App Store Keywords for Shopping Apps: High Difficulty for the Demand

Estimated volume / estimated difficulty, 0-100, English phrases in all six storefronts.

The "coupons" row departs from the usual pattern where volume exceeds difficulty. In Japan the difficulty (52) is higher than the volume (39), and in Germany the two are nearly equal (62 and 61). In practice that means a phrase can look popular because large apps already own it, not because many people type it. Brazil's "coupons" cell, 4 / 0, is the reverse: few matching apps in English there.

The median looks ordinary, but the distribution does not. The rating-count median is 2,139 pooled over all six storefronts, yet the US figure for Shopping phrases is about 99,700 and Brazil's is 69. The pooled number is a blend of a few huge markets and many small ones, so do not use it to size your own market; look at the storefront that matters. The genre match (68.3%) is almost exactly the study average, with Lifestyle and Utilities each at 11.7% of US results.

• Aim at the narrow job. "Price tracker" and "wishlist" average 1.5 and 10.5, with volume 8.5 and 26.5. They are small, but they describe one function, and a listing built on one function can be written plainly. Read how to prioritise keywords by volume and difficulty before you choose.
• Expect seasons. Shopping interest moves with the calendar. A one-day snapshot cannot show it, so check seasonal App Store keywords and repeat any measurement at different times of year.
• Do not assume the US is the model. If you serve Brazil, France or Japan, test the local phrase, not only the English one, because these measurements describe English in those places.
• Sibling categories share phrases. Deals and spend tracking overlap with Finance; grocery terms overlap with Food & Drink; and trip-related shopping can sit in Travel.

None of this proves that a keyword makes an app rank. It describes how crowded each phrase looked on one day.

The dataset has 26 categories with six generic English phrases each, queried in the US, GB, DE, JP, FR and BR through the iTunes Search API (entity=software, limit=25), top 10 results analysed: 936 queries and 36 per category. The phrase-to-category match is approximate. See the research methodology, the research hub and how we measure. Data: category CSV.

LocalASO is a Mac app that estimates volume and difficulty in 52 storefronts using the local language of each. A license is $29 one time; the download is free but the app needs a license key. See pricing.