The State of Play in 2025
The mobile advertising landscape for e-commerce apps has reached a critical inflection point. The strategies that defined the last decade of growth are no longer sufficient. At the same time, traditional user acquisition (UA) channels, dominated by the duopoly of Google and Apple and supplemented by Meta, are now characterized by hyper-competition and market saturation. This intense environment has led to a predictable and painful outcome for marketers: soaring Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and Cost Per Install (CPI) rates that erode profitability and make scalable growth an ever-more-elusive target.
Compounding this economic pressure is a seismic shift in the data ecosystem. Increasing privacy regulations, most notably Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework and Android’s ongoing privacy updates, have fundamentally degraded the signal fidelity that once powered precision targeting and reliable Return on Investment (ROI) measurement.
The Diversification Imperative
The search for these quality users is pushing acquisition costs to unsustainable levels, forcing a strategic re-evaluation of the entire marketing mix. Growth in 2025 and beyond will not come from optimizing the margins of a broken system. It will be captured by forward-thinking teams that experiment early, diversify their channel mix, and strategically move beyond the Google-Apple-Meta bubble. The imperative is clear: find new, scalable, and efficient avenues to connect with untapped audiences.
Mobile OEM Advertising as the Premier Alternative
This is where Mobile Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) advertising emerges as the only viable, scalable, and effective alternative to the mainstream platforms. The scale is immense. Through strategic partnerships, OEM channels through AVOW provide access to an ecosystem of 1.5 billion daily active users, covering an astonishing 86% of the global Android market. It represents a fundamental move away from advertising within other apps to advertising on the device itself, creating a more native, trusted, and high-impact connection with the user.
The AVOW Mandate
As the award-winning global specialist in mobile OEM advertising, AVOW’s mission is to unlock this vast potential for our partners and clients. We have pioneered this channel, building the direct relationships and proprietary technology necessary to navigate its complexities and harness its power. This playbook is not a theoretical whitepaper, but a hands-on, insightful guide built from our direct experience working with leading global apps and global names in the mobile marketing world. It is designed to provide e-commerce growth leaders with the actionable blueprint they need to drive sustainable user acquisition, enhance ROI, and build lasting brand visibility in a world where the old rules no longer apply.
Regional Spotlight: Southeast Asia
Winning in a Fragmented, Mobile-First Archipelago
SEA: The Mobile First Vanguard of Social Commerce
Value in 2022: $42 Billion
Projected value by 2027: $90 billion to $125 billion
Social commerce in Southeast Asia is on a sharp upward trajectory, and with nearly 90% smartphone penetration, the region is deeply mobile-native, and social platforms have become the backbone of online shopping.
TikTok Shop has been the standout success story, scaling from $4.4 billion in 2022 to $16 billion in 2023, with Southeast Asia accounting for 80% of its global social commerce sales. At the same time, Shopee and Lazada continue to dominate with live-stream formats and AI-powered personalization, while Facebook Live is critical in markets like Thailand. WhatsApp Business plays a central role for SMEs in Indonesia and Malaysia, with YouTube also emerging as a trusted shopping channel, particularly for higher-consideration categories such as electronics and skincare.
Consumers in the region are highly mobile-first, with many spending over five hours a day online and up to four hours on social media in the Philippines alone. Influencers are a core driver of behavior, with more than 80% of users basing purchases on their recommendations, and influencer marketing in the region was valued at $2.6 billion in 2024. Culturally, conversational commerce is deeply ingrained, with many buyers expecting to chat with sellers via WhatsApp or Instagram before making a purchase. Shoppers are also value-driven, with many citing price (69%), discounts (67%), and shipping costs (51%) as decisive factors. Payment preferences remain diverse, ranging from COD in Thailand and the Philippines to wallets like GoPay, GCash, and PromptPay in other markets.
Regional Spotlight: India
Capturing the Next Wave of Digital Consumers
India: Democratizing Social Commerce for the Next Billion
Value in 2024: $7.2 billion
Projected value by 2030: $13.8 billion
CAGR: 10.3%
India’s social commerce market is growing rapidly. More aggressive forecasts point to a massive $54.3 billion valuation by 2033, reflecting the scale of opportunity in a country with 700 million smartphone users and nearly 900 million social media users by the end of 2025. Crucially, much of this growth will come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where mobile devices are often the only gateway to the internet.
The platform landscape is distinctively shaped by India’s reseller ecosystem. Platforms like Meesho, GlowRoad, and Shop101 empower homemakers, students, and small entrepreneurs to sell through WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, often earning commissions in the process. Facebook leads with over 64 million social commerce buyers in 2024, while Instagram fuels D2C discovery and brand engagement. WhatsApp Business has emerged as the central hub for catalogue sharing, customer service, and transaction management. Newer players like Trell are also experimenting with video and live shopping formats, particularly in categories such as fashion and beauty.
Indian consumers remain deeply trust-driven. Around 71% of purchases are influenced by family and friend recommendations, and user-generated content is more persuasive than traditional ads. At the same time, consumers are highly price-sensitive, frequently comparing platforms to find the best deal. Micro-influencers play an outsized role, with 83% of users trusting them more than celebrities, particularly when they communicate in local languages. Vernacular content and regional culture are key differentiators in Tier 2 and 3 markets. Shopping behavior is also tied closely to festivals like Diwali and Holi, which consistently deliver peak sales periods.
Regional Spotlight: North America
Winning in a Hyper-Competitive, Omnichannel Arena
North America: A Mature Social Commerce Market Redefining Authenticity
Value in 2024: $123.4 billion
Projected value by 2030: $659 billion
CAGR: 29%
North America is the world’s most advanced social commerce market, as the numbers clearly show. The U.S. alone is expected to surpass $100 billion in social commerce by 2026, underscoring the deep integration of shopping into the region’s digital and social ecosystem. On average, consumers spend more than two hours a day on social media, creating a large, highly engaged base for commerce.
The platform mix is competitive and diverse. Instagram and Facebook remain the pillars, with Instagram leading in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle via Shops, Reels, and native checkout, while Facebook plays a complementary role through Marketplace and community-driven commerce. TikTok has emerged as a disruptive force, attracting nearly 70 million U.S. monthly shoppers, largely through creator-led discovery and viral trends. Pinterest holds strong for planned, high-intent purchases in categories like home and weddings. Meanwhile, YouTube is evolving into a shoppable review hub, Snapchat drives AR-led “try-on” experiences for Gen Z, and platforms like Twitch and Amazon Live are carving out niches in gaming, tech, and live shopping.
North American consumers are youth-driven and authenticity-focused, with 66.5% of social commerce buyers under 44. Millennials and Gen Z dominate, and they place more trust in creators than in brand-led advertising. However, this comes with a privacy and trust paradox: while 82% use social media to discover products, only 14% complete purchases directly in-app, with many preferring to check out on brand websites for trust and data control. Authenticity is paramount, with consumers favouring relatable content such as product demos, unboxings, and lifestyle integrations over polished ad campaigns.
Regional Spotlight: Latin America
Fastest-Growing Region Globally
Latin America: Trust-Driven, Mobile-First Social Commerce Growth
Value in 2024: $10.7 billion
Projected value by 2029: $31.2 billion
CAGR: 24%
Latin America is one of the fastest-growing social commerce markets globally, with a CAGR more than double that of India. More than 60% of all ecommerce transactions already take place on smartphones, and markets like Brazil and Mexico together account for nearly 60% of the region’s total volume. With growth rates above 30% annually, social commerce is becoming a defining force in the region’s digital economy.
The platform landscape is anchored by Meta’s ecosystem. WhatsApp is the backbone of conversational commerce, powering catalog sharing, negotiations, and order fulfillment. Instagram dominates live shopping, with 71% of live shoppers engaging through the platform, while Facebook continues to play a discovery role through groups and community commerce. Mercado Libre is evolving into a more interactive commerce platform, blending trust with transactional efficiency. Meanwhile, TikTok is rising quickly among younger demographics, experimenting with partnerships like Ticketmaster in Mexico, and regional super apps such as Rappi are expanding into commerce, payments, and delivery.
Consumers in LATAM are trust-centric and community-driven. Purchasing decisions often revolve around confianza, otherwise known as personal trust in sellers and peer recommendations. Influencer credibility is declining, with only 38% trusting paid influencers in 2024 compared to 58% in 2022, while 77% prefer peer reviews and UGC over promotional content. Collectivist cultural norms amplify the role of family, friends, and communities in shaping buying decisions. At the same time, shoppers are highly price-sensitive, with price accuracy and reliable product information ranking as top decision factors. Payments remain fragmented: Pix in Brazil accounts for nearly 30% of ecommerce volume, while OXXO cash vouchers are central in Mexico and Argentina.
Partner Insights with AppsFlyer
E-commerce Facts, Figures, and Trends
Here, we examine key data points and overarching trends in the e-commerce app marketing landscape, as outlined in the AppsFlyer report.
Regional Spotlight: The Middle East
Young, Affluent Digital Natives Fuel Growth
Middle East: Where Tradition Meets Hyper-Digital Adoption
Value in 2024: $8.3 billion
Projected Value by 2030: $19.6 billion
CAGR: 15%
With social penetration at 99% in the UAE and 82% in Saudi Arabia, and a young, mobile-native population where nearly one in three people are aged 15–29, the region offers a uniquely fertile environment for social-driven shopping.
Visual and conversational apps dominate the platform landscape. Instagram and Snapchat command massive youth engagement, with Snapchat alone reaching more than 20 million users in Saudi Arabia. WhatsApp plays a central role in conversational commerce, enabling negotiation, catalog browsing, and order management. Consumers also embrace cross-border platforms like Shein, which leverage localized influencer campaigns to gain trust. Live commerce, or “shopstreaming,” is emerging rapidly, with the Saudi market already valued at $453 million in 2021. However, regulatory oversight is intensifying, with countries such as the UAE and Kuwait now requiring influencers to hold licenses for all promotions, even unpaid ones.
Middle Eastern consumers are family- and community-oriented, with purchasing decisions often shaped by thiqah: the concept of trust and credibility within personal networks. Religion also plays a critical role, with Ramadan driving peak sales and online activity spiking after Iftar. The demand for Halal-certified products now extends beyond food to categories like cosmetics and lifestyle. At the same time, fraud and trust concerns remain barriers, with 42% of consumers reporting ecommerce fraud. While digital wallets and BNPL services are on the rise, cash on delivery still plays an important role due to cultural and trust factors.
Partner Insights with Adjust
The Shifting Economics of Growth
Adapted from Adjust’s e-commerce report, with further bespoke insights from their Solution Engineer Lead.
Global retail e-commerce sales are projected to hit $6.42 trillion in 2025, with mobile commerce alone generating $2.5 trillion. Yet growth is far from uniform. LATAM surged in H1 2025 (+18% installs, +27% sessions), while markets such as North America and Europe slowed under tariff and inflation pressure. These shifts underline the importance of agility: marketers who adapt their UA mix and campaign timing are best positioned to capture demand when it spikes.
What This Means for Marketers
- Diversify partnerships: The average app now works with 7 ad partners, with Indonesia reaching 15.6.
- Engage before Q4: Spikes in installs and sessions begin weeks before peak events. Frontloading campaigns secures users early.
- Prioritize high-LTV users: As session lengths shrink and churn rises, focus on retaining the most valuable customers.
Partner Insights with Alison.AI
Mastering the Creative
To provide a truly comprehensive playbook, we’ve collaborated with leaders across the mobile marketing ecosystem. In this section, we share exclusive insights from our creative analytics partner, Alison.ai, on how to develop and deploy high-performing creative assets that drive results in the competitive e-commerce landscape.
Authenticity, Pacing, and Performance: The 2025 Creative Blueprint
In a high-frequency environment like e-commerce, ad fatigue is a constant threat to campaign performance. The key to sustained success lies in understanding the early warning signs and iterating intelligently.
When these signals appear, a complete creative overhaul is not always the answer. The most effective approach is to identify and preserve the core high-performing elements of a winning ad, such as the product showcase, key message, or visual hook, while introducing subtle variations. This can include refreshing the intro, updating the CTA, testing new music, or adapting the format for different placements (e.g., Reels vs. Stories).
Top-Performing Creative Elements for 2025
Analysis of top-performing e-commerce campaigns reveals a clear shift towards authenticity and directness.
A Global-Local Approach: Tailoring Creatives for Regional Success
AI-driven creative analysis enables e-commerce brands to transcend generic global campaigns and implement data-driven localization at scale. By tagging and analyzing every component of a creative, from tone and CTA type to scene structure and visual cues, it’s possible to uncover what truly resonates in each market.
North America
Creatives with a direct-response, problem-solution structure, fast pacing, and an early value proposition consistently perform well.
India and Southeast Asia
During major shopping events, emotionally rich storytelling, family-focused scenes, and culturally relevant visuals (traditional attire, music, and colors) drive stronger engagement. Native-language captions are also highly effective in improving performance in many SEA markets.
This granular, data-driven understanding of cultural nuances allows brands to adapt global assets with precision, ensuring that creative messaging is not just translated, but is culturally resonant and optimized for local impact.
Scaling with Generative AI
The fragmentation of the Android ecosystem, with its diverse screen sizes, aspect ratios, and UI specifications, presents a significant creative challenge. AI-powered tools are essential for addressing this complexity with scale and precision. These tools offer predictive guidance on format compatibility, automate resizing while preserving key visuals, and provide virtual previews across thousands of device types to spot issues before launch.
Looking ahead to 2026, generative AI is set to become a standard and powerful scaling mechanism in e-commerce creative workflows. The future process will involve :
- Inputting a high-performing creative concept into a generative AI platform.
- Layering historical performance data to inform the generation process.
- Automatically generating hundreds of optimized ad variations across different formats, languages, audiences, and placements in minutes.
Crucially, this will operate within a closed feedback loop connected to creative analytics platforms, ensuring each iteration is driven by real performance data, not assumptions. This transformation will dramatically shorten turnaround times for high-volume creative needs, such as seasonal campaigns and regional launches, making performance-informed creative generation an essential tool for growth.
Recommendations, Not Interruptions: The OEM Creative Edge
The unique nature of Mobile OEM advertising requires a distinct creative approach. Formats like push notifications, native on-device banners, and app store features exist within a trusted device environment and are perceived by users as recommendations rather than traditional ads. This perception is a powerful advantage that must be reflected in the creative strategy.
Partner Insights with Remerge
Retargeting in the First Week
At Remerge, the first week after an install is the most decisive. “It’s not only about showing the right creative, it’s knowing how much that user is worth and bidding accordingly,” explains Kate Taganova, Senior Director of Sales EMEA at Remerge.
Segmentation Beyond Cart Abandoners
Cart abandoners are important, but they are only part of the picture. Remerge emphasizes that e-commerce apps unlock far greater value by retargeting other segments such as lapsed buyers, high-value browsers, and category viewers. Each group requires tailored messaging to maximize engagement and conversion.
Adapting to Major Sales Events
Big retail moments such as Black Friday, Singles’ Day, and Diwali create huge spikes in activity. Remerge recommends treating these events as full-funnel opportunities: warming users before, converting them during, and re-engaging them after the peak to maximize long-term value.
Retargeting in a Privacy-First World
With ATT on iOS and Android’s Privacy Sandbox, deterministic identifiers are fading. Remerge focuses on value-based bidding, probabilistic modeling, and first-party data to reach the right users at scale. Strong creatives remain critical to drive conversions in a signal-limited world.
Benefits of Mobile OEM Advertising for Shopping Apps
Reaching Shoppers Where Intent is Highest
Traditional platforms are crowded and expensive, especially around seasonal peaks. E-commerce app marketers need channels that deliver both scale and efficiency without sacrificing quality. Mobile OEM advertising provides exactly that: fraud-free supply, unique placements that drive lower acquisition costs, and optimization models tailored to purchase outcomes. With access to 86% of the global Android market and 1.5 billion daily active users, Mobile OEM advertising is one of the most scalable and effective ways to reach new shoppers.
Proven Advantages of Mobile OEM Advertising
Mobile OEM advertising gives shopping apps access to inventory that is both fraud-free and highly visible. With formats such as preloads, splash ads, and native banners, apps can reach users in trusted environments that keep them top of mind and reduce acquisition costs.
Turning Installs into Shoppers
For e-commerce, installs are just the beginning. The real challenge is converting new users into active buyers. Mobile OEM advertising supports this journey with flexible pricing models, advanced optimization, and formats built for retail engagement.
The AVOW Advantage
AVOW Intelligence, our proprietary platform, processes data from multiple OEMs and MMPs to provide actionable insights and real-time optimization. For shopping apps, this means campaigns optimized not only for installs, but also for the metrics that matter most: purchases, retention, and lifetime value.
E-commerce App Case Studies
From Benefits to Proof
The impact of Mobile OEM advertising is not theoretical. It is already reshaping how leading e-commerce apps acquire, convert, and retain users. The following case studies showcase this success in action.
Grow Your E-commerce App with AVOW
“Unbox” a New World of Shoppers with Mobile OEM Advertising
Ready to unlock new, loyal shoppers for your e-commerce app? Reach out to our A-Team and get your app to the front of the line, just in time for the year-end holiday shopping season. With mobile OEM advertising and AVOW, it is not a matter of if, but when.
Unbox a new world of shoppers with AVOW
Meet Our Partners
Click here to access AppsFlyer’s report “The State of eCommerce App Marketing – 2025 Edition”
Click here to access Adjust’s Shopping Apps Insights Report
Click here to learn more about Alison.ai
Click here to learn more about Remerge
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