Own loyalty app, but low usage? Here's how mobile-pocket drives more frequency in your customer loyalty strategy

Plastic loyalty cards are costly to produce and harmful to the environment – and the trend is pointing clearly in a new direction: more than 80% of consumers are willing to download a mobile app for a loyalty program (source: ey.com).

Yet retailers who invest in their own loyalty app quickly run into an uncomfortable truth: the average smartphone user has 60 to 80 apps installed (source: businessofapps.com) – but actively uses fewer than ten (source: buildfire.com). Having your own app is therefore no guarantee that your customers will open it regularly.

What if you could unlock the full potential of your customer loyalty strategy – by boosting your own app with an additional marketing channel that your regular customers already use every day?

Loyalty programs deliver results. According to the EY loyalty market study, 58% of consumers said they moderately to significantly increased their spending because of a loyalty program. Loyalty programs are even the single most important reason why consumers stay loyal to a brand (source: EY). But this only works if customers know about the program, use it, and are reminded of it regularly. Brands that reach their customers across multiple channels simultaneously build stronger, longer-lasting loyalty.

For brands with the right resources, a dedicated customer loyalty app is an excellent investment. You retain full control – over design, features, brand experience, and data. The challenge, however, is sustaining a consistently high level of active usage over time. Customers who shop infrequently or don't see ongoing value in your app will simply ignore it – or delete it. That's how even a well-funded investment quickly loses its impact.
The bottom line: your own app only pays off in the long run if it is actively maintained and consistently delivers value to your customers. Without that, even the best app launch fizzles out.

mobile-pocket is an app where users can store all their loyalty cards in one place. Millions of people use it multiple times a week because it keeps their cards always within reach. Brands that are part of mobile-pocket automatically become part of their customers' everyday routine. The app also enables targeted push notifications to users who have saved a card and opted in to notifications – turning mobile-pocket into a standalone marketing channel, not just a digital card holder.

Relying on a single channel – even if that channel is your own app – carries a risk: customers who don't open your app simply won't hear about your offers. This is where the omnichannel principle comes in: reaching your customers through multiple touchpoints simultaneously, rather than putting everything on one channel. The more relevant touchpoints work together along the customer journey, the higher the brand awareness, loyalty, and likelihood that customers will take action (source: Think with Google).

One thing is clear: mobile-pocket is not a replacement for your own app or loyalty program – it's an independent, supportive marketing channel, with no app development or maintenance costs.

McDonald's is a great example of how both channels can work together. When launching their own loyalty app, McDonald's used mobile-pocket as a targeted marketing channel to reach existing regular customers and direct them to the new app. The result: the app found its way into customers' daily routines significantly faster.

"Through mobile-pocket, we can reach a large yet highly specific target audience with minimal effort," says Jörg Pizzera, director of marketing at McDonald's Austria.

Your own loyalty app and mobile-pocket complement each other perfectly. Combining both unlocks the full potential of your customer loyalty strategy: maximum reach, higher usage frequency, and a better shopping experience.

mobile-pocket is more than a digital wallet for loyalty cards. It is a standalone marketing channel that actively supports your own app and your existing channels.