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Notifications & CRM

Push notifications are the most powerful tool to retain customers and drive re-engagement. Our app solution follows a “Bring Your Own Tool” strategy, allowing you to integrate the app seamlessly into your existing CRM and marketing automation landscape.

Supported Providers

We support different levels of integration depending on your budget and requirements.

1. Airship (Premium / Recommended)

Most of our enterprise clients use Airship. We have a deep, pre-built integration that supports the full feature set out of the box.

  • Pros: Advanced segmentation, automation, Message Center (Inbox), and In-App automation.
  • Status: Fully integrated and battle-tested.

2. Firebase Cloud Messaging (Basic)

For smaller brands or those just starting with a new app, Google’s Firebase offers a solid, cost-effective alternative.

  • Pros: Free (or low cost), simple setup.
  • Cons: Limited segmentation and automation capabilities compared to enterprise tools.
  • Status: Supported as a basic notification channel.

3. Custom Integration

If you already use a CRM tool that offers notification features for apps, we can integrate them into the app.

  • Note: This requires a custom integration effort to connect the SDK and map the events. Please discuss this with your Project Manager early in the project.

Feature Set

Depending on the chosen provider (e.g., Airship), the app supports three main communication channels:

  1. Push Notifications: Messages sent to the user’s lock screen (even when the app is closed).
    • Rich Media Support: You can attach images (e.g., product photos) to your notifications to increase open rates.
    • Requirement: Needs user permission (Opt-In).
  2. In-App Messages: Banners or modals that appear while the user is using the app (e.g., “Free Shipping for the next hour”).
    • Advantage: No Opt-In required. These messages reach 100% of your active app users.
  3. Message Center (Inbox): A persistent mailbox within the app where users can read past messages.
    • Use Case: Unlike a push notification which disappears after clicking, the Inbox is perfect for storing voucher codes or long-term information.
    • Advantage: No Opt-In required.

User Identification & Data Privacy

To enable personalized marketing (like “You left items in your cart”), we need to bridge the gap between the anonymous app user and your CRM data.

  1. Login: When a user logs in to the app, we generate a secure, hashed identifier (the namedUserId).

  2. Mapping: This ID is sent to your Push Provider (e.g., Airship). It allows your BI/CRM system to map the app device to a specific customer profile.

  3. Triggering: Your BI system detects an event (e.g., “Package shipped”) and triggers a push notification via the providers API to that specific namedUserId.

Deep Linking & Tracking

Sending a notification is only half the battle. You need to guide the user to the right place and measure success.

The app supports standard Deep Links to route users directly to specific content.

  • Usage: Simply enter the target URL in your Push Tool’s dashboard.
  • Targets: Any existing landing page in your shop: Home Page, Product Detail Pages, Categories, Promotion Pages, or User Account sections.

Tracking Parameters

You can append standard marketing parameters (like UTM tags or internal campaign IDs) to your Deep Links.

  • Analytics: When the app opens via a push, these parameters are captured. This allows you to analyze “Push” as a distinct traffic channel in your analytics tools.

Permissions & Opt-In Strategy

Getting the user’s permission is the biggest hurdle in mobile marketing. It is important to understand how the operating systems handle this.

The “One Strike” Rule (iOS)

On iPhones (iOS), the system permission dialog can only be triggered once.

  • If the user clicks “Allow”, great!
  • If the user clicks “Don’t Allow”, the app cannot ask again via a popup. The user would have to manually go into the iOS System Settings to enable it, which rarely happens.

Android 13+

Newer Android versions now behave similarly to iOS and require explicit permission. Older Android versions may opt-in users automatically by default.

Strategic Alternative: In-App & Inbox

Because obtaining Push permission is getting harder, In-App Messages and the Message Center are vital channels.

  • No Permission Needed: They work technically independently of the system push permission.
  • Reach: You can reach users who have declined push notifications, as long as they open the app. Use this to promote important campaigns or even to re-educate users on why they should enable push notifications.

Our Onboarding Strategy

To maximize opt-in rates, we ask for permission during the Onboarding flow (in the very first session).

  • Timing: We ask at a moment when the user is engaged with setting up the app.
  • Transparency: We aim to explain the value (e.g., “Get order updates”) before the system dialog appears.

Re-Permissioning

If a user has declined permission, we cannot force the dialog to reappear. However, we can show a custom “Soft Prompt” (e.g., a banner in the User Account area) asking them to change their settings manually if they want to receive order updates.

  • Management: Users can manage their permissions in the system settings. The app provides a direct link to these settings from the app menu.
  • Preference Center: Currently, we do not offer a granular Preference Center (e.g., “News only”, “Sales only”) inside the app, as most clients prefer to manage this centrally in their CRM.