Is a mobile app worth it for beauty in Saudi Arabia?

Worth is the mobile web conversion rate against the app conversion rate on the same traffic, multiplied by how often somebody returns. For most stores the first gap is large and the second is the one that decides it.

What it is worth, in figures the store already holds

The mistake is comparing an app against the desktop site. Compare it against the mobile site, on the same customers, over the same weeks — that is the only comparison the decision actually rests on.

An app earns its place through repeat purchases and notifications, so the question is really about how often somebody buys. For a beauty and cosmetics store in Saudi Arabia, the answer turns on one thing in particular: Beauty is bought again on a schedule — a serum runs out — so the second purchase is predictable in a way most categories are not.

What is different about Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the largest ecommerce market in the region by some distance, and the most phone-dominated.

Cash on delivery remains common in Saudi Arabia, which changes the economics of every refused delivery.

What is different about a beauty and cosmetics store

Built too early it is a cost with nothing to do — an app with no customers to bring back is a bookmark nobody made.

Where a mobile app comes into it

A category bought monthly is the strongest case there is for an app: reordering in two taps rather than five.