Do Shopify Mobile Apps Actually Increase Sales?
Shopify mobile apps do increase sales for most stores that build and run them properly, and the data behind that claim is specific rather than anecdotal. Native apps convert about 130 percent higher than mobile web (Venn Apps, 2025), a gap large enough to change a store's overall revenue picture given that mobile already drives the majority of ecommerce traffic.
The core numbers
Mobile web converts at roughly 2.1 to 2.9 percent, against 3.5 to 3.9 percent on desktop (Dynamic Yield, 2025). A native app closes a meaningful part of that gap, converting about 130 percent higher than mobile web itself (Venn Apps, 2025). Users also spend 6.4 times longer per session inside native apps than on mobile web (BuildFire), time that correlates with more browsing, more product discovery, and more completed purchases.
Cart abandonment shows the same pattern from the checkout side. Mobile web abandonment runs around 85 percent, compared to roughly 20 percent inside apps (Barilliance; Venn Apps). That's not a marginal improvement, it's the difference between losing most mobile carts and keeping most of them.
Where the increase actually comes from
The sales increase isn't magic, it comes from removing specific friction points that mobile web carries by default. Checkout inside a native app can use saved payment methods and stored addresses without the customer retyping anything. Push notifications, running 20 to 26 percent open rates against 15 to 20 percent for email, bring customers directly back to the store instead of relying on them to remember to revisit or open a marketing email. And app performance, not loading inside a browser engine, removes the load-time friction that costs mobile web conversions.
Where apps don't automatically increase sales
An app that isn't set up properly doesn't produce these numbers on its own. A published app with no push strategy, generic notifications, or a webview wrapper that inherits the mobile site's slowness will underperform the benchmarks above. The gains come from the app being built well, native rather than webview, with a push strategy tied to real customer behavior, not just from an app existing in the App Store.
This is why a template builder and a done-for-you native build can produce very different results even though both technically "have an app." The architecture and the setup work behind push and attribution are what determine whether the app closes the mobile-desktop gap or just adds another underused icon to a customer's home screen.
How to know if it will work for a specific store
Store category matters. Categories with strong repeat-purchase behavior, beauty, supplements, pet supplies, tend to see faster returns from an app's push and retention features. Categories with lower repeat purchase but higher AOV, furniture, electronics, jewelry, benefit more from an app's speed and browsing experience during a longer consideration window. A free audit reviews a store's actual traffic, repeat purchase rate, and AOV to project what an app would realistically do, rather than applying category averages blindly.
Bonsify is a Shopify services company by FetchSky that builds native iOS and Android apps, PWAs, new Shopify stores, platform migrations, custom apps, and more, and the free audit is built specifically to answer this question with the store's own data before recommending a build.
Ready to see what a done-for-you build looks like for your store? Start your free audit →
Native apps convert about 130 percent higher than mobile web on average (Venn Apps, 2025), though the exact impact varies by store category and how well the app is built.
No. Webview apps inherit the mobile site's performance limitations, so they typically underperform the native app benchmarks.
Categories with strong repeat-purchase behavior tend to see faster returns from push and retention features, while higher-AOV, longer-consideration categories benefit more from app speed and browsing experience.
Yes. An app without a proper push strategy or built on webview architecture can underperform, which is why setup quality matters as much as the decision to build one.
Through install-to-purchase attribution, which ties installs to actual purchase behavior rather than assuming impact from install counts alone.
A free audit reviews the store's actual traffic, repeat purchase rate, and AOV to project realistic impact.
See what going native would change
Tell us about your Shopify store. We'll give you a straight answer.
Book a free audit