Most apps are deleted not long after they are downloaded, so how do we get our apps past the honeymoon phase and get users to find long term meaningful value? We will look at how games, loyalty, CRM, and geo fencing can all be used to create every day utility for retail customers.

1. SHE’S JUST NOT
THAT INTO YOU
How to turn their first date with your app into
a long term relationship

2. WHO IS THIS TALL REDHEAD?
@rachelyouens
Los Angeles by way of Austin
Mobile Manager in charge of app, mobile
site, mobile marketing, mobile social
Emerging markets developer for NFC, augmented
reality, and facial tracking projects.
Founder using content marketing, mobile,
video and social to cover street fashion

3. WHAT DOES YOUR USER WANT
We know that a large amount of apps are never opened aſter the first time, so how
do we turn a one night stand into a long term relationship? For many users
shopping alone isn’t enough, they can do that on mobile web. What other
functionality can we give them that will keep them coming back?
MOBILE CUSTOMER SERVICE TOOLS
GUIDED BY ANALYTICS

4. MOBILE CUSTOMER SERVICE TOOLS
Many popular customer service tools are going mobile. Although these are designed to
help with customer problems, they’re also an excellent place to take feedback and
respond to loyal users.

5. Let your best users tell you what they want
•
Don’t harass all users with the prompt to give feedback in
the app. Prompt those who are most active.
•
While more traditional customer service companies like Get
Satisfaction are going to mobile, mobile first companies like
UserVoice are appearing that offer native and web solutions
•
Collect all the users asking for a specific feature and
message them upon its release.
MOBILE CUSTOMER SERVICE TOOLS

6. APP ANALYTICS
As with web analytics, there’s a ton you can mine for improvement, but we’re going
to talk specifically about predictive. How can you anticipate what your user will
want?
!
The Flurry analytics platform is particularly useful because you can piggyback on
the knowledge of Flurry’s 100mm+ users across 50k apps.
!
You’ll get more specific data on things like age which Google does not collect.

7. Listen to the data
•
Flurry shows you users’ favored categories
and their personas.
•
In categories, be sure to look at the
benchmark in blue. Naturally games and
social will be popular, but how popular are
they relative to the norm?
•
For many retail apps, the age may skew
younger on the app than the desktop
CATEGORIES
PERSONAS
APP ANALYTICS

8. KEEPING THEM ENGAGED
Not many people shop every day, retailers face the challenge of trying to get a user
to load an app that they may only use once a week. How do you give a user value
on a day when a user doesn’t have any money to spend with us?
USER GENERATED CONTENT
GAMIFICATION
LOYALTY
IN STORE UTILITY
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
DIGITAL GIVE AWAYS

9. USER GENERATED CONTENT
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Creating content is difficult and takes time. Let the user do it for you. Aſter all, they have a
still and video camera in their hands. Plus, everyone loves seeing their own photo.

10. Don’t feel pressured to start a social network
•
You aren’t Facebook. Building a social
network with accounts and friends etc.
can be difficult.
•
Unless your site is a very defined niche
with a strong existing community, this
technical challenge may not be worth it.
USER GENERATED CONTENT

11. Don’t just hope for good content
•
•
uniqlo
Unless you want a bunch of blurry selfies,
set your expectations
Leverage the filters Apple has made
available through it’s Core Image API
•
Instruct the user in the correct way to light
and pose themselves, either with visual or
text instructions

12. Make it easy for users to share
•
Just as you would cut down hurdles to checkout, you
must cut hurdles to UGC.
•
Don’t make them use your app. It can be suggested, but
not forced. Leverage the power of the Instagram and
Facebook APIs and the network’s huge distribution.
•
Don’t trap the content in your app or on your site. Make
sure it’s all sharable and help optimize it for them.
USER GENERATED CONTENT

13. Do Something With it
•
Creating users content is good, making it
shoppable is better, but doing some
creative and mobile with it is best.
•
Turn user generated content into
campaigns.
•
Turn user generated content into digital
giſts including backgrounds.
USER GENERATED CONTENT

14. LOYALTY
AE
The mobile wallet may still be a bit of a distant dream, but mobile loyalty isn’t. Letting customers use your
app to ditch the plastic is one of the best ways to lock them into your app, while also providing them
valuable new services.

15. Don’t just replace plastic, improve it
•
Give the user options. Don’t make them commit to storing
your card in the app, let them leverage Passbook.
Passbook has push and geo location, which are valuable.
•
More than just slapping the user’s barcode in the app,
bring in your loyalty system APIs so that the user can see
their balance
•
Make sure your POS have barcode scanners that can read
off of phones.
LOYALTY

16. GAMIFICATION
F21
Vic sec
For those companies that haven’t taken the loyalty leap yet, don’t want to give monetary
rewards, or just want to give users something else to do, gamification is perfect.

17. Challenging the Customer
•
•
Vic secret
claw game
Rewards can range from entry for a prize,
to digital goods like phone backgrounds, to
simply a badge
Encourage users to try new features, visit
new locations
•
For younger audiences who may be using
the app more as a brand experience than
for actual shopping, this is a great way for
them to engage without dropping a dime.
GAMIFICATION

18. IN STORE UTILITY
Target
One of the places that retail apps have the biggest potential is in store, where they can help us
reach the omichannel dream. But in order to get in store they need to have enough utility to
tempt users.

19. Give them something useful, and advertise it
•
Construct tools around the way people shop. Sephora
knew users regularly bought the same item again and
again and thus created the ability to scan to wishlist.
Target knew users had long lists, sometimes shared
among big parties, so they created their list tool
•
Reward customers with surprise incentives for in-store
use that will keep them coming back, such as popping
up free shipping upon their first barcode scan
•
Beat the customer over the head with the functionality
in store with signage, demos and more.
IN STORE UTILITY

20. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
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Many companies are using sophisticated segmenting strategy for email and site promotions, but not
mobile. Use push and other resources to personalize the app and make it useful with messages based
on location, behavior, and taste.

21. The new center for the CRM
•
Think outside geo-fencing your stores or
conquests. Geo fence relevant lifestyle
locations. Sports fields, colleges, festivals.
•
Particularly with Gmail’s new sorted inbox,
making sure consumers get confirmation
emails is tough. But they won’t miss a
push.
•
iBeacon really blows this game out of the
water, allowing us to extend our CRM to
in-store behavior.
IN STORE UTILITY

22. COMPLIMENTARY DIGITAL GIVE AWAYS
Everyone loves something free, even if it’s made only of
bits and bytes. Starbucks pioneered this model but
companies like Sephora have followed.
!
Using info gleaned from Flurry category interests, find
complimentary apps and you can cross promote one
another.

23. LEARNING BY EXAMPLE
Unlike most social networks where the users are the products, our products are
the products. The minute we start selling and not just pleasing users, we lose
perspective. Look to social fashion sites for emerging trends and lessons.

24. LEARN FROM THE BEST
Young people want to
socially shop, they find
items for their friends and
include their friends in
their decisions
Let them buy the clothes
right off people’s backs
Let the user tell their own
story with your products

25. GOT THOUGHTS OF YOUR OWN?
HOLLA AT ME!
@rachelyouens
rachel.youens@gmail.com
www.rachelyouens.com