Wayfair

Since 2002, Wayfair has been reinventing the way people shop for everything home. In 2014, Wayfair launched an app for iOS, making it easier for customers on the go to browse and purchase over 18 million products. Today, augmented and virtual reality features let shoppers place 3D furniture into their own spaces, test layouts, and get inspired.

To drive customer growth on mobile across the U.S., Canada, Germany, and UK, the Wayfair team needed to diversify their acquisition strategy. They wanted to increase brand engagement and attract incremental, quality downloads while maintaining cost efficiency.

Optimize keywords to scale growth.

To attract more customers, the Wayfair team leveraged keyword-level insights and evaluated performance at a granular level. They identified a subset of top performing keywords based on return on ad spend (ROAS), removed less efficient search terms, and adjusted bids accordingly to capitalize on the most relevant keywords.

“We found that certain keywords drove higher install rates but lower engagement and vice versa, which was an insight that helped us optimize our bidding strategy,” says Katie Lynch, Associate Director of App Marketing at Wayfair.

Through this refined strategy, Wayfair improved overall ROAS by 250 percent, driving substantial install growth and unlocking additional scale. The team plans to implement a similar strategy in new markets and with the apps for their other Lifestyle brands, Birch Lane and Joss & Main.

Broaden reach by minimizing audience refinements.

To connect with the widest audience possible, Wayfair removed all audience refinements, helping them reach more customers including those with the Limit Ad Tracking (LAT On) setting enabled. This approach felt like a risk initially, so the team began by testing it on competitive keyword campaigns first. “Including all users paid off. We reached the most potential customers and downloads increased by over 50 percent while maintaining our ROI targets,” says Lynch.

In addition to growing and diversifying Wayfair’s mobile customer base, customers acquired through Apple Search Ads were highly engaged. They demonstrated substantially higher sign-in rates and repeat visit rates than shoppers from other platforms. “We grew our installs from Apple Search Ads by 400 percent year over year, and attracted more shoppers who show stronger intent,” shares Lynch.

Reengage to drive continued success.

Wayfair plans to reconnect with lapsed customers by expanding its investment with Apple Search Ads. “We are now finding that redownloads can help us re-introduce former users to our new features and improved app experience,” Lynch says. The team aims to leverage this winning strategy across their full portfolio of apps as well as additional markets.