With tighter marketing budgets and rising content demands, ecommerce leaders must adapt to do more with less.

Average marketing budgets have dropped 15% in 2024, according to Gartner. But that hasn’t stopped the demand for new content and personalized customer experiences. Today, success depends on strategy, efficient operations, and a customer-centric focus.  

But how do you balance impact with cost control?

By tightening operations, making smarter decisions, and staying laser-focused on the customer, brands can deliver more value with fewer resources.

Here’s how mobile apps help you rise to the challenge:

• Reach customers with push notifications: Send instant personalized messages that drive urgency and boost engagement.
• Quickly launch new campaigns: Mobile apps let teams respond quickly to trends and sales patterns with real-time updates and offers.
• Deliver fresh customer experiences with less effort: Update content with less lift. Launch app-only promotions and create personalized product recommendations and dynamic offers that customers love.
• Optimize and test content efficiently: Use real-time analytics to refine strategies before investing resources in website updates.
• Integrate seamlessly with your tech stack: Connect your app with Shopify and other tools to simplify management and enhance customer engagement.

A mobile app can be your path to operational effectiveness. You can connect with customers faster, roll out campaigns in real time, and keep everything from content updates to customer engagement on track — all without the extra overhead. 

Let’s break down marketing leaders' key challenges and explore how a mobile app can offer practical, cost-effective solutions.

What’s the problem? Less budget, more demand.

Ecommerce marketing leaders face two major hurdles: budget constraints and operational complexity. As budgets tighten, the pressure to deliver high-impact campaigns remains, and managing online operations has never been more complex or resource-intensive.

Marketing expectations don’t match budget allocations

Budget constraints stand out as the dominant challenge for marketing leaders. Ecommerce marketing leaders face even tighter budgets while fielding increasing demands for growth.

Marketing budgets fell from a post-pandemic high of 9.5% of total revenue in 2022 to just 7.7% in 2024.

At the same time, 92% reported a 50 to 90% increase in campaigns and content requests, according to Airtable. The demand for new content and fresh customer experiences is higher than ever.

The takeaway: Marketers must maximize every dollar to close the gap between marketing needs and budgets. Streamlined and efficient workflows — like those supported by a mobile app — power impactful campaigns without overstretching resources.

Operational complexity grows as marketers manage more platforms with smaller teams

Shrinking budgets and teams increases operational complexity. Marketing leaders are responsible for a growing number of platforms and media types, and it changes so rapidly that efficient workflows fall by the wayside.

Much of this complexity stems from platform overload. Managing multiple online channels (and media formats) requires constant coordination — from launching new products to personalizing customer campaigns. Every platform has its own workflows, data sets, and engagement metrics. The juggling act drains time and resources, creating inefficiencies that slow campaign execution. 

Meanwhile, the workload only grows as marketing teams shrink.

The takeaway: Marketers face complex operational workflows that slow marketing execution — increasing time and costs.

What’s the solution? A mobile app to improve marketing operations.

You need marketing strategies that go beyond pay-to-play advertising — ones that streamline operations for successful campaigns.

That’s where a mobile app comes in. Mobile apps empower teams to attract and retain customers while reducing friction and increasing operational effectiveness.

A mobile app can help you improve marketing operations with faster and easier ways to:

• Deliver fresh, unique customer experiences
• Connect with customers 
• Create campaigns
• Optimize marketing budget allocation
• Integrate with your existing tech stack

Achieve greater campaign impact by focusing on innovative acquisition tactics and streamlined operations.

1. Reach customers authentically and quickly with push notifications 

Push notifications make your marketing more efficient by delivering messages to customers’ mobile devices faster, with more personalization, and without added costs.

Compared to email and SMS, push notifications offer more efficiency and flexibility, making them a powerful addition to marketing campaigns.

Advantages of push notifications over email and SMS

Push notifications deliver agility, cost savings, and creative freedom traditional channels can’t match.

• Faster setup: Email campaigns require extensive design and content creation, while push notifications are quick to set up and send, allowing you to respond to live sales data and customer behavior in real time.
• Cost-free messaging: Unlike SMS, which charges per send, push notifications come at no additional cost. When marketers have to pay-to-play on most platforms, this freedom is invaluable.
• Authentic brand voice: Push notifications have fewer restrictions — no limits on word/character count or emojis. Brands can share authentic, on-brand messages to customers without limitations. 

Create real-time, agile campaigns with push notifications — like LSKD

Push notifications allow you to create personalized messages that you can pivot on a moment’s notice. Australian fashion brand LSKD uses push notifications to speak directly with its customers and respond quickly to what’s happening in the community. 

During seasonal sales, the LSKD team uses push notifications to respond to live data in real time. If a particular item is trending, they whip up messages, sharing that it’s popular and running low to create urgency and drive conversions. These quick, data-driven adjustments have contributed to a 156% higher conversion rate (CVR) and 218% higher revenue per session than their website.

• Easy launch of smaller, limited-edition campaigns: LSKD uses push notifications for weekly limited-edition local launches, highlighting community-based designs and partnerships. Launching these campaigns would be far more time-consuming and costly on other channels.
• Enhanced retargeting for loyalty and retention: Push notifications allow brands like LSKD to re-engage loyal customers, encouraging repeat purchases and boosting retention. Instead, you can focus acquisition efforts on new audiences while using push to keep your loyal customer base engaged.

The takeaway: Push notifications make it easy to send highly relevant (and highly valuable) messages to your most dedicated audience. The simplicity of push gives your team an easy and near-instant connection with your core customers that helps minimize complexity.

See how LSKD drove 40% of BFCM sales to their mobile app with push notifications.

2. Launch sales campaigns in hours with a mobile app

Responding to trends is a constant concern for marketers — 15% say it's their biggest challenge, according to Hubspot. With a mobile app, marketers can create campaigns quickly and adjust to what’s happening in real time, whether capitalizing on a popular trend or responding to a low sales period.

Advantages of quick campaign creation

A mobile app platform enables marketing teams to launch campaigns in hours rather than days, making it easy to keep content fresh. 

• Instant updates: Launch campaigns quickly without the need for extensive development or design work.
• Reduced reliance on outside team members: Unlike a website, a mobile app like those built with Tapcart requires little, if any, developer support. A small marketing team can manage and update an app frequently without inflating the budget.

Aviator Nation reacts to trends with real-time campaigns

For brands like Aviator Nation, agility is essential to staying relevant in the fast-moving ecommerce market. They use their mobile app to run timely campaigns that resonate with their customers. Their team can decide on a promotion one night and have it live the next morning — something that’s much harder to achieve with a website. This agility helped Aviator Nation achieve a 23% higher CVR and 35% higher revenue per session on their app than on their website.

“Our team can decide that night if we’re going to do a huge promotion and sale launch the next morning,” said Curtis Ulrich, Aviator Nation’s Director of Ecommerce.

• Fast on-trend campaigns: Aviator Nation uses its app to quickly align offers with trends, respond to sales shifts, and launch updates without heavy dev support — making it effortless for a lean team to stay timely and relevant.

• Efficient app updates: Even as a 9-figure brand, the team doesn’t have the developer support to update their website frequently. But, the app makes it much easier to create new campaigns.

• Instant communication through push notifications: Push marketing also help Aviator Nation reach loyal customers right away. 

“With our mobile app, we can be top of mind with those really loyal customers with a click of a button,” explained Curtis. “There’s no lag, there’s no delay, and there’s no question of deliverability issues.”

The takeaway: A mobile app empowers brands to create timely and impactful campaigns, allowing small teams to connect with their audience at just the right moment. With real-time updates and instant outreach, you can stay agile and relevant — without the complexity.

Discover how Aviator Nation drives real-time engagement with a mobile app.

3. Deliver a unique customer experience by streamlining marketing operations

What do loyal customers expect/deserve? A unique and fresh experience. Mobile apps allow brands to meet these expectations with less effort, making it easier to keep content and campaigns up-to-date.

Getting fresh content and a unique shopping experience is something consumers like most about using a mobile app — with 34% of Gen Zers agreeing, according to Tapcart’s BFCM 2024 Consumer Trends Report.

Easy updates keep the customer experience engaging

A mobile app allows brands to keep content fresh and unique, meeting customer expectations with minimal effort. BYLT demonstrates how a mobile app streamlines updates for a lean team, allowing them to provide a high-quality experience without heavy developer support.

• Quick content refreshes: Easily update products, layouts, and interactive features to keep the app engaging. Regular refreshes make the customer experience feel dynamic and relevant.
• App-only offers: Launch exclusive app-only deals and promotions in minutes, creating exclusivity that rewards loyal customers and encourages repeat visits.
• Real-time customer feedback: Gauge customer responses to updates in real time, and make adjustments based on what resonates.

BYLT delivers unique experiences and fast updates with its mobile app

BYLT, a headless ecommerce brand, uses its mobile app to provide a fresh, personalized experience that’s easy to update without developer support. Their Shopify site requires third-party hours for updates, but the app gives their lean team the flexibility to keep customers engaged without heavy resource demands.

“Our website is typically a bigger ship to turn,” says Kyle Turadek, BYLT’s Senior Director of Growth. “But our mobile app lets us keep things fresh and give customers a unique, easy-to-adjust experience.”

• Effortless content updates: BYLT can add new products, test different layouts, and launch interactive features quickly., creating a dynamic and engaging customer experience. 
• App-only offers in minutes: BYLT can roll out exclusive offers in just minutes with their mobile app. “If we want to fire up an app-only offer, we can do it in minutes,” says Kyle. This agility allows them to create timely campaigns that drive customer engagement.
• Real-time feedback: The app lets BYLT monitor customer reactions and adjust their strategy accordingly. This flexibility has contributed to a 30–40% higher lifetime value (LTV) in the app compared to their website.

The takeaway: A mobile app empowers brands to create a fresh, unique experience that adapts to customer needs. For BYLT, the app supports loyalty and drives a 30–40% higher LTV than its website by enabling fast, impactful updates that keep customers engaged.

Discover how BYLT achieves higher customer engagement with a mobile app >

4. Optimize content more efficiently with data-driven decision making

A mobile app provides a more agile testing environment compared to a website. With few development requirements and access to real-time analytics, mobile apps allow brands to refine their strategies without committing heavy resources upfront. This flexibility makes it easy to test new ideas and implement optimizations before making permanent website changes.

Streamlined operations with minimal lift

A mobile app lets you continuously improve content and campaigns with fewer resources, enabling you to stay agile and responsive.

• Low development requirements: Update and test content with minimal to no developer support, allowing you to make adjustments quickly and cost-effectively.
• Real-time analytics: Access to real-time data helps you gauge the impact of changes immediately, providing insights that can guide your optimization strategy.
• Efficient testing ground: Experiment with layouts, features, and content on your app first, refining ideas before investing in website updates. This approach saves development time and reduces risks.

The Hundreds uses its app to stay aligned with brand collaborations

Streetwear brand The Hundreds uses its mobile app to maintain a polished, brand-aligned experience that keeps pace with its high-profile collaborations. Tapcart’s platform helps their small team stay efficient by enabling them to upload new products, run campaigns, and make quick adjustments to match partner branding requirements.

In past collaborations with Sesame Street and Disney, The Hundreds adapted their app’s design to be more family-friendly, removing their iconic “bomb” logo when required. Using Tapcart’s Custom Blocks and Image Blocks, drag-and-drop components that enrich your app with media, shopping flows, and more, the team can implement creative changes seamlessly, ensuring the app reflects each partner’s branding.

• Improves operational efficiency with minimal effort: Tapcart allows The Hundreds to maintain a fresh and intentional app experience with minimal lift, keeping their team agile and responsive.
• Flexibility to align with brand partners: The Hundreds can quickly adjust their app’s visuals to meet partners' branding standards, preserving relationships and meeting collaborative goals. “Being able to have all that flexibility within the branding is huge. It's really necessary,” says Sandy, their team member.

The takeaway: A mobile app empowers brands to optimize and test content efficiently, saving development resources and ensuring high-quality experiences. For The Hundreds, this flexibility supports their brand partnerships, allowing them to deliver a polished, adaptable app experience that aligns with their strategic goals.

See how The Hundreds uses their mobile app to stay flexible and brand-aligned >

5. Seamless integrations make mobile apps even more powerful

Seamlessly sync your mobile app with your existing tech stack to streamline operations. Integrating with platforms like Shopify and other solutions like Kalviyo, Yotpo, and Lyvecom makes a mobile app a powerful extension of your marketing ecosystem — reducing friction and simplifying operational management.

• Sync with Shopify backend: Your mobile app can directly integrate with your Shopify backend, ensuring inventory, orders, and customer data are always up-to-date across platforms.
• Connect with favorite tech tools: Integrations with Klaviyo for messaging, Yotpo for reviews, and Nosto for personalization mean you can leverage your existing tools within the app environment.
• Simplify management compared to custom apps: Unlike custom-built apps that require extensive development resources, platforms like Tapcart offer seamless integrations out of the box, making it easier for your team to manage and update the app without technical hurdles.

G FUEL enhances engagement with app integrations

For years, G FUEL relied on a custom-built app that became difficult to manage. By switching to Tapcart, they gained the flexibility to manage their app in-house, easily making real-time updates and streamlining product launches.

With Tapcart’s integrations, G FUEL:

• Added dynamic shoppable videos using Lyvecom to create interactive product pages.
• Showcased user-generated content with Okendo to build trust and boost conversions.
• Used Klaviyo to deliver segmented push notifications for targeted customer engagement.

The takeaway: A mobile app enhances operational efficiency and customer engagement by seamlessly integrating with your existing tech stack. G FUEL's experience shows how moving to an easily managed app platform can unlock new capabilities, streamline processes, and drive better results without the complexity of custom development.

See how G FUEL transformed their mobile app experience with seamless integrations and real-time updates >

A mobile app improves your marketing operations — letting you do more with less

When budgets are tight and demands keep growing, a mobile app puts the power back in your hands. You’re no longer waiting on dev teams or straining to keep up with trends. Instead, you’re creating real-time experiences, building loyalty, and connecting with customers in a way that feels fresh and on-brand — and, most of all, efficient.

Ready to make your marketing leaner, faster, and more impactful? The path forward is mobile.