As Filipino consumers spend more time on mobile than ever, brands are facing an urgent challenge: standing out in a market overflowing with apps. From finance to retail to food delivery, downloads are surging — but sustainable growth now hinges on keeping users engaged, loyal, and coming back.
This was the central theme of the Growth Funnel Playbook event in Manila, where over 100 marketers came together to hear from industry leaders at Adjust, Google, Sensor Tower, and CleverTap.
“We’re entering a phase where install growth is just the beginning,” said April Tayson, Adjust regional vice president for INSEAU. “Being the most downloaded app is not enough – it’s about being the most retained, most used, and most valued. At Adjust, we help brands measure and understand user behavior, optimize retention strategies, and make data-driven decisions that fuel long-term engagement and growth.”
According to Apps Performance Insights from Sensor Tower, finance apps in the Philippines reached nearly 200 million downloads in 2024, with credit and lending apps growing over 30% year-on-year. Retail apps like Temu have also seen strong growth, driven by gamified and discovery-based shopping. Additionally, the Philippines now leads Southeast Asia in food delivery app installs, capturing the largest share (23%) of Food & Drink app downloads and ranking second in average daily time spent on these apps.
Yet, despite rising installs, retention remains a hurdle for brands.
Adjust’s Guide to Maximizing Retention and Engagement in the Philippine App Landscape
Supporting these trends, Adjust shared insights from its latest Mobile App Trends Report, highlighting that while global install growth is robust, real performance lies in deeper engagement and smarter measurement. Highlights include:
- Finance app installs rose 27% YoY, with APAC accounting for a significant share at 41% YoY growth. To maximize engagement, brands personalize user experiences and apply regional targeting – supported by tools like deep linking and web-to-app tracking – to ensure users land exactly where expected within the app.
- Shopping app installs grew 28% YoY but saw shorter session lengths, underscoring the trend toward faster, more efficient user experiences. Brands can streamline the shopping journey with AI-driven recommendations, reducing friction and improving conversion rates. Incrementality testing and advanced attribution modeling can also reveal which strategies drive true engagement and measure cross-channel impact.
- Retention rates for both finance and shopping remain below 10% by day 30, indicating a strong need to increase post-install engagement. Brands can improve retention with tactics like gamified onboarding, personalized push notifications, and loyalty rewards. Audience segmentation and re-engagement tools support more precise retargeting campaigns, while omnichannel attribution and fraud prevention ensure accurate performance tracking and protect budgets from invalid traffic.
“In the Philippines’ fast-growing app market, brands must now shift their focus from growth alone to sustained performance,” Tayson added. “By leveraging data-driven insights, marketers can optimize the user experience, turning installs into loyal, long-term customers. This is how brands in the Philippines, and the rest of Southeast Asia, can win the long game.”
To explore more findings, industry best practices and learn more about Adjust, visit https://www.adjust.com