Asians spend the most on in-app purchases compared to any other region in the world. Pic: Wikimedia

Report shows Asians spend 40% more on in-app purchases than rest of the world

ASIA has been the world’s top marketplace for apps for years now, with in-app revenue generated from the region rising steadily since 2011. A report by global mobile marketing analytics company, AppsFlyer, found that Asian users spend 40 percent more on in-app purchases compared to the rest of the world.

The report, which includes details on the purchasing behavior of over 100 million mobile app users across 1,000 apps, predicts in-app revenue will rise from US$14 billion last year to US$37 billion by 2017.

Globally, the average user spends 50 cents per app with purchase activity, but Asian users surge ahead, spending an average of 70 cents, followed by North American users, who spend 61 cents.

According to the report, this type of expenditure indicates that Asian users are more likely to “trust and rely on their mobile savviness to spend money in-app”.

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Gaming apps are particularly important to Asian users, who spend 75 percent more on in-app gaming purchases, and have an 85 percent higher average purchase than the average global user.

On the other hand, Asian users are less likely to spend on shopping apps compared to North American users, who spend three times more than Asian shoppers on average.

AppsFlyer’s advice for marketers is to focus particularly on paying users, as these are the users that drive in-app spending.

Making these users a priority will enable marketers to make informed decisions on “user communication through owned or paid channels” to make sure these users stay with the app and keep spending.

The analytics company also advises marketers to look East, as Asian users are “mobile first and great spenders”, but warns them to know and understand the market before proceeding.