94% of shopping apps have no Back-to-School message — free Apple Ads playbook | SplitMetrics
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Back to School 2026 · Free Playbook

The category markets every season except school.

Summer, Prime Day and the holidays all get heavy creative. Across the best-performing shopping apps, almost none run a Back-to-School message at all. We analyzed how the category uses Apple Ads going into the season, and where the opening sits.

$3.5M
top monthly Apple Ads spend in the season
86%
of the biggest budgets go to competitor terms
13%
run nothing on their own brand name
63.9%
average conversion rate in the category
Free playbook
Shopping Apps in Apple Ads — Back to School 2026
One field. Add your work email and the playbook is on its way.
Retail and marketplace apps already growing with SplitMetrics
Notino
Eyewa
Picnic
Idealo

Built from three SplitMetrics sources: Iris AI Agent for live market intelligence insights, SplitMetrics Acquire for the full category and campaign picture, and App Radar for organic search and creative.

What’s inside

Four questions the playbook answers with category data

Every figure below comes from live Apple Ads data on the top-performing shopping apps, January to July 2026.

13%
run nothing at all on their own brand name
Brand defense
What happens when a ready-to-buy shopper searches your brand?
Some active advertisers leave their own name uncovered on the highest-intent search there is. Inside: the share-of-voice numbers on brand terms, and the move worth making first.
63.9%
average conversion rate, shopping
Benchmarks
What does Apple Ads cost in shopping right now?
Shopping converts higher than most categories, so the work is earning the tap, and the costs decide whether it pays. The full H1 2026 benchmark set is inside: tap-through rate, cost per tap, cost per install and cost per 1,000 impressions, with what each number means for your app.
94%
of active advertisers bid on a competitor’s brand name
Competitor bidding
How hard does the category bid on each other’s brand names?
Competitor terms account for as much as 86% of the biggest budgets in the category. Inside: the share-of-voice picture on competitor terms, and how to keep that targeting tight.
6%
run a back-to-school message in their listing
The season gap
Who’s actually ready for Back to School?
Almost no school signal across the group, against heavy creative for summer, Prime Day and the holidays. Inside: what that gap looks like, and the move worth making before September.
Deciding to work with SplitMetrics Acquire improved our Apple Ads efforts significantly. We not only save time but also spend our budget more efficiently. The constant drive for improvement from SplitMetrics Acquire allows us to even better work towards our goal. We highly recommend them!
Anna Wrede, Marketing Manager Mobile
Stocard GmbH, Shopping
FREE playbook

Get the full shopping playbook.

✓How the top-performing shopping apps run Apple Ads.
✓The full H1 2026 benchmark set: tap-through, conversion, cost per tap, cost per install, cost per 1,000.
✓How the leaders handle brand defense and competitor bidding, with share-of-voice data.
✓Where the Back-to-School opening is biggest, and the moves worth making.
A 10-minute read you can hand to whoever runs your app growth. Every finding comes with the move to make.
One field. Add your work email and the playbook is on its way.
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A free 20-minute review of your app on Apple Ads. Where your setup sits against the category, and the two or three moves worth making before the school season.

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The intelligence behind this page

What backs up these numbers

1.6M+
Apple Ads campaigns managed through SplitMetrics, with over a decade in the category.
40%
of the biggest advertisers use SplitMetrics to run Apple Ads.
10,000+
apps and brands grown with SplitMetrics across categories.
98%
customer satisfaction, with 9 in 10 staying year over year.

SplitMetrics is an Apple Ads Partner. Sources: Iris AI Agent for Apple Ads optimization, SplitMetrics Acquire and App Radar. Coverage: shopping, search results, January to June 2026.