Online shopping is undergoing a fundamental shift: desktop is out and mobile is in. But if you are in the retail business, simply being able to accept purchases from customers using mobile devices is not enough. Discover why mobile deep linking is becoming an industry standard and why you need to start preparing your app for the 2016 holiday season now.

1. BETTER RESULTS FOR
MOBILE ECOMMERCE
A revolution is changing the rules of ecommerce.
ARE YOU GETTING
LEFT BEHIND?

2. — Lauren Picasso
Director of Marketing,
“Deep linking from web to app with Branch was a
game-changer for us at Jet. This is the single biggest
no brainer for mobile ecommerce in 2016.”

3. INTRODUCTION: MOBILE IS DRIVING ECOMMERCE
Unfortunately this means nothing
unless the user actually has your app
and uses it. New customers will not
have your app installed, and returning
customers likely start their shopping
sessions elsewhere:
Email promotion campaigns
SEO-influenced organic search
Paid search advertising
Ads on social media platforms
Organic and incentivized content
sharing
Mobile apps have long been black
boxes that didn’t play nicely with any of
these inbound channels. Fortunately
there is now a solution.
Mobile deep linking is quickly
becoming an industry standard. We
understand how complex it is to make
changes to a busy, popular app, so to
be ready for the 2016 holiday shopping
season you need to start planning
now.
Your success in mobile
ecommerce is highly dependent
on the kind of mobile
experience you offer.
Mobile contextual deep
linking seamlessly integrates
your mobile app with marketing
tools and techniques you
already use.
However, there is still a critical
missing piece in mobile
ecommerce, even for
merchants with native apps.
Online shopping is undergoing a
fundamental shift: desktop is out and
mobile is in. But if you are in the retail
business, simply being able to accept
purchases from customers using
mobile devices is not enough.
Recent data shows that native mobile
apps are superior to mobile websites
at every stage of the funnel. Apps
generate more views, more purchases,
and more revenue per sale.

4. TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: MOBILE IS DRIVING ECOMMERCE
1. ECOMMERCE IN 2016 (MOBILE FIRST)
Native apps are taking over + driving more revenue
Mobile should be a priority for every retailer
“Supporting mobile” is not enough
Apps convert better than mobile websites
2. THE MISSING LINK IN NATIVE APPS
Why the mobile experience is still broken
Native apps are cut off from the world
3. FIXING THE NATIVE ECOMMERCE APP
Branch: contextual mobile deep linking
Deep linking is the missing puzzle piece
4. PREPARING FOR THE 2016 HOLIDAYS
Improve your app experience with deep linking
Convert your web visitors to app users
Drive app engagement across all marketing channels

5. ECOMMERCE IN 2016 (MOBILE FIRST)

6. Source: https://www.internetretailer.com/2014/08/13/jackthreads-proves-deep-linking-e-mail-apps-boosts-sales
http://www.businessinsider.com/time-spent-mobile-browsing-vs-apps-2015-9
http://colehaan.com
Native app
conversion
rate is 54%
Mobile web
conversion
rate is 44%
http://colehaan.com
Users spend
20 minutes
per day on
mobile web
Users spend
3.7 hours
per day in
apps
NATIVE APPS ARE TAKING OVER + DRIVING MORE REVENUE

7. A new generation of customers is
going straight to mobile, completely
skipping the desktop computer.
Mobile-first (or even mobile-only)
retailers are gaining momentum, and
existing brands are investing heavily in
mobile experiences.
Almost 40% of customers who still
complete their purchases using a
desktop computer are doing research
on a mobile device first.
Online shopping is rapidly becoming mobile-first. This trend will accelerate in 2016
Also in 2015, mobile accounted for
over 36% of all online Black Friday
shopping. This was up from just
30.3% a year earlier.
On Thanksgiving Day 2015, mobile
devices generated 64% of traffic and
58% of sales. In 2014 it was only 49%
and 35%, respectively.
MOBILE SHOULD BE A PRIORITY FOR EVERY RETAILER
Mobile devices have already
overtaken desktop computers
in total ecommerce traffic.
Source: http://www.criteo.com/resources/mobile-commerce-report/
http://www.channeladvisor.com/blog/?pn=scot/holiday-2015-sss-thanksgiving-final-results-omnichannel-strikes-back

8. Mobile ecommerce
experiences are not all
created equal. Though
native apps offer higher
revenue generation than
desktop websites, mobile
websites actually perform
worse.
“SUPPORTING MOBILE” IS NOT ENOUGH
HOW you support mobile makes a huge difference
Source: http://www.criteo.com/resources/mobile-commerce-report/

9. Native mobile apps are simply a better
experience. Faster, more reliable, and
seamlessly optimized for the needs of
your brand. No wonder app users are
up to 18x more loyal.
APPS CONVERT BETTER THAN MOBILE WEBSITES
Apps produce better
results than mobile
websites at every stage in
the funnel.
Source: http://www.criteo.com/resources/mobile-commerce-report/

10. THE MISSING LINK IN NATIVE APPS

11. If you run a targeted email or ad
campaign, your mobile customers will
end up in one of three places:
Your mobile website.
A page on the App or Play Store.
The opening screen of your app.
This is a problem.
WHY THE MOBILE EXPERIENCE IS BROKEN
A critical missing piece is leading to lost sales, whether you have a mobile app or not
A typical mobile web experience starts
with a “page loading” spinner, perhaps
followed by a full-screen interstitial ad,
which finally reveals the promised
content after it is dismissed.
A few slow-loading pages and
frustratingly un-zoomable preview
images later, you may finally be ready
to make a purchase. But who enjoys
entering a shipping address, billing
address, and credit card number on a
phone screen? No one.
Mobile websites, the app stores,
and the opening screen of your
app all have something in
common: none is an optimized
experience and sending new
users there will cost you sales.
Perhaps you already implemented a
way to open your app using links. Do
your links work reliably in every email
client? Are you able to open the app
and show users what they expect to
see next? If not, this is like playing
Monopoly and giving your customers
the “Do not pass go. Do not collect
$200” card. You’re missing out on free
money.
And what about new users who don’t
have your app yet?

12. NATIVE APPS ARE CUT OFF FROM THE WORLD

13. FIXING THE DISCONNECT

14. BRANCH: CONTEXTUAL MOBILE DEEP LINKING
Deep links are everywhere. Ads in your
Facebook feed. Promo emails for shoe
sales. URLs that friends share from
Amazon.
Every search you do on Google returns
a long list of deep links.
Deep links all have something in
common: when you click, the next
thing you see is what you clicked on.
Make links to content in your app work just like links to content on the web
Branch deep linking is the missing piece between the content
inside your mobile app and the outside world.

15. DEEP LINKING IS THE MISSING PUZZLE PIECE
Contextual mobile deep links can be used everywhere to
connect your customers to exactly the content they
expect, using whichever experience is best for their device:
Native apps for mobile devices
Websites for desktop visitors
Mobile deep linking gives you back all the tools and techniques you’ve always used
AND THE BEST PART:
When customers don’t yet have your app, you can redirect
them to download it, and then seamlessly pick up right
where they left off. Context is never lost!
Brands that implement contextual mobile deep linking see huge benefits

16. PREPARING FOR THE 2016 HOLIDAYS

17. 1. IMPROVE THE APP EXPERIENCE WITH DEEP LINKING
Generate contextual deep links
that work across every platform
and route users seamlessly to
the content they want.
❏ Integrate the Branch SDK
❏ Implement Universal/App Links
❏ Set up Deep Link Routing

18. 2. CONVERT WEB VISITORS TO APP USERS
Increase conversions from
mobile web to app by up to
3X with customizable, cross-
platform, contextual banners.
❏ Add a few lines of Javascript
❏ Deep link from your banner
❏ Customize!

19. ❏ Email campaigns
❏ Paid ads on social channels
❏ Paid/organic search
3. DRIVE APP ENGAGEMENT ACROSS MARKETING CHANNELS
Make sure all your marketing
links are deep links that take
users to the in-app content that
they want.

20. SUMMARY
Ecommerce is evolving.
Online shoppers are moving to mobile
devices, away from desktops. Retailers have
been investing heavily in mobile experiences.
Apps are better than websites.
Native mobile apps are proving more
effective than mobile websites at every stage
of the sales funnel.
Will your app be ready for the 2016 holiday shopping season? Start preparing now!
Mobile ecommerce apps are flawed….
Even a great mobile app is only as good as
your ability to get customers to use it. Mobile
apps still do not play nicely with the rest of
the digital world, so conversion is a major
roadblock.
…but mobile deep links are the solution.
Deep links are everywhere, and now they
finally work with your app. You can deliver the
experience users expect, optimized for the
device they are using.
GET STARTED TODAY!

21. JOIN OUR GROWING LIST OF HAPPY PARTNERS!
9,000+ APPS, 1.3 BILLION LINKS