Time spent in shopping apps grew by 274 per cent during 2012, according to a report from Flurry. Thats compared to a growth of 132 per cent for all apps.

Flurry measured time spent by consumers across more than 1,800 iOS and Android shopping apps between December 2011 and December 2012. These apps were then broken into five categories, with branded retailer apps proving the most popular. 

Time spent in retailer apps grew at a rate of 525 per cent, more than double the rate of the second fastest-growing. Their share of the total time spent in shopping apps rose to 27 per cent, from 15 per cent a year earlier.

Other categories which saw significant growth were Price Comparison – growing by 247 per cent, while its share of total time stayed level – and Purchase Assistant apps – which saw growth of 228 per cent, and gained one percentage point in terms of time share. The Online Marketplace category – including eBay and Amazons mCommerce apps – saw lower growth, of 178 per cent, and a drop of five per cent in its share of time spend.

The worst news was for Daily Deals apps, which saw the lowest growth (126 per cent) of any category, and lost a seven per cent share of time spend.