Holidays 2025: How Ecommerce Brands are using Mobile Apps to Win BFCM 2025

BFCM is no longer a 48-hour sales event. It’s a multi-quarter race, and mobile apps have become the most decisive competitive advantage in that race.

In 2025, brands won’t win BFCM because they shout louder. They’ll win because they convert faster, retain better, and re-engage cheaper, something only apps can deliver.

BFCM Has Officially Become a Mobile-First Event: The Numbers Prove It

Holiday shopping is shifting aggressively to mobile, and apps are taking over the entire funnel.

From AppMaker’s Holiday 2025 insights:

• Holiday ecommerce is projected to hit $14.4B
• 80% of all festive transactions now happen on mobile
• App-led brands saw:
• App-exclusive combos delivered 2.2× higher AOV

BFCM 2025 won’t be won in the browser; it will be won inside the app.

Early Shoppers = Early Wins (And the Upside Is Huge)

BFCM doesn’t start in November anymore. It starts the moment shoppers begin browsing, comparing, saving products, or building wishlists.

AppMaker data shows:

• 65% of shoppers begin festive discovery weeks before peak holiday days
• Launching app-only campaigns 10+ days early leads to:

Apps give brands two major advantages:

1. They let you start earlier: App-only previews, early access, and wishlist-driven reminders prime users long before the competition wakes up.
2. They let you segment earlier: You enter BFCM with warmed-up, behaviour-rich audiences, not cold traffic.

Early personalization → better BFCM outcomes

Personalization Isn’t a Feature: It’s a Profit Center

Festive and BFCM shopping is chaotic: Millions of deals. Small attention spans. Zero loyalty unless you earn it.

And customers have made it clear: they reward brands that personalize the experience.

From AppMaker’s findings:

• Shoppers expect relevant product suggestions, bundles, and loyalty-linked offers
• AI-powered personalization drove up to 40% more repeat purchases
• Conditional UI doubled retention strength during peak season

Examples that consistently win:

• VIP early-access screens
• Location-specific delivery messaging
• Price-drop notifications from wishlists
• Personalized homepages based on browsing behaviour
• Segmented gift guides

Personalization inside apps isn’t cosmetic; it’s revenue-generating.

Push Notifications: The #1 Driver of Return Visits During BFCM

When inboxes are stuffed and ads are expensive, only one channel reaches your customer instantly and for free:

Push.

AppMaker’s report shows:

• Push notifications delivered 3× higher engagement than SMS/email
• They were the top driver of repeated sessions during the 2024 festive season
• Push-led journeys directly impacted Q1 retention after the holidays

Brands winning BFCM structure push into three phases:

Before BFCM (Build Demand)

Sneak peeks, wishlist nudges, early-access countdowns.

During BFCM (Drive Conversions)

Flash sales, low-stock alerts, abandoned cart recovery, and reminder pushes.

After BFCM (Retain Buyers)

Thank-yous, reviews, loyalty points, reorder flows.

Push isn’t just a tool; it’s a full lifecycle system inside the app.

The Real BFCM Winners Focus on Retention: Not Just Revenue Spikes

You spend heavily to acquire customers in Q4. The smartest brands ensure those customers return in Q1.

AppMaker data:

• 45% of festive-season app users returned to purchase again in Q1 2025
• Loyalty-based flows drove 20%+ uplift in yearly revenue
• Brands using wishlist + reorder loops saw faster repeat cycles

Retention strategy that works:

• Auto-tag BFCM buyers
• Launch 7-14-30 day re-engagement flows
• Reward repeat buyers with small loyalty bonuses
• Enable “Buy Again” + “Complete the Look” journeys
• Show personalized homepages on return visits

BFCM drives the traffic. Your app turns that traffic into long-term customers.

Apps Are the Only Channel That Powers the Entire Funnel

Most channels do one thing well. Apps do everything:

Mobile apps aren’t an add-on: they are a full acquisition → engagement → conversion → retention ecosystem.

This is why AppMaker-powered brands consistently see their app become:

• their highest-converting channel
• their most profitable channel
• their most controllable channel
• their most retentive channel

And this matters most during BFCM.

Final Word: BFCM 2025 Will Be Won Inside Mobile Apps

The brands preparing now will earn:

• Higher conversions
• Bigger cart values
• Faster re-engagement
• Lower CAC
• Stronger Q1 retention
• And a customer base that keeps returning long after the discounts end

Shoppers are already mobile-first. BFCM is already mobile-first.

Now, the brands must be too.

Ready to Grow?

Get the full BFCM 2025 Mobile Commerce Playbook or speak with our team.

View My BFCM Playbook | Book a Demo