MAM
86% of users quit shopping apps after 4 weeks: new research from CleverTap
MUMBAI: CleverTap, the full-stack customer retention platform that helps consumer brands maximize customer lifetime value, today released the Industry Benchmarks for Ecommerce Apps. For ecommerce brands, high customer acquisition costs (CACs) and price-sensitive buyers impact the overall customer lifetime value and profitability due to low retention. With low entry and exit barriers, customers have a plethora of options to choose from even within niche categories.
The benchmark report, which analyses 3.1 billion data points across 18 million devices and 15 million unique users, provides user insights that will help growth teams benchmark their app’s performance against some of the most successful ecommerce apps. The report also covers strategies to help you improve user engagement and retention.
Almitra Karnik, Head of Marketing at CleverTap said, “the cut-throat competition in the ecommerce industry makes it crucial for brands to deliver a superior customer experience. Our research indicates that ecommerce brands are losing customers faster than acquiring them. On average, shopping apps lose 86% of users within the first 4 weeks of download.
“Without focusing on retention, brands are trying to fill a leaky bucket, focusing on acquiring more users that don’t stick around for long. This impacts the top line as well as customer lifetime value for these brands”, she added.
The benchmark report provides insights on how users flow from one lifecycle stage to another and provides recommendations to increase repeat purchase rate and hence user retention. Some of the other highlights from the report include:
Registration: Only 16 percent of new users complete the signup process within a week of installing the app
Retention: Only 11.6 percent of new users remain active in the first week
Uninstalls: 42 percent of new users uninstall the app within the 30 days of app install
Reinstalls: Only 5.21 percent of users reinstall within 30 days of app uninstall
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
