Customer Case Study
How bol Boosted App Downloads & Opt-Ins with a Cross-Channel Customer Experience
bol is a leading online retailer and marketplace platform based in the Netherlands and Belgium featuring a wide offering. Known for its comprehensive product selection and customer-centric service, bol provides an exceptional and convenient shopping experience through its mobile app.
bol Delivers Outstanding Results for their 10 Days Campaign with Airship
3X
higher open rates than the retail category average
3X
higher opt-in rates
Overview
Despite recognizing the value of their app users, bol noticed a decline in new app downloads and stagnation in opt-ins. The online marketplace needed to position the app as a central place for browsing products and making purchases, while encouraging customers to opt in to brand communications. To do so, bol needed to create a mutual exchange of value, delivering convenience and tailored offers speaking directly to customer needs.
Challenge
The team at bol set out to create and scale unique selling propositions for its app to outpace steep e-commerce competition, all with limited resources. To drive sustained growth, they understood they had to go well beyond first-name mentions — the least preferred types of personalization — to showcase the value of the app and stand out among the many other brands vying for customers’ loyalty (and dollars).
Results
By leveraging the Airship platform, bol was able to scale segmentation and personalization to boost engagement and conversions, including app downloads and opt-ins — with no code required.
In the run up to the Bol10days, a major sales event for the brand, bol used the Price Alert as a reason to install the app and opt in for push messaging, resulting in a huge uplift.
The Price alert push notification drove above average results across opt-in, open and conversion rates during the campaign. The high engagement remained steady even after the campaign — 25% higher than before. The campaign’s success laid the groundwork for the team to operate with greater speed and agility in the future.
“The ultra-competitive e-comm landscape requires a commitment to ongoing innovation. Airship’s solutions empowered us to create a highly personalized offer that deeply resonated with customers — without overextending our resources. By optimizing our app as a valuable and reliable resource, customers come back to take high-value actions often, allowing us to achieve sustained engagement and loyalty.”
Tamara van Dijk
Lead Mobile Messaging, bol
Solution
Personalization at Scale Drives Increased Conversions
Scaling Zero-Party Data Collection with Cross-Channel Messaging
bol conceptualized a new “Price Alert” campaign centered around gathering customers’ product wish lists to understand their wants and needs, positioning it as a unique feature to attract new users and increase opt-ins. Spanning Airship’s email, in-app messaging and push notification solutions, the team encouraged customers to share their interests in products and, in turn, receive exclusive alerts when those products were discounted.
Delivering Targeted Push Alerts to Encourage App Purchases
Once customers filled out their wish list, the bol team was able to deliver tailored messaging and offers as soon as their desired products were discounted, making it a key driver for engagement. This approach was particularly powerful in the days leading up to major sales events, generating excitement among customers to snag the best possible deal.
Optimizing Engagement through Experimentation & Automation
bol automated the “Price Alert” notifications with backend queries running every hour to identify discounts. Robust experimentation with minimum discount percentage and contact frequency optimized the campaign over time to improve open rates and conversions. bol also expanded the campaign with new experiments, targeting search behavior and abandoned carts, to identify the best segmentation strategy and to boost engagement.
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