# What Auth and Guest Options Do Shopping Apps Offer?

Source: Lazyweb Research
Published: 2026-07-07
Sample size: n=23
Tags: signup, checkout, ux-patterns, mobile, onboarding
HTML: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/shopping-apps-auth-benchmarks
Markdown: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/shopping-apps-auth-benchmarks.md

**Answer.** Across 23 shopping apps tracked by Lazyweb Research, email leads (20), followed by Google (15) and Apple (11), with 9 offering guest mode[1]. Phone auth is present but minor (7 of 23)[1]. Shopping signup is email-and-social heavy with a strong guest-browsing option — matching the catalog-first nature of the vertical.

> 20 of 23 shopping apps offer email sign-in and 9 allow guest browsing before signup — Lazyweb Research, July 2026.

## The finding

Among 23 shopping apps with vision-covered auth screens: **email 20, Google 15, Apple 11, phone 7, guest 9**[1]. Email is nearly universal in the cut, and both social providers are well represented. Notably, **9 of 23** offer guest or deferred entry — one of the highest guest counts of any vertical[2] — reflecting that shoppers browse a catalog before they commit to an account.

## Breakdown

| Method | Shopping apps (n=23) | Overall corpus prevalence |
|--------|----------------------|---------------------------|
| Email | 20 | 72.7% |
| Google | 15 | 48.8% |
| Apple | 11 | 43.6% |
| Guest | 9 | 21.5% |
| Phone / OTP | 7 | 26.0% |

Counts are absolute (n=23 < 70-company threshold)[1].

## How to apply it

Build a shopping signup around email plus Apple and Google, and add a guest/browse-first path — nearly 40% of tracked shopping apps do, and it lets users reach product and cart before hitting an account wall. Treat phone collection as optional (7 of 23), typically for order updates or delivery rather than as a primary identifier.

## Caveats

n=23 is below the reporting threshold, so counts are absolute and no shopping percentages are cited[1]. Provider and guest detection is vision-based and may undercount methods not captured on the screenshot.

## The numbers

| Stat | Computed from |
| --- | --- |
| Shopping n=23: Google 15, Apple 11, email 20, phone 7, guest 9 | vertical_shopping stat |
| guest clusters: Shopping 9/23, Travel 9/18, Entertainment 8/19, Food & Drink 7/19 | vertical_travel_entertainment_news stat |

## Methodology

Universe: 23 shopping apps within the 289-company vision-covered auth set; absolute provider and guest counts, July 2026. Caveat: small n, absolute counts only, extraction-based.

## Sources & citations

- [1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 23 shopping apps (companies with vision-covered auth screens), July 2026. Absolute provider and guest counts per shopping company; n<70 so no percentages reported.
- [2] Lazyweb Research analysis of per-vertical guest-mode counts, July 2026. Guest counts across travel, shopping, entertainment, and food verticals.

## Related questions

- [Which Verticals Let Users Browse as a Guest Before Signup?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/guest-mode-which-verticals-defer-signup)
- [What Sign-Up Methods Do Education Apps Offer?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/education-apps-auth-benchmarks)
- [Should a Signup Screen Offer Both Apple and Google, or Just One?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/apple-and-google-both-or-one)