Libellula Boutique builds a loyal community and cuts ad spend by moving to Tapday

Challenges

Libellula's growth had come largely through paid advertising. But as the business matured, a familiar pattern emerged: customers were buying once and disappearing, and the cost of winning them back was rising fast.

A Retention Problem Hidden in Plain Sight 

Paid ads were driving traffic, but not loyalty. Customers would discover Libellula through a campaign, make a purchase, and vanish with no easy way to bring them back without paying again to reach them.

Paid Ad Costs Spiralling Out of Control 

Remarketing spend was growing at a pace that was becoming unsustainable. With no owned channel to re-engage past buyers, Libellula was effectively renting their audience from ad platforms and the rent kept going up.

No Direct Line to Their Best Customers 

Email had its limits and social media its algorithms. Libellula had no reliable, instant way to reach their most loyal shoppers with new arrivals, flash sales, or exclusive drops at the moment it mattered most.

A Web Experience That Didn't Translate to Mobile 

An increasing share of their customers were browsing and buying on phones, but Libellula's Shopify store wasn't delivering a native mobile experience. Clunky navigation and slow load times were costing them conversions.

A Native App That Feels Like the Brand 

Tapday built a beautifully designed app that reflected Libellula's boutique identity, not a generic storefront template. Every detail from the typography to the navigation flow was crafted to match the brand women in Glasgow had come to love.

Push Notifications That Actually Land

With a direct channel to customers' home screens, Libellula could announce new arrivals, limited-time offers, and exclusive deals instantly.

An Owned Audience, Not a Rented One 

The app gave Libellula something no ad platform could: a community they owned. App users opted in, engaged voluntarily, and kept coming back on their own terms.

Seamless Shopify Integration

Because Tapday converts Shopify stores directly, the migration was smooth and fast. Libellula's existing product catalogue, inventory, and checkout all carried over without disruption.

41% Increase in Customer Retention 

Push notifications gave Libellula a direct line to their customers and customers responded. The retention uplift of 41% represents a fundamental shift in how the brand holds onto the shoppers it works so hard to win.

Significant Reduction in Paid Ad Dependency 

With an owned channel driving repeat purchases, Libellula's reliance on expensive remarketing campaigns dropped meaningfully, improving their overall margin on mobile-driven revenue.

Higher Purchase Frequency from App Users 

Customers with the app installed buy more often. The frictionless native experience and timely push notifications have turned occasional shoppers into regulars.

A Community Worth Coming Back To 

Libellula's most loyal customers now have a dedicated space that reflects the brand they love, turning Glasgow boutique fans into a global mobile community.

What they needed was a way to hold onto both without bleeding their margins into paid ads. Tapday gave them a branded native app, a direct channel to their best customers, and the tools to turn one-time buyers into a community. The result: retention is up, ad dependency is down, and Libellula's mobile app has become the heartbeat of their customer relationship.