Tariff Turmoil Triggers Budget Shifts in Global Ecommerce UA Trends

Tariff changes and economic uncertainty are shaking up the way ecommerce apps spend their marketing money across the world. A new report from AppsFlyer, the 2025 State of eCommerce App Marketing, shows that global spending on user acquisition (UA) has climbed to an impressive $4.6 billion. But it’s not just the amount of money being spent that is interesting, it’s where that money is going.

Chinese ecommerce apps, which have long poured large budgets into the United States, are now turning their attention to Europe. Concerns about tariffs and shifting regulations are pushing companies to rethink their strategies and move their marketing budgets to markets like Germany and France. This change is already visible in the numbers: iOS user acquisition in Germany rose by 170 percent from January to May 2025, while France saw its iOS UA more than double. Meanwhile, the U.S. market felt the pullback, with iOS UA dropping by 38 percent last November.

The report also highlights that loyalty and remarketing are taking center stage. Instead of only focusing on getting new users, brands are spending big to keep the ones they already have. In fact, remarketing spending in 2024 hit $16.4 billion, more than three times what was spent on UA. This approach is paying off because iOS users, in particular, are showing stronger loyalty. They make 39 percent more first-time purchases and are 68 percent more likely to buy again compared to Android users.

Another key trend is that iOS continues to lead when it comes to monetization and user retention, even in countries that are traditionally dominated by Android devices, like India and Brazil. For example, in India, iOS in-app purchase revenue grew by 44 percent in late 2024, and Brazil saw iOS UA skyrocket by 481 percent in November.

At the same time, there’s been a clear rise in web-to-app strategies, where users are guided from websites into mobile apps. These web-to-app flows grew by nearly 40 percent before the holiday shopping season and continued to rise through spring 2025.

AppsFlyer’s data, drawn from 1,600 ecommerce apps and covering billions of installs and conversions, suggests one thing clearly: marketers need to stay flexible. With tariffs, regulations, and global politics in flux, companies can no longer afford to stick to a single plan. Instead, they must adapt in real time, focus on building user loyalty, and balance their investments across multiple regions and platforms to keep growing in a changing world.

Ecommerce giants like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) could be close tracking global shifts in ecommerce trends and tweaking their strategies accordingly in order to grow their market share.

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