“The development team works very closely with your business and is always eager to understand your use cases and provide solutions. Very pleased with them.”
Founded in October 2020, Minimalist creates science-backed products that solve skin concerns. Within eight months, the brand earned ₹100 crores (about $13M) in revenue and stayed profitable.
Minimalist stands out for its ingredient transparency. Every product lists its components and concentrations. The brand educates consumers about safe chemicals and challenges myths around “chemical-free” claims. All formulations are developed in-house, clinically tested, and sourced from trusted suppliers.
Minimalist sells directly to consumers online. It builds loyalty through social media and influencer collaborations, keeping the brand ahead in India’s growing beauty market. However, Minimalist struggled with their previous app builder. Now, as the brand plans to expand into haircare and body care, and also explore AI skin analysis for personalized skincare recommendations, they needed a reliable app partner.
The Challenge
Minimalist wanted to increase user engagement and conversion rate for their skincare brand’s app. With their previous app builder, they faced several roadblocks for growth and performance.
1. Inconsistent Data Analytics
Minimalist relied on four platforms—Shopify, Firebase, AppsFlyer, and Clevertap—to track analytics. However, this setup resulted in:
- 25-30% data discrepancies across platforms.
- Attribution challenges due to incomplete integration with AppsFlyer.
- Overlapping app and web data made it difficult to isolate actionable insights.
2. Broken CRM Workflow
Did not integrate with Minimalist’s existing CRM, forcing the team to maintain two systems. This created increasing operational complications and resource demands.
3. Limited Support for A+ Content
Dependency on web views for blogs and PDP (Product Display Page) content:
- Restricted engagement and skincare product discovery.
- Limited Minimalist’s ability to deliver a fully native app experience.
4. Poor Customer Support
High turnaround time for support issues:
- Slowed down critical fixes.
- Increased downtime, affecting the app’s reliability.
Unique Features Introduced
Minimalist’s app was further enhanced with features:
1. AI-Driven Personalization: Haut.ai skin analyzer provided personalized skincare recommendations, improving user engagement.
2. Native Order Tracking: Integrated native order tracking module, improving post-purchase satisfaction.
3. Integrated Yotpo Reviews: Enabled Yotpo product reviews to build transparency and credibility with the buyers.
4. Affiliate Program Integration: Bulk coupon generation and application enabled seamless execution of affiliate campaigns.
The Solution
1. Accurate Data Analytics and Attribution
- Integrated Firebase and AppsFlyer directly to ensure 90% accurate data attribution.
- Separated app and web event tracking in Firebase for clearer insights.
- Implemented scripts to prevent data duplication.
Impact: Minimalist gained reliable, unified analytics, improving campaign effectiveness and decision-making.
2. Streamlined CRM Integration
- Direct integration with their Clevertap account eliminated the need for two CRMs.
- Data such as email IDs were passed seamlessly, enabling targeted marketing campaigns.
Impact: Improved operational efficiency and allowed Minimalist’s marketing team to focus on strategy instead of managing multiple systems.
3. Native A+ Content Support
- They were using a third-party page builder to power their PDP. When they were onboarded with Appbrew, Shopify meta-objects were leveraged to manage their PDP natively.
Impact: Enhanced user experience with faster load times and engaging native content.
4. Seamless Migration with User-Centric Design
- The app was rebuilt from scratch but retained its presence on the Play Store and App Store.
- Existing users experienced a seamless transition with no need for a new download. After migrating to us, their app store rating shot to 4.5 stars from 2.3 stars.
Impact: Ensured continuity and retained user trust while introducing an improved app experience.
5. Responsive App Growth Success and Operations
- Provided Slack-based support with critical issues resolved within hours.
- Delivered over-the-air updates via CodePush for instant bug fixes without requiring new app releases.
Impact: Improved app reliability and reduced downtime, ensuring uninterrupted user engagement.
Keys to Success
The Appbrew-powered mobile app drove measurable improvements for Minimalist:
- Higher Conversion Rates: Conversion rates improved by 30%, directly increasing revenue.
- Increased Revenue Contribution: The app’s share of overall sales grew from under 10% to 30-40%.
- Enhanced User Engagement: The average session duration increased to 8 minutes and 35 seconds, with improved customer satisfaction.
- Accurate Data Insights: Reduced data discrepancies to less than 10%, leading data-driven decisions.
- Efficient Operations: Streamlined workflows and faster issue resolution allowed Minimalist’s team to focus on growth initiatives.
