This article is based on our presentation ‘From visitor to loyal customer’ and on the case Joachim de Boer of DeOnlineDrogist.nl presented at The E-commerce Summit.
Growth is no longer a given. Loyalty is.
Dutch consumers spent almost €9 billion online in the first quarter of 2026, 6% less than a year earlier. The number of online purchases, however, rose by 2% to more than 85 million: less revenue, more transactions. On average, 44% of all online purchases are now made on a smartphone.
When the market no longer grows on its own, every existing customer becomes more valuable. Profitability and loyalty are the new growth engines.
Source: Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor Q1 2026 (NIQ); E-commerce Monitor 2026 (via Spotler).
Mobile web is the bottleneck
Mobile delivers 60 to 70% of traffic but converts at roughly half the rate of desktop. In most categories, mobile conversion sits at 40 to 60% of the desktop level. Visitors do arrive; they just don’t buy. The causes are well known:
- Slow navigation and load times
- Long checkout forms full of friction
- A user experience that isn’t built for a small screen
- Having to log in again and again
Source: Mida, Mobile Ecommerce Conversion Rates 2026 Benchmarks.
The app converts four times better, if you earn it
Retailers with both an app and a mobile site see more than four times the conversion in the app compared with mobile web. In Europe, 63% of mobile commerce already happens in an app. At the same time, only 14% of Dutch smartphone shoppers prefer the retailer’s app, against 38% for the mobile website.
That isn’t a contradiction. The app doesn’t replace your online store: it is the channel for your most engaged customers, the shoppers who really want to belong to your brand.
Source: Criteo, Global Commerce Review (April 2026); Thuiswinkel.org (June 2025).
Measure repeat purchases, not daily use
After 30 days, online store apps retain only 3 to 6% of their users on average, against 15 to 20% for social apps. Most apps lose more than 90% of their users within 30 days.
That isn’t a flaw; it’s the nature of shopping. Customers buy, and only come back when they need something again. So look at three numbers instead:
- Repeat purchases within 60 to 90 days: how many app customers order again?
- Conversion in the app, compared with your mobile site.
- The app’s share of your total revenue.
An app without a reason to come back is an expensive icon on the home screen.
Source: Panto and Digia, Mobile App Retention Benchmarks 2026.
Push: the direct channel that bypasses algorithms
Users who accept push notifications are four times as active and twice as likely to stay active. On iOS, more than 52% of eCommerce users opt in to push. Push messages from online stores achieve a click-through rate of 3 to 4%, above the average across all sectors.
Relevance and frequency decide whether push is an asset or a reason to delete the app. Push works when it’s a conversation, not a megaphone.
Source: Pushwoosh (2025); Sci-Tech Today (2026).
Case: DeOnlineDrogist.nl
DeOnlineDrogist.nl is one of the largest online drugstores in the Netherlands, with more than 40,000 products and a place in the Twinkle100 since 2015. Co-founder Joachim de Boer explained at The E-commerce Summit why they launched an app.
The starting point: 85% mobile traffic, lower conversion on mobile, high Google Ads costs, customer loyalty under pressure and friction because customers had to keep logging in. Having an app custom-built was too expensive and too slow.
With Reskyt, a fully synchronised app was live within four weeks. Customers stay logged in, make repeat purchases faster with the barcode scanner and receive relevant push notifications. The team stayed focused on the online store.
The key lesson: the app is mainly used by loyal customers with higher purchase intent. So build features for customers who already know what they want.
Source: presentation by Joachim de Boer (DeOnlineDrogist.nl) at The E-commerce Summit.
Case: BBQuality
BBQuality is a premium online butcher from Oss in the Netherlands, with 15 employees and active in two countries. Before the app, the brand had 110,000 website visits, 70,000 of them on mobile, and no channel of its own to reach customers directly.
After three months, 22% of online sales went through the app. Total traffic grew by 105%, the app was downloaded 14,000 times within a few weeks, and 35% of all traffic now runs through the app.
‘An app notification often has more impact than an email, which lets us optimise costs in the long run. To keep the app engaging, you need specific USPs: early access to Black Friday, daily deals and app-only offers.’
Source: Reskyt case study BBQuality.
The playbook: four lessons
Launch fast
Your full catalogue in a native app, live fast, without an in-house development team. Speed to market is an advantage.
Give the app its own reason
App-only launches and early access to seasonal offers make the app exclusive. Customers download for the benefit and stay for the experience.
Use push wisely
New products, tips and relevant updates on the home screen. Don’t broadcast; start a conversation. Relevance determines the result.
Keep building on loyalty
Gamification, personalisation and community are the next step. An app doesn’t work by simply existing, but by giving customers ever more reasons to open it.
Three questions to start with
- How large is your mobile traffic, and how well does it convert?
- Which customers already buy more than twice a year?
- Which app-only benefits could your brand offer?
The answers show whether an app of your own is a logical next step for you.