Indian App Ecosystem : Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

Authored by Arun Gupta, Founder and CEO, MoMAGIC Technologies.

The COVID-19 is deeply impacting Indian Economy with increased number of cases everyday.

With the ongoing lockdown getting extended till 17 May and social distancing being the only solution to remain safe, it isadversely affecting the economy on a large scale. While various health organizations and governments are striving to curb the rate of infection caused by the virus, its impact on consumer businesses goes much deeper. 

Majority of apps like Travel, Hospitality, Food Delivery, E-Comm etc are still witnessing major downward trend. However, apps related to OTT, News and Info, Gaming and Fintech have again seen a rapid surge in terms of New App Installs and overall user engagement.

In this edition, we at AdGyde have analysed, how this pandemic has further impacted the overall businesses and more precisely the App Marketers in three major categories, namely, Gaming, News and Fintech.

The impact has been in terms of shift in number of New User, Active Users and Sessionsin first two weeks of April 2020 in comparison to, since the pandemic has knocked the doors in India in early March 2020.

The COVID-19 impact on New Users, Active Users and Sessions across Indian Mobile Apps,from March until second week of April.

Based on AdGyde’s analysis, we have observed that between first week of March to fourth week of March, there has been constant increase in New Users by 1.89% , Active Users by 1.5% and overall Sessions by 2.61%.

But as we go further and analyze the data, from fourth week of March to second week of April, we can see relatively a flat trend with slight drop in New Usersby 0.8%, Active Users by 0.16% and Sessions by 0.85%

Furthermore, Delhi and Maharashtra still maintaining the overall top two ranks amid the top five states in terms of New Users and overall User Engagement.

Let’s now dig deeper inside each App category and understand what opportunity it has created for App Marketers so far viz-a-viz what it unfolds in the coming few weeks.

Gaming

As people are staying put inside their home and spending majority of time in playing games, the overall app usage in this category has increased. Analyzing the data from first week of March to fourth March, theNew Users have marginally increased by 0.01%, Active Users by 0.63% and overall Sessionsby 0.59%.

Same trend can we observed if we move further and examine the data from fourth week of March to second week of April. There has been minor increase in New Users by 0.31%, Active Users by 0.07% and Sessions by 0.05%. We can clearly see the continuation of this pattern with fractional increase in New Users by 0.43%, Active Users by 0.1% and Sessions by 0.02% between first week of April and second week of April.

Amid the top five States, Delhi and Maharashtra tops the chart for New Users and overall User Engagement.

As per AdGyde analysis, in coming weeks, Gaming Apps will show almost flat or slightly upward trend as people are looking to try out new options.

News Apps

For News Apps, COVID 19 has thrived to be a boon for their business. This categoryhas seen a sudden rise since this lockdown being imposed. People are continuously hooked on to their Smartphone screens to remain updated with latest news regarding the current outbreak.

From first week of March to fourth week of March, there has been anescalated shift in New Usersby 4.3%, Active Users by 1.73% and Sessions by 3.79%.

But, As we move forward from fourth week of March to second week of April, we can observe considerable drop in New Users by 2.59%, Active Users by 0.18% and Sessions by 1.35%. However, between first week of April and second week of April, the graph is flat with no or marginal drop in both New Users and Sessions by 0.45% and 0.86% respectively and absolutely no change in Active Users.

Delhi and West Bengal again have maintained top two states in this category in terms pf New Users and overall User Engagement.

As per AdGyde analysis, in coming week, News apps will show a slight downward trend until or unless something major or Breaking news comes up.

Fintech

Fintech Apps such as short loan, P2P Lending, Credit score checker have seen a fluctuating trend since the COVID 19 outbreak. Due to social distancing and current hault in the business activities, there has been considerable low in- app activity.

Between first week of March and fourth week of March, there has been minute increase in New Users to 0.72% whereas Active Users and Sessions have dropped to 0.12% and 0.49% respectively.

Moving forward, exact same trend in numbers can be clearly seen between fourth week of March and second week of April. New Users have slightly increased at 0.11% whereas Active Users and Sessions have dropped as 0.17% and 0.45% respectively. However, this trend has reversed between first week of April and second week of April, wherein a marginal drop has been observed in New Users at 0.04%, whereas slight surge has been observed both in Active Users and Sessions and it stands as 0.67% and 0.21% respectively.

Most number of New Users and User Engagement have been observed in Maharashtra and Telangana.

As per AdGyde analysis, till the current situation settles down and lockdown is lifted, the User Engagement within the App will only better day by day as more and more consumers and businesses are shifting towards digital mode of interacting with Fintech specific genre.

Looking at the immediate future

Since Lockdown has extended till 17 May, 2020 in India, it will kickstart another bout of downturn as the economic implications of it would further dampen our economy in the first quarter of the FY20-21.

From Hospitality and Aviation industry to E-commerce, losses are being witnessed everywhere. Unless, Govt. of India makes some alternate arrangement to gradually lift the lockdown in select sectors with strict guidelines, which is not steadily being initiated where nature of business largely depends on digital platform, further catastrophe in economy will be inevitable.

We at AdGyde understand the current situation and with deep gratitude we are extending every possible support to our clients to cope up with this pandemic affecting their businesses. With extensive in-app insights and analysis, we are helping in strategizing the business of our clients.