Argos app hits 500,000 downloads in three weeks

500k Argos iPhone app users can't be wrong

Argos has revealed today that “strong consumer demand” and above-the-line marketing support – a TV ad and a iPhone press ad – for the Argos iPhone app has resulted in more than 500,000 downloads in just three weeks, and on one day Saturday 28 May 2010 the retailer had over 40,000 downloads.

The Argos app has consistently ranked in the top 20 free applications on the iTunes app store. It currently retains the top spot in the lifestyle category for free apps, above high street competitors and etailers, eBay and Amazon. Debuting in the top ten, the Argos app was also recognised in its second week as the number one UK brand in the app store by the BrandRepublic app chart.

Siobhan Fitzpatrick, head of Argos brand marketing, comments: “The iPhone app formed an important strand within the first burst of the new ad campaign to launch ‘Find it. Get it. Argos it’. Adding, “We recorded 170,000 Argos app downloads over the Bank Holiday weekend when the campaign broke, which is testament to the ads engagement and the excellent quality of the app. Since then, we have supported it with a press campaign targeted at iPhone users and continued support on TV, reaching out to an audience of over 50 million. The next phase will see us integrate an online element to the advertising campaign.

While 500,000 is undoubtedly a lot of downloads the app did have the benefit of adverts placed in the national print media and prominent TV slots – such as Britain’s Got Talent Final and the England vs Japan pre-World Cup friendly. What we can’t see is how useful the app has been in converting those downloads to purchases.

The only hints as to it’s performance that Argos are giving away are; the current top performing category is ‘pools and water games’, while camping related products make up seven of the top 25 reserved product ranges, and unsurprisingly reservations for mobile phone accessories are also in the top ten.