After we launched our inaugural Product Report final yr, we captured the acute development of digital merchandise fueled by a world pandemic. This yr, we’re met with one other main shift out there — an impending financial recession. As leaders all over the place shift their enterprise methods to retain their current clients and achieve new ones, we seemed on the corporations sustaining actually spectacular development and the trade developments that drive them. The Product Report 2022 reveals that digital product utilization continues to be rising throughout industries — albeit at a slower fee than final yr — rising 16% between August 2021 and August 2022.
At Amplitude, we consider an incredible product is your finest development engine. And with greater than 1,900 clients and over one trillion information factors tracked per 30 days, we’ve got a novel understanding of the businesses constructing wonderful merchandise and the developments shaping digital exercise. However we needed to go deeper this yr to grasp what these corporations are doing to maintain development and the way leaders are tackling one of many high challenges on everybody’s thoughts: driving development in a downturn.
The Subsequent Hottest Merchandise Across the Globe
This yr, the Subsequent Hottest Merchandise didn’t point out only one or two sizzling markets. In actual fact, the 30 merchandise on our checklist got here from broad quite a lot of industries. However they do share one crucial frequent thread: a fine-grained understanding of what makes an unimaginable buyer expertise. The significance of investing in your digital product expertise can’t be understated — particularly in occasions of financial uncertainty. Many corporations are already making these investments, they usually have seen large development in consequence. In keeping with information despatched to Amplitude, 4 of the 30 Subsequent Hottest Merchandise noticed greater than 500% development in month-to-month energetic customers (MAUs): social buying app onthelook, relationship app Paired, AI scheduler Movement, and weight-loss program Discovered.
In North America, the SaaS and well being and wellness industries dominated the checklist. Following fast-growing Movement and Discovered was Magic, the go-to answer for corporations deploying a web3 technique, with 280% development in MAUs. And on Magic’s heels, enter Tonal, the house health product, which managed to form up 176% MAU development. In Europe, after years of journey restrictions, world vacationers are again. Three corporations acknowledged on the checklist—Tiqets, TravelPerk, and TrustedHousesitters—provide distinctive and revolutionary options for journey, like museum ticketing apps and housesitter reserving. Fintech continues to dominate Asia-Pacific, with practically half of the businesses on the APAC checklist fixing some sort of finance problem, together with OKCoin, Slice, Wagetap, and WeMoney.
Talent up, stand out
Above all industries, HR and staffing merchandise, in addition to upskilling and persevering with training instruments, exhibited probably the most development. This development isn’t precisely stunning. It appeared like everybody within the winter and spring of 2022 was leaving their job for a brand new alternative. This can be why in January 2022, digital HR product utilization was up 41.9% in comparison with the August 2021 baseline. That quantity solely continued to climb, hitting 118% in August 2022. However that second surge could be telling one other story. As employers in sure sectors battled labor shortages, others have been lowering their workforces in response to financial uncertainty. And lots of job seekers, together with a few of those that left their jobs within the “Nice Resignation,” rushed to seek out new roles in the summertime months because the economic system worsened.
SaaS collapse could also be overblown
Sooner or later this yr, we’ve doubtless all examine, listened to, or mentioned the potential of a SaaS collapse. Particularly when you think about separate Amplitude Labs information that confirmed SaaS web site utilization jumped 103% from January 2020 to April 2020, it made us marvel what the SaaS future holds. However our information tells a optimistic story. This yr’s report reveals the sector continues to be constructing on final yr’s development. In late summer time, the trade landed at 25% development over the baseline of August 2021.
Crypto tells a extra difficult story
Final yr we seemed on the fintech trade as an entire—inclusive of the cold and warm crypto market. This yr, we determined crypto wanted a breakdown of its personal. Whereas this sector grew at a sooner tempo in 2022 than basic fintech merchandise, it has seen its ups and downs. Even after a yr of unbelievable development in 2021, in January 2022, crypto development reached a peak of 78% development. After which, by August, crypto utilization development dropped to 25.8% over the baseline. Crypto crash? Our information reveals it could be too quickly to sound that alarm. Though development has decelerated in 2022, it’s nonetheless rising positively general.
Product-led development is the current and the longer term
As a data-driven marketer, I like the tales that solely information can inform. However that doesn’t imply we ever cease listening to what the consultants — the practitioners – are saying. We surveyed practically 200 product and development leaders to grasp their digital priorities, given the present state of the economic system. Unsurprisingly, buyer retention is the highest space of funding for these leaders, with 58% apprehensive about a rise in buyer churn. As immediately’s financial surroundings is forcing each firm to prioritize lean, sustainable development, our survey discovered that companies are doubling down on product-led development (PLG). Why? One chief who responded to our survey stated it finest, “PLG is a unbelievable technique to purchase customers at little to no acquisition price…but when one will get it proper, it helps tremendously to drive worth for purchasers and creates extra activation and retention.”
If the previous yr proved something, it’s that progress just isn’t at all times linear. With a lot unknown concerning the future, profitable corporations are turning to confirmed methods to drive development regardless of the financial circumstances. Investing in your product expertise and leveraging the long-term advantages of a product-led development mannequin can work hand-in-hand to change into your biggest development lever—simply ask the businesses on our checklist. We invite you to learn the full report to be taught extra about these merchandise, achieve perception into the facility of product-led development, and benchmark and optimize your individual merchandise.
