E-commerce apps and install links
More channels than any other category, and the same single point of failure at the end of each.
6 August 2026 ยท PAD team
The channel spread
Shopping products run Instagram, TikTok, email, SMS, packaging inserts, retail signage and paid search simultaneously. Every one of those ends at a store link, and each channel opens it in a different browser.
Where it fails
| Channel | Store link |
|---|---|
| Instagram and TikTok | fails on iOS |
| Gmail app on iOS | fails |
| Apple Mail | works |
| SMS | works, opens the default browser |
| QR on packaging | works, camera hands it off |
So a campaign that runs identical creative across channels sees wildly different install rates for reasons that have nothing to do with the creative.
The app-only offer pattern
Discounts available only in the app are the standard tactic for driving installs. That makes the install link the most valuable link in the business, and it usually lives in an email template written two years ago.
What to do
- One routing address everywhere, tagged per channel
- QR codes on packaging pointing at the same address, since printed material outlives campaigns
- Verify the email platform's link wrapper preserves campaign parameters
- Compare install rate by channel to find which ones are silently failing
Seasonality
For retail, most of the year's acquisition happens in a few weeks. A link that fails during that window costs more than the same failure across the other eleven months combined, and there is no time to diagnose it live.
One address across every channel, tagged, with arrival rates that explain the differences.