Kiokii is a Canadian beauty and lifestyle retailer that brings popular Asian skincare and cosmetics brands to North American shoppers.
Canadian beauty & lifestyle brand Kiokii wanted to deepen their customer customer relationships, especially on mobile.
But in juggling 15 physical locations plus a strong ecommerce presence, they had limited bandwidth to handle a whole new channel.
In a category built on repeat purchases and strong brand loyalty, there was a lot of potential in launching an app. But it had to be worth the effort. Luckily, when they found MobiLoud, they found a way to launch that took effort out of the equation.
Snapshot
Vertical: Beauty, skincare, lifestyle products
Platform: Shopify
Key Metrics:
- >2x higher conversion rate than mobile web
- 3x more monthly engaged sessions per user
- 6.7x higher ARPU
- >10,000 active app users
Business Impact:
- 30% of total online revenue now comes from the app (driven by ~10% of users)
- 40% of mobile revenue comes through the app
- Minimal effort and bandwidth required to launch
"MobiLoud made launching our app fast, simple, and incredibly effective. With minimal effort, we're seeing strong results and higher engagement. It runs almost on autopilot - and drives revenue. Perfect solution for lean ecommerce teams."
- Summer Duan, Ecommerce Manager
The Roadblock
Kiokii had already attempted to launch a native mobile app before. But it ended up being a costly, resource-intensive distraction.
Their ecom team was small, and managing a separate app experience created too much duplicated work. Still, customers kept asking for a better mobile shopping experience; something faster and more convenient than the website.
They didn’t want to start from scratch again. They just wanted an app that looked and functioned like their Shopify store, updated automatically, and could grow without adding headcount.
Why They Chose MobiLoud
MobiLoud let them launch while maintaining one codebase, without rebuilding anything.
The app mirrors their exact storefront, so any change made on Shopify appears in the app automatically.
This was ideal for Summer, as she realized it would be possible to launch without stretching their lean team even further.
“I thought I’d have to do a lot but once I realized it mirrored the website, I knew it would be manageable.”
Eric, Kiokii's web developer, echoed that sentiment. His past teams used React Native builds that required manual dev work and maintenance. MobiLoud let him work with a single codebase, and update the app through their existing workflow.
“You don’t need to maintain two systems - you update the website, and it shows up in the app. That saves us so much time.”
Launch & Results
MobiLoud helped Kiokii launch a high-performing channel the team barely has to touch
With just two people on ecommerce, time and focus were limited. The app gave them a retention tool they didn’t have to manage daily, and it’s already become a key channel for them to reach their brand loyalists.
In just one month, the app was already driving 25% of all mobile revenue and 18% of all online revenue. Now, those numbers are up to 40% and 30% - all from just around 10% of their customers, showing there's still massive room for growth.
Customers on the app return more often, spend more per session, and convert at a higher rate.
Other key engagement and revenue metrics also saw strong growth:
| Metric | Improvement vs. Mobile Web |
|---|---|
| Engaged Sessions per User | 3x more |
| Conversion Rate | 2x higher |
| ARPU | 6.7x higher |
MobiLoud helped them achieve these metrics by taking care of not just the tech, but also the growth strategy for their app.
From the start, the MobiLoud team helped them think through their rollout, app promotion, and push notification campaigns. This helped ensure the app got traction with their loyal customers, and took care of yet another focus-consuming task.
“On the marketing side, I feel very supported by MobiLoud’s team. It feels like we’re working with an app marketing agency that takes most of the work off our plate.”
The Takeaway
Skincare and cosmetics is a category driven by habit. Customers frequently return to restock essentials, browse new arrivals, and look for content like tutorials or reviews.
To maintain high customer retention and LTV in this category, you need an app.
Kiokii already had strong engagement on email and SMS, but mobile web posed friction. The team saw an app as a chance to create a stickier experience for loyal customers while offloading some of their retention strategy from paid channels.
The app let them do that, with the addition of push notifications as a cost-free way to stay top of mind.
MobiLoud helped Kiokii launch an app without limitations, and most importantly, without giving their team another problem to manage.
Taking all the work off their plate made it risk-free - and the move is paying off, with app revenue approaching half of their total mobile revenue now.
You can do the same for your brand. To see how, get a free preview of your app now. No commitment required - just a live prototype of your very own native app.
Kiokii is a Canadian beauty and lifestyle retailer that brings popular Asian skincare and cosmetics brands to North American shoppers.
