See how your app install costs compare. Explore mobile acquisition cost benchmarks by industry, region, and platform
June 2025 - June 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Retail app install costs moved like a roller coaster over the last 12 months — well above the market baseline and extremely volatile month to month. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Retail in All countries compared to the global benchmark.
Across June 2025–May 2026 the Retail cost-per-app-install (COST_PER_APP_INSTALL) averaged about $59.15, with values spanning from a low of roughly $15.90 in May 2026 to a peak near $106.95 in April 2026. The series began at about $82.68 in June 2025, dipped and rebounded multiple times, climbed into a sustained high period from January–April 2026 (peaking at ~$107 in April), then plunged sharply into May’s low. Month-to-month moves were dramatic: average absolute monthly change was roughly 81% — a signal of heavy churn in retail app install pricing.
By contrast the global benchmark over the same interval averaged roughly $15.86 per install. That baseline shows more modest swings and a much lower mean cost than retail across all countries.
The Retail pattern shows alternating troughs and spikes rather than a smooth seasonal slope. Summer 2025 moved from a high in June ($82.7) into a mid-summer dip (August ~$29), followed by bounce(s) in September and November. December fell to ~$18 before a pronounced ramp in early 2026: January ~$69.7, February ~$79.8, March ~$95.1, April ~$106.9 — a four-month climb — then an abrupt collapse to ~$15.9 in May. In other words, the rhythm combines occasional softer months with concentrated windows of expensive competition or demand pressure in late winter/early spring.
Retail across all countries ran consistently above the global benchmark. On average retail installs cost roughly 3.7× the baseline ($59 vs $16). The gap varied: the narrowest spread was in May 2026 when retail was only about 10% above the global level (≈1.1×), while the widest gap occurred in July 2025 (≈6.9×) and March 2026 (≈5.7×). Month-to-month volatility for retail (≈81% average absolute change) was about twice the baseline’s volatility (≈37%), making retail an above-market and more volatile segment in cost-per-app-install terms.
Keywords appearing across these patterns — Facebook Ads benchmarks, CPC trends, CPM analysis, CTR performance, country-specific ad costs, and industry ad performance — all intersect with the COST_PER_APP_INSTALL story: retail install economics in All countries tracked well above the global benchmark and showed pronounced peaks in early 2026 before a steep May reset.
Understanding cost-per-app-install benchmarks for Retail across All countries provides a clear reference for how install economics diverged from broader market patterns over the year.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Facebook advertising costs vary based on many factors including industry, target audience, ad placement, and campaign objectives. In the Retail industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. Geographic targeting affects ad costs based on market competition and user engagement in different regions. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
iOS CPIs often range from $2 to $5 or more. Android is usually cheaper, between $1 and $3. Your CPI will depend on geo, creative, and optimization goal.
Some regions like the US, UK, and Canada have higher competition and stricter privacy regulations, which drive up costs. Countries with lower purchasing power typically have cheaper CPIs.
Short videos showing app benefits, UGC-style content, and localized messaging tend to perform best. Clear CTAs and fast-paced visuals help lower your CPI.
Optimizing for installs gets volume, but optimizing for actions like signups or purchases brings higher quality users. It depends on your goals and how much post-install behavior matters.
Align your creative with the app experience, avoid misleading ads, and exclude users who already installed. You can also test lookalike audiences based on high-quality users, not just all installers.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
Average cost per purchase benchmarks across industries
See how much it costs to get users to install an app