How to build loyalty and retention with a mobile app

Retention becomes more challenging when acquisition costs increase and margins narrow. Most brands still rely on email and SMS to drive repeat purchases, but those channels are crowded, and customers don't always see the right message at the right time.

That's why more eCommerce brands are turning to mobile apps as a retention layer, especially for their most engaged customers who want a faster, more mobile-native way to shop.

You've already invested heavily in your storefront experience. But for many brands, there's still a missing piece: an app that makes returning effortless and keeps customers closer to purchase.

Mobile apps are one of the strongest channels for building loyalty because they reduce repeat-visit friction and add push notifications as a direct way to re-engage customers.

In this post, we'll break down why apps work so well for retention and the specific plays brands use to build habits, increase repeat purchases, and strengthen loyalty over time.

eCommerce has changed. A few years ago, many brands could lean on relatively efficient paid traffic while email did much of the repeat-purchase work.

Today, acquisition costs are higher, competition is heavier, and margins are tighter, so repeat customers carry more of the profit.

That puts pressure on Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). If customers don't come back, growth gets harder to sustain. And even if you have a loyalty program, loyalty is more difficult to earn when every brand is running constant promotions and competing for the same attention.

Most brands rely on email and SMS to drive repeat purchases. Both work, but both have limits:

• Email: Inboxes are crowded, deliverability varies, and customers miss messages when timing is off.

• SMS: High visibility, but it's intrusive. Overuse drives opt-outs and fatigue.

When these channels are the only path back to your store, repeat purchases depend on customers noticing a message, clicking through, and re-entering the shopping flow from scratch.

Points alone don't create loyalty. Habit does.

Loyalty is the difference between a customer searching for "running shoes" and comparing five brands, versus opening your store first because it's the easiest, most familiar path. That preference comes from access, speed, and a better experience, not just discounts.

To build deeper retention, you need retention marketing tactics that go beyond promotions. You need an experience that is faster, easier, and more rewarding than the alternatives. You need to become the path of least resistance.

A mobile website is optimized for acquisition. It's where new traffic lands from SEO, ads, and social.

A mobile app is structurally better suited for repeat behavior because it sits closer to the customer and reduces the friction between intent and action.

A mobile website disappears when the tab closes. An app stays on the home screen.

That matters because it keeps your brand visible without competing for inbox placement or feed ranking. Every time a customer unlocks their phone, your icon is there. Returning feels natural and fast.

Friction is one of the biggest reasons customers don't come back. On mobile web, repeat customers often have to re-find your site, re-navigate, and re-enter the shopping flow while competing with tabs, notifications, and distractions.

Apps reduce that friction in concrete ways:

• One-tap access: Customers return instantly from the home screen.

• Smoother continuity: Returning shoppers often move through familiar flows faster.

• Direct deep links: Push notifications can take customers straight to a product, collection, cart, or page.

The result is fewer steps between "I want to buy" and "I'm back where I left off."

Across many eCommerce benchmarks, app users tend to be more engaged. They return more often, browse more deeply, and respond faster to relevant prompts.

Part of this is self-selection. Your most engaged customers are more likely to install. But the environment matters too: an app removes steps and makes repeat visits feel like the default.

An app creates the foundation, but loyalty comes from how you use it. The best app strategies create a reason to install, a reason to return, and a reason to stay.

Below are practical plays brands use to turn an app into a loyalty engine.

A straightforward way to drive loyalty is to treat app users like VIPs. This creates a clear reason to install and rewards customers for committing attention and space on their phones.

How to do it:

• Early access to new product drops

• App-exclusive SKUs or bundles

• Limited-quantity releases visible only in-app

Execution tips:

• Pick a perk you can run repeatedly (weekly drops, monthly early access, seasonal launches).

• Announce the perk across email and SMS with a single CTA: install to access.

• Keep the perk simple. Complexity kills adoption.

Why it works:

• Rewards commitment, not just spending

• Trains customers to check the app first

• Creates a perk without relying on constant discounting

Launching new products, bundles, and promotional offers provides the perfect moment to condition repeat behavior. Instead of announcing everywhere at once, use a staggered release that makes app users feel like they're on the inside track.

The app-first launch playbook:

1. Launch the app first and announce it via push.

2. Open the web launch later for a broader reach.

3. Use the app-first window to build momentum, social proof, and urgency.

Execution tips:

• Keep the app-first window short (hours to a day) so it feels real.

• Use push deep links to land customers directly on the launch collection.

• Follow up with an email when the web launch opens, reinforcing "app gets it first."

Why it works:

• Creates privilege without discounting

• Builds launch momentum from your most engaged users

• Makes your app feel like more than a duplicate storefront

Push is often treated like a broadcast. That's the fastest way to train customers to ignore it.

Push works best when it behaves like a personal assistant: timely, relevant, and triggered by intent.

Notifications on a mobile app

High-value trigger examples:

• "Back in stock" alerts for viewed products

• Price drop notifications for wishlisted items

• Refill reminders based on purchase cadence

Execution tips:

• Use fewer sends, but make them more specific.

• Deep link directly to the product, cart, or collection.

• Segment by behavior so messages don't feel generic.

Why it works:

• Relevant messages feel helpful, not spammy

• Removes friction by taking customers directly to what they care about

• Reinforces the app as a utility, not a billboard

Loyalty programs fail for predictable reasons: they're out of sight, customers forget their balance, and redemption feels like work.

Apps solve the visibility and friction problem by making rewards feel immediate and always present, especially through simple incentives like offering more points for app purchases.

Best practices for app loyalty:

• Points balance visible on the app home screen

• Push notifications when rewards unlock

• App-only redemption perks (free shipping, early access)

This also pairs well with cashback-style structures that feel tangible, especially when customers can clearly see their status and benefits. For example, tiered cashback rewards can make loyalty feel like progress rather than "math."

To go deeper, this guide on how to build a reward points system covers structures that drive engagement beyond one-off discounts.

The highest-retention apps give customers a reason to open even when they aren't ready to buy. This is how your app becomes a habit, not just a checkout shortcut.

Set up the product pages on a mobile app

Examples:

• New arrivals feed

• Editorial content or buying guides

• Seasonal collections curated in-app

Execution tips:

• Build a "what's new" page that updates automatically.

• Keep content skimmable and tied to products.

• Use push sparingly to point customers back to content that matches their interests.

Why it works:

• Gives customers a reason to open without immediate purchase intent

• Keeps your brand top of mind between purchases

• Builds familiarity so your store becomes the default choice later

A mobile app doesn't replace your existing channels. It strengthens them by giving your best customers a smoother place to return to.

Think of the roles like this:

• Email: Long-form storytelling, education, lifecycle messaging

• SMS: Urgent, high-intent moments that warrant interruption

• Apps (Push + in-app experience): Ongoing relationship and repeat habit formation

Apps work best when they absorb your most loyal customers, not your entire list. Your goal is to move high-intent repeat buyers into a faster, more direct environment.

For a long time, launching an app meant hiring an expensive agency or building and maintaining a separate platform. That often meant duplicating experiences and increasing maintenance.

That's no longer required for most eCommerce brands.

Modern website-to-app approaches let you turn an existing eCommerce site into native iOS and Android apps without rebuilding everything from scratch. This is especially attractive when your website already reflects your best merchandising, CRO, and integrations.

This approach has clear advantages for established brands:

• No rebuild: You keep your existing site experience and workflows.

• Always in sync: Updates to your store carry through without maintaining a separate codebase.

• Lower cost and complexity: Compared to fully custom builds (which can run into the hundreds of thousands), this approach is simpler to launch and maintain.

A platform like MobiLoud is the best way for a Shopify brand to launch a mobile app when you want to retain all the features from their website in the app, and avoid the stress of managing a separate platform.

Discounts can drive transactions, but loyalty is built when returning is easier than going anywhere else.

A mobile app supports that by making your brand present, reducing repeat-visit friction, and enabling timely, helpful re-engagement through push notifications.

When you add VIP access, app-first launches, loyalty visibility, and habit-building content, the app becomes a place customers return to by default.

If you want to increase retention, the next step is to choose one or two plays from above and run them consistently. Start with a VIP perk or an app-first launch, layer in behavior-triggered push, and make rewards visible. Over time, those systems compound.