Guide
How to increase repeat purchases with a Shopify mobile app
A mobile app is most useful after the first order: it keeps your store on the customer's home screen and lets you reach them directly with push notifications. Here are practical ways to turn first-time buyers into repeat customers with your Shopify app, and how to check what works.
1. Get existing customers to install the app
An app only brings people back if they have it. Promote it where your customers already are:
- A banner or QR code on your website, especially on the order confirmation page.
- Order confirmation and shipping emails.
- Packaging inserts with a QR code to your App Store and Google Play listings.
- Your social media profiles and posts.
Tell customers what they get: early access to new arrivals, offers announced in the app, and a faster way to reorder.
2. Use push notifications with a plan
Push notifications are the main reason customers come back to an app. Combine automated messages, which run on their own, with campaigns you schedule:
- Welcome message — thank new app users and show them where to start.
- New products and restocks — the most natural reason to open the app again.
- Campaigns — sale launches, limited collections and shipping cut-offs.
Keep the frequency reasonable and each message specific. Our push notifications guide covers what to send, how to write it and how often.
3. Keep the home screen fresh
Returning customers decide in a few seconds whether there is anything new. Update the home screen of your app as your store changes:
- Put new arrivals and seasonal collections at the top.
- Change banners when a promotion starts and remove them when it ends.
- Feature your most popular collections so repeat buyers find their favorites quickly.
Your app's catalog follows Shopify, so products, prices and stock stay in sync — you only decide what to highlight.
4. Recover abandoned carts
Shoppers often add products to the cart and leave. An abandoned-cart push reminds them after a delay you choose. Send one clear reminder rather than a series, and make sure the product is still in stock when the message goes out.
5. Plan seasonal offers in advance
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the holidays, back-to-school and your own brand anniversaries are natural moments to bring customers back. Create the offer in Shopify as usual, then prepare the banners and push campaigns in the app ahead of time. Our Black Friday app checklist gives a week-by-week timeline you can reuse for other seasons.
6. Measure app orders
- Orders by sales channel — with Mobilefy, orders placed in the app go through your Shopify checkout and are attributed to the Mobilefy sales channel, so you can filter them in your Shopify admin.
- Repeat customers — look at how many app customers place a second or third order, not only at the total app revenue.
- Campaign days — compare app orders on the days you send campaigns with the days you don't, and keep the messages that bring sales.
7. Mistakes to avoid
- Sending too many notifications, which leads customers to mute or delete the app.
- Announcing an offer in a push that is not visible when customers open the app.
- Launching the app without telling existing customers about it.
- Leaving last season's banners on the home screen.
Frequently asked questions
How many push notifications should I send to bring customers back?
There is no universal number. Most stores do well with a few campaigns a week on top of automated messages such as abandoned-cart reminders, and one or two a day at most during big sales. If uninstalls rise after a campaign, slow down.
How do I know if the app brings repeat orders?
With Mobilefy, app orders go through your Shopify checkout and are attributed to the Mobilefy sales channel, so you can filter orders by channel in your Shopify admin and see which customers order again from the app.
Should I offer app-only discounts?
It can give customers a reason to install the app, but it is not required. Start with things only the app does well — early access to new arrivals, reminders and push announcements — and test a discount for specific moments.
Do I need a large catalog for this to work?
No, but you need regular news to share: new products, restocks, collections or offers. A store that changes nothing for months has little reason to send notifications.
Bring customers back with Mobilefy
Mobilefy builds a native iOS and Android app for your Shopify store, with a visual builder for your home screen, push notifications and checkout on Shopify (check which plans include push). Start with a 7-day free trial: get started or read whether you need your own app if customers use the Shop app.