Mixpanel Benchmarks Report 2024 Showcases Product Key Takeaways

Mixpanel has recently unveiled its 2024 benchmarks report titled "Journey through the Metrics," which focuses on the growth of digital product partners across multiple industries in 2023. The report covers sectors such as Finance, E-commerce, Gaming, Media & Entertainment, Technology, and Healthcare.

The findings based on 11.7 trillion events from over 7,700 companies suggest that, despite witnessing user growth in certain industries compared to 2022, there has been a noticeable dip in retention metrics. Each vertical experienced a double-digit decline in week-one retention from the previous year. Interestingly, the top 10% of products appeared to defy these industry-wide trends. Let’s explore more insights in this article.

Top Performers Grew Amidst Challenges

In 2023, there was a significant variance in product growth rates among different industries. The era of continuous and rapid product growth experienced a slowdown in 2023, with some industries facing minimal or negative user growth.

Notably, the top 10% of companies in each industry demonstrated that while achieving growth has become more challenging across various sectors, it remains possible.

Within these industries, the top-performing companies achieved an impressive growth rate of 6%, surpassing the overall cross-industry average growth rate of 2.4%. Additionally, users spent nearly three times more time on the apps and sites of these top performers compared to average-performing ones.

MoM growth chart comparing 2022 and 2023 across focused industries by Mixpanel

In the month-over-month (MoM) comparison to 2022, Financial Services, E-commerce, Healthcare, and Gaming observed growth in user acquisition. Notably, E-commerce exhibited the most significant year-on-year increase in user growth, rising from 2% to 3.5%.

However, Technology and Media & Entertainment did not follow the same trend. In the Technology sector, active user growth declined from 4% to 0.5%, while Media & Entertainment experienced a decrease from 4% to -1.5%.

Mobile Took Lead in 2023

In terms of traffic expansion, mobile emerges as the dominant force. In 2023, all six industries witnessed markedly more robust growth in mobile traffic compared to desktop. 

Mobile traffic exhibited MoM growth across almost all industries throughout the year, whereas desktop and laptop traffic remained relatively stable or experienced declines, particularly notable in the Technology sector. The only exception is observed in Media & Entertainment, which concluded the year with decreased traffic on both mobile and non-mobile platforms compared to the beginning of the period.

Chart displaying the average user session length by platforms in 2023 by Mixpanel

Mobile platforms are proving to be more effective in retaining visitor engagement, boasting an average session length of 11.4 minutes, surpassing the under 10-minute mark observed for sessions on laptops and desktop computers. Notably, the top 10% of companies achieved even more remarkable results, with an average mobile session duration reaching an impressive 30.5 minutes, alongside 25.7 minutes for non-mobile sessions.

Retention Showed Untapped Opportunities

Week one retention rates across industries witnessed a decline from 50% to 28% compared to 2022. Notably, Financial Services experienced the most significant year-over-year (YoY) contraction in week one retention, dropping by 24% from 51% to 27%. Gaming demonstrated the smallest decline, but it was still notable, decreasing from 26% to 12% retention. 

These decreases in week one retention across various sectors may indicate growing competitiveness in the digital product market. Interestingly, when assessing retention over 52 weeks, Financial Services emerged as the top performer, with around 27% of users re-engaging after one week and 15% still returning after 52 weeks.

Chart displaying week one retention comparing 2022 and 2023 across focused industries by Mixpanel

Retention emerges as the most significant opportunity for product builders in the upcoming year. Observing double-digit declines across all industries underlines the need for providers to discover innovative methods to engage and captivate their users. Analyzing engagement trends and user drop-off patterns will be pivotal in crafting novel value propositions. Despite challenging market conditions, this approach remains the cornerstone for driving growth.

Make Informed Decisions to Sustain Growth

Explore the comprehensive benchmarks report for further insights on shaping your strategy for product growth. Giving due importance to mobile-centric strategies is crucial, and recognizing the potential of retention is key. As an authorized Mixpanel partner, Seven Peaks is ready to support your digital product with comprehensive solutions, especially in application development which has proven to be promising. Reach out to us to bring your ideas to life here. 

About Mixpanel

Mixpanel is event-based analytics for builders who need answers from the data at their fingertips. When everyone in the organization can see—and learn from—the impact of their work, they are poised to make better decisions. Companies like Netflix, Pinterest, sweetgreen, CNN, Samsara, Uber, and Yelp use Mixpanel to understand their customers, measure progress, and endeavor to make better decisions.

For more information, visit: www.mixpanel.com