After we launched our inaugural Product Report final yr, we captured the acute development of digital merchandise fueled by a worldwide pandemic. This yr, we’re met with one other main shift available in the market — an impending financial recession. As leaders in all places shift their enterprise methods to retain their current clients and acquire 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 remains to be rising throughout industries — albeit at a slower charge than final yr — rising 16% between August 2021 and August 2022.
At Amplitude, we consider a terrific product is your greatest development engine. And with greater than 1,900 clients and over one trillion information factors tracked per 30 days, we have now a singular understanding of the businesses constructing wonderful merchandise and the developments shaping digital exercise. However we wished to go deeper this yr to know what these corporations are doing to maintain development and the way leaders are tackling one of many prime 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 scorching markets. In reality, the 30 merchandise on our listing got here from large a wide range of industries. However they do share one crucial widespread 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 procuring 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 listing. Following fast-growing Movement and Discovered was Magic, the go-to resolution 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 listing—Tiqets, TravelPerk, and TrustedHousesitters—supply distinctive and revolutionary options for journey, like museum ticketing apps and housesitter reserving. Fintech continues to dominate Asia-Pacific, with almost half of the businesses on the APAC listing 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 is likely to be telling one other story. As employers in sure sectors battled labor shortages, others had been lowering their workforces in response to financial uncertainty. And plenty 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
In some unspecified time in the future this yr, we’ve probably all examine, listened to, or mentioned the potential for 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 exhibits the sector remains to be constructing on final yr’s development. In late summer season, the trade landed at 25% development over the baseline of August 2021.
Crypto tells a extra sophisticated story
Final yr we seemed on the fintech trade as a complete—inclusive of the cold and hot 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 exhibits 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 almost 200 product and development leaders to know 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% nervous about a rise in buyer churn. As right this moment’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 mentioned it greatest, “PLG is a improbable option to purchase customers at little to no acquisition value…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 all the time linear. With a lot unknown in regards to the future, successful 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 develop into your best development lever—simply ask the businesses on our listing. We invite you to learn the full report to study extra about these merchandise, acquire perception into the facility of product-led development, and benchmark and optimize your individual merchandise.