Retailers do not have app problems, they have strategy problems. Most apps fail not because customers do not want them, but because they reflect the brand’s organisational structure rather than the customer’s journey. Customers are not thinking in channels, they are simply trying to get something done as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
They research a product on a laptop, check reviews on their phone or a GPT tool, add the item to a cart in-app, and expect it to be ready for collection in-store. What they notice is not the channel, but the experience. And too often, the app is the weakest link.
The real question is not “Do we need an app?” but “What role should the app play in our unified commerce strategy?”
The importance of apps – when done right
Mobile is often the first and most frequent touchpoint. In some retail categories, 60% – 80% of traffic is mobile and app users frequently spend several times more than web users. The app should act as a strategic identity layer, carrying loyalty, preferences, personalisation and in-store context throughout the journey.
A well-designed app offers advantages that the web cannot easily match:
- Persistent login and identity
- Offline access and caching
- Real-time push notifications
- Native capabilities such as camera, barcode scanning and location
- Faster reordering and payment
- Instant loyalty redemption and rewards tracking
- Persistent login and identity
Apps also elevate customer service with proactive notifications, order tracking, self-service tools and instant support.
When it’s done right:
Restive partnered with one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains to design and deliver their first shoppable mobile app. The solution combined loyalty integration, AI-powered recommendations, digital receipts, collaborative shopping lists and streamlined workflows. This rapidly accelerated the supermarket’s omnichannel maturity and resulted in a 42% uplift in monthly active app users. The mobile app now contributes as much online revenue as web.
Apps only win when they add distinct value
An app should not exist simply because competitors have one. It needs a defined role based on customer missions, intent and context. This requires a clear understanding of:
- Who the customer is
- Where they are (home, store, commute, etc.)
- What job they want to complete
- What trade-offs they are willing to make for convenience or depth
- Who the customer is
Parity builds trust. Differentiation builds loyalty.
Core consistency must exist across every channel. Pricing, offers, inventory, account details and checkout integrity should never diverge. Customers will not tolerate fragmented truth.
However, differentiation can create meaningful value:
- In-store scanning
- Store navigation
- Faster repeat purchasing
- Personalised content
- App-exclusive access or offers
- In-store scanning
This gives customers reasons to engage with each channel for specific, intentional benefits.
The rise of GPT-driven research: your ecosystem must be answer-ready and your app must be worth opening first
Customers are no longer starting their journey on your homepage. Increasingly, they begin with a GPT tool such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot and ask conversational questions like:
- “What is the best running shoe for flat feet?”
- “Which supermarkets allow scan as you go?”
- “Does Brand X offer same-day delivery?”
- “What is the best running shoe for flat feet?”
The research phase has moved outside the channels you control. It is now AI mediated and shaped by how well your product data, store information, services and policies are represented across systems.
If your product information, pricing, inventory or features differ between app, web and internal systems, GPT tools will surface conflicting or incomplete answers. That pushes customers towards competitors who have cleaner, more consistent and more structured data.
But here’s the critical insight:
A highly engaging, high-value app reduces reliance on AI-led discovery
If an app is genuinely useful, customers open it first rather than turning to a GPT tool. Brands with high-value apps become the default destination for product research, in-store utility, loyalty and offers, reordering and day-to-day service and support. When the app reliably solves these needs faster and more personally than a generic AI conversation, it shifts customer behaviour. The brand becomes the starting point, and AI becomes a secondary advisor rather than the primary route. This is why retailers competing in a GPT-first world must focus on two things at once: ensuring their ecosystem is accurately represented in AI tools, and building an app compelling enough that customers choose it instinctively before seeking answers elsewhere.
How to succeed in a GPT-first world
1. Ensure AI can represent your brand accurately
To stay competitive in a GPT-first world, retailers need to ensure their digital ecosystem can be accurately represented by AI. That starts with consistent and structured product and pricing data, tight alignment between app and web experiences, and content that is kept fresh and trustworthy. FAQs, help journeys and service information all need to originate from a single source of truth so that GPT tools do not surface conflicting narratives. Underpinning all of this is strong schema markup and machine-readable metadata, which signal to AI systems exactly how your products, services and features should be interpreted. When this foundation is in place, brands reduce the risk of AI tools guessing, misquoting or misrepresenting their customer experience.
2. Build an app compelling enough that customers bypass GPT entirely
This is why the world’s most successful consumer brands have apps that customers instinctively open first. Globally Amazon, Nike, Starbucks, Uber and Revolut have built app experiences so fast and personalised that customers rarely need to ask a GPT for help. Locally, apps like Woolworths, Coles, CommBank, Qantas have become default destinations because they consolidate loyalty, payments, real-time updates, order tracking and personal data in a way no general AI tool can replicate. When the app is the fastest and most accurate route to getting something done, customers bypass search engines and GPT tools entirely. In a GPT-first world, this is how brands keep customers within their ecosystem rather than losing them to external discovery channels.
When apps cannot stand alone:
Tyro identified that nearly half their customers preferred desktop for managing accounts, even though the core banking experience existed only within their native mobile app. Restive partnered with Tyro to design and deliver a new web banking platform replicating core app functionality. Launched in under six months, the platform unlocked a previously underserved segment and paved the way for future growth.
When brands get it wrong
At Restive, we regularly see issues that undermine even the strongest omnichannel intentions. Stock levels often differ between app and web, creating immediate doubt in the customer’s mind. In-store offers can fail to match digital promotions, and many retailers still lack an in-app wishlist, forcing customers to restart their journey when switching devices. Loyalty programmes frequently fail to sync across channels, while returns or account management are sometimes only available on desktop, breaking the flow entirely. Slow app performance or unreliable checkout experiences then compound the frustration, leading customers to abandon the app for good. Each of these gaps may seem small in isolation, but every broken link increases support costs, erodes trust and chips away at long-term retention.
Unified commerce: web, app and store as one experience
Apps only reach their full potential when they are supported by a genuinely connected ecosystem. This requires a single source of truth for product, pricing and inventory, so customers never encounter contradictory information. A unified account and identity layer ensures that loyalty, preferences and history follow the customer seamlessly across web, app and in-store experiences. Behind the scenes, connected service and API layers are essential for real-time accuracy, while shared design systems and component libraries keep the experience consistent regardless of where the customer engages. All of this needs to sit within a synchronised roadmap so that new features, parity updates and experience improvements evolve together rather than in disconnected silos. When these foundations are in place, the app becomes faster, more reliable and significantly more valuable to customers.
The bottom line
Apps should enhance the journey, not replicate the website. They should have a clear role in the channel mix, be powered by unified systems and real-time data, and be continuously optimised. The winners will not be the brands with the most features, but those who integrate them into a single, fluid ecosystem that understands and serves the customer.
Strategy first. Build second.
How Restive helps
Restive partners with organisations to define the role of each channel, architect unified commerce ecosystems, and design high performing mobile, web and in-store experiences.
If you would like a unified commerce audit or help identifying where your experience is falling short, contact us to find out how we can support.
Request a unified commerce audit for your organisation.
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