This article was written by Warren Laine-Naida and Bridget Willard. Although in the first-person, you’ll probably see both of our personalities. Bridget has a successful marketing agency that focuses on SaaS Products and also has a retail job while Warren defines himself as a web generalist who is also a teacher. Basically Bridget works with products and Warren builds websites. We both have a passion for understanding the WHY before doing the WHAT.
We’d also like to note that we’ve written four books together three of which are a series and none of which were written by AI of any kind and the same goes with this article.
We’ve used our personal experiences as well as data from the original source for our arguments.
TL;DR: Retail apps need to shift from transactional “one-night stands” to building a long-term customer relationship.
- Problem: Apps focused only on single discounts (e.g., “$5 off first purchase”) result in high churn and low long-term engagement.
- The Shift: Focus must move from install + redeem KPIs to sustained engagement (store visits, interactions) over weeks and months.
- Value: Apps must provide daily micro-value (tips, small rewards, helpful reminders) and emotional hooks (streaks, anticipation) to justify retention.
- Personalization: Leverage first-party data to deliver hyper-personalized content tailored to individual behaviors, ensuring the app is part of a cohesive omnichannel strategy that connects all touchpoints.
- Strategy: Redesign onboarding to show value after the initial coupon. Integrate AI to augment staff, don’t replace them.
Keep it Simple: 5 EZ Customer Service Reminders
- Be Proactive. Think like your customer – what motivates you?
- Do not see this as a cost. Customer service is a feature, even today.
- Interactions are opportunities to sell. Questions, answers, freebies, sales, loyalty.
- Don’t leave it all to AI – integrate AI, don’t replace your people with it. It’s just software.
- No one style fits all — tailor your offers to customer expectations. Easily done with digital.
What Do Customers Want from In-Store Apps?
In a word: convenience. And it’s not just Gen Z and Millennials – who adopt in-store apps above 84% (according to Chain Store Age). Consumers overwhelmingly also want scan-and-go. We know what you’re thinking (thanks a lot Walmart). Big Box Retailers often change the expectations of consumers.
One of the things I love about being in retail as well as B2B marketing is I get data – every day – in real time. Even at discount retailers, customers want scan and go. They don’t know what kind of datacenter would be needed to track that kind of real time inventory. But I couldn’t even imagine self-checkout. With the price checks? Holy Toledo. There would be riots. And we’re not even talking about shrink that comes from self-checkout.
“According to the latest LendingTree survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, 15% of self-checkout users have purposely stolen an item — and 44% of self-checkout thieves plan to do it again.” LendingTree
Amazon ruined delivery. I’ll never forget doing customer service for a skincare line out of Austin, Texas. Customers were irate if the delivery was longer than 5 days – to Germany. (“I’m sorry, we don’t have a distribution center in the EU,” I would copy/paste in the emails.) Comedian Ronny Chieng famously has the “Amazon Now” bit in his 2020 Netflix special.
“To be hand delivered into your home like an Emperor… any fleeting thought.. When you’re drunk… I want just one pen.” Ronny Chieng
But I Have an Online Shop. Why Do I Need an App?
It’s true that an app often feels like a waste of digital storage and keeping inventory for physical shops isn’t necessarily for the mom and pop gift shop. An online store should be remarkably different than the instore app. Meaning, being online is an opportunity to have exclusive deals only found online while the in-store app can feature a map (like Walmart) or a way to manage your credit card (like TJ Maxx).
A shop and a mobile app can compete with one another. A South Korean study done in 2022 by Boram Lim, Ying Xie, and Ernan Haruvy saw a “cannibalization” of the online store by the app.
“The mobile channel is a complement for offline customers but a substitute for online customers.” Science Direct
“Respondents’ top frustrations with in-store shopping were out-of-stock products (43.9%) and long checkout lines (29.7%). These concerns are reflected in their preferences for must-have retail app features. For instance, 52.7% of respondents want to see real-time product availability. Consumers also value exclusive offers (52.3%), coupon scanning (52.2%), and loyalty programs (50.0%).” Chain Store Age
Why Give One-Time Customers Free Stuff?
- Quick scene: shopper downloads an app for “5 bucks off,” uses the coupon once, and deletes the app on the way to the car
- Rhetorical question: If that’s your app strategy, what does that say about your relationship with customers?
Stop treating that initial discount like the digital equivalent of ghosting. The “$5 off” is the opener, not the relationship.
If a shopper deletes your app on the way to the car, you didn’t fail the launch; you failed the follow-up.
Redesign your app onboarding to immediately showcase the daily micro-value — the personalized tips, anticipated weekly rewards, and content streams that earn the long-term rental space on their phone, proving you’re serious about more than a single transaction.
Reminder: Micro-moments are the critical, intention-rich instances when people turn to a device, usually a smartphone, to satisfy an immediate need to know, go, do, or buy, demanding that businesses “be there, be useful, and be quick” with relevant information.
If your app strategy is built solely on one-time transactions, you’re publicly broadcasting that your brand is only interested in a one-night stand. This is a fundamental hygiene failure in modern retail. Don’t talk to me about your sustainable marketing initiatives.
Shift your KPIs away from mere installs and commit to turning the app into a true relational platform: use first-party data to inject emotional hooks and hyper-personalization that signal patience and commitment.
Your app is a persistent conversation, not just a temporary megaphone for generic coupons.
“Personalized marketing is more than a nice-to-have – it’s a must-have. We’re not talking glorified AI from the far future either. The basis for any successful marketing is establishing a personal connection. Empathy. A relationship.
Today, personalization means more than just addressing customers by name in an email. Personalization delivers individual content that corresponds to a customer’s product preferences and behaviors. It connects all channels – from email to shop to a mobile app.” Andrews Wharton
What Companies Get this Right?
TJ Maxx / TK Maxx in the EU gets this. Their app allows you to shop, manage your credit card, and use, track, and spend your rewards points. Plus, mobile users get their rewards points in 48 hours instead of monthly. The app is a must-have.
Walmart gets this. You can build lists, check out prices, compare products, and track Walmart Cash. Walmart Plus Members can view their gas discount codes at Murphy Gas Stations, get free shipping and delivery, and also get other rewards like 25% off Burger King Orders, save on auto care, get free online pet care with Pawp, and choose a free streaming app: Paramount+ or Peacock.
Total Wine & More allows you to gain points as well as special coupons that you can apply for either in-store or delivery as well as mixing and matching from certain distributors.
The app can’t just be your one-way ticket to data for modeling. You have to give something in return. And if you want to keep your customers in their apps (active customer base with a higher lifetime value), then keep giving.
So many companies offer a one-time discount for email or SMS signups. We take the 10% and immediately unsubscribe and say “stop.”
And by the way, slow down on the emails, will ya? I finally had to unsubscribe from Old Navy because they emailed every single day. This is too much. It’s badgering and harassment just one step away from a Temporary Restraining Order. Seriously. Once a week is enough.
Your App Isn’t a One-Night Stand. Or is it?
- Most retail apps are built around a single discount or launch campaign, not an ongoing relationship. The result is cluttered phones, low usage, and marketing teams wondering why “the app isn’t working.”
- I have a bakery app and a pet store app. They gave me 5 and 10 bucks off my first purchase. But since then, nothing else. WHY should I keep your app? This is just a digital extension of “subscribe to our newsletter for 5 bucks off your first order.” How many of those do people subscribe to and then never read another email from the company?
- I still receive paper coupons in the mail identical to the coupons in the app. This makes as much sense as sharing the same thing on social media as you do in your email newsletters.
Your $25,000 app isn’t bringing you results? It isn’t working because it’s a digital clone of your disposable paper coupons – an expensive one at that. There is nothing special for the people who give up memory on their phones and pay for usage. Stop treating the app as a launch campaign; it’s an ongoing ecosystem.
If your value proposition ends after the first transaction, expect the digital equivalent of a high-churn, low-usage landfill on your customers’ phones.
So, in effect, you aren’t asking why customers should keep your app; you’re silently proving they shouldn’t. And then you wonder about churn.
And in-store app churn is a huge problem. According to Business of Apps, shopping has a 30-day churn rate of 95.8% (2023) – up from 94.3% (2020). Ninety-Five Percent. That’s crazy. In the US, 30-day churn is 97.2% and in Germany it is 97%.
So, people say they like apps, but do they really? And, are they just downloading your app to get the one-time discount? How do you keep your app on your customers’ phones? How do you justify the cost of the app with a 95% churn rate?
Again, you have to go beyond the first date. Don’t just digitize your existing inefficiency; amplify your strategy. Sending the same offer across physical mail, email, and the app is digital laziness — it tells the customer the app provides zero incremental value.
So stop the redundant broadcast. Every one of your channels, especially your app, must deliver unique, personalized, and context-aware utility.
“Apps aren’t a nice-to-have — they are part of your sustainable marketing. Smarter personalization, less noise, better results.” Warren Laine-Naida
Treat Customers Like You Would Like to Be Treated
- Contrast: a one-night stand versus a steady relationship built on small, repeated moments of value. Do you give away the farm on the first date? No. You keep the relationship interesting as long as possible.
- Question: If you wouldn’t treat a partner this way, why treat your customers like this?
Everyone knows, the biggest mistake is giving away the farm on the first date.
A sustainable relationship is built on small, repeated moments of value, not one massive giveaway.
Inject daily micro-value (like tips, streaks, or tiny surprise rewards) and emotional hooks (like anticipating “next week’s coupons”). This continuous drip of utility, proven effective by thousands of point cards, is how you earn daily attention and retention.
The customer relationship is a direct mirror of your marketing commitment. If you’re unwilling to put in the consistent effort and personalization required for a real-life commitment, why do you expect customer loyalty?
Ask your partner how long they would stick around if your relationship were simply your push notifications.
Your business deserves relationship standards. If you aren’t passive or boring in your love life, stop being passive and boring in your marketing. As David Ogilvy famously said, “the customer is your spouse.”
“First-party data is like a direct conversation with your customers, allowing you to gain a deep understanding of their preferences and behaviors.” Slixta
What a Customer Relationship Looks Like: a Reminder
- Daily micro-value: timely tips, tiny rewards, helpful reminders, not just “20% off, today only.” This is why point cards work! You collect points each time you use the app. I look forward to these apps and the new coupons each Sunday.
- Emotional hooks: anticipation of “next week’s coupon,” streaks, recognition, and small surprises.
The biggest strategic failure is mistaking a discount for a relationship. Stop relying on the massive, unsustainable “20% off, today only” blasts. You need to understand the psychology of daily micro-value.
Point cards work because they create a collect-and-anticipate loop, not a spend-and-forget one.
Use your app to inject that low-friction, high-frequency utility — timely tips, tiny rewards, or helpful reminders.
Crucially, deploy emotional hooks: build streaks, offer genuine recognition, and cultivate the anticipation of “next week’s coupon” like a favorite Sunday ritual. This repeatable, addictive engagement is how you earn daily real estate on your customer’s screen.
“Consumers want personalization, and they are more likely to buy more and spend more with brands that tailor the experience.” Forbes
Upgrade from Ad Campaign Thinking to Relationship Thinking
- Shift from “install + redeem” KPIs to engagement over weeks and months (opens, interactions, store visits).
- Treat the app as part of a broader customer journey: in-store, email, social, and website, reinforcing each other.
The “Install & Redeem” metric only tracks the first date. Shift your focus entirely to sustained engagement metrics – opens, interactions, store visits – over long time horizons.
Your app must be architected as an essential component of a complete customer journey, constantly reinforcing value found across email, social, and in-store touchpoints.
“Smart omnichannel isn’t ‘post everywhere.’ It’s about every touchpoint working together – like a well-run shop. Social draws people in, email keeps them curious, ads help them decide, your app acts like a personal assistant in their pocket, and support makes sure they keep coming back.” Rocket.net
Here are Some Practical Steps for Retailer’s Apps
- Redesign onboarding: show what happens after the first coupon, not just how to claim it.
- Build a simple content calendar: weekly offers, seasonal tips, local news, and customer stories that keep the app alive.
Your current onboarding is a tactical failure. Redesign it to be a strategic promise. Focus not on claiming the first coupon, but on revealing the long-term weekly content calendar of value (tips, local news, stories).
This structure is what signals an ongoing relationship and gives the user a concrete reason to let the app survive past the first swipe.
“Rather than sending every user a generic 10% discount, a clothing brand can detect that a particular customer browses winter jackets every night between 9-10 PM on a mobile device and send a time-sensitive offer accordingly.” Artizone
Implement What You Know: Caring is Sharing
- Brief example of two fictional stores: one “one-night stand app,” one “relationship app,” and how their metrics diverge over three months.
- Highlight compounding effects: repeat visits, word of mouth, and data for better personalization.
Run a three-month internal metric comparison: “One-Night Stand App” vs. “Relationship App.” You will see that the divergence in key metrics is exponential. Talk, hug, kiss vs. jump into bed.
The relationship approach generates better data, fueling superior personalization, which drives repeat visits and priceless word-of-mouth — the true engine of sustainable growth. It’s all about happy, loyal, sharing, and caring customers.
Remember: UGC is generated by either really happy or really angry customers, not bored customers. Which customers are you nurturing?
“Don’t have the App thing happening yet in your business? No worries – old school is no fool. SMS boasts a 98% open rate!” Rocket.net
Wrapping Up: Isn’t Your Business Worth the Time?
- Circle back to the love-life question: your business deserves the same patience, care, and commitment you’d give to a real relationship.
- Call to action: before planning your next app or coupon, decide whether you want a one-time date or a long-term customer.
The critical strategic decision isn’t the coupon amount; it’s the commitment level.
Before you budget your next app or discount campaign, look in the mirror and decide: Are you building a system for a single, fleeting transaction, or are you ready to invest the patience, care, and personalization required for a long-term, profitable customer relationship?
Say, “I do.”
Loved This Article? Hire the Writers!
If you loved this article and it gave you some things to think about and change in your business, then why not hire either Warren Laine-Naida or Bridget Willard to write for your brand or product, too!
