their customers.
The 2016 CES Report: The Trend Behind the Trend360i
Hot off the press, we’re bringing you our annual CES recap report. Our team scoured the showroom floor, and explored the week's hottest topics in social media, to bring you the best of the 2016 International Consumer Electronics & Technology Show.
Are you a CMO looking to make an impact with your retail brand wherever your consumers are? Mobile is the solution for brand building, growth, and revenue. Learn how to unify brand awareness, engagement, and retention activities with a mobile campaign.
TrustUX: balancing personalisation and privacy to create understanding and tr...Ann Wuyts
Sources list: http://www.keek.be/2015/trustux-sources/ (Stats, Quotes, ..)
A talk about ux, trust and privacy - and how these are becoming increasing important in human-computer interaction. This connection we have with our smart-everythings, it is no longer merely about exchanging data back and forth. Our connection with computers now does revolve around values which we normally find in human-to-human relationships: understanding and trust.
We humans expect that these machines do the computing effort to understand us; smart personalisation.We also expect that we can trust these machines – and the companies behind them - to keep what they learn about us to themselves. We expect them to respect our privacy. Our security.
And as designers, we need to deliver great, personal experiences. We also need to deliver trustworthy products. We owe it to both our users and the people who hire us to actively think about privacy, and to implement privacy in the flows and designs we deliver.
The cycle of innovation and iteration that digital is known for means existing concepts can suddenly find radically new trajectories. In this report, we highlight ten ideas that have been gaining rapid traction, and which will reshape how we digitally interact with the world around us.
2018 will usher in an evolution of experience. We will see technology that empowers consumers, intelligent systems that will enhance our lives and the definition of reality and the
blending of physical and digital will begin to converge and redefine our world. Our new trend framework focuses on the core behaviors driving technology adoption and engagement. As a data-driven growth engine for clients, our goal is to look at every new technology and trend through a behavioral lens to understand why consumers gravitate to specific technologies and how those technologies establish and amplify new behaviors.
Our new trend framework focuses on the following three core areas:
Empower - Trends that allow consumers to own, create, and democratize experiences.
Enhance - Trends that enhance daily life activities and responsibilities through intelligent
systems and proxies.
Environment - Trends that lead to the frictionless connection between physical and digital experiences, reshaping our environment.
These three behavioral drivers align to provide consumers overall EXPERIENCE.
KPCB 2015 Internet Trends Report - Simplified & Designed.Stinson
Mary Meeker's Internet Trends Report from KPCB is one of the most insightful and thorough reports for information on digital trends...but at 196 slides, it may have been a little tough to get through. Check out our our version of Mary Meeker's report - simplified & designed.
Why Mobile Social Media Matters - Statistics, Trends, TechnologiesDavid Berkowitz
This is a primer on mobile social media, including statistics, how people are using it, why people use it, and the future of mobile social media. While specific technologies and stats will change with any given month, the trends should prove to be more enduring.
Your feedback is welcome, whether via email (dberkowitz@360i.com), Twitter (@dberkowitz & @360i), or however else you choose.
App day 2014 - App drivers, The changing shape of advertising within the app...Fjord
Daniel Freeman, Service Design Director at Fjord Stockholm, presented at App Day 2014 in Copenhagen in January, on how the shape of advertising is changing within the app world.
My slides from SAScon 2013 on the topic of "Maximising your online reputation" with some tips around how to gain and use insights into social conversations to manage brand reputation online.
THE BEST OF MOBILE MARKETING 2014.
The list of projects, campaigns and concepts from 2014. Only a little bit subjective. In random order. Definitely worth remembering. By Monika and Karolina from mobee dick. Enjoy!
8 Ways to Personalize Your App (in Under 30 Minutes)Localytics
Personalization is the future of mobile. If your app doesn't offer a personalized user experience, you're at high risk of user churn. Here we showcase actionable, real-life app examples on how you can make quick optimizations to improve your app's personalization, leading to stronger user engagement and retention.
Discover the tech trends to watch in 2016 based on our experience: Mobile Commerce, Social payments, Deep linking and App Ecosystem, Push notification, Smart home and Home Entertainment, Deep learning, Cognitive Computing, Smart Virtual Personal Assistants, Algorithms, Ambient Proximity, Ambient Interfaces, Intelligent Cameras, Personality Analytics, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Vertical Collaborative Software, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality will change the way brands interact with their customers.
The 2016 CES Report: The Trend Behind the Trend360i
Hot off the press, we’re bringing you our annual CES recap report. Our team scoured the showroom floor, and explored the week's hottest topics in social media, to bring you the best of the 2016 International Consumer Electronics & Technology Show.
Are you a CMO looking to make an impact with your retail brand wherever your consumers are? Mobile is the solution for brand building, growth, and revenue. Learn how to unify brand awareness, engagement, and retention activities with a mobile campaign.
TrustUX: balancing personalisation and privacy to create understanding and tr...Ann Wuyts
Sources list: http://www.keek.be/2015/trustux-sources/ (Stats, Quotes, ..)
A talk about ux, trust and privacy - and how these are becoming increasing important in human-computer interaction. This connection we have with our smart-everythings, it is no longer merely about exchanging data back and forth. Our connection with computers now does revolve around values which we normally find in human-to-human relationships: understanding and trust.
We humans expect that these machines do the computing effort to understand us; smart personalisation.We also expect that we can trust these machines – and the companies behind them - to keep what they learn about us to themselves. We expect them to respect our privacy. Our security.
And as designers, we need to deliver great, personal experiences. We also need to deliver trustworthy products. We owe it to both our users and the people who hire us to actively think about privacy, and to implement privacy in the flows and designs we deliver.
The cycle of innovation and iteration that digital is known for means existing concepts can suddenly find radically new trajectories. In this report, we highlight ten ideas that have been gaining rapid traction, and which will reshape how we digitally interact with the world around us.
2018 will usher in an evolution of experience. We will see technology that empowers consumers, intelligent systems that will enhance our lives and the definition of reality and the
blending of physical and digital will begin to converge and redefine our world. Our new trend framework focuses on the core behaviors driving technology adoption and engagement. As a data-driven growth engine for clients, our goal is to look at every new technology and trend through a behavioral lens to understand why consumers gravitate to specific technologies and how those technologies establish and amplify new behaviors.
Our new trend framework focuses on the following three core areas:
Empower - Trends that allow consumers to own, create, and democratize experiences.
Enhance - Trends that enhance daily life activities and responsibilities through intelligent
systems and proxies.
Environment - Trends that lead to the frictionless connection between physical and digital experiences, reshaping our environment.
These three behavioral drivers align to provide consumers overall EXPERIENCE.
KPCB 2015 Internet Trends Report - Simplified & Designed.Stinson
Mary Meeker's Internet Trends Report from KPCB is one of the most insightful and thorough reports for information on digital trends...but at 196 slides, it may have been a little tough to get through. Check out our our version of Mary Meeker's report - simplified & designed.
Why Mobile Social Media Matters - Statistics, Trends, TechnologiesDavid Berkowitz
This is a primer on mobile social media, including statistics, how people are using it, why people use it, and the future of mobile social media. While specific technologies and stats will change with any given month, the trends should prove to be more enduring.
Your feedback is welcome, whether via email (dberkowitz@360i.com), Twitter (@dberkowitz & @360i), or however else you choose.
App day 2014 - App drivers, The changing shape of advertising within the app...Fjord
Daniel Freeman, Service Design Director at Fjord Stockholm, presented at App Day 2014 in Copenhagen in January, on how the shape of advertising is changing within the app world.
My slides from SAScon 2013 on the topic of "Maximising your online reputation" with some tips around how to gain and use insights into social conversations to manage brand reputation online.
THE BEST OF MOBILE MARKETING 2014.
The list of projects, campaigns and concepts from 2014. Only a little bit subjective. In random order. Definitely worth remembering. By Monika and Karolina from mobee dick. Enjoy!
8 Ways to Personalize Your App (in Under 30 Minutes)Localytics
Personalization is the future of mobile. If your app doesn't offer a personalized user experience, you're at high risk of user churn. Here we showcase actionable, real-life app examples on how you can make quick optimizations to improve your app's personalization, leading to stronger user engagement and retention.
Catch the highlights from MWC16 in this quick recap. Learn about everything that happened at Mobile World Congress, including new virtual reality devices, the latest developments in IoT, and much, much more.
M Dot Extinction: The Next Evolution of Mobile WebMobify
The technology world is facing an extinction – m.dot sites are slowly but surely dying out, and for good reason.
A survey of the Internet Retailer 500 found that m.dot sites for ecommerce dropped from 79% in 2013 to 59% in 2014, and the trend continues. While numbers still need to be confirmed for this past year, m.dot sites were expected to lose 50% share in 2015.
Unlike the dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago, for which the reasons are still widely debated, m.dots are an outdated technology and the reasons for their demise are clear. While m.dots were a huge improvement to serving the desktop site to mobile shoppers, they have failed to evolve with customers’ rising expectations and advancements in technology.
Download our M.dot Extinction Storybook to learn the 5 reasons that m.dot sites are disappearing.
Our report, The Next Horizon of Emerging App Markets, investigates questions about market growth within regions, what causing certain countries to grow, and which categories have the most untapped opportunities. If you’re looking to expand into new, high-growth markets or invest in the world’s next powerhouse app economies, this report is a must-read.
Go Beyond Opens & Clicks: Using Data to Optimize Your Client's CampaignsLitmus
"It's ok, we have good open and click rates." How many times have you heard that from a client or colleague? A campaign's success is often based on a handful of metrics, but these rarely give a well-rounded portrait of true customer engagement.
Are open rates declining on mobile? Have desktop and webmail opens increased? How long do subscribers actually spend reading each message?
In this actionable webinar, we dive into the other (often more) important metrics your team should be using to develop your clients' emails.
With smartphone and tablet ownership on the rise, device obsession is growing and spreading across generations, keeping consumers always-connected in new and unique ways. The 2015 US edition of the Deloitte global mobile consumer survey uncovers consumer preferences on a variety of topics from mobile device usage trends to the Internet of Things to security and privacy.
Download our 2015 US edition of the Deloitte global mobile consumer survey here: http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/global-mobile-consumer-survey-us-edition.html?id=us:2sm:3ss:gmcs:awa:tmt
This presentation by Kyle Sherman, LinkedIn iOS Developer for the SlideShare iOS app, goes over fixing issues with jittery scroll performance in iOS applications. The presentation goes over the basics of using Instruments to measure and fix problems, tips for using Instruments, and a concrete example from the new LinkedIn iOS flagship application.
UX, ethnography and possibilities: for Libraries, Museums and ArchivesNed Potter
These slides are adapted from a talk I gave at the Welsh Government's Marketing Awards for the LAM sector, in 2017.
It offers a primer on UX - User Experience - and how ethnography and design might be used in the library, archive and museum worlds to better understand our users. All good marketing starts with audience insight.
The presentation covers the following:
1) An introduction to UX
2) Ethnography, with definitions and examples of 7 ethnographic techniques
3) User-centred design and Design Thinking
4) Examples of UX-led changes made at institutions in the UK and Scandinavia
5) Next Steps - if you'd like to try out UX at your own organisation
Campus Plus is the new venture from Good Rebels. It is a collaborative workspace that has been tested in Brighton and Barcelona. Now ready to launch around the globe.
2015 Ends With Exploding Hoverboards And Growing Ethical ConcernsQIMA
China again in the spotlight for product safety problems. Ethical violations remain a top concern as factory audit scores show no improvement. Vietnam predicted to have explosive export growth in 2016. The environmental situation in China remains grave.
Infographics convey complex information in a simple format. We see that supply chains are getting increasingly complex and want to help you understand the results of our research quickly. We have created a series of infographics to help you better utilize the insights in our research to improve the performance of your supply chain. Click through the presentation below to review all our infographics and reach out to us if you have any questions on how to apply the results.
Hugh Mason gave this keynote presentation at the Media Exploits 2015, SE Asia's largest Infocomm Media Technology commercialisation showcase and networking event, held in Singapore. Seismic macro-level trends are disrupting the healthcare industry, opening up new opportunities for innovation. Lean Startup is one of a range of tools and approaches that help to provide a patient-centred approach to making sense and making money in the new landscape.
Over the past few years, Wearable Tech has really evolved from novelty accessories and items that only do one niche job, to products that have the potential to be integrated into our daily lives.
Looking forward to 2016 and latest trends, the presentation highlights the potential of Wearable devices for marketing technology users - including what we can do to encourage better use of them. Focusing on the Apple Watch amongst other wearable tech, the main points to pull out are;
- The ability to deliver targeted ads to customers based on context and real-time location appears stronger than ever thanks to wearable tech.
- Marketers looking to leverage this channel need to capture customer attention at the right time with the right message, in the right format.
-Don’t be intrusive
The customer journey could essentially be divided into 7 elements. We’ll touch upon the issue of ‘Privacy’ and how one balance social and commercial value. Practical examples of
customer analytics at its best will be discussed as well as the importance of the eco-system.
For a few years now, mobile apps are at the forefront of creativity. Mobile apps are assisting companies in remaining important and competitive in the face of rising markets, emerging modern technology, and changing consumer conduct. Millions of people around the world profit from some of the most common apps.
As per the mobile app development stat, eMarketer estimates that American adults will on average spend more than 4 hours with mobile Internet, with 88% of that time within apps.
In this blog I have highlighted the most successful and top installed apps that encourage businesses to continually evolve and expand to help you create an out-of-competition mobile app.
Read more....
Overview of the mobile commerce market across the US and China, including its relationship to social, mobile payments and offline retail plus the key trends to watch.
An Advertiser’s Overview of China’s Digital Marketing & E-commerce Landscape:...GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group)
China has become the world's largest e-commerce marketplace and will soon be home to more ad spending than any other country. With e-commerce representing about 20% of all retail sales in China it's to be expected that this market segment will draw significant attention by government regulators. How do global brands and their advertising agency partners navigate this complex and ever-changing landscape? What patterns have begun to emerge that will help increase the effectiveness of their advertising? How, when and where do we engage this large and growing base of online consumers? Answering these questions correctly will be the difference between gaining market share or seeing diminishing ROI performance. This survey, while far from exhaustive, brings together research from a large number of sources in an effort to educate, challenge and stimulate. A special THANK YOU to companies like We Are Social, McKinsey, Bain, CIC and the many others from whom this data was obtained. China's digital and e-commerce landscape is still being defined and it's not a market to enter unprepared. It is big, complex, changing and unique. But it can be won with the right combination of talent, resources and strategy. Good luck to all who would enter!
An overview of the mobile wallets in China, we have gathered relevant research to assess the current state and future potential of mobile wallets in China that marketers should know-including the prominent wallet types, usage trends, key challenges and future prospects.
Curated from MSLGROUP Slideshare page
Did you know that mobile messenger apps such as WhatsApp & LINE are projected to account for 75 percent of all mobile messaging traffic, ahead of SMS or mobile email in 2018? 'The Rise of Asia's Mobile Messengers' our report with Jana mobile offers insight on how to engage with the New Connected Consumer - who are accessing internet via mobile & account for over 40 per cent of the world's internet users.
Some of the key topics covered by this report
Why should CMOs care about mobile messengers?
What do you need to know about mobile messengers?
What does it mean for brands?
Key Takeaways and;
The Future of Mobile Messengers
To learn more about how your brand can stay relevant with the evolving connected consumer, connect with us @msl_group
Mobile Wallets In China: What You Need To Know Mark Opao
Sooner or later, mobile wallets will become a norm rather than a trend in the way we do payments in China, online or offline. In this report we have gathered relevant research to assess the current state and future potential of mobile wallets in China that marketers should know- including the prominent wallet types, usage trends, key challenges and future prospects.
• Special contributions by the biggest players in the market including Tencent, Baidu, Toutiao (Bytendence), NetEase Ads, 360 Total Security, Xiaomi & MOMO – all of which offered their best practices for success.
• Comprehensive China specific data – mostly from Chinese sources you won’t find through a standard Google search
• Tips for success by several non-Chinese advertisers who entered China and share their insights
• Actionable one-pagers summarizing the top media players’ offering, in English
With more than 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is undeniably the most popular social network in the world. But how much do you know about the other platforms making their way to the top?
Disrupting the world's social landscape, these companies are rivaling the top players with new features, often uniquely tending to the needs of niche markets.
Top 5 ongoing digital consumers trends of 2018Sphinx Solution
The use of digital media supported by new technology is growing at a drastic pace. Marketers are working hard to get the best output from their strategy. Consumers all around the world have embraced the use of all-in-one applications development.
Mobile trends to transform your business in 2015Self-employed
To download the eBook, head on over to www.mobext.ph/ebook-download2015
In the eBook you'll find:
- The five crucial developments in the mobile space that your business must keep in mind to stay ahead
- Creative ways that other companies have leveraged mobile to reach both their business targets and their customers
- Tips to help boost your business’ mobile efforts
Did you know that mobile messenger apps such as WhatsApp & LINE are projected to account for 75 percent of all mobile messaging traffic, ahead of SMS or mobile email in 2018? 'The Rise of Asia's Mobile Messengers' our report with Jana mobile offers insight on how to engage with the New Connected Consumer - who are accessing internet via mobile & account for over 40 per cent of the world's internet users.
Some of the key topics covered by this report
Why should CMOs care about mobile messengers?
What do you need to know about mobile messengers?
What does it mean for brands?
Key Takeaways and;
The Future of Mobile Messengers
To learn more about how your brand can stay relevant with the evolving connected consumer, connect with us @msl_group
Какие из стран лидируют по показателям использования приложений?App Annie
Сколько мобильных приложений регулярно используют владельцы смартфонов и сколько времени они проводят со своими устройствами в руках? В нашем последнем отчете мы изучаем уровень вовлеченности среднестатистического пользователя смартфона.
Quels sont les pays qui utilisent le plus les apps ?App Annie
Combien d’apps sont utilisées régulièrement et combien de temps passent les utilisateurs sur leurs téléphones ? Consultez notre dernière étude pour connaître le taux d’engagement moyen des utilisateurs de smartphone.
Como indicamos en nuestra retrospectiva de 2016, el
tiempo que dedican los usuarios a las apps crece sin parar
y asciende ya a casi un billón de horas en 2016. Si los
primeros meses de 2017 sirven de indicativo, esa
tendencia continúa.
El aumento del tiempo total se debe, en gran medida, a un
incremento de usuarios explosivo en todo el mundo. No
obstante, los indicadores por usuario, como la cantidad de
apps que usa cada uno y el promedio de tiempo por
usuario, son cruciales para conocer lo que se esconde tras
el total de horas.
중국에서 설날은 오랜 전통을 갖고서 오늘날까지 여전히 기념하는 풍습입니다. 그러나 아무리 오랜 전통이라 할지라도 기술의 영향을 비켜갈 수는 없습니다. 최근 중국에서는 설날을 기념하는 많은 방식이 모바일 앱으로 인해 급격하게 변하고 있다는 점이 분명하게 나타납니다. 얼마 전까지만 해도 설날 전날이면 온 가족이 모여 TV를 시청하며 만찬을 즐겼습니다. 하지만 지금은 부모님 세대조차 스마트폰을 들여다보고 있는 경우가 늘었습니다(물론 여러분들 역시 마찬가지겠죠).
Portfolio Strategies in the Mobile Gaming IndustryApp Annie
If you deal with mobile games, finding the next Clash of Clans (ideally before it becomes Clash of Clans) is a top priority. But without knowing how each mobile gaming company’s app lineup impacts their bottom lines, it can be a big challenge finding that next massive hit.
App Annie is excited to announce its latest report, Portfolio Strategies in the Mobile Gaming Industry, which analyzes over 60 companies’ strategies towards building their app portfolios, including each strategy’s pros and cons. This information is critical for investors and executives looking for the next key investment or partnership. Learn more about our latest report below.
App Annie Index for Music- September 2014App Annie
We’re excited to offer the first-ever App Annie Index for Music.
In this Index, we provide a comprehensive view of the Music app category, which App Annie has defined across both the iOS App Store and Google Play. You’ll find out which players are leading the category in the United States and how mobile apps are shaping the industry.
Mobile App Stores Economy - Casual Connect 2012App Annie
First presented at Casual Connect 2012 Seattle
25 July 2012
by Bertrand Schmitt, CEO, App Annie
Utilizing App Annie Intelligence, an advanced market data product, we take the audience through the macroeconomic trends in today's app stores to explore the important themes of distribution and monetization for international mobile apps.
Casual Connect attendees will learn about:
- top countries by revenue, ARPU and downloads
- fastest growing apps in the USA, Asia and Europe
- top/fastest-growing gaming and non-gaming categories
- top countries/categories
- % of the US revenue and downloads by made by the US publishers
2. Summary
The Chinese New Year festival is an ancient one where long-practiced traditions and customs are still seen today. However, even
ages-old traditions are not immune to the influence of technology. In recent years, it’s become clear that many elements of the
Chinese New Year experience are being radically transformed by mobile apps. It was not too long ago when Chinese New Year’s Eve
meant getting the family together by the dinner table to watch television. Now you are more likely to catch your parents staring at
their smartphones.
Using App Annie’s Store Stats, we showcase how Chinese New Year has become a significant opportunity for mobile app publishers,
and how a few of the most impactful developments in the app economy have fundamentally changed this holiday in critical areas
such as transportation and payment.
3. The Battle for a
Ticket Home
The Chinese New Year period sees roughly
400 million people hitting the road. Thankfully,
the emergence of mobile apps has made
planned and on-demand transportation more
convenient than ever.
4. Spike on December
1, 2015
Spike on December 1,
2015
China’s Ministry of Transportation predicted that an average traveler would make a 410-kilometer, or 255-mile journey to get home this year. The railway
system, which was expected to transport 332 million people during the holiday in 2016, remained the top choice for most travelers.
铁路 12306 (Tielu 12306), the train ticket purchasing app developed by China Railway Corporation, released the first batch of Chinese New Year tickets
60 days in advance. According to Store Stats, this resulted in a noticeable spike in iOS download rankings for a few travel apps (including 铁路 12306 and
铁友, all pictured below) at the beginning of December 2015, corresponding to the start of ticket sales.
The World’s Largest Human Migration is Now Being Aided by Mobile
5. 5
With transportation demand vastly outstripping supply, app developers in China came
up with mobile solutions to help travelers improve their odds of booking a ride home. A
few apps featured a “grab a seat (抢票)” function in various forms, which allowed for
automatic train ticket purchases.
For instance, 铁友 (Tieyou), the popular app specializing in train tickets owned by Ctrip,
offers a function (云抢票, or “grab a ticket in the cloud”) that instructed its own servers
to consistently make ticket purchase requests on behalf of its users, thereby greatly
increasing the user’s chance of obtaining a ticket. With other apps also incorporating
this feature, travelers can now rest easy instead of stressing about getting that priceless
ticket home.
It is also worth noting that even if the app fails to find a ticket, a refund is automatically
granted. These types of advancements in transportation app features greatly improve
the user experience and benefit the public. As a result, transportation apps will continue
to attract increasing numbers of travelers to adopt them for periods of heavy
congestion such as Chinese New Year.
Mobile Users Gain an Edge
6. WeChat and Alipay
Go Head to Head in
the Battle for Users
To understand how modern Chinese consumers
are incorporating apps into their family holidays,
look no further than WeChat’s highly successful
red packet scheme. Only this year, Alipay
doubles down on its quest to go social.
7. 420 Million People Sent Out and Received 8.08 Billion
WeChat Red Packets
The tradition of handing out “red packets,” or envelopes of cash to family and friends, has
successfully migrated to mobile as well. WeChat took full advantage of its WeChat Pay
feature by allowing users to deliver “red packets” to either one or a group of friends. Users
could even set up how many friends get to share one packet, with each friend being
assigned a random share of the total amount of money. Now that each packet has become
a test of both speed and luck, it is no wonder that smartphones grabbed all the attention
during Chinese New Year.
According to estimates, 420 million people sent out and received 8.08 billion WeChat Red
Packets in total on Chinese New Year’s Eve alone — a more than eight-fold increase from
last year — speaking volumes of WeChat’s domination in China. Its “red packet” feature
was a great promotional opportunity for WeChat Pay against its major competitor Alipay.
8. Alipay, a competitor of WeChat Pay in mobile payment, is also in the business of red
packets. However, Alibaba, the industry giant behind Alipay, decided to up the ante this
year by partnering up with the CCTV New Year’s Gala, which is widely considered the
most important live television program in China. According to official figures, the Gala
was watched by more than 1.03 billion people in 2016.
Once per hour during the five-hour gala, the audience was reminded by the hosts to try
their luck at collecting five different “fortune cards” using Alipay. Each person who
secures a complete collection of five cards is allowed to share a total cash award of RMB
215 million (USD $33 million) with more than 791,000 people.
The campaign was designed to encourage people to trade different cards with friends
using Alipay’s social features. It demonstrated Alipay’s ambition to dig deeper into the
social connections behind each individual user, which could one day help the app expand
into a full-fledged social platform.
Alipay Goes After WeChat in Its Quest to Go Social
9. 9
Alipay topped the iOS download ranking in China
until the day after Chinese New Year
Alipay’s massive on-air campaign helped the app to stay
in the top three in iOS downloads in China until days
after Chinese New Year. The app was able to establish
itself during the holiday, proving that it could compete
strongly with WeChat’s red packets scheme.
As competition in China’s mobile payment industry
intensifies, it will be interesting to see whether Alipay’s
users will pick up its much-advertised social features in
the months to come.
Alipay Looks to Expand From Mobile Payment
10. Conclusion
People have adopted mobile apps in almost every element of Chinese New Year, from the way they get around, to how they communicate with
each other. The holiday has also became a prominent battleground for high-profile app publishers such as Tencent and Alibaba.
WeChat again proved itself as a platform one simply cannot ignore, while Alipay is not satisfied with only dominating the mobile payment industry.
Both parties are zooming in on each other’s core functions, with Tencent highlighting WeChat Pay and Alibaba offering Alipay users incentives to
engage with more friends on its platform.
As China is on track to overtake the United States in mobile app revenue in 2016, it’s more important than ever for app publishers to understand
what Chinese New Year means for their business.
11. Notes
● Historical iOS daily ranking data for 铁路 12306, 铁友, and Alipay in China are retrieved through App Annie’s app tracker solution, Store Stats.
● Certain trademarks and/or images used in this report may belong to third parties and are the property of their respective owners. App Annie claims no rights to such
trademarks or images.
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