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Although smartphones are now ubiquitous, data from Amplitude shows websites are making a major comeback — since January 2020, website usage has grown by 57%, compared to just 36% growth in app usage over the same period. Amplitude analyzed the behavior of millions of digital users accessing apps and websites from January 2020 to December 2021. The data shows that while overall users are still using apps, the increase in website activity has brought the two channels closer to an even split. As of December 2021, 54% of users were on apps and 46% of users were on websites.
In some industries, website user growth has even outpaced that of apps. With students relying heavily on websites for education-related software and online coursework, internet use in the education sector increased by 115%. As companies quickly adapted to remote work, employees accessed the B2B SaaS products essential to their work primarily via the internet, leading to a 101% increase in internet usage from January 2020 to December 2021.
While apps remain the preferred access point for services such as groceries and personal finance, internet usage remains high. Grocery delivery became a social distancing necessity, growing by 162% on apps and 68% on web. As of December 2021, 77% of all monthly active users accessing banking products did so through apps, but internet usage still grew 61% over the two-year period compared to January 2020.
In the entertainment sector, website and app usage has grown almost parallel over the past two years, with growth of 22% for websites and 26% for apps. Still, the web is winning in this industry – 60% of monthly users accessing digital entertainment did so through websites versus 40% through apps.
For companies weighing which digital channel to invest in to reach their target market, this report clearly answers “both”. This data shows how important it is for business leaders to prioritize both the app and the website in the holistic customer journey. Web is not dead if you can only imagine.
Read Amplitude’s full report.
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