Confirming earlier reports, Apple today is debuting a new category to its App Store that will help consumers better locate mobile shopping applications. The “Shopping” category will be available worldwide, and will feature apps that span across omni-channel, auctions, price comparison, product reviews and more. These applications were previously listed in the App Store’s “Lifestyle” section, which made them more difficult to surface, as they were listed alongside a wide range of applications, including dating apps, journals, smart home application, real estate and home improvement apps, nightlife apps, wedding apps and more.
Now those that enable commerce will get their own section – which could have the potential to boost discoverability, downloads, and sales for App Store developers as well as larger businesses like Amazon, Walmart and Groupon, who develop mobile shopping apps. Plus, because it removes a huge chunk of apps from the Lifetstyle category, its launch will also impact the Top Charts and rankings of those apps remaining in that section.
The new Shopping category will also help spotlight those apps that have adopted Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payments technology that allows iPhone owners to store their credit and debit cards on file within a mobile wallet. These cards can then be used with Touch ID to pay for purchases in retail stores at NFC-based payment terminals, as well as in mobile applications.
Launched just over a year ago, retailers and developers are already seeing Apple Pay’s impact, including a more than 2x increase in checkout rates.
The technology addresses what had been before a serious issue with regard to mobile commerce – abandoned carts and failed conversions. While consumers before may have enjoyed browsing on mobile, checkout was often too frustrating to manage on the small screen, where retailers required users to enter names, addresses, and type in credit card information. With Apple Pay, users can instead just pay with a touch.

A number of top apps already support Apple Pay, including, of course, the Apple Store, but also Best Buy, the Disney Store, Etsy, Everlane, Gilt, Groupon, Hautelook, JackThreads, Kohl’s, Instacart, Nordstrom, Pinterest, Priceline, Sephora, Staples, Starbucks, Target, Uber, Walgreens, Zappo’s, Zulily and others. In total, there are thousands of apps that have integrated Apple Pay technology, but not all may be relocated to the shopping category.
The additional category comes at a time when Apple has seen significant growth in the e-commerce category, and developers similarly report seeing increasing engagement when it comes to consumers who choose to shop via their mobile devices. Much of that shopping activity that used take place via a desktop browser now occurs in-app.
But the new category won’t be limited to only those apps where you shop for items, place them in a cart, and then checkout. It will also broadly include apps focused on helping shoppers find deals, stay tuned into the latest trends, find coupons, check pricing, read product reviews, and more.

The timing of the new category’s rollout is desirable for both Apple, which takes a small cut of Apple Pay transactions, and developers, as the U.S. is heading into the holiday shopping season. This year, online holiday sales are poised to break record numbers, reaching $83 billion according to some early estimates. In addition, mobile transactions will play a larger role this year, driving the majority of visits for the first time ever on Thanksgiving Day.
Apple is celebrating the launch of the new category with a couple of featured collections of shopping apps. One, “Save While You Shop,” offers deals, discounts, and other special features for customers. The other, “Shop for Everything,” will include apps from across a variety of themes, like “Chic,” “Dapper,” “Gifts,” “Rugged,” “Play Dates,” “Groceries,” and more – a grouping that will allow a diverse range of apps to receive a top position.
At launch, the following promotions will be available in the “Save While You Shop” group:
