Amazon has topped the latest App Benchmark study from eDigitalResearch, achieving a top score of 90 per cent with an app that matches the brand’s established online usability. The app comes top of the overall app league table and just 0.8 per cent behind the latest results for its eRetail counterpart.
The study found that Amazon has simply transported and adapted all the functionality and usability of its original website directly into the app, allowing smartphone shoppers to browse and buy in the exactly the same way as they can online.
“Our research is showing time and time again that users expect the same brand experience, regardless of what channel they are using,” says Derek Eccleston, research director at eDigitalResearch. “It is important for brands to take this into account when reaching out to an app audience, and (they) need to make sure that they develop an app that is consistent with brand image, mirroring the sort of functionality a shopper would expect to find on a company’s website.”
Looking at the usability of apps on the Apple platform, the study found that Search and Find – Travel Apps were the top performing sector overall, with an average satisfaction score of 83 per cent. Users found that apps were easy to use and navigate, with most providing booking features within the app, meaning that they didn’t have to visit other sites elsewhere. Apps that failed to reflect their online counterparts were often rated poorly by shoppers, who were sometimes left wondering what the overall function of the app really was. 
Food and drink was the lowest performing sector, achieving an overall satisfaction score of 73 per cent. Poorly-performing apps frustrated users with slow-to-load pages that were poorly designed, and had limited capabilities.
The benchmark is the second study of its kind and has now been expanded to 67 apps covering eight different sectors. You can download a copy of the latest App Benchmark presentation, including the results from all eight sectors, on completion of a short survey, here.
