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Retailers should use mobile to ‘get lucky’ this Valentine’s Day

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In the UK, Valentine’s Day is increasingly lucrative for retailers. Mobile analytics and engagement platform CleverTap saw first-hand how their clients’ customers behaved in the lead up to the international day of love, last year, with a significant increase in Valentine’s Day related app behaviour and purchases. For example, movie and concert ticket sales quadrupled for their ticketing app clients.

Visa Europe’s UK consumer spending index for February 2016, saw a record spend associated with Valentine’s Day, throughout the country and the total time consumers spent using shopping apps increased by 25 per cent in 2016.

This year, 45 per cent of users are predicted to purchase their Valentine’s Day gifts via smartphones and a further 30 per cent will send romantic texts*. CleverTap says considering the statistics, it makes perfect sense for retailers to use their customer’s preferred device to show their love this V-Day, too.

But, there is a warning, says CleverTap’s Chief Product Officer, Paul Brody: “Whereas dating studies show that a person knows whether they’re falling for someone by the third date, almost a whopping 80 per cent** of users will uninstall an app within three days of installation and more will continue to uninstall the app over the next month, especially if they are not seeing value.

“Therefore, to keep users engaged, It’s crucial to interact with your users – regardless of how long they have been using your app – in a personalised, contextual way. You can segment them by demographics, usage pattern and preferences. If users do not find your app useful or interesting enough they will not hesitate to uninstall it,” says Brody.

In order to ensure retailers make the best first appression (app-impression) CleverTap have put together a list of the four best practices retail marketers can use to enhance user engagement when it comes to their retail apps this Valentine’s Day:



  1. There’s no one size fits all

  • Segment your highly engaged users from your lightly engaged or new users. Each segment has a different relationship with your app and your brand. For example, you might reserve a very special offer for only the highest engaged users – or, your VIPs

  • More lightly engaged or new users probably need to be prodded a little more to step up their interaction with your brand – they may be ready for information about the benefits of your service but are not yet ready to convert





  1. Timing is everything

  • Consider triggering campaigns so they reach the user in context – for example, as they are doing something within your app or just prior to completing a key step. Each conversion activity in an app has a “golden window” where users who convert do so within a specific time or not at all. If you message users right before this window closes, you’re much more likely to move them along in your app experience





  1. Personalise your campaigns

  • It might sound like a no-brainer but personalised messages will always perform better, especially those that arrive in context, i.e. in relation to when a user has done something, like moved an item into their basket





  1. Have fun!

  • Your users have downloaded your app for a reason – probably because they like your brand and your products – either through experience or aspiration. Therefore, your your app as a chance to lend the authenticity to their shopping experience. Are your staff in-store really bubbly? Great, reflect that through the use of fun emoticons and witty in-app banter. Don’t discount the importance of fun and imagery – at CleverTap we see time and again that notifications with emojis are opened more. Period.

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