Easter arrived early this year but consumers were still eager to celebrate their favourite candy holiday with a huge hop in app sales.

When compared to 2015, app sales for majority of NN4M iOS and Android apps increased on average 94% over the entire Easter weekend, with revenue also increasing an astounding 107% and conversion 75%.  Interestingly, despite Easter being set to be the biggest high street trading event since Christmas bad weather kept shoppers away.  Store sales experienced a bit of a flop with a reported drop of 10.5% compared to last year.

So what do Easter’s 2016 retail sales mean for mobile commerce?

Well, they reinforce that when the temperature is colder and when it is raining consumers prefer to shop via online channels.  Retailers should embrace bad weather conditions to drive “footfall” to their mobile apps by sending relevant Push notifications that are bound to engage their audience and help mitigate the negative impact on store sales.

More importantly, Easter’s 2016 sales highlight the changing role of retail apps in consumers shopping journeys.  Up until now product and store search functionality have been the most commonly used features amongst retail apps; yet while there was a significant increase in sales and conversion across the majority of NN4M iOS and Android apps, the number of app sessions remained consistent with last year.  These figures suggest that more consumers are shifting away from using apps as merely a discovery tool and are becoming more receptive to purchasing via mobile.

This Easter’s app sales are another clear indication of the mobile-forward culture we live with today.  Smartphones help consumers to be connected from almost anywhere so it makes sense for them to turn to mobile when there are obstacles (such as bad weather) in other channels.  But, this year’s spring holiday period also indicates that more consumers are completing the full shopping journey – from browsing to purchase – via mobile.