The proportion of retail app users who converted into paying customers was greater than at any point in the past, based on figures published by Poq designed to track how consumer trends are changing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was not just conversion rates that spiked in the final days of March but also the number of apps being downloaded by consumers eager to keep carrying out safe shopping online as a result of being unable to visit bricks and mortar stores to make purchases.

Another insight gleaned from this study is that people are now spending longer using shopping apps on average than they would if visiting mobile sites in-browser.

Across various product categories, conversion rates were up by different levels. For example, fashion conversions crept up by almost 11 per cent in the context of retail apps, while they rose by just under four per cent on mobile sites, according to Internet Retailing.

While the overall rates of conversion are still relatively low at just 2.86 per cent in apps and 2.17 per cent on m-commerce sites, this is still a significant win for retailers and shows just how much of a shift in consumer habits the UK’s ongoing lockdown is having.

There are a number of benefits which apps bring to the table, both in terms of streamlining e-commerce transactions and in providing other types of content for customers to browse. This helps to explain why usage is on the rise at the moment anyway, regardless of the external circumstances which are also driving shoppers to apps today, according to study spokesperson Aanya Ali.

Analysts revealed that retailers are also harnessing their apps in order to encourage community-minded contributions from their loyal customers, such as recommending charitable donations at checkout.