Author: Vendrux

Your product detail page is where buying decisions happen. It’s the last stop before “Add to Cart” or the back button.

A shopper who lands on your PDP has already shown intent. They searched, clicked, browsed, and chose a specific product. Now they need enough information to commit, and they need it presented clearly, quickly, and on whatever device they’re using.

The problem is that most PDPs fall short. Baymard Institute’s research across hundreds of ecommerce sites found that only 18% of product pages earn a “good” or “acceptable” UX rating. The rest lose sales to preventable issues: missing size information, buried shipping details, slow load times, or product images that don’t show what the customer actually needs to see.

This guide covers every element of a high-performing PDP, from visuals and copy to technical SEO and mobile optimization, with sourced data and real examples so you can audit your own pages and make specific improvements.

What Is a Product Detail Page (PDP)?

A product detail page is the individual page on an ecommerce site dedicated to a single product. It’s where a shopper evaluates whether a product is worth buying. 

In ecommerce terms, the PDP sits between the product listing page (PLP), which shows a category or search results grid, and the cart/checkout flow.

The PDP’s job is simple: give shoppers everything they need to make a confident purchase decision. That includes:

• Visual confirmation (does this look like what I want?)
• Specification details (will it fit, work, or match?)
• Social validation (do other people recommend it?)
• Logistical clarity (when will it arrive, and can I return it?)

A PDP that answers all four of those questions converts. One that leaves gaps loses the sale to a competitor who answers them better.

Why PDP Optimization Matters More Than You Think

Improving your PDP conversion rate from 2.0% to 2.5% means a 25% revenue increase from the same traffic. No extra ad spend, no new campaigns. Just better pages.

Consider what’s at stake:

• Cart abandonment starts here. When shoppers can’t find the information they need (shipping cost, return policy, sizing), they leave before they ever reach checkout.
• Returns start here too. Vague descriptions, insufficient images, or unclear sizing lead to wrong purchases. Returns cost 15-30% of the item price to process and erode customer trust.
• SEO visibility depends on PDP quality. Google evaluates product pages for E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness). Well-structured PDPs with rich content, reviews, and structured data earn better rankings and rich snippets.
• Mobile shoppers are less patient. Mobile commerce accounts for over 57% of all ecommerce sales, and mobile shoppers scroll faster, tap less precisely, and abandon more quickly when pages are confusing or slow.

The opportunity is real: most of your competitors have mediocre PDPs. Fixing yours is one of the highest-leverage things you can do.

The Essential Elements of a High-Converting PDP

Product Images and Video

Product imagery is the single most influential element on a PDP. 67% of online shoppers cite image quality as the top factor in their buying decision, more than product descriptions, reviews, or pricing.

What high-performing product images look like:

• 6-8 images minimum showing different angles, close-up details, and scale references
• Lifestyle shots showing the product in use (worn, styled, placed in a room)
• Zoom functionality so shoppers can inspect textures, stitching, materials, and finishes
• Consistent lighting and backgrounds across your catalog for a professional, cohesive feel
• Color-accurate photography to reduce returns from “it looked different online”

Video content is a conversion multiplier. Shoppers who watch product videos are 144% more likely to add a product to their cart. Product demos, 360-degree views, and styling videos give shoppers confidence that static images alone can’t provide.

Nike does this well: their PDPs include large hero images, multiple angle shots, on-model lifestyle photography, and embedded video for key products, all viewable without leaving the page.

Note: Image SEO matters too. Use descriptive file names (blue-linen-blazer-front.jpg, not IMG_3847.jpg) and write alt text that describes the product for accessibility and search engines.

Product Titles and Descriptions

Your product title is the first piece of text a shopper reads, and it’s what search engines use to match your page to queries. A good title is descriptive, specific, and includes the key attributes a shopper would search for.

Title formula: Brand + Product Name + Key Attribute (Color, Size, Material, Use Case)

Example: “Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Jacket – Women’s” works better than “Better Sweater.”

For product descriptions, lead with benefits, then support with features:

• Open with 1-2 sentences explaining what the product does for the customer and why it matters
• Follow with a scannable bullet list of specifications (materials, dimensions, weight, compatibility)
• Use natural language, not marketing fluff. Nielsen Norman Group’s research found that shoppers want “complete but not wordy” descriptions that prioritize substance over salesmanship.

Formatting tips:

• Keep the main description to 100-200 words
• Use bullet points for specs and features
• Add expandable/accordion sections for detailed information (care instructions, warranty, technical specs) to avoid overwhelming the page
• Include keywords naturally for SEO, but write for humans first

Pricing and Payment Options

Pricing transparency directly affects conversion. Unexpected costs, especially shipping, are the top reason for cart abandonment.

Best practices for PDP pricing:

• Show the final price clearly including any taxes or fees the shopper will pay
• Display shipping cost or free shipping threshold on the PDP itself, not just at checkout. “Free shipping over $75” is a conversion driver and an AOV booster.
• Show original and sale prices together with the percentage saved. Make the savings concrete: “$120 $160 (Save 25%)” is more compelling than just showing the sale price.
• Include buy now, pay later (BNPL) options. Services like Klarna, Afterpay, and Shop Pay Installments can increase conversion by lowering the perceived price barrier. Display the installment amount directly: “or 4 payments of $30 with Afterpay.”

Variant Selection: Size, Color, and Customization

When a product comes in multiple variants (sizes, colors, materials), the selection experience can make or break the sale.

UX guidelines for variant selectors:

• Show all variants on a single page. Don’t create separate URLs for each color or size unless there’s a strong SEO reason to do so.
• Use color swatches, not dropdowns, for visual options. Shoppers should see available colors at a glance.
• Gray out or cross out unavailable variants rather than hiding them. Hiding options causes confusion (“I thought this came in blue?”).
• Update the main product image when a shopper selects a new color or style variant.
• Display availability per variant. “Only 3 left in Medium” creates legitimate urgency without feeling manipulative.

Size Charts and Fit Guides

For apparel, footwear, and accessories, sizing uncertainty is one of the biggest conversion killers. A shopper who isn’t sure about fit simply won’t buy, or will buy multiple sizes and return the rest.

• Include a size chart on the PDP (accessible via a link or modal, not buried in a separate page)
• Add model measurements and what size the model is wearing
• Consider a fit recommendation tool (True Fit, Fit Analytics) that suggests a size based on body measurements or past purchases
• Include customer-contributed fit feedback: “Runs small,” “True to size,” “Runs large”

Call-to-Action Design and Placement

The “Add to Cart” button is the most important element on your PDP. Everything else on the page exists to get a shopper confident enough to click it.

CTA best practices:

• Place it above the fold on desktop, immediately visible without scrolling
• Use a sticky/floating CTA on mobile that follows the shopper as they scroll through product details
• Make it the most visually prominent element on the page. High-contrast color, large tap target (minimum 44x44px for mobile), clear label.
• Use direct language: “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” converts better than clever alternatives like “Get Yours” or “Treat Yourself”
• Show a confirmation when an item is added. Either a mini-cart overlay, a slide-out drawer, or a clear notification. NN/g’s research found that unclear add-to-cart feedback caused shoppers to either add items twice or believe items weren’t added at all.

Trust Signals: Returns, Guarantees, and Security

Trust signals reduce purchase anxiety, especially for first-time customers and higher-priced items. They answer the subconscious question: “What if I don’t like it?”

Include these on or near the PDP:

• Return policy summary (e.g., “Free returns within 30 days”). Don’t make shoppers hunt for this on a separate page.
• Shipping and delivery estimate (“Arrives by March 28” or “Ships within 1-2 business days”)
• Security and payment badges (SSL, payment provider logos, “Secure checkout”)
• Satisfaction guarantee if you offer one
• Contact availability (live chat, phone number, or email) visible on the page

Place these near the CTA. Shoppers evaluate trust signals in the moments before clicking “Add to Cart.”

Social Proof: Reviews, Ratings, and UGC

98% of online shoppers read reviews before making a purchase, and adding ratings and reviews to PDPs delivers a 32% average conversion lift.

Review best practices:

• Show the star rating and review count near the top of the page (next to the product title). Don’t bury reviews at the bottom.
• Allow filtering and sorting by rating, recency, verified purchase, and relevance
• Include reviewer context: What size did they buy? What body type? How long have they used the product? This helps shoppers find reviews from people like them.
• Don’t hide negative reviews. A mix of ratings actually builds more trust than a perfect 5.0. Shoppers are suspicious of products with only positive reviews.
• Respond to negative reviews publicly. It shows you’re engaged and willing to make things right.

User-generated content (UGC) goes beyond text reviews. Customer photos and videos showing the product in real-life settings are more persuasive than professional photography for many shoppers. 

A large number of ecommerce sites still lack buyer-generated visuals, which means adding UGC is a competitive advantage.

Platforms like Yotpo, Bazaarvoice, Loox, and Judge.me make it straightforward to collect and display customer photos and video alongside text reviews.

Cross-Selling and Product Recommendations

Product recommendations on PDPs typically increase average order value. Personalized recommendations can boost sales by up to 20% and profits by 30%.

Common recommendation patterns:

• “Complete the look” / “Frequently bought together” – Suggest complementary products (a belt with trousers, a case with a phone)
• “You may also like” – Show similar products in case the current one isn’t quite right
• “Recently viewed” – Help shoppers navigate back to products they’ve already considered

Keep recommendation sections to 4-6 products. More than that creates decision fatigue rather than helpful guidance.

How to Optimize PDPs for Mobile

With mobile commerce representing 57% of ecommerce sales and growing, your PDP experience on a phone isn’t secondary, it’s primary.

Here’s what to consider for mobile shoppers.

Responsive Layout and Thumb-Friendly Design

Your PDPs should firstly adapt properly to mobile screens, and should also be easy to use for someone scrolling through their phone.

Mobile PDP design principles:

• Stack content vertically. On mobile, the natural flow is: image gallery > title/price > variant selector > CTA > description > reviews.
• Make tap targets large. Buttons, variant selectors, and interactive elements should be at least 44×44 pixels with adequate spacing between them.
• Use swipeable image galleries. Horizontal swipe for product images is an expected mobile pattern. Include a visual indicator showing how many images are available.
• Collapse secondary information. Use accordions for specs, shipping details, and care instructions to keep the initial view focused.

Sticky Add-to-Cart on Mobile

On longer mobile PDPs, the add-to-cart button scrolls out of view quickly. A sticky CTA bar at the bottom of the screen keeps the purchase action accessible at all times. Include the price and a compact CTA button in the sticky bar.

Page Speed and Core Web Vitals

Page speed directly affects both conversion rates and SEO rankings. Google’s Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP) are ranking factors, and slow-loading PDPs lose shoppers before they see the product.

PDP-specific speed optimizations:

• Lazy-load images below the fold. The hero image should load immediately; gallery images can load as the shopper scrolls.
• Serve images in modern formats (WebP or AVIF) with responsive sizing (srcset) so mobile devices don’t download desktop-sized files.
• Minimize layout shifts (CLS). Reserve space for images, variant selectors, and dynamic pricing before they load. Nothing frustrates shoppers more than the page jumping as they try to tap.
• Target LCP under 2.5 seconds. The Largest Contentful Paint is typically the hero product image on a PDP. Optimize it aggressively.

Technical PDP Optimization

Structured Data and Schema Markup

Product schema markup tells search engines exactly what your page contains and enables rich snippets in search results, including price, availability, star rating, and review count.

Essential schema types for PDPs:

• Product schema – Name, description, image, brand, SKU, price, availability, condition
• AggregateRating – Star rating and review count
• Offer – Price, currency, availability, price valid until
• Review – Individual review snippets
• BreadcrumbList – Navigation path to the product

Validate your markup with Google’s Rich Results Test and monitor in Google Search Console. Products with rich snippets typically see higher click-through rates from search results.

SEO Best Practices for Product Pages

• URL structure: Keep it clean and descriptive. /products/blue-linen-blazer outperforms /products/item-38472.
• Title tag: Include the product name and a key attribute. “Blue Linen Blazer – Women’s | Brand Name” is better than “Product Page | Brand Name.”
• Meta description: Write a unique, compelling description for each product (under 160 characters) that includes the product name and a value proposition.
• Image alt text: Describe the product accurately for accessibility and image search. “Blue linen blazer front view with pearl buttons” is better than “product image.”
• Internal linking: Link to related products, category pages, and buying guides from within the PDP. Breadcrumb navigation provides both UX and SEO value.
• Canonical tags: If a product exists under multiple categories or with different URL parameters (filters, tracking), use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues.

Accessibility and Inclusive Design

An accessible PDP serves more customers and meets legal requirements (ADA, WCAG 2.1). It also improves SEO since many accessibility best practices align with search engine optimization.

• Alt text on all images (already covered above for SEO, but critical for screen readers)
• Keyboard navigation for variant selectors, image galleries, quantity inputs, and CTA buttons
• Sufficient color contrast between text and backgrounds (minimum 4.5:1 ratio for body text)
• Form labels and ARIA attributes on interactive elements (dropdowns, size selectors, quantity fields)
• Video captions for product videos

Advanced PDP Strategies

Focus on getting the basics right first. But once that’s done, you can start thinking about how to elevate your PDPs even further.

A/B Testing Your Product Pages

The best practices in this guide are based on industry research, but your audience may respond differently. A/B testing lets you validate changes with real data instead of assumptions.

High-impact PDP elements to test:

• CTA button color, size, text, and placement
• Product image count and order
• Description length and format (paragraph vs. bullets)
• Review placement (above the fold vs. below description)
• Urgency messaging (“Only 3 left” vs. no urgency)
• Price display format (with/without BNPL messaging)

Tools like VWO, Optimizely, Google Optimize (sunset, but alternatives exist), and Convert handle PDP-level testing. Start with one variable at a time and run tests until you reach statistical significance.

Personalization and AI-Powered Recommendations

Generic “You may also like” sections are becoming less effective as shoppers expect personalized experiences. AI-powered recommendation engines analyze browsing history, purchase history, and real-time behavior to surface products each shopper is most likely to buy.

Platforms like Nosto, Rebuy, Klevu, and Shopify’s built-in Search & Discovery app offer personalization that can be applied to PDP recommendation sections, recently viewed carousels, and dynamic bundles.

Fulfillment Transparency

Modern shoppers expect to know exactly how and when they’ll get their purchase. On the PDP, this means:

• Estimated delivery date based on the shopper’s location (not just “3-5 business days” but “Arrives by Thursday, March 28”)
• Pickup options if you have physical stores (BOPIS: Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store)
• Same-day or next-day delivery availability for local shoppers
• Subscription/auto-replenishment options for consumable products

Product Page Examples That Convert

Nike

Nike’s PDPs are a benchmark for visual merchandising. Key elements: large, zoomable hero images; on-model and flat-lay shots; integrated video; expandable sections for details, shipping, and reviews; clear variant selectors for size and color; and a prominent “Add to Bag” CTA. They also include “Complete the Look” cross-sells with styled outfit suggestions.

Allbirds

Allbirds keeps their PDPs clean and focused. Highlights: sustainability messaging woven into the product story; customer reviews with fit feedback (“Runs true to size”); a “Find Your Size” tool; and a limited, curated color palette that reduces decision fatigue. They lead with benefits (comfort, sustainability) rather than specs.

Glossier

Glossier’s PDPs showcase the power of community-driven social proof. Their review section lets shoppers filter by skin type and concern, making reviews personally relevant. They bundle products with clearly communicated savings and embed lifestyle UGC throughout the page.

PDP Optimization Checklist

Use this checklist to audit your own product pages:

Visuals

• 6+ product images including multiple angles
• Lifestyle/in-use photos
• Zoom functionality
• Product video (demo, 360-view, or styling)
• Descriptive alt text on all images

Product Information

• Descriptive product title with key attributes
• Benefit-driven description (100-200 words)
• Scannable specs in bullet format
• Size chart or fit guide (apparel)
• Expandable sections for detailed info

Pricing and Payment

• Clear pricing above the fold
• Sale price with savings shown
• BNPL/installment options displayed
• Shipping cost or free shipping threshold visible

Trust and Social Proof

• Star rating and review count near the top
• Filterable, sortable reviews
• Customer photos/UGC
• Return policy on or near the PDP
• Security/payment badges near CTA

Conversion

• Prominent, high-contrast CTA above the fold
• Sticky CTA on mobile
• Clear add-to-cart confirmation
• Cross-sell/recommendation section (4-6 products)
• Wishlist option

Technical

• Product schema markup (validated)
• LCP under 2.5 seconds
• No layout shift on images or dynamic content
• Unique meta title and description
• Breadcrumb navigation
• Canonical tags set correctly
• Keyboard-navigable interactive elements

Bringing Your PDP Experience into a Native App

You’ve been through this whole guide, and put together bulletproof, high-converting PDPs that have totally transformed your business.

But your website isn’t the only surface where people buy from you. Another crucial channel: your mobile app.

The problem? With most mobile apps, all the painstaking work to optimize your website’s PDPs don’t carry over to your app.

If you’re using a classic Shopify mobile app builder, for example, your app exists as a separate storefront, and your highly optimized PDPs turn into stock, templated PDPs for app users.

The solution? Vendrux.

Vendrux directly converts your entire site into a mobile app. That means all your PDP optimizations carry over, automatically.

When you make changes to your site, your app updates with it. No extra work, no juggling separate platforms.

It’s by far the best way to launch a mobile app, if your site relies on a lot of in-depth customizations and improvements that have stacked up over years of work.

Want to see what your app could look like? Get in touch and book a free consultation and we’ll show you, along with a full breakdown of how Vendrux can help you go live with the perfect, low-lift mobile app, in just 30 days.

US ecommerce revenue hit $1.2 trillion in 2025, up from around $875 billion just a couple of years ago. That growth has turned the question of which platform merchants choose into a meaningful market dynamic. Every percentage point of platform market share represents billions in processed transactions.

This article breaks down current ecommerce platform market share data in the United States, with comparisons across traffic tiers (top 10K, top 1M, and all sites), global context, and a closer look at the biggest platforms driving online commerce today.

All data is sourced from BuiltWith, StoreLeads, and Statista unless otherwise noted.

What Are the Biggest Ecommerce Platforms by Market Share in the US?

Shopify has a strong grip on the position as the most popular ecommerce platform in the United States.

Based on the latest tracking data, here’s how the US market breaks down:

Sources: Soax Research, StoreLeads, BuiltWith

A few things stand out.

• Shopify and Wix together account for more than half of US ecommerce sites.
• Wix’s rise to second place reflects its growth as a general-purpose website builder that now includes solid ecommerce functionality. 
• WooCommerce, despite dominating the global market, sits in fourth place in the US, behind both Wix and Squarespace.
• The United States alone accounts for roughly 3.17 million ecommerce stores out of the 13.4 million tracked globally, making it the largest single-country market by a wide margin.

How Market Share Changes at Different Traffic Tiers

Raw market share numbers tell one story. But the picture shifts significantly when you look at higher-traffic, more established ecommerce sites.

All Ecommerce Sites

When you count every detectable ecommerce site, including small stores, hobby shops, and side projects, the data looks like what you see in the table above. Shopify’s 30% share, Wix at 23%, and so on. 

But many of these sites generate minimal revenue or traffic.

Top 1 Million Ecommerce Sites

Once you filter for the top 1 million sites by traffic, the rankings change:

Source: BuiltWith, Yaguara

WooCommerce jumps ahead of Wix and Squarespace in this tier because more established businesses tend to run WordPress-based stores. 

Magento also becomes a significant player here, despite barely registering in the overall count. 

And Salesforce Commerce Cloud shows up, which doesn’t even appear in the “all sites” data because it powers a small number of very large enterprise operations.

Top 10,000 Ecommerce Sites

At the very top of the market, the landscape shifts again:

Among the largest ecommerce sites in the US, nearly half run on custom or proprietary platforms. These are retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target, companies large enough to build and maintain their own technology stacks.

Shopify still holds the largest share among identifiable third-party platforms, but its dominance is less pronounced at the enterprise level.

US vs Global Ecommerce Platform Market Share

The US and global markets look quite different. While Shopify leads domestically, WooCommerce is the clear global leader:

Sources: StoreLeads, Soax Research, Red Stag Fulfillment

Why such a big gap? 

WooCommerce is free, open-source, and works in any language or currency out of the box. That makes it the default choice in many markets outside the US, especially in Europe and Asia where WordPress adoption is high. 

Shopify’s strength is concentrated in English-speaking markets, particularly the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.

According to StoreLeads, the top countries by total ecommerce store count are:

1. United States – 3,168,000 stores
2. United Kingdom – 654,000
3. Germany – 448,000
4. Brazil – 395,000
5. Canada – 353,000
6. India – 351,000‍
7. Australia – 332,000

Ecommerce Platform Trends: What’s Changing

The ecommerce platform market isn’t static. Here are a few trends worth watching:

Record new store creation

Q4 2025 saw 1,067,000 new ecommerce stores created globally, the highest quarter on record. Ecommerce is still growing, and new merchants are entering the market at an accelerating pace.

Shopify’s increasing enterprise push

Shopify has been steadily moving upmarket with Shopify Plus, its enterprise tier. While Shopify’s overall share has held relatively steady (around 10% globally, 28-30% in the US), its share among higher-traffic sites has been climbing as larger brands adopt the platform.

WooCommerce’s long tail

WooCommerce’s global dominance is largely driven by the sheer number of WordPress sites worldwide. But many WooCommerce stores are small operations. Among the top 1 million sites, WooCommerce’s share (18.2%) is closer to Shopify’s (28.8%) than the global “all sites” numbers would suggest.

Square Online’s quiet rise

Square Online has accumulated nearly 289,000 stores, largely through Square’s existing base of POS merchants adding online storefronts. It’s one of the fastest-growing platforms by percentage, though most merchants are micro-businesses.

Enterprise platforms holding steady

Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Adobe Commerce (Magento) serve relatively few stores by count, but those stores tend to be among the largest merchants in ecommerce. Their market share by revenue processed would look very different from their share by site count.

The Most Popular Ecommerce Platforms: A Closer Look

Here’s a brief overview of each major platform and what it’s known for.

Shopify

Shopify is the largest ecommerce platform in the US by market share, powering roughly 2.8 million US stores and 4.8 million globally. Founded in 2006, it has grown from a simple online store builder into a full commerce operating system.

It’s known for ease of use, an extensive app ecosystem (thousands of third-party apps), and a managed hosting model where merchants don’t need to worry about servers or security updates.

Best for: Merchants who want a fully hosted, all-in-one solution without managing their own infrastructure. Shopify works well across the range, from first-time store owners to large DTC brands.

Learn more: How to Turn Your Shopify Store into a Mobile App

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress, and it’s the most widely used ecommerce platform globally by site count, with roughly 4.3 million active stores.

It stands out for flexibility and control. Because it runs on WordPress, merchants can customize essentially everything. There are thousands of plugins and themes available. The tradeoff is that merchants are responsible for their own hosting, security, and updates.

Best for: Merchants who already use WordPress, want full control over their store, or need highly customized functionality that a hosted platform can’t easily provide.

Learn more: Build a Mobile App For Your WooCommerce Store

Wix Stores

Wix has grown from a general-purpose website builder into a serious ecommerce contender, now holding roughly 23% of the US market. With over 1 million ecommerce stores, it’s the second-largest platform in the US.

It offers a drag-and-drop visual editor that makes it easy for non-technical users to build attractive storefronts. Wix includes hosting, payments, and basic marketing tools in one package.

Best for: Small businesses and entrepreneurs who want an easy-to-use, all-in-one platform. It’s particularly popular among brick-and-mortar businesses adding an online sales channel for the first time.

Learn more: How to Launch Mobile Apps with Wix

Squarespace

Squarespace holds about 16% of the US ecommerce market, powered by its reputation for design-forward templates and a polished visual editing experience.

Squarespace is a no-code platform with hosting included, and provides beautiful, design-focused templates that require minimal customization to look professional. 

Best for: Creative businesses, artists, and brands where visual presentation is a priority. It’s also popular with service-based businesses that sell a small number of products alongside their main offering.

Learn more: Launching a mobile app for your Squarespace store

BigCommerce

BigCommerce holds a smaller slice of the overall market (roughly 38,000 stores globally), but it punches above its weight among mid-market and larger merchants.

It’s most well-known for a robust set of built-in features that competing platforms often require paid apps to match: multi-currency, multi-storefront, B2B functionality, and advanced SEO tools are included out of the box.

Best for: Growing businesses that need advanced functionality without relying heavily on third-party apps, and B2B sellers who need features like quote management and customer groups.

Learn more: Turn your BigCommerce Store into a mobile app

Magento / Adobe Commerce

Magento (now Adobe Commerce) powers roughly 113,000 stores globally, but its true significance shows up in the top-tier traffic data, where it holds ~9% of the top 1 million sites and ~7% of the top 10,000.

It comes with enterprise-grade flexibility and scalability. Magento can handle catalogs with hundreds of thousands of SKUs, complex pricing rules, and multi-store architectures. It requires significant development resources to set up and maintain.

Magento Open Source is free, while Adobe Commerce (the managed cloud version) starts at roughly $22,000/year, with pricing scaling based on revenue.

Best for: Large retailers and enterprises with dedicated development teams, complex catalogs, and the budget for a custom-built commerce experience.

Learn more: Launch a fast, low-maintenance mobile app for your Adobe Commerce store

Ecwid

Ecwid takes a different approach: rather than being a standalone platform, it’s an ecommerce widget you can add to any existing website, social media page, or marketplace listing.

It stands out for the ability to add a shopping cart to any website without rebuilding it. Ecwid works with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and essentially any site where you can embed code.

Best for: Businesses that already have a website on another platform and want to add ecommerce capability without migrating to a new platform entirely.

PrestaShop

PrestaShop is a free, open-source ecommerce CMS with roughly 165,000 stores globally. It has a stronger presence in Europe (particularly France and Spain) than in the US.

Its open-source model is similar to WooCommerce but purpose-built for ecommerce rather than being a plugin. PrestaShop has a large module marketplace and active community.

Best for: European merchants who want an open-source solution with a strong community and don’t want to run WordPress.

Learn more: Turn your PrestaShop store into a mobile app

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce Commerce Cloud doesn’t rank in overall site count, but it’s a major player among enterprise retailers. It holds roughly 2.7% of the top 1 million sites and an even larger share among the top 10,000.

It’s a fully managed cloud platform designed for large-scale B2C and B2B commerce, with deep integration with the Salesforce ecosystem (CRM, marketing automation, service cloud). 

Best for: Large enterprises already invested in the Salesforce ecosystem, or retailers that need tight integration between commerce, CRM, and marketing automation.

Learn more: How Jack & Jones, John Varvatos and more launch low-maintenance mobile apps for their Salesforce Commerce Cloud Store

What This Means for Ecommerce Brands

Let’s finish with a few takeaways from the data:

Platform choice depends on your stage and needs

There’s no single “best” platform.

Shopify dominates the US market because it balances ease of use with scalability.

WooCommerce leads globally because it’s free and flexible.

Magento leads among enterprise retailers because it can handle complexity that other platforms can’t.

The long tail is real

Most ecommerce sites on any platform are small operations. The platforms that look dominant by site count aren’t necessarily the ones processing the most revenue. 

A handful of Salesforce Commerce Cloud sites likely process more total GMV than hundreds of thousands of Ecwid stores.

Mobile is where it’s happening

Across all platforms, mobile commerce continues to grow as a share of total ecommerce. 

Regardless of which platform a brand chooses, having a strong mobile experience, whether through a responsive site, a progressive web app, or a native mobile app, is increasingly important for conversion and retention.

For brands already running on any of these platforms and looking to improve their mobile conversion rates, a native mobile app can complement your ecommerce platform by adding push notifications, faster load times, and a more app-like shopping experience. 

And Vendrux is the single best way for ecommerce brands – from DTC Shopify brands to enterprise brands on Salesforce Commerce Cloud or Adobe Commerce – to launch their own mobile shopping apps.

Book a free strategy call to see how to extend your existing store (no matter the platform) into a fast, revenue-driving mobile app.

Ecommerce is booming, but that’s nothing new. Global ecommerce sales add up to nearly $5.8 trillion, according to eMarketer. The ability to shop and buy pretty much anything online has been a fixture in our lives for a while now. In this article we’ll put that into context and share what percentage of retail sales are online sales.

We’ll show the latest data for both the US and global markets, then break down how prevalent online shopping is in different countries and for different product categories.

What Percentage of Retail Sales Are Online?

Worldwide, ecommerce sales make up 19.5% of the $29.7 trillion retail industry.

This number is slightly lower in the in US, where the ecommerce share of total retail sales is 16.4%.

The market share of ecommerce has increased both worldwide and in the US since 2022, with the previous year’s figures standing at 18.9% worldwide and 15% in the US. 

Sources: Statista/eMarketer

Projected Growth of Ecommerce Market Share

Experts project that ecommerce will continue to grow and steadily take over more of the overall retail market in the coming years.

Worldwide, the ecommerce share of retail sales is expected to reach 23% by 2027. Here are the year-by-year projections until then:

• 2023: 19.5%
• 2024: 20.3%
• 2025: 21.2%
• 2026: 22.2%

Projections for the US ecommerce market share stand at:

• 2023: 16.4%
• 2024: 17.8%
• 2025: 19.4%
• 2026: 21.2%

While both markets are still growing, their growth has leveled off somewhat compared to the latter half of the 2010s.

Ecommerce Sales Growth vs Total Retail Sales Growth

To get a better understanding of how ecommerce has been taking a bigger and bigger market share over roughly the last decade, let’s see the year-by-year growth of both ecommerce and the overall retail industry.

Aside from the aberration of 2020 due to the pandemic, retail has been steadily growing in the single digits, slightly declining in growth most years.

Prior to 2020, however, the ecommerce market was growing between 20-30% each year. Post-pandemic, this has leveled off into the high single digits, though ecommerce continues to grow at more than 2x the rate of retail as a whole.

Ecommerce Penetration by Country

According to eMarketer’s Global Retail Ecommerce Forecast, China is the country with by far the highest ecommerce market share, at 47%, nearly half of all retail sales in the country.

Two other Asian markets come in the top 4, at which point the averages drop off steeply. 

The top ten countries for ecommerce penetration are as follows:

1. China: 47.00%
2. Indonesia: 31.90%
3. UK: 30.60%
4. South Korea: 30.00%
5. US: 15.80%
6. Mexico: 14.20%
7. Singapore: 14.00%
8. Japan: 13.70%
9. Russia: 13.20%
10. Canada: 11.70%

China’s ecommerce market is the largest in the world, believed to be worth just over $3 trillion in 2023, nearly three times that of the US, the world’s second largest ecommerce market.

Ecommerce Penetration by Category

Finally let’s look at the share of ecommerce sales for a number of popular product categories.

Insights from Cowen show us the latest ecommerce penetration by product category in the US market.

Media (not including video games) is number one, with a huge 78% of sales in this category coming online.

Toys/Hobby Goods/Games is second at 59%, while Office Equipment & Supplies and Electronics both have 54% ecommerce penetration.

On the lower end, Food & Beverage, Auto and Garden Equipment/Supplies/Building Materials are all below the US average ecommerce share of retail sales, while all other categories also have a very low percentage of ecommerce sales.

Trends to Watch

Though the initial explosion is over, ecommerce is still growing, and taking more of the overall retail market little by little.

Projections say the worldwide ecommerce share of retail sales will grow from 19.5% to 22.2% from 2023 to 2026, and from 16.4% to 21.2% in the US.

We expect this trend to be steady and unspectacular. There are a couple of more interesting trends to keep an eye on.

One is the growth of ecommerce in developing markets. Ecommerce is growing faster in these areas of the world than any other, and at a much faster rate than retail overall.

Southeast Asia leads the way, with ecommerce rising 18.6% in 2023 vs 7% for retail overall. The Middle East and Africa is close behind, with 16% ecommerce growth vs 6% overall.

The Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe regions are also seeing growth of >10% in ecommerce sales, with the latter experiencing almost zero growth at all in overall retail sales.

The second is the growth of mobile commerce. As e-commerce once exploded as a subset of the retail industry, m-commerce is doing the same as a subset of e-commerce.

More people each year are choosing to shop online from their mobile phones, with retail m-commerce sales in the US currently sitting at $431 billion per year, and projected to reach $710 billion by 2025.

That puts mobile commerce’s market share at 38% that of the total e-commerce market in the US. This is projected to increase to 48% within just a couple of years.

Watch for this number to cross 50% before long, as more and more opt for the ultimate convenience of shopping on mobile.

While essential for growth, the harsh reality is that as long as you rely on paid channels like Meta and Google Ads, you’re always renting your audience.

The traffic faucet can be turned off at any time. Or, like it is now, acquisition costs can go up and you’re left to deal with the cut into your margins.

Every brand needs to invest in building owned channels.

Owned channels are cost-effective, sustainable, and compound over time.

If you want to be profitable long-term, owned channels are a must. You don’t need to stop running ads; but a diversified media strategy is the only way to build a brand that lasts.

Want the latest insights into how 7, 8 and 9-figure brands are driving sustainable growth? That’s what you get with our weekly newsletter, The Retention Edge. Subscribe for free today.

The Three Types of Media: Paid, Owned, and Earned

All of your acquisition falls under one of three media types:

Let’s understand a little more about each channel.

Paid Media (The “Rented” Growth Model)

Paid media (Facebook, Google, TikTok Ads, and influencer partnerships) buys you attention at scale. These channels offer massive reach and rapid scalability, but they come with trade-offs.

Algorithm shifts, platform changes, and creative fatigue mean your winning campaign today can flop tomorrow. Testing is required, and results aren’t guaranteed.

The moment you stop spending, traffic stops. Unlike organic or owned channels (email, SMS, community), paid media has zero residual value; you pay to play.

With increased competition and privacy changes squeezing tracking efficiency, CAC is only going up. Profitability depends on strong AOV and LTV.

The takeaway? Paid media is an essential growth engine, but it’s a leaky bucket if you’re not turning new customers into repeat buyers. 

Scale with discipline. Optimize landing pages, boost retention, and diversify into owned channels before the ad dollars stop flowing.

Earned Media (Word-of-Mouth & Virality)

Earned media gets you traffic without paying per click or impression, but it’s not truly free. You still have to put in the work.

Common earned media sources include:

• Press & PR (news features, blog mentions, podcast shoutouts)
• Organic social shares (people sharing your content without paid incentives)
• User-generated content (UGC)
• Referral & word-of-mouth
• SEO & organic search
• Organic visibility in Amazon search & marketplaces

The catch is you can’t fully control it. Unlike paid media, you’re at the mercy of algorithms, journalists, and customer enthusiasm.

It takes investment. Great PR, strong content, and top-tier products don’t just happen. They require time, effort, and sometimes money (e.g., sending out product samples, PR outreach).

It’s also tough to measure. You can track referral traffic, SEO, and UGC engagement, but tying it all back to revenue? Not always clear-cut.

Earned media is a trust-builder that amplifies paid and owned efforts. It won’t scale predictably, but when it hits? It drives some of the highest-intent, most cost-effective traffic you can get.

Owned Media (The Profitable & Predictable Growth Engine)

Owned media is where you control the content, audience, and messaging. 

Unlike paid media, where you’re constantly renting attention, owned media compounds over time, making it one of the most profitable growth levers.

Owned media channels include:

• Your website
• Email & SMS lists
• Mobile apps & push notifications
• Social media accounts

Owned channels are profitable and scalable. You aren’t at the mercy of ad costs or shifting algorithms.

The ongoing costs are low; ESP fees, website hosting, and app maintenance are minor compared to paid media burn rates.

It also compounds over time. More subscribers, more returning traffic, more revenue, without constantly refueling the ad budget.

These channels take time to build, but your work pays off.

It’s worth noting that not all channels fall exclusively into one category.

Some are a mix of earned and owned. 

Your website is owned, but your SEO traffic? That’s earned, and Google’s algorithm ultimately decides how much you get.

Social media is owned by the platform, not you. They can limit reach, ban accounts, or disappear overnight.

Ultimately, owned media is your profit moat. It shields you from rising ad costs and volatile algorithms. The earlier you build it, the less dependent you are on rented growth.

Why Owned Channels Are the Most Profitable & Scalable Growth Strategy

Paid, earned and owned media are all important for your brand. But owned media is the most profitable and sustainable way to build long-term.

Here are three reasons why owned channels are so powerful.

CAC vs LTV: The Profit Equation

The CAC vs LTV equation determines whether your business thrives or bleeds cash. The math is simple: does the revenue from each customer (LTV) exceed the cost to acquire them (CAC)?

With paid ads, your only way to improve CAC vs LTV is to lower acquisition costs… which has a floor. You can use Facebook ads reporting tools to optimize creative, refine targeting, and improve conversion rates, but eventually, you hit a wall.

Owned is low-cost, high-upside. Once a customer is in your ecosystem (email, SMS, loyalty programs), you own the relationship.

Recurring revenue shifts unit economics. Instead of constantly paying to acquire new customers, you monetize existing ones.

Control = Freedom (No Algorithm, No Arbitrary Fees)

If you rely entirely on rented platforms (Facebook, Shopify, Amazon), you’re playing on someone else’s turf.

You risk ad account bans, algorithm changes, suspensions, or simply seeing your reach disappear.

With owned channels, you own pricing, messaging, and the customer experience. No one can throttle your reach, slap on hidden fees, or shut you down overnight.

Longevity: Paid Stops, Owned Keeps Working

Turn off paid ads? Traffic vanishes.

Turn off owned media? Revenue still flows.

Owned media is a compounding growth engine. Email, SMS, SEO, and brand loyalty don’t just disappear when you stop spending. The sooner you invest, the bigger the long-term payoff.

How to Build a Powerful Owned Media Strategy

By investing more into owned channels, you can mitigate rising acquisition costs, and take more control over your revenue.

Here are the best places to start.

Email & SMS

If you’ve been in business for a while, you already have a valuable asset in your email list. But if it’s just sitting in Klaviyo gathering dust, you’re leaving free money on the table.

Yes, email deliverability is getting worse. Yes, email isn’t as powerful as it once was.
But guess what? It’s still one of the highest-margin revenue channels you have.

• Dirt cheap to send – No rising CPMs or platform taxes.
• Automations do the work for you – Set it up once, let it generate revenue forever.

SMS is similar to email, with high ROI potential. Open rates are higher, but there’s also a higher cost, making execution more important.

At a bare minimum, these flows should be running 24/7, making money in the background:

• Welcome Series → Converts new subscribers into buyers.
• Abandoned Cart Flow → Recovers 30-50% of lost revenue.
• Post-Purchase Flow → Nurtures customers, cross-sells, and reduces churn.
• Win-Back Campaigns → Re-engages inactive buyers, increasing repeat purchase rates.
• VIP/Loyalty Flows → Rewards high-value customers, boosting LTV.

The bottom line, email & SMS are high-margin, always-on profit centers. Set them up, optimize them, and let them run.

Action Steps:

• Build email & SMS lists (if you’re not already)
• Regularly engage your list
• Set up automated campaigns (as shown above)
• Segment & personalize – Tailor content based on behavior (e.g., first-time vs. repeat buyer)
• Constantly test different approaches (e.g. subject lines and CTAs)

Push Notifications & Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are a retention powerhouse. 

A mobile app puts your brand front and center on your customer’s home screen, driving more frequent purchases and higher AOV.

Apps are the most underrated, underutilized owned channel there is.

• Direct access to your best customers – No fighting inbox clutter or social algorithms.
• Higher purchase frequency & bigger basket sizes – App users spend more and buy more often than mobile web users.
• More control, fewer platform dependencies – Unlike Facebook or Google, you own this audience.

Most importantly, apps also give you access to push notifications, which can be used to drive low-cost traffic at the push of a button.

• Engagement rates like SMS – But without the cost.
• Cheap like email – But with way better visibility.
• Automated & scalable – Perfect for abandoned cart nudges, back-in-stock alerts, and personalized promos.

A mobile app is a high-margin revenue channel that keeps customers coming back. It’s one of the best owned channels your brand can have.

Action steps:

• If you don’t have a mobile app already, check out Vendrux to see how to do it with minimal work and low overhead
• Leverage your email list, and app-exclusive offers to grow your app
• Set up automated push notification campaigns, and regularly message your subscribers with offers, new product drops, and general engagement pushes
• Run app-exclusive campaigns (e.g. early access to new products for app users) to incentivize people to use your app, boosting retention

Don’t have an app yet? Vendrux makes it easy. If your site already works great on mobile, you’re 90% of the way there. Book a free consultation to learn more about how we can help you launch your app.

SEO & Content Marketing

SEO isn’t fully owned, but it aligns with an owned media strategy. And most DTC brands are massively underutilizing it.

Despite the usual “SEO is dead” talk, the landscape is actually getting better for brands. 

Google is favoring real brands over affiliate and content farms, making ecommerce product pages easier to rank.

Ultimately, SEO is a low-cost, high-impact growth play, and can totally transform your business if it takes off.

Action steps:

• First, ensure your product pages are optimized to show up in Google search (as well as AI searches)
• Explore SEO opportunities for longer-form content (product guides, comparisons, problem-solving content)
• Set up a lead capture system to get organic visitors into your funnel, and nurture them using email/SMS

Loyalty, Community & Owned Social

Loyalty programs can be super impactful. However, point-based rewards are becoming played out. The next evolution of loyalty is:

• Tiered benefits (exclusivity drives repeat purchases).
• Experiential perks (early access, VIP events, behind-the-scenes content).
• Referral loops (customers bringing in customers = free CAC).

Community is another avenue that many brands haven’t explored, but can have a big payoff.

Peloton, Lululemon, and Figs built tribes, not just customer bases. Whether it’s Facebook Groups, Discord, or brand-owned forums, brands that foster connection unlock:

• Insane organic word-of-mouth.
• Higher retention & purchase frequency.
• UGC at scale (your customers market for you).

Your best marketers are your customers. Incentivize them to post about your brand with:

• Shoutouts – Feature them on socials.
• Rewards – Points, discounts, or surprise gifts.
• Reposts – Build credibility by amplifying real customer love.

Action steps:

• Build and nurture your loyalty program, and test different approaches to the basic points-based system
• Focus on building connections via social media; not just selling
• Leverage UGC to make customers feel part of a community

Transition from Paid Dependence to Owned Growth

No one’s saying you should turn off all your paid ads today.

But if you’re paying for every customer, every sale, every time, you’re setting up to fail.

Early on, you need paid traffic to fuel initial growth. But long-term? Owned and earned should drive 60%+ of your revenue.

Paid is a short-term lever that scales fast, but eventually you’ll need long-term assets for your brand to be safe and sustainable.

Start with an audit.

Where does your revenue come from today?

• Paid (FB, Google, TikTok, etc.)?
• Owned (email, SMS, push, organic direct traffic)?
• Earned (UGC, referrals, PR, SEO)?

Once you have a baseline, set quarterly goals to shift the mix.

From there, work to increase your owned revenue %:

• Dial up email & SMS – More flows, better segmentation, consistent campaigns.
• Drive organic traffic – SEO, content, and social that converts.
• Build a mobile app & push strategy – Retarget without ad costs.
• Strengthen referral loops & loyalty – Get customers selling for you.

The Brands That Win Tomorrow Are Investing in Owned Today

Paid will always have a role, but owning your traffic means owning your profit.

The sooner you build owned channels, the sooner you outlast and outprofit competitors.

Wondering if building your own ecommerce mobile app is worth it?

In 2026, with the rising cost to acquire new customers, brands need to prioritize building their own sales channels and assets, rather than relying on rented channels like social media.

And with the steady growth of mobile shopping, apps are the perfect fit.

But the value of having your own mobile app is not just theory – there are plenty of data-backed reasons to launch an app.

Countless retail & DTC brands have seen the ROI potential of ecommerce mobile apps first-hand. We’re going to break down this ROI for you and give you an idea of what’s possible when you launch your own app.

Who Should Build a Mobile App?

Apps can be a game changer for many brands. But for some, it doesn’t make as much sense.

So what kind of brands should be building apps?

In simple terms, any brands with high LTV and repeat purchase potential.

Think – does it make sense for your audience to come back and buy with regularity? Or is your brand in an industry where people typically only buy once?

Mobile apps may not provide as much benefit for high-price, low-frequency industries like furniture or electronics.

Conversely, in some industries, mobile apps are a no-brainer:

• Apparel
• Beauty
• Health & Wellness
• Food & Beverages
• Home & Garden
• Pet Supplies

These industries typically have high repeat purchase potential, with consumable products and/or a high number or variety of SKUs.

Brands with a small number of products, at high prices, are unlikely to get the same benefits from an app (though there are always exceptions).

Four Direct Benefits of Ecommerce Mobile Apps (Where Your ROI Comes From)

Mobile apps help you drive more regular engagement from your existing customers – especially your loyal, high-frequency shoppers.

In doing so, you can increase several key metrics by launching your own mobile app.

To show you the potential of ecommerce apps, here are some real-world examples (some sourced from public case studies from popular Shopify app builders, some from our own internal data and case studies).

Higher engagement in-app

App users spend more than mobile website users.

Part of this is because app users are inherently your most engaged customers – which is why they downloaded your mobile app in the first place.

But it’s also due to the superior user experience of an app, even if the core design is not actually that different from your website.

See these results for an idea of the higher engagement in mobile apps:

• Sleefs: 40% higher conversion rate, 30% higher average order value in their app. (view case study)
• Rainbow Shops: 2x higher conversion rate, 10% higher AOV vs their mobile website. (view case study)
• Hobbiesville: 3x higher CVR in their app vs their website. 10% of all their customers are on their app, contributing 40% of their total revenue.
• Brumate: 43% higher CVR in the app vs the website, 56% higher sales per session.
• Beis: 67% higher CVR in the app vs their mobile website, 19% higher AOV.
• Anatomie: 3x increase in CVR in the app, 1.2x AOV vs their mobile website.
• Kyna: 2x CVR, 45% increase in user signups in their app vs their website.
• Snitch: 2.5x CVR, 1.3x AOV in their app vs website.
• The Oodie: 135% higher CVR, 37% higher AOV, 193% higher GMV in the app vs website.
• Obvi: 2x higher CVR on their app vs the mobile website.
• Kaged: 4.5x higher CVR, 19% higher AOV on app vs the website.
• Art of Tea: 3.4x higher CVR, 4.6x higher order value per session than their mobile website.
• Primitive Skate: 1.9x increase in CVR vs their app vs the mobile website.
• Bailey’s Blossoms: 4x higher CVR in their app (9.73% app conversion rate, compared to 2.48% on the mobile website, 2.60% for their website overall). 105% increase in AOV.
• Recode Studios: 7% total CVR in their app (only 1% on their mobile website).
• elo: 9.9% CVR in their app (4x higher than their website).
• CharlesTed: 12.08% CVR in their app (10x their mobile website and 7x compared to desktop).
• Vosges: 227% higher CVR, 30% higher AOV in their app, compared to their mobile website.
• HOP WTR: 139% higher CVR, 40% higher AOV in their app vs website.

Summary: Many brands achieve a 10% to 120% increase in average order value and 40% to 1,000% higher conversion rate in their mobile apps.

Increased retention and LTV

Mobile apps boost loyalty, retention and customer lifetime value.

By offering an app, you make it easy for your top customers to return and shop over and over again.

You also have real estate on your customer’s mobile device, plus push notifications, to keep your brand top-of-mind and drive more repeat visits.

See the following examples of LTV from brands with mobile apps:

• BoozeBud: app users have 5x customer lifetime value, 4x average revenue per user. (view case study)
• Sleefs: 3x more visits per app user.
• Rainbow Shops: 7x higher LTV on their mobile app vs the mobile website.
• Relink: 4x LTV, 7x ARPU from app users.
• Anatomie: 5x LTV on their app, compared to the mobile website.
• HOP WTR: 1.2x LTV on their app vs the website.

Summary: There are examples of brands generating anywhere from 120% to 700% LTV from mobile app shoppers, as a result of more total visits and more repeat purchases.

Incremental revenue at lower CAC

Mobile apps offer an owned channel to drive low-cost sales.

Sales made through the app are essentially free – and mobile push notification, in particular, are a highly-effective, low-cost promotional channel.

Driving more sales through your app can not only provide incremental revenue, but at a lower overall cost, for higher profit margins.

See these stats related to apps and push notifications as a sales channel:

• Sleefs: Over 50k push notification subscribers built through their app.
• Snitch: 60% of their DTC business happens through the mobile app.
• The Oodie: 50.6% push notification opt-in rate.
• Obvi: 40k+ app downloads, 21.8% of their total revenue comes from the app.
• Recode Studios: 16.9% conversion rate from their abandoned cart notification sequence.
• Kaged: 15k+ app downloads, 97.5% in-app user retention.
• Patta: 8x revenue spike within two hours of a push notification campaign.
• Bailey’s Blossoms: 160,000+ app installs in 6 months, over $2m driven through the app.
• elo: 35% of their annual sales coming through the app.
• CharlesTed: 83.5% opt-in rate for push notifications, from nearly 4,200 app installs (~3,500 push subscribers) generated in the first month.
• Volcom: 127.2% higher purchase rate from push notifications than paid ads, 124.8% higher purchase rate than email, 20.7% higher purchase rate than SMS.
• BoozeBud: 10% of their total revenue driven through their app.

Summary: Many brands see 10% or more of total revenue coming from their mobile app. Push notifications can be 1.2-2x as effective as other channels, at a lower cost.

How Many Customers Will Download and Use Your Mobile App?

In general, you can expect 2-5% of your customers to download your app.

Download rate varies by industry – which is again why industries with a low repeat purchase rate will be less likely to benefit from an app.

Categories like Food & Drink, Beauty and Apparel, where repeat purchases are more common, have higher average download rates.

It also depends on the percentage of your customers who shop on mobile, as well as the effort you put into promoting your mobile app.

How Much Does a Mobile App Cost?

Cost is half the equation when calculating the ROI of your ecommerce app. 

So how much does it take to launch your own app?

Today, you can create your own app for roughly $1,000-$2,000 upfront, and $500-$1,000 per month after, with a no-code solution like Vendrux that leverages what you’ve already built on your website.

(We’ve come a long way from having to spend $100k+ (plus ongoing maintenance costs) to build a custom native app.

Click here to learn more about building your own app (without spending six figures).

What’s the Average ROI of a Mobile App for an Ecommerce Brand?

The average ROI for ecommerce apps can vary greatly from brand to brand, depending on the platform used, the brand’s model (high-frequency vs low-frequency), and how much they promote the app.

Our users see as much as 53x ROIs in some cases. Generally – as long as you don’t overpay for a custom app – you can expect at least 10x ROI, just by getting a small percentage of your shoppers (you most engaged and loyal customers) to download the app.

Summing Up: Calculating the ROI of Your Mobile App

We now have a rough idea of the:

• Key metrics attainable by launching a mobile app.
• Percentage of your customers that will download the app.
• Cost to build your app.

With that, we can estimate the ROI for your mobile app.

(Keep in mind that none of these estimates are guarantees – these are based on aggregated data from real-world examples, but actual results may vary)

Let’s look at a Fashion brand as an example. This brand has the following website metrics:

• 100,000 monthly visits
• 2% conversion rate
• $100 average order value

Brands in this category see the following averages from their apps:

• 33% higher conversion rate
• 16 increase in average order value
• 3x increase in monthly visits from app users
• 4.5% of website visitors downloading the app

That comes out to the following app metrics:

• 4,500 active app users
• 2.66% conversion rate in the app
• $110 average order value in the app
• $41,656 monthly revenue from app users

We can estimate that this brand generates $32,656 per month in incremental revenue (additional revenue, above what they would make through their website) from their mobile app.

On the other side of the equation, they pay $2,000 upfront for their app, and $550 per month thereafter.

Over time, you anticipate revenue will scale, while your costs will stay more or less the same.

You can use our App Revenue Calculator to get an accurate estimate of your app’s revenue, using your industry and website metrics as a guide.

Next Steps

As you’ve seen above, it’s not hard to see how mobile apps can deliver an amazing ROI for ecommerce brands.

The next step is to begin the process of building your own app.

Vendrux helps you do it with minimal effort, and at a low cost, for the best chance of achieving a positive ROI within just a few months (or less).

You’ll keep everything from your website, and spend zero time rebuilding. The whole process is managed for you, giving you a working app in less than a month.

There’s no lift for your team, no new work to add to your day-to-day. 

We maintain the technical side of your apps, while the content in the apps sync with your website, so you can make changes at any time just by updating your site.

Some of the brands we’ve helped have seen as much as 53x ROI from their apps!

Book a consultation to discuss the process and how we can help you build an app that’s almost guaranteed to turn a profit.

Global ecommerce continues its expansion, with sales projected to reach $6.88 trillion in 2026 — up from $6.4 trillion in 2024. That’s 21% of all retail sales happening online.

But the story isn’t just about growth. It’s about where that growth is happening, who’s leading, and where the opportunities are.

This guide breaks down ecommerce market size by country, including the largest markets, fastest-growing regions, and penetration rates that reveal how much runway each market still has.

Want weekly insights into how 7, 8 and 9-figure ecommerce brands are driving sustainable growth? That’s what you get with our value-packed newsletter, The Retention Edge. Subscribe for free today.

The Global Ecommerce Market at a Glance

The 10 Largest Ecommerce Markets by Revenue

Here’s an up to date list of the world’s top ecommerce markets, along with their value, and the relative dominance of ecommerce in each country:

1. China ($3.45 trillion)

China isn’t just the largest ecommerce market; it’s larger than the next several markets combined.

Chinese consumers generated over $3.4 trillion in online sales in 2025, representing roughly 50% of global ecommerce.

• Ecommerce penetration: 47%
• Mobile commerce share: 92% of online shoppers use smartphones
• Key platforms: Taobao, Tmall, JD.com, Pinduoduo

What sets China apart isn’t just scale, it’s integration.

Social commerce, livestream shopping, and super-apps have blurred the lines between entertainment and shopping in ways Western markets are only beginning to adopt.

2. United States ($1.38 trillion)

The US ecommerce market continues steady growth, projected to reach $1.88 trillion by 2029.

While penetration remains lower than China or the UK, the sheer size of the American consumer market makes it the world’s second-largest.

• Ecommerce penetration: 15.8%
• Mobile commerce share: 76% of adults purchase via smartphone
• Growth rate: 10.5% YoY
• Key platforms: Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Shopify merchants

The US market is mature but far from saturated. With penetration below 16%, there’s significant room for growth, particularly in categories like grocery and B2B that have been slower to move online.

3. United Kingdom ($195 billion)

The UK is Europe’s largest ecommerce market and ranks third globally. British consumers have embraced online shopping at rates exceeding most Western countries.

• Ecommerce penetration: 30.6%
• Mobile commerce: Projected to hit £100 billion ($125B) in 2025
• Key platforms: Amazon UK, ASOS, Tesco, Argos

The UK’s high penetration rate means growth is slowing compared to emerging markets, but the market remains highly attractive for established brands.

4. Japan ($169 billion)

Japan’s ecommerce market is expected to grow at 9.2% CAGR, reaching $263 billion by 2029. The market is characterized by sophisticated consumers and strong domestic platforms.

• Ecommerce penetration: ~15%
• Key platforms: Rakuten, Amazon Japan, Yahoo! Shopping

Japan presents unique challenges for foreign brands, including language barriers and preference for domestic platforms, but offers strong purchasing power.

5. South Korea ($147 billion)

South Korea punches above its weight in ecommerce, with one of the highest mobile commerce adoption rates globally.

• Ecommerce penetration: 30%
• Mobile share: 77% of ecommerce sales expected via mobile by 2026
• Key platforms: Coupang, Gmarket, 11Street

Korean consumers are early adopters of new commerce trends, making the market a testing ground for innovations like quick commerce and social shopping.

6. Germany ($140 billion)

Germany is the largest ecommerce market in continental Europe and a gateway for brands expanding across the EU.

• Ecommerce penetration: ~18%
• Growth rate: 4-5% annually
• Key platforms: Amazon.de, Otto, Zalando

German consumers prioritize quality and sustainability, and have strong preferences for local payment methods (invoice payment is common).

7. India ($136 billion)

India is the fastest-growing major ecommerce market, with projections showing it could reach $345 billion by 2030. The market has grown from 140 million online shoppers in 2020 to 260 million in 2024.

• Ecommerce penetration: ~5%
• Growth rate: 17-22% annually
• Mobile share: 88% of online shoppers use smartphones
• Key platforms: Flipkart, Amazon India, Myntra, Meesho

India’s low penetration rate represents enormous opportunity. As internet access expands beyond major cities and digital payment adoption increases, growth will accelerate.

8. France ($92 billion)

France rounds out the top European markets with steady growth and strong domestic platform presence.

• Ecommerce penetration: ~17%
• Key platforms: Amazon.fr, Cdiscount, Fnac, Veepee

9. Canada ($88 billion)

Canada benefits from proximity to US supply chains while maintaining its own distinct consumer preferences.

• Ecommerce penetration: ~12%
• Key platforms: Amazon Canada, Walmart Canada, Canadian Tire

10. Indonesia ($94 billion)

Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest ecommerce market and one of the fastest-growing globally.

• Ecommerce penetration: 31.9%
• Growth rate: 20%+ annually
• Key platforms: Tokopedia, Shopee, Bukalapak, Lazada

Fastest-Growing Ecommerce Markets

While China and the US dominate in absolute size, the fastest growth is happening elsewhere.

Southeast Asia is growing at a particularly fast rate, as are several markets in Latin America.

Top 10 by Growth Rate (2025)

Regional Highlights

Southeast Asia is the fastest-growing region for ecommerce, with 18.6% growth and a path to $230 billion GMV by 2026.

By 2027, 88% of the region’s population (402 million users) is expected to shop online.

Latin America has reclaimed its position as the fastest-growing regional market at 12.2% growth in 2025.

Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina account for 84.5% of regional sales. Mexico is on track to surpass US ecommerce penetration levels by 2026.

India remains the standout emerging market opportunity. With only 5% ecommerce penetration in a country of 1.4 billion people, the addressable market for growth is massive.

Ecommerce Penetration by Country

Penetration rate (the percentage of total retail sales happening online) reveals how dominant ecommerce is in each country – as well as how much room each market has to grow.

Let’s take a look at several notable markets, and how dominant online shopping is in each one.

What Penetration Rates Tell Us

High penetration markets (30%+) like China, South Korea, and the UK offer less growth upside but stable, predictable demand. Competition is fierce.

Mid-penetration markets (15-25%) like the US, Germany, and France have room to grow but face structural challenges (established retail, logistics complexity).

Low penetration markets ( like India, Latin America, and parts of Southeast Asia offer the highest growth potential but also higher execution risk (infrastructure, payments, logistics).

Mobile Commerce: The Dominant Channel

Mobile commerce (mcommerce) accounts for 59% of global ecommerce sales – that’s $4 trillion in 2025. In some markets, it’s even higher.

Mobile Share by Country

The mobile-first trend is irreversible.

In emerging markets especially, consumers are skipping desktop entirely and shopping exclusively on smartphones.

In the near future, we can only expect mobile shopping to become more dominant.

What This Means for Ecommerce Brands

Let’s take a look at the practical implications of these statistics if you’re running an ecommerce company – whether it’s in the US, UK, or any other part of the world.

If you’re targeting growth markets:

1. Prioritize mobile. In India, Indonesia, and Latin America, mobile-first isn’t a strategy; it’s a requirement.

2. Understand local payment preferences. Credit cards aren’t universal. Digital wallets, bank transfers, and even cash-on-delivery dominate in many markets.

3. Invest in localization. Language, currency, and cultural preferences vary dramatically. A US-centric approach won’t work.

4. Consider marketplace presence. In most emerging markets, local marketplaces (Mercado Libre, Shopee, Flipkart) have stronger consumer trust than independent stores.

If you’re in mature markets:

1. Focus on retention over acquisition. Growth is slowing. LTV matters more than CAC in saturated markets.

2. Mobile app investment pays off. With mobile commerce growing even in mature markets, a native app creates stickier customer relationships.

3. Differentiation through experience. When price competition is fierce, experience becomes the differentiator.

Vendrux and Global Ecommerce

For ecommerce brands expanding globally or looking to capture mobile commerce growth, having a native mobile app is increasingly essential; particularly in mobile-first markets like India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

Vendrux lets ecommerce brands extend their existing website into native iOS and Android apps without rebuilding their tech stack. Your website powers the app; we add native app capabilities on top.

This approach is particularly valuable for:

• Brands entering mobile-first markets where app usage exceeds mobile web
• Established stores wanting to increase retention through push notifications
• Multi-market brands who don’t want to build separate apps for each region

Vendrux has an extended track record helping multi-language and multi-country brands launch mobile apps. Our process makes it far more affordable, and far easier than legacy development methods or other mobile app solutions that aren’t set up to handle complex, global storefronts.

Ready to see what’s possible?‍

Get a free preview of your app now.

Data Sources

This article synthesizes data from multiple industry sources including Statista, eMarketer, Shopify Enterprise, Trade.gov, and regional market research firms. Figures represent 2025 estimates and 2026 projections as of February 2026.

It’s getting more expensive by the minute for ecommerce brands to acquire new customers.

A large reason why is that the “big” acquisition channels are getting more saturated.

Increased competition leads to higher ad costs, dwindling margins, and you, sitting with a cup of coffee in hand, wondering if your CAC will ever be the same as it used to be.

Unfortunately, we’re unlikely to go back to the “good old days” of low-cost acquisition on Meta and Google.

TikTok had its moment, but now you can expect high costs here as well, as every brand knows how effective it can be for sales.

So, what can you do?

You can shut up shop. Close your business and find a less stressful way to make a living than running a DTC brand – like farming.

Or, you can find other ways to drive sales, get in front of potential customers, and grow your brand.

Nine Alternative Marketing Channels to Consider in 2026

There are many other ways to get your brand out there, grow visibility, and even drive sales, outside of the big (and expensive) powerhouses like Meta and Google.

You don’t have to (nor should you) dive into every channel at once. And there are likely some here that you’re already using.

But you might find something here that adds a new angle for your brand, and offers a leg up that helps you stay afloat as CAC continues to grow out of control.

YouTube

TikTok’s showing us that people love video content (and, honestly, video content on Facebook and Instagram should have convinced you of that already).

So why not dip into the king of video content itself?

YouTube has more than 2.5 billion users worldwide, making it the second most popular social media network (more than Instagram, more than TikTok).

Technically, YouTube is part of Google. But for the point of this article, you should consider it a different growth channel.

Especially if you focus on creating your own content on YouTube, rather than using it as an advertising channel.

You can put out a variety of content on the platform;

• Short, reel-style content on YouTube shorts
• Deep dives and tutorials centered around your product
• UGC (customer testimonials, case studies, unboxings)
• Longer form, educational content related to your niche

The best part about YouTube content is that it has a long shelf life.

Videos can generate organic traffic long after you publish. And, as long as it’s still relevant, a video can drive leads and sales for years.

You can post one video on YouTube, then chop it up and repurpose into short-form videos for other channels.

It’s more difficult (and expensive) to create high-quality video content, compared to static Meta ads, but that higher barrier of entry just makes it more rewarding to those who are willing to do the work.

Mobile Apps

With rising CAC, and access to data and attribution becoming more scarce, three things are becoming increasingly valuable for DTC brands.

• Ownership of your traffic and audience
• Access to first-party data
• Low-cost, organic sales

Having your own mobile app gives you all three.

The mobile commerce market share continues to grow, with nearly 60% of all ecommerce sales worldwide, and 77% of all ecommerce traffic coming on smartphones.

More mobile shoppers means more opportunity to get people into your app, where they have a larger chance of becoming loyal, engaged, long-term customers.

‍App users convert at a higher rate, spend more in each order, and spend more over their lifetime.

And most importantly, an app gives you a direct line to your customers.

No filtering from a third party, no platform risk. Your brand is on their home screen, in their pocket, 24/7.

That kind of direct relationship with your customers today is invaluable.

Push Notifications

Push notifications are a large part of what makes mobile apps so powerful.

Push is the most direct, most effective way to communicate with your customers.

It’s:

You’re probably not going to reach many new customers with push, since those who download your app and opt in are probably customers already.

But if your business has a lot of SKUs/variations, with high repeat purchase potential, you could leverage push notifications for a significant boost to LTV, which would offset rising advertising costs in other areas.

Email

Contrary to what you may have been told, email is not dead.

It’s definitely getting less effective. Inboxes are crowded, privacy laws are more strict.

But with the low cost of email, and (like push) the easy ability to set up evergreen, automated flows, the ROI of email is still very good.

And, also like push and mobile apps, it’s a channel you own. Though emails aren’t as direct, they’re still a straight line of communication to your customers, that you don’t rent from a social media platform or a marketplace.

These owned channels are crucial today.

If you’re not putting much thought or effort into email, perhaps it’s time to change that.

Think about how you can grow your list size, and send more emails to your list.

Some brands worry about sending too many emails to their list and upsetting customers, but today, most are guilty of the opposite.

It’s easier for people to pass over emails today, which means two things;

• People are less likely to unsubscribe if they get a lot of emails from your brand
• It takes more touchpoints to get someone to notice you

You might send four emails that the customer takes no notice of, but then the fifth gets through.

Luckily, there’s basically no extra cost involved. So email ends up being a low-cost, mid to high upside promotional channel.

Tl:dr; grow your list, send more emails. It won’t double your revenue, but the ROI is worth it.

SEO

SEO is another channel that many believe is dying (or is already dead).

But the truth is more nuanced.

Yes, SEO has been upended in the last couple of years, with the introduction of LLMs and AI overviews in search.

Yes, volatility seems to be higher than ever, and SEO-first businesses are becoming increasingly unstable.

But that just means more opportunity for ecommerce brands.

Like email, even if the ROI of SEO is dropping, it’s very good, considering the long-term value of ranking in Google and generating organic sales.

Yet the ROI for ecommerce may not actually be that much worse (or worse at all) than it used to be.

Google tends to prefer product pages, directly from brands, to informational posts like buying guides.

And the kind of searches that AI is eating up are the informational, low-intent searches; rather than high-intent searches from people looking to buy.

Perhaps best of all, the affiliate site model is dying, which may actually lower competition for your product niche overall.

It’s not worth the risk for affiliate sites getting a small return per conversion; but for a brand, there’s much higher upside.

AppLovin

AppLovin is a mobile advertising platform that’s starting to make real noise in ecommerce.

It operates a massive ad network, leveraging AI-driven ad placements across high-intent mobile users, particularly inside mobile games (a market boasting 2.6 billion users worldwide).

The AppLovin ecosystem is less saturated than Meta, leading to lower CPMs for many brands.

Nick Sharma said this about AppLovin in his newsletter:

“If you’re generally selling to net-new customers (bedding, leather goods, cookware, etc.), the channel works well. If you sell a consumable, you end up paying for customers you’ve already acquired, so the incremental new customer acquisition number is not that high.”

It remains to be seen whether AppLovin is a good long-term channel, but for those looking to experiment with something that’s not Meta, it’s worth looking into.

LinkedIn/Twitter

In DTC, it’s becoming increasingly important to think big picture about your brand, rather than focusing intently on immediate sales.

Founder-led content is starting to blow up right now. More founders and business leaders are posting; about their business, what their brand is doing, and the landscape in their industry.

While this kind of content probably isn’t going to drive sales, it can:

• Invite creative input from other founders and ecommerce leaders
• Build a small group of loyal followers of your brand, who contribute visibility via word-of-mouth
• Attract top talent to work with your brand
• Put your brand in front of VCs, angel investors and retail buyers

You might find it grows the overall footprint of your brand, and opens up partnerships that you would have struggled to secure otherwise.

Again, you’re not going to build a profitable sales channel on LinkedIn (unless maybe your target buyers are founders and professionals).

It’s about as top of funnel as it gets (perhaps not even in the funnel at all).

But posting about your process, wins, struggles, and insights is an interesting approach that comes with little downside, and potentially huge upside.

Marketplaces

Marketplaces are not a new channel; and building your business around selling on marketplaces is not the most stable strategy.

But they’re still a good way to grow visibility for your brand.

We’re talking platforms like:

• Amazon
• Shopify’s Shop app
• Walmart
• Nordstrom
• Revolve
• Best Buy

These platforms come with their own audience, a pre-built sales engine you can tap into.

There are downsides as well. Margins are typically less, you have less control, you don’t own your traffic, and they’re essentially a black box for analytics.

You’ll have to weigh up whether the upside is worth it.

While some brands prefer to keep everything DTC, on their own site, and in their control, others will find the benefits of being on a platform like Amazon (and having access to more than 2 billion monthly visitors) are too hard to pass up.

Direct Mail

Finally, while all your competitors are going high-tech with automated ads run by a Deepseek agent, you could consider expanding your brand with low-tech engagement.

There’s been growing chatter in the ecommerce industry around direct mail.

Yes – people still have mail boxes, and businesses still send marketing material to those mail boxes.

Direct mail has 90% open rates, and it stays in your customers’ consciousness for longer.

And unlike other channels, it’s becoming less saturated, as most brands are going fully digital.

You’re not going to run your whole business through physical mail, but it could be an interesting wrinkle to add incremental revenue and increase margins.

Final Thoughts: Are Meta/Google/TikTok Finished?

To sum up, we just want to say that we’re not suggesting you should ignore big channels like Meta.

These channels are still the most effective way to get new customers.

You just can’t compare to their reach, or their algorithm, even if the cost is getting crazy high.

But a smart strategy is to mix in alternative channels to offset the cost.

Low-cost channels like mobile apps, push notifications, SEO and email may provide valuable breathing room in terms of margins, allowing you to compete on Meta when other brands can’t.

You should also consider that not all your marketing has to be direct response.

Think bigger picture. Grow your brand.

A brand people recognize and love is what will keep you afloat when other brands drown.

‍Looking for more high-level insights from the ecommerce & retail world?

Check out The Retention Edge, our podcast and newsletter where ecom and retail leaders share their hot takes on the future of CX and retention.

There’s no substitute for experience. Especially in ecommerce – operators who have a unique, real perspective, built from the real experience of running their business, are the number one resource to tap into, whether you’re starting a new business or trying to scale an existing one.

That’s why ecommerce communities are so valuable. They connect you with like-minded business owners, with real perspectives, not the kind of fluff that gets regurgitated online for engagement.

Not all communities are worth your time (or the cost to be a member). But find a good one, and it can be the best way to kickstart your growth.

Keep reading and we’ll explain all the benefits – and some of the best communities to join.

Want weekly insights into how 7, 8 and 9-figure brands are driving sustainable growth? That’s what you get with our value-packed newsletter, The Retention Edge. Subscribe for free today.

What a Good Community Does for You

Here are some of the things you get from being a part of a high-quality community.

Solutions for problems other operators have already solved

Running an ecommerce brand means hitting the same walls thousands of people have already hit. 

• Checkout friction & conversion issues.
• Returns that eat your margins. 
• A 3PL that ships slow in peak. 
• Your first international market. 

The lonely version of that is Googling or ChatGPTing, reading contradictory threads, sorting through AI slop, and guessing. The community version is posting a question and getting five detailed replies within an hour from operators who have already done it.

You still have to apply the advice to your business. But you don’t pay the tuition twice.

Get honest benchmarks

Ecommerce is full of numbers nobody will show you publicly. Email revenue share. Mobile vs desktop AOV. First-order contribution margin. What a healthy repeat rate looks like for your category.

Inside a real community, people post their actual numbers. Not vanity metrics on Twitter. Real ones, because there’s trust and because everyone benefits from the transparency. When you can see that your AOV sits in the 60th percentile for your category, or that your return rate is actually low, you stop making decisions based on vibes.

Opening doors you can’t cold-email your way into

The best agencies, operators, investors, and vendors don’t answer cold outreach. They answer warm intros from people they trust. Communities are how those intros move.

You meet someone in a Slack channel. A year later you need a Klaviyo freelancer who is actually good, and they send you three names with context. The value of one good intro can be six figures.

Stack your vendor economics

Group buying is one of the most underrated benefits of premium communities. The better operator groups negotiate deals with attribution tools, email platforms, 3PLs, ad platforms, and analytics software. Discounts of 20 to 50 percent on software you were going to buy anyway. For a brand doing $10M, those savings can cover the membership fee several times over.

It makes the lonely parts of the job survivable

Most ecommerce founders are running their business alone, even if they have a team. Cash flow stress, a bad month, a co-founder conflict, a burnout stretch. Employees can’t be your sounding board for any of that. Spouses get tired of hearing it.

Other operators get it. They’ve had the same month. They know what it feels like when inventory is stuck and ads are underperforming and you have payroll on Friday. That peer support doesn’t show up on a P&L but it’s the reason a lot of founders make it to year five.

Early signal on what’s working

Playbooks hit Twitter and LinkedIn long after they’ve stopped working. What’s actually working right now is being discussed in private chats between operators who are running the tests. New creative formats. Meta policy shifts. What’s happening to Amazon PPC costs. Which TikTok Shop categories are still profitable.

You won’t find the edge in a public thread. You’ll find it in a DM from someone who trusts you enough to share.

Accountability

Most operators don’t have a boss. The thing they say they’ll ship by end of quarter slides to next quarter, then the quarter after. Communities with regular operator calls, mastermind groups, or cohort structures pull you out of that drift. You commit to peers. You report back. The goals you set with other operators in the room tend to actually happen.

How to Identify a Community Worth Joining

The communities that work for a $500K brand are not the communities that work for a $30M brand, and vice versa. Picking wrong is the most common mistake. A solo founder joining a $200M operator group will feel imposter syndrome and drop out in six months. A nine-figure operator joining a beginner Facebook group will get nothing from it.

Three filters worth running before you pay for anything:

• Revenue band. The best discussions happen when everyone in the room is within one order of magnitude of you. Look for communities that gate on revenue or stage, not just anyone who wants to join.
• Format match. Some operators get value from live calls and in-person dinners. Others want async Slack and never want to get on a Zoom. Match the community format to how you actually work.
• Give-to-get culture. Lurkers get nothing. Before joining, check whether the community has a strong culture of sharing data, intros, and honest takes. A private forum full of people waiting to be sold to is worthless.

Just being part of a community isn’t enough.

It’s about finding the right community for you, and surrounding yourself with the right people to help you get where you want to be.

Five of the Best Ecommerce Communities

These are the ones we’d recommend to most ecommerce operators, depending on stage and channel.

Million Dollar Sellers

When your business hits 7 or 8 figures, the questions you face start to change. And so does the kind of support that’s actually useful. Million Dollar Sellers (MDS) is an invite-only membership group built for founders at that stage.

The community brings together over 700 ecom entrepreneurs doing between $1M and $500M+ a year. Members gain access to a trusted network of Amazon (and beyond) sellers, expert advice on operations, strategy, exits, and all business-related matters. 

A 24/7 active online space, weekly live calls, in-person events across the globe, 17+ local Chapters, and smaller Squads for more focused conversations. 

Sound like your kind of room? Book a free discovery call to see what it’s all about.

Workspace6

Workspace6 stands out as the premier community for 7, 8, and 9 figure+ ecommerce operators – just ask anyone who’s experienced its magic firsthand.

Rub shoulders with a carefully curated group of brand owners spanning various industries, all united in their quest to strategically scale their brands to new heights.

With over $10 billion in collective revenue across hundreds of members, Workspace6 offers unparalleled networking opportunities and exclusive discounts on essential ecommerce software like Northbeam, Triple Whale, and Post Pilot.

Plus, with weekly digital meetups, you’ll be networking on a whole new level. 24/7 active communication, networking, and knowledge await you around the clock.

eCom Fuel

You may already be familiar with Ecommerce Fuel through their popular podcast, but there’s a lot more than that. With over 1400 members, they’re a community of seasoned entrepreneurs, not just beginners or vendors, ensuring a wealth of meaningful ecommerce experience to share.

Their discussion forum is a bustling hub of activity, offering rapid, insightful answers to your ecommerce queries. With thousands of new comments each month and years of archived discussions, you’ll find a pandora’s box of knowledge, all professionally moderated to maintain quality and keep pitches at bay.

With an average member revenue of $5 million, joining Ecommerce Fuel offers a potential 10X ROI guarantee, all for as low as $199 a month.

Startup CPG

According to them, virtual get-togethers are so 2020. Can’t help but agree!

With 10 city hubs, Startup CPG hosts regular meetups for all 20,000 of their members. Whether it be talking about the latest brands, getting on-the-spot advice, industry news, and dates, you won’t regret joining Startup CPG.

How can you join, you may ask? Subscribe to their newsletter, look for the introduction email in your inbox, and join the conversation on Slack to stay up to date.

The Takeaway

Joining a community is a small decision that compounds. The operators who treat it as a line item and actually show up get a network, a set of benchmarks, a vendor stack, and a set of relationships that pay off for a decade. The ones who join and lurk get nothing.

Pick one that matches your stage. Post in it within your first week. Offer help before you ask for any. In a year you’ll look back and wonder how you ever operated without it.

—

Once you’re ready to turn that network into more repeat revenue, a mobile app is one of the highest-leverage moves for brands past $3M. See how Vendrux turns your website into a native iOS and Android app without rebuilding anything, and why top operators use it to drive retention, AOV, and LTV.

You’re paying more than ever to acquire customers. Your existing customers have promo fatigue – they don’t buy if you’re not offering a discount, and even your discounts aren’t making people as excited as they used to be.

Enter a powerful tool to drive exclusivity, excitement, and high-margin sales: early access.

Early access is one of the best ecommerce strategies to build long-term customer loyalty, and frame your brand in a premium light.

Keep reading as we explain tactical uses for early access, the behavioral psychology behind it, the business outcomes, when to use early access, and real examples of the early access ecommerce strategy in use from real, successful brands.

Vendrux not only helps you create the perfect, high-ROI mobile app, we also make it easy to set up app-exclusives that spike retention and engagement. Want to learn how? Start with a free preview of your app now.

What Is Early Access?

Early access is when you give a select group of customers first dibs on new products, sales, or events before the general public. This might mean:

• Loyalty program members getting a head start on Black Friday sales.
• App users unlocking new collections before anyone else.
• Email subscribers gaining exclusive entry to limited product drops.

In essence, early access transforms a routine promotional activity into a VIP event.

It shifts the narrative from “please buy now” to “you’ve earned this.” That subtle repositioning strengthens the relationship between brand and customer. 

It’s about building a sense of belonging, which in turn leads to better engagement and loyalty.

Types of Early Access Marketing Strategies

Let’s look at a few ways you might use early access incentives in your business.

Exclusive Access to Product Drops

Let a select segment (loyalty members, app users, subscribers) shop a new product before the general public.

This tactic creates controlled hype and demand concentration among your highest-value customers. It makes the launch feel special, not just another SKU going live.

Bonus? The early buyers become your review base, UGC engine, and feedback loop, helping to drive momentum once you launch to the rest of your audience.

Restocks

If you have items with limited availability, you can give certain groups first crack at a high-demand restock.

If you’ve sold out before, the perceived value of the product is already high. Letting VIPs in early rewards loyalty and reduces public frustration over missing out (again) – and gives a great incentive for your top customers to maintain loyalty.

Early Access to Promotions

Give a head start for VIPs, subscribers, or app users before a broader sale event (think BFCM, anniversary, spring promo, etc.).

You’ll get early insight into performance, flag any issues, and build urgency through visible “selling out” signals, while rewarding the kind of loyalty you want to see from your customers.

Beta/Product Testing Groups

Many brands offer a hand-picked group early access to unreleased or under-development products in exchange for feedback.

This is great because You’re not just offering exclusivity. You’re inviting collaboration. 

Customers feel like insiders and brand advocates, not just buyers. The qualitative feedback is a goldmine for improving product-market fit, and it’s an excellent way to build a powerful brand asset like a community.

Learn more: App-Exclusive Product Drops: How to Turn Scarcity into Sales & Loyalty

Why Early Access Works

Early access works great because it taps into deep psychological drivers that influence buying behavior.

These drivers include:

• Scarcity: Limited-time and limited-audience offers feel more valuable. The perception of exclusivity increases perceived product value.
• Commitment & Consistency: Once a customer signs up for access, they’re more mentally committed. The act of enrolling or downloading reinforces intent.
• Reciprocity: Giving customers something special, even just a head start, triggers a subtle urge to give back, often by making a purchase.
• Loss Aversion: People are more motivated by the fear of missing out than the hope of gain. “Miss it and it’s gone” is a stronger motivator than “buy now and save.”

The best marketing strategies are built around core human psychology. You’re not just telling your audience “hey, buy this.” You’re tapping into the psychological principles that get people excited and eager to buy, and using this to drive conversions.

Brand owners: want the latest insights into how 8 and 9-figure brands drive sustainable growth? Check out our weekly newsletter and podcast, The Retention Edge. Subscribe for free today.

Early Access vs Traditional Incentives (like Discounts)

Early access is an incentive play, in much the same way that most brands use discounts.

For example, you might offer members of your VIP list, or people who download your app, an exclusive discount – or exclusive early access to promotions, or product launches.

Most of the time, early access is a better incentive than a discount. Discounts are easier; less work to manage, clearer value proposition. Early access is more work, but that work pays off.

Let’s compare how these two strategies play out as incentives.

Brand Perception

Early access feels exclusive and premium. It aligns with high-AOV positioning and builds long-term equity.

Discounts, on the other hand, can undermine perceived value. They train customers to wait for markdowns, and discourage them from buying at full price.

Impact on LTV

Discounts tend to attract deal-seekers, who return at a lower rate.

They don’t come because they love the product or the brand, only because they got a good deal.

Early access nurtures more committed customers (especially when used in combination with loyalty programs and retention channels like mobile apps), resulting in stronger retention and repeat purchase behavior, and ultimately higher LTV.

Cost

The best part about early access as a perk is that it costs you nothing. Letting members of your VIP list get first crack at a new product drop or restock doesn’t cut into your margins like discounts do.

That makes it a much more sustainable incentive strategy, and particularly valuable in times like these when so many brands are struggling to maintain steady profits.

Effectiveness at Scale

Early access can be harder to scale than discount incentives.

It’s cheaper at scale – sure. But you’re relying on all these shoppers being excited about getting first access to your product launch or promotion. It’s easier to get people excited about getting 10% off a dress or a supplement.

Plus, early access relies on exclusivity. If you open it up to too many people, the incentive loses a lot of its power.

Operational Impact

Early access takes more work to manage. You’ve got to manage who’s on the early access list and who isn’t, then set up the infrastructure so that only they have access to the product or promotion.

It’s not like you’re building a rocket to Mars, but it does take more work than simply distributing a discount code.

Summing Up

We’re not saying you should never offer discounts. Just about every brand does it, and discounts are a good way to capture leads and new customers at scale, with minimal effort.

But early access often ends up being a lot more powerful, driving real loyalty and positioning your brand in a premium light – while maintaining higher profit margins at the same time.

Real Business Impact of Early Access Strategies

When executed well, early access strategies can deliver meaningful performance lifts across multiple parts of your business. 

You’ll often see:

• Higher conversion rates during exclusive windows, as urgency and exclusivity drive more immediate action.
• Increased list growth and loyalty program sign-ups, since early access acts as a compelling incentive to opt in.
• Boosts to campaign revenue by concentrating purchase intent among your highest-value customers.
• Improved customer retention and repeat purchase rates, thanks to the sense of privilege and priority that early access creates.
• Better utilization of owned marketing channels (email, SMS, push) as customers engage more deeply when there’s a real reason to pay attention.

In short, early access doesn’t just build hype. It sharpens the performance of your promotional calendar, amplifies customer engagement, and strengthens key growth levers like LTV and list health.

Examples of Brands Using Early Access

Your customers’ other favorite brands are using early access to good effect. Why aren’t you?

Amazon

Amazon runs early access promotions for Amazon Prime members. These promotions build excitement around the brand, drive a ton of engagement, and give shoppers a reason to subscribe to their Prime membership.

Sephora

Sephora’s extremely successful loyalty program provides exclusive first access to new products to “Rouge” members – their top-spending customers, who spend over $1,000 per year with the brand.

Farfetch

Farfetch also ties early access to their loyalty program, opening up exclusive access to sales for members of their loyalty program, plus early access to other perks for higher tiers.

Carhartt

Carhartt provided early access to their Black Friday sale for members of their list.

Daily Harvest

Daily Harvest also promotes early access to members of their email list, incentivizing engagement and driving excitement.

Fashion Nova

Fashion Nova has a dedicated page for collections that are coming soon, where shoppers can enter their email to be notified when new lines are available for purchase, creating excitement and also helping to grow their email list.

Your Early Access Playbook: Putting It To Use for Your Brand

If you’re not leveraging early access incentives in your business, you’re missing out.

Here’s how to start.

Integrate it as an incentive for key actions or steps in your customer journey. The key is to think about what you can incentivize that will ultimately grow long-term brand loyalty and sales.

• Loyalty program: provide early access for members of your loyalty program, rather than the basic points-based setup.
• Email/SMS opt-in: frame your lists as a “VIP members group”, where people who sign up get first access to promos or product drops.
• App downloads: offer exclusive first access to app users, giving an incentive for customers to download your mobile app (and keep using it).
• Purchasing tiers: offer it not just to people who sign up to your loyalty program, but to those who spend above a certain amount.
• Paid membership: early access can be a great way to encourage signups to a paid membership (like Amazon Prime).
• Community access: create a community and give members first access to new products, restocks, etc.
• Waitlists: let people sign up for a waitlist to be the first to know about a new product drop or a restock.

With all of this, you’re building customer behavior or brand assets that directly grow LTV.

You’re cultivating loyalty and repeat purchase. You’re getting more app downloads, more email signups, more community members. And you’re doing it without dangling discounts that degrade your price perception and margins.

Final Thoughts

If you want to stop relying on discount incentives, reclaim margins, drive loyalty and create more excitement around your brand, early access is a great way to do it.

It’s an excellent tactic paired with mobile apps.

You offer exclusive early access to app users as an incentive to download the app. That gives users a good reason to keep using the app (unlike a discount, which might result in them deleting the app after using their discount), as well as to keep push notifications turned on.

The result is a big win for your brand. App users are more valuable (our data shows they’re worth 6-10x as much as people who shop on your website), thanks to the fact that they shop more than twice as often, shop for longer, and convert at a higher rate.

And having your app on their phone, with push notifications on, gives you a direct line to the customer that is so valuable today.

Winning brands are combining early access + mobile apps to build a retention and loyalty engine that drives significant LTV and profit, while building brand equity at the same time.

Building your app is easy – Vendrux helps you do it with minimal cost and zero effort required, by leveraging what already works on your website.

Get a free preview of your app to see how it works, or read through our case studies to see how brands like John Varvatos, Jack & Jones, buybuyBaby and more use Vendrux to power sustainable growth.

Mobile commerce has exploded in recent years, with more consumers shopping on their smartphones than ever before. 

For DTC brands, this raises the big question: do you need a mobile app?

Many brands assume that an optimized mobile website is sufficient. Why go through the hassle and expense of developing an app when your website already converts well? 

However, the brands that lean into mobile apps aren’t just surviving—they’re thriving. Apps offer a direct line to customers, better retention, and higher LTV compared to brands that are web-only.

Now, with CAC rising and profit margins shrinking, it’s becoming more important than ever to build sustainable growth through retention, and mobile apps are the perfect way to do this.

Yet not all brands need an app. For some, a mobile app just won’t move the needle enough to justify the time, cost and energy you put into building and launching it.

Keep reading and we’ll explain which brands should (and shouldn’t) build an app, and a clear action plan to launch for those who do have an app on their to-do list.

Want weekly insights into how 7, 8 and 9-figure brands are driving sustainable growth? That’s what you get with our value-packed newsletter, The Retention Edge. Subscribe for free today.

Which Brands Benefit the Most from a Mobile App?

Not every DTC brand needs a mobile app. 

However, for some, it’s a game-changer for retention, repeat purchases, and community engagement.

The key? Brands who derive a significant amount of revenue from repeat purchases, and those with a long customer lifecycle.

If you fall into any of these categories, an app could be a massive retention and revenue driver:

High-Frequency Purchase Brands

• Brands selling products that customers repurchase frequently (like supplements, cosmetics, coffee, or pet food) can benefit a ton from an app.
• With one-tap reordering, personalized recommendations, and subscription management, an app makes repurchasing frictionless.

Subscription-Based Businesses

• If your business runs on a recurring revenue model (meal kits, memberships, or replenishment services), an app is perfect for managing subscriptions.
• Customers can easily pause, modify, or upgrade their subscriptions, reducing churn and increasing LTV.

Loyalty-Driven Brands

• Fashion, luxury, and community-centric brands thrive on engagement. A mobile app allows you to offer:
  • Exclusive member perks
  • Early access to new collections
  • Personalized content and offers

Brands with Customization & Personalization

• Skincare, footwear, and home decor brands that offer customized products benefit from an app’s ability to store customer preferences and deliver a tailored shopping experience.

Experience-Driven Brands

• Some brands go beyond selling products—they create immersive experiences through apps with gamification, AR/VR try-ons, or community-building features.
• If your brand thrives on exclusivity or VIP experiences, an app strengthens customer loyalty.

When a Mobile App Does NOT Make Sense

Mobile apps can have huge benefits for some brands. But for others, an app won’t move the needle very much.

We’re basically looking at the inverse of the previous section. Brands that have a naturally low retention rate, where customers typically only purchase once (or with a long time between purchases).

Think; what’s the reason for customers to download your app? Does it provide value, or improve the customer experience?

A furniture brand, for example, doesn’t make a lot of sense to build an app. Someone might buy once (a $3,000 sofa). Do they need an app, or does this just add another unnecessary step to the buying process?

A great example would be Ridge. They’re immensely successful, doing $100M+ in revenue.

It’s not a matter of cost; they can certainly afford an app.

But, (by CEO Sean Frank’s own admission), they’re a naturally low-LTV business. They don’t sell consumables; in fact their wallets are specifically designed to last FOREVER (they even offer a lifetime guarantee).

So people aren’t going to download an app and make regular purchases (though that may change as they expand to new product lines).

For them, an app just doesn’t add much to the customer experience.

Why Brands With a Great Mobile Web Experience Should Launch Apps

A common objection to building a mobile app is when brands already have a high-converting and engaging mobile website.

They believe that the website is enough; an app would be redundant.

However, it makes even more sense for brands with a great mobile web experience to launch a mobile app.

Your website is proof of concept; your customers are happy shopping on mobile.

An app just takes that and packages it in a more convenient format. 

Your loyal customers will be able to load the site (now your app) via one tap from their home screen, rather than accessing it through the browser, and you can drive increased engagement with push notifications.

Some will still prefer to use the website, and that’s fine. Those who prefer the convenience of the app will use the app.

Typically 2-5% of your web users will download your app, which is more than enough (with the higher LTV from app users) to justify the cost.

And if your mobile web experience is already app-like, you’re in the perfect position to launch an app. Using a service like Vendrux you’ll be able to launch in no time, just by converting what already works well for you on the web.

The Retention & LTV Boost: Why Retail Apps Work

Why build a mobile app?

A mobile app isn’t just another sales channel. It’s a retention engine.

While most brands obsess over customer acquisition, sustainable profitability in DTC comes from repeat purchases and maximizing lifetime value. 

A well-executed mobile app creates a sticky ecosystem where customers return not just out of necessity but because they’re engaged in the brand experience. 

Here’s why apps are one of the most effective tools for retention and LTV growth:

1. Push Notifications & Retargeting

One of the biggest challenges in retention marketing is staying top of mind without being ignored. 

Email open rates have dropped to around 20%, and SMS is seeing declining engagement (and is much more expensive at scale). 

Enter push notifications: they have an average open rate of 90% and offer a direct, non-intrusive way to nudge customers back into your ecosystem.

With push, brands can send hyper-targeted messages based on customer behavior, purchase history, and browsing activity, such as abandoned cart notifications and automated re-ordering reminders for consumables.

2. Frictionless Shopping

Apps provide less friction and fewer distractions, making for a smoother and higher-converting shopping experience (even if the app is just a wrapped version of the website).

It’s quicker to get in (one tap from the home screen), the customer is already signed in, and there are no browser tabs to distract them.

The result is higher conversions, fewer abandoned carts, and a more inviting experience for regular customers.

3. Loyalty & Rewards Integration: Keeping Customers Engaged

A mobile app allows brands to bake loyalty directly into the shopping experience, boosting participation and engagement.

With an app, loyalty members can track their points in real time, receive personalized offers based on their tier status, get push updates when they earn points, and redeem rewards instantly (without needing to log in or navigate a separate loyalty dashboard).

It makes earning and using rewards feel effortless, which increases repeat purchase rates and brand affinity.

4. Exclusive Access & VIP Treatment: Driving FOMO & Retention

Your best customers crave exclusivity. Mobile apps give brands the ability to offer premium, members-only experiences that drive app adoption and keep users engaged long-term.

Brands like Nike and Adidas use their apps to drop exclusive, limited-edition releases that are only accessible to app users. 

Beauty brands often offer early access to new collections, while premium fashion labels provide app-only discounts or invitation-only shopping events. 

These perks drive engagement, as well as creating a strong incentive for customers to keep the app installed (and push notifications turned on).

5. Better Data for Personalization: Using Customer Insights to Drive More Revenue

With third-party cookie tracking becoming more restricted, owning your customer data is more valuable than ever. 

A mobile app gives you direct insights into browsing behavior, purchase frequency, product preferences, and engagement patterns, allowing for hyper-personalized marketing.

For example, an app can track:

• Which products a customer views but doesn’t buy
• How frequently they engage with the brand
• Their most common purchase categories
• Their preferred time of day for shopping

Armed with this data, brands can deliver personalized recommendations, send perfectly timed promotions, and optimize marketing efforts for each individual customer.

How to Build & Scale a Mobile App That Converts

Another objection many brands have is that they see a mobile app as a big, expensive, time-consuming project.

It’s a “nice to have”, but with all the other fires going on around the business, it’s just never the right time.

It’s actually not that big a project anymore, with the no-code and low-code tools on the market. It won’t cost you six figures+ like legacy shopping apps, and you can go live in a matter of weeks, without hiring and managing developers.

Here’s a five-step process to building (and scaling) your brand’s mobile app:

1. Prioritize your mobile web UX – building your mobile app will be so much easier if your mobile website is already amazing (and you’ll get more visitors on the mobile web anyway).
2. Use Vendrux to turn your website into a native app in just four weeks (without coding, and without rebuilding anything).
3. Launch and promote your app using existing retention channels, such as your email list, SMS list and website.
4. Set up automated push campaigns (abandoned cart, browse abandonment, welcome messages), as well as sending regular (multiple times per week) engagement-driving push notifications.
5. Test, analyze and iterate – track engagement, try different campaigns (such as app-exclusive product drops) to get more of your customers to download the app.

Today, any brand can launch their own app – it doesn’t take millions in funding or an in-house development team to build an app.

Want to learn more? Get a free consultation and learn how Vendrux will bring your app to life.

Measuring Success: What Metrics Matter?

With the right measurement frameworks, you can ensure you see your app’s contribution to business growth.

Several key metrics to look for include:

• App Install Rate & Active Users – Are people downloading and staying engaged?
• Conversion Lift vs. Mobile Web – Does the app outperform your website in checkout conversion?
• Push Notification Open & Conversion Rates – Are notifications driving action?​
• Repeat Purchase Rate & LTV Lift – Are customers buying more frequently through the app?
• App-Exclusive Revenue Contribution – How much revenue is coming directly from app users?

Case Studies: DTC Brands Winning with Mobile Apps

There are many public examples of DTC brands launching apps and achieving success.

Sleefs

Category: Apparel/Fashion

Key statistics: 

• 30% higher AOV in-app – Bigger baskets, higher spend.
• 3x more visits per app user – More engagement, more sales.
• +40% conversion rate – Higher intent, fewer abandoned carts.
• 50k+ push notification subscribers – Direct access to high-value customers.

Sleefs’ mobile app is a retention and revenue powerhouse. 

App users spend more, shop more often, and convert at higher rates than any other platform. 

With push notifications giving them instant access to 50k+ engaged customers, Sleefs has built a direct, high-intent sales loop that keeps revenue flowing.

Read more about Sleefs’ mobile app here.

Boozebud

Category: Alcohol

Key statistics: 

• 5x higher customer lifetime value – App users stick around and keep spending.
• 4x higher ARPU – More revenue per user, more profitability.
• 10% of total revenue from the app – A major revenue driver.

Boozebud’s app isn’t just boosting sales. It’s locking in high-value customers. 

With 5x the LTV and 4x the ARPU of non-app users, the app creates a sticky, high-engagement shopping experience that drives repeat purchases. 

The result? A direct, high-retention revenue stream that now accounts for 10% of total sales.

“We’re seeing that the customers who do use the app are more engaged, they’re spending more time on site, they’re spending more per transaction, they’re spending more overall. Push notifications give us a way to get in front of high-value customers within a walled environment. The app is paying for itself.”

Read more about Boozebud’s mobile app here.

BrüMate

Category: Home/Kitchen

Key statistics: 

• 56% higher sales per session vs. website – More spend per visit.
• 43% higher conversion rate – Less friction, more checkouts.
• 10-20% of total monthly sales from the app – A major revenue driver.

With higher conversion rates, bigger sales per session, and a direct push notification channel, BrüMate’s app is a crucial sales channel.

Driving up to 20% of total monthly revenue, it’s a low-cost, high-impact retention tool that BrüMate fully controls.

Art of Tea

Category: Food/Beverage

Key statistics: 

• 3.4x higher conversion rate vs. mobile web – Less friction, more purchases.
• 4.6x higher order value per session – Bigger carts, higher revenue.
• 20k+ app downloads – A loyal, high-intent customer base.

Art of Tea’s app drives higher conversion rates and significantly larger orders per session, outperforming their mobile web experience. 

Now with 20,000+ downloads, Art of Tea has built a dedicated, high-value customer base that keeps coming back.

Recode Studios

Category: Beauty

Key statistics: 

• +63% total revenue growth – The app isn’t just performing—it’s scaling the business.
• 7x higher conversion rate – Turning browsers into buyers at an unmatched rate.
• 50% repeat purchase rate – 20% higher than mobile web, locking in loyalty.
• 16.89% abandoned cart conversion – Recovering lost sales with high-impact push notifications.
• 25k monthly active users, 200k sessions – A deeply engaged customer base.

Recode Studios’ app is a profit engine. 

With a 7x conversion rate boost, 50% repeat purchase rate, and abandoned cart notifications converting at nearly 17%, the app drives revenue while keeping customers coming back. 

With 25k+ active users and 200k monthly sessions, it’s clear: the app is Recode’s top retention tool.

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Learn more: check out these articles for a closer look at the case for DTC brands to launch apps, plus the best examples of successful ecommerce apps.

Final Verdict: Should Your Brand Build an App?

With the low barrier to entry provided by no-code solutions like Vendrux, it makes sense for the majority of successful DTC brands to launch their own mobile app.

Here’s a simple checklist. If you check 3+ boxes, an app is worth considering:

• You sell products that customers reorder regularly.
• Your business has a loyalty, subscription, or community component.
• Your mobile site already performs well, (making an app easy to launch).
• You want higher retention and better customer data.
• You can invest in driving app downloads and keeping users engaged.

If an app isn’t the right fit, focus on building a great mobile web experience that converts.

But keep the idea of an app in mind – if, in the future, your business model pivots to focus more on retention and repeat business, an app might suddenly make a lot of sense.

Next steps?

If your mobile website works great, get in touch with our team to schedule a free consultation, and get a free preview of your app.

You can also learn more about what Vendrux does, and why it’s the best way for modern brands to level up their retention game with a mobile app.