Bonjour Millionaire,
If I had a dollar for every time I shopped on mobile, and then went to my desktop to make the purchase, I’d retire in the South of France. Like, now.
Mobile provides MOST of your traffic.
But makes up only HALF your conversions.
It’s a paradox! A paradox that blended dashboards hide in plain sight.
The truth is, mobile web traffic converts like merde, pardon my French.
People see and click on a paid ad, but then get lost in the ether, seldom to return. (Where “ether” is “godawful user experience.”)
It’s a conversion problem, NOT a traffic problem.
The solution: getting mobile APP-timized.
Building a mobile app your brand OWNS, instead of rents.
WITHOUT hiring more people or overextending your team.
Tap in, if you’re ready to close the mobile gap.
And stay tuned to the end for an app strategy that’s keeping me up at night.
MOBILE OPTIMIZED VS. MOBILE APP-TIMIZED
Yes, there are many ways to optimize your mobile site. I’ve talked about many of them in this very newsletter! And they’re all crucial.
But the uncomfortable truth is, you can mobile-optimize your site to within an inch of its life, and it will still NEVER be your brand’s best version of mobile.
It’s just a fact.
There are brands that have whole agencies solely dedicated to site CRO and STILL can’t touch their app’s CVR.
The issue isn’t just tech.
It’s also:
🪻: User behavior
🪻: Customer qualification
🪻: Channel ownership
Just to name a few.
So…BIG issues.
But hold the phone, you’ve got options.
🌪 Mobile optimized:
You use paid social, aka a RENTED channel, to push a lower-intent audience into mobile web.
You target them, but it’s often quantity over quality. Bots are inevitable.
You lose potential customers 50% of the time, and it’s both difficult and expensive to find them again. And if you do track them down, the costs of email and SMS add up. It often feels like throwing good $$$ after bad.
Back to the drawing board.
🏰 Mobile APP-timized:
If someone is willing to download your app, they are automatically one of your best-ever customers.
They’ve taken the initiative (and sacrificed the gigabytes) to download your mobile app, an OWNED channel. They like you, they really like you!
As a bonus, you now know EXACTLY what they’re doing on your app, and have a much greater degree of control over their experience. Their PERSONALIZABLE experience.
Not to mention, you can send FREE push notifications at any moment to keep them engaged.
It’s giving BFFs, LTV, LFG!
3 REASONS BRANDS DON’T MOBILE APP-TIMIZE
Mobile APP-timization creates higher conversion rates, because the best customers get the best possible mobile experience.
It’s a win-win. For brands AND customers.
So, why are so many amazing brands sitting on untAPPed potential and skipping an app?
There are a number of valid reasons. But with the right tools, there are also solutions they might not be familiar with.
Let’s walk through the objections:
1️⃣: No bandwidth or budget to BUILD a mobile app.
A tool like Tapcart is partnered with Shopify, so it connects with your Shopify account and syncs inventory and user data seamlessly.
No code, no new hires, no dev limbo.
Drag and drop it like it’s hot.
There’s also Tapcart AI to help build the app, right down to imagery & video.
There’s enough personalization to make PDPs shine, but not so much that design fatigue sets in. (Though if you have developers, Tapcart CLI makes it easy for them to tap in.)
Tapcart’s platform-stable, so you won’t have to debug after software updates.
Most brands get their app live in 1-4 weeks.
2️⃣: No bandwidth to MANAGE a mobile app.
Once you’re live, Tapcart AI automates app management with 1,000s of 1:1 personalized push notifications triggered by user behavior.
8 automated push flows.
No manual segmentation, writing, or set-up.
You can tune the AI with agent instructions to ensure brand safety, control discount codes, and most importantly, PREVIEW notifications before they go out.
(How is it that 90% of AI tools don’t allow easy previewing? It’s aging me.)
Then your app kinda runs itself. If you’re into that sort of thing.
Credo Beauty, for example, only spends ~1.5 hours a week managing their app. Which has a 23% higher AOV vs their online store. Do you know how many SKUs they have??
3️⃣: No clue how a mobile app would PERFORM.
Some of the fastest-growing brands on Shopify are driving 30% or more of their revenue with Tapcart.
It averages out to:
⤴ 63% higher CVR vs. mobile web
⤴ 82% higher RPS vs. online store
⤴ 12% higher AOV vs. online store
That’s just an average, which you might blow out of the water. Brands like OluKai have unlocked 142% higher CVR!
Tapcart’s tech is advanced enough to serve a variety of businesses:
Credo Beauty is a marketplace with over 100 brands. Its app led to a 3.5x lift in CVR and doubled their recovered revenue with Tapcart AI.
BÉIS is a single DTC brand that’s seen 12% revenue growth from Tapcart’s FREE push notifications alone.
Imagine what your brand could do with Tapcart…
A QUICK ASIDE: THE MOBILE APP STRATEGY I’D STEAL IN A HEARTBEAT
This 1 brand I’m obsessed with, Daily Drills, has a really intense drop model. I’m NEVER on time to buy anything. Stupid responsibilities.
Meanwhile, shoppers with the app get to shop 5 minutes early.
Every email says something like, “Summer Beach collection dropping Friday, 9am Eastern, 8:55 for app downloads. Download here.”
It’s the smartest f*cking way EVER to drive that drop model.
I’m tempted to download this app. Fine, you’ve convinced me.
Steal this idea for your own app.
If you don’t do drops, give customers another LEGITIMATELY COMPELLING incentive to use the app. (And, build it with Tapcart, obviously, which is what Daily Drills did).
We all have levers, but they become more plentiful and more powerful on an app. Scarcity, rewards, and free shipping are your powers to wield.
READY TO GET MOBILE APP-TIMIZED?
Unlocking a new sales channel that transforms your business sounds like a big lift.
With Tapcart, it’s simple to build AND manage.
Connect it to your Shopify account, drag and drop, level up.
Send AI-powered push notifications to your heart’s (and revenue’s) content.
Give your best customers your best mobile experience.
And if this hasn’t convinced you to investigate, how dare you: you can use my link for 3 months of free access to Tapcart AI Pro.
I begged requested. You’re welcome. :]
May you live APPily ever after,
Ari
