Adjust and Liftoff: Digital Payments Continue Driving Overall FinTech App Session Growth in Japan

Rhea-AI Summary

The Japan Mobile App Trends 2022 report by Adjust and Liftoff reveals that payment apps account for nearly 75% of total fintech sessions in Japan from 2021 through H1 2022, marking a 13% year-over-year growth. Overall, app sessions increased by 12% YoY during the same period. Fintech apps saw notably high engagement, with June 2022 recording 30% more sessions compared to the 2021 average. The report underlines Japan's transition to a cashless society, with 40% of transactions expected to be digital by 2025, indicating robust growth potential in the fintech sector.

Positive

• Payment apps have emerged as the dominant sub-vertical, capturing nearly 75% of total fintech sessions.
• Fintech sessions increased by 13% year-over-year from 2021 to H1 2022.
• Overall app sessions rose by 12% YoY in H1 2022, indicating strong mobile usage.
• The report predicts a shift towards cashless transactions, with 40% expected to go digital by 2025.

Negative

• None.

New Japan Mobile App Trends 2022 report shows payment app sessions account for nearly 75% of total fintech sessions from 2021 through H1 2022

TOKYO, Oct. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Adjust, the mobile marketing analytics platform, and Liftoff, a leading growth acceleration platform for the mobile industry, today released Japan Mobile App Trends 2022: Essential App Performance Benchmarks and Insights, a deep dive into the performance analytics on mobile gaming, e-commerce, fintech and dating apps, as well as CTV, in Japan. The joint report finds that fintech charted the highest session growth of all app categories during the first half (H1) of 2022, increasing 13% year-over-year (YoY).

Despite significant industry challenges, Japan has shown its resilience as a top market for app users and advertisers.

As the country moves to a more connected future, Japan has set its sights on being a cashless market with 40% of all transactions going digital by 2025.  As a result, payment apps have captured the lion's share of sessions among fintech sub verticals from 2021 through H1 2022, according to Adjust and Liftoff's report, accounting for nearly 75% of total fintech sessions, followed by banking (15%) and crypto (12%).

Looking across verticals, sessions for all apps increased by 12% in H1 2022 YoY, and from 2020 through H1 2022, app installs grew nearly 20% for all verticals. Notably, while gaming sessions fell in H1 compared to last year, they are still above early pandemic levels — up 8% compared to H1 2020.

"Despite significant challenges to the global app and mobile marketing industry over the past two years, Japan has shown its resilience as a top market for app users and advertisers," said Naoki Sassa, General Manager Japan at Adjust. "From a huge uptick in mobile payment usage to boosts in gaming and e-commerce sessions, we're excited to see how these growth patterns continue over the coming months as user habits continue to evolve."

The report also examines retention rates, cost per install (CPI), and return on ad spend (ROAS) across four key verticals in Japan to provide mobile marketers with actionable insights for this high-growth market. The top takeaways include:

• In H1 2022, June saw the highest volume of fintech app sessions — 30% higher than the 2021 average and 79% higher than 2020. Fintech apps also retain users well in Japan. In H1 2022, Japan had higher retention rates than APAC overall. The median retention rate on day 1 was 17%, 11% on day 7, 9% on day 14, and 7% on day 30.
• Hyper-casual and role-playing gaming apps are the most popular genres. As the third-biggest games market worldwide, Japan saw hyper casual titles account for 15% of total gaming installs between 2020 and H1 2022, while role-playing games (RPGs) came second at 13%. Users played gaming apps for an average session length of 26.5 minutes in H1 2022, exceeding the average session length across all verticals by 15 minutes.
• E-commerce marketplace apps continue to dominate installs. E-commerce performed exceptionally well in Japan over the last two years. From 2020 to H1 2022, marketplace apps saw the majority of installs at 75%, followed by shopping apps at 23%. And January 2022 was the highest charting period, up 8% compared to the 2021 average and up 29% compared to 2020.
• Despite coming with a higher price tag, Android users are more likely to download dating apps than iOS users. Sessions for dating apps grew steadily over the last two years — by 7% and 13% in H1 2021 and H1 2022 YoY, respectively — but so did the cost of acquiring new users. According to Liftoff, CPIs for dating apps rose in the winter and hit a high of $6.60 per install in February 2022, with iOS users costing slightly less per install and Android users converting more easily with an $8.47 price tag.
• CTV is the next frontier for app marketers. Japan is rapidly becoming one of the major markets with 21% of its population using CTV, and is predicted to reach 23.2% by 2025. With mobile penetration in Japan surging, CTV campaigns are set to become a fixture in app marketers' user acquisition strategies as they hope to capture a piece of the forecasted ¥58.8 billion in CTV ad spend by 2024.

"To properly measure CTV campaign performance, marketers must go beyond last-touch attribution to look at the assisting touchpoints — CTV ads that are served before users convert via other channels," Sassa added, " which is possible through comprehensive cross-device measurement solutions like Adjust's CTV  AdVision. To illustrate the assisting power of CTV, Adjust data shows that 223.8 million mobile app installs were generated directly through CTV ads globally in Sept. 2022, compared to 670 million mobile app installs being assisted by CTV ads through the same time period."

"Now is the time to consider what's next for mobile marketing to accelerate the growth of your apps," said Kota Amano, Senior Country Manager Japan & Korea at Liftoff.  "At the same time, marketers need to know how to acquire engaged users post-install."

To download the Japan Mobile App Trends 2022 report, click here.

About Adjust

Adjust is the mobile marketing analytics platform trusted by growth-driven marketers around the world, with solutions for measuring and optimizing campaigns and protecting user data. Adjust powers thousands of apps with built-in intelligence and automation, backed by responsive global customer support.

Adjust is a subsidiary of AppLovin (Nasdaq: APP), the leading growth platform for developers. Learn more about Adjust at www.adjust.com.

About Liftoff

Liftoff is a leading growth acceleration platform for the mobile industry, helping advertisers, publishers and game developers scale revenue growth with solutions to market and monetize mobile apps. With a suite of solutions including Vungle, JetFuel, GameRefinery and TreSensa, Liftoff supports over 6,600 mobile businesses across 74 countries, including gaming, social, finance, ecommerce, entertainment and more. Liftoff is proud to be a long-term partner to leading advertisers and app publishers since 2012. Headquartered in Redwood City, CA, Liftoff has a growing global presence with offices around the world.

Media Contacts
Adjust
Joshua Grandy
pr@adjust.com

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SOURCE Adjust

FAQ

What is the main finding of the Japan Mobile App Trends 2022 report?

The report found that payment apps account for nearly 75% of total fintech sessions from 2021 through H1 2022.

How much did fintech app sessions grow year-over-year in Japan?

Fintech app sessions grew by 13% year-over-year from 2021 to H1 2022.

What is the expected shift in Japan's transaction methods by 2025?

Japan aims for 40% of transactions to be cashless by 2025.

What percentage increase in overall app sessions was reported for H1 2022?

Overall app sessions increased by 12% year-over-year in H1 2022.

Which month had the highest volume of fintech app sessions in H1 2022?

June 2022 had the highest volume of fintech app sessions, 30% higher than the 2021 average.