Fiksu's latest look marketing costs and download figures during December for the top 200 free apps on the US App Store shows the firm's cost per loyal user index in short, the amount of money it costs to attract someone who will start the app up three times or more rose to an all time high of $1.81.
Downloads derby
That's despite the fact that downloads hit a daily average of 6.04 million, suggesting people are more than happy to try out apps during the Christmas rush, but are equally eager to move on after starting them one or two times.
It's a period Fiksu describes as being chock-full with "extreme marketing", as developers look to secure a prime spot in the App Store rankings before the big freeze.
Critical Christmas
"For so many app brands, December is a strategically critical month for app discovery," said CEO Micah Adler.
"What we witnessed during the month was a 'land rush' in which advertisers earnestly spent marketing dollars in order to achieve ranking before the traditional App Store freeze which then would generate substantial organic downloads through increased visibility."
December's daily download rate broke records according to Fiksu, coming in above the previous high of 5.65 million set the month before.
Indeed, the growth started in September as you can see from the graph above.
Fiksu's full analysis, which is based on more than 11 billion mobile app actions, can be found on the firm's website.
