Questions Seema answered in this episode
- What is Sensor Tower, and how does it analyze the digital retail economy?
- What tactics actually drive engagement and conversion for e-commerce apps?
- How are loyalty programs, membership fees, and incentives engineered to retain users?
- Why is ‘engagement’ more critical than mere app downloads?
- What happens when acquisition ad spend dries up (Temu, Shein) and retention isn’t there?
- How do free shipping, fast returns, and frictionless checkout rewire user habits?
- What does the data say about the new ‘in-app event’ wars among major retailers?
- What are the most common blind spots for mid-sized brands trying to compete with giants?
- How can smaller brands leverage data, urgency, and unique value to build sustainable engagement?
- What emerging trends should e-commerce marketers prepare for?
Timestamps
(0:00) – Intro: Sensor Tower, Seema’s role, scope of data and products
(3:00) – Why engagement beats downloads: session length, frequency, retention
(4:00) – The mechanics of loyalty programs: Amazon Prime, Target Circle, Ulta, and more
(8:30) – Tariff threats and the new ad spend math: what happens to MAU when you cut UA?
(11:00) – Small brand playbook: driving downloads, boosting engagement, and using incentives
(23:32) – In-app events: the new engagement arms race (Amazon, Walmart, Target)
(26:00) – The difference between frequency and discretionary shopping
(34:00) – Platform evolution, removing friction, and why smaller features win
(37:00) –Emerging trends in e-commerce apps
(52:15) – Wrap-up: How to connect with Seema, Sensor Tower, and what’s next
Quotes
(8:50) “Since the removal of the de minimis tax exemption and also the tariffs, we’ve seen a decline in advertising spend and a shift to other countries.”
(13:43) “If you’re a smaller brand and you want to compete, you have to really know who your customer is and what attracted them to you in the first place.”
(24:45) “Frequency seems huge for retention and how much time they’re spending on the app, but how do these top brands keep users coming back without fatiguing them with advertising?”
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