Apps users found to be loyal repeat customers

The mobile measurement firm Localytics found in a study earlier this year that 26 percent of first-time app users never give new apps a second chance. But a new study by the company revealed a new trend: Another 26 percent of smartphone-toting consumers become very loyal, going back to new applications at least 10 times.

The stats are based on Localytics’ real-time mobile application analytics service, a subscription service that tracks app usage of thousands of Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 users. Customers were tracked through March 2011.

In between those 26 percent peaks of users who never again return to an app and those who return 10 or more times are much lower numbers: For example, 13 percent of users surveyed reported using a downloaded app twice, and 3 percent report using an app 7 times.

While those numbers are interesting, the go/no-go 26 percent crowds represent the real tell for app developers: The numbers reveal a love it or hate it phenomenon with mobile apps—in the world of mobile app usage, first impressions clearly are everything.

The data provided by Localytics doesn’t go into detail about app categories or the actual reasons why users eschewed or embraced the apps in question. So developers are left to speculate on their own: Is it design, ease-of-use, timing or another factor that puts their apps in the absolute must or absolute bust categories? Only ongoing refinement, some experimentation and a laser-like focus on user behavior and satisfaction will help keep apps on the positive side of that equation.