Shop till you drop with Apple’s new App Store category

Check this out and then check out.

By “this” I mean the new category that Apple has just introduced on the App Store. The newly added category is called Shopping, and, as its name suggests, it includes apps that have to do with marketplaces, auctions, coupons, price comparisons, and other aspects of e-commerce.

Most of these apps are previously found under the Lifestyle category. And as even a cursory look through that category will tell you, Lifestyle is so ill-defined as to include content ranging from dating apps to real estate apps to smart home apps. It’s nice, then, that Apple has decided to move shopping-related apps from there to a better-defined category that’s aptly and simply named to boot for improved discoverability.

Of course, it would be very remiss of Apple not to use the Shopping category to promote its mobile payment service, Apple Pay. And that is in fact what Apple has just done with the launch of the new category as apps that enable customers to pay for their purchases via Apple Pay on Touch ID-enabled devices are prominently featured in the collection titled “Shop with Apple Pay.”

The new Shopping category on the App Store.

Another noteworthy collection is “Save While You Shop,” which highlights apps with which Apple has partnered to offer customers discounts and other special promos. These include Zappos and Aldo, which offer free shipping, and Everlane and Nordstrom, which promise freebies with purchases.

According to Apple’s note to developers, the new Shopping category is now live in all 155 territories where the App Store is available. Developers can now also assign the category to new apps and app updates alike.

To promote the new category, Apple is featuring it on the App Store homepage with a banner at the top, a link at the bottom, and shopping-related collections in between.

Mobile shopping has never been easier on the go with the iPhone and on the couch with the iPad. And now, finding and discovering new apps to shop with on iOS has never been easier with the new Shopping category. Check it out here.

Mentioned apps

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