Multi-device, Multi-platform Mobile Apps

Sean McCullough, Senior Platform Engineer, GrouponNov 13, 2014

Leading the way in mobile commerce

Our mobile app is available in 43 countries.

Groupon’s vibrant mobile marketplace connectsconsumers with their local economy

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Nearly 100 million people worldwide have downloaded our mobile app at the end of Q2 2014.

One of the 25 most downloaded free apps of all time in the United States

Mobile accounts for more than half

of Groupon’s transactions worldwide

Sources: Internal Data; iTunes ranking for US stores available here - https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewFeature?id=500873243&mt=8&v0=www-itunes25Bcountdown-appstore

What is the Device/Platform Ecosystem?

3Source: http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/in-the-us-time-spent-with-mobile-apps-now-exceeds-the-desktop-web-41153/

Making actions simple

•Don’t remove features

•Simplify user experience

Don’t waste their time

•Move relevant content and interactions to top

Mobile Product Development

Optimizing for the device

•Less words •More photos and videos•Tactile

Mobile relevance

•Location•Time of day•Device

Mobile Product Development

Test A Test B

The Device Ecosystem

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Mobile Apps vs. Mobile Web

Source: http://www.exacttarget.com/sites/exacttarget/files/deliverables/etmc-2014mobilebehaviorreport.pdf

Benefits of Mobile Web

Mobile Web Mobile App

• More first time users

• Easier to integrate with email and marketing

• Easier to rollout new features

• Simpler Experimentation

• Largest possible audience (5x times more than a native app)

Benefits of Native Mobile Apps

• Greater engagement and conversions

• More “stickiness” and loyalty

• Richer experience

• Better speed and performance

• Sessions are 3x-4x longer

Source: Adobe Digital Index

Not all Native App Platforms are Equal

A word on the Android vs iOS differences…

Source: Adobe Digital Index

• Android apps are used 40% more oftenbut iOS apps still get 2x time spent per month

• Android users download more appsbut discard them after they open them once

Native App Engagement

In the travel industry, consumers spend:•20+ minutes per session on native•4-5 minutes on a web session

Source: Adobe Digital Index

The full page intercept

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And so we get this…

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Feature Parity is Difficult

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Centralized Data Source

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Building a Multi-Platform Website

Web apps and Native apps on mobile have different use cases

Not an “either – or” thing

Takeaways…

Native apps lack:

•Seamless experience to external referrals

•Interoperability with other applications

•Distribution freedom (app stores)

Takeaways…

While native apps are winning, there will always be a place for mobile web.

Depends on:

•Delivering open architecture

•Building performant sites

•Improving user experience of mobile web

Takeaways…

Users expect a seamless experience

no matter which platform/device.

Takeaways…

mccullough@groupon.com

@mcculloughsean

Groupon Engineering Bloghttps://engineering.groupon.com/