How AYBL Used Their Mobile App to Build a Retention Powerhouse

About AYBL

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AYBL is a UK-based activewear brand founded in 2018 by brothers Reiss and Kristian Edgerton. Launched from their spare room in Redditch, the company has rapidly evolved into one of the fastest-growing names in the global fitness apparel industry. In 2021, AYBL secured a significant investment from Gymshark co-founder Lewis Morgan, who now serves as executive chairman, bolstering the brand's strategic growth and international reach.

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AYBL has built a loyal customer base, particularly among young adults seeking fashionable and functional gymwear. Shipping to over 160 countries worldwide, AYBL is a truly global brand that shows no signs of slowing down its growth.

The Challenge

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As AYBL scaled internationally, the team wanted to strengthen relationships with their best customers and build a more sustainable retention model. They were looking for a way to unlock more value from their loyal customer base, and cut their paid media re-engagement cost.

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Given AYBL's global audience, the app needed to support multiple languages, currencies, messaging, and content. Additionally, it was crucial that the app could handle significant traffic, especially during sale events such as BFCM.

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‍The Solution

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AYBL launched a mobile app built with growth in mind. Beyond just replicating the look and feel of their online store, AYBL wanted to use their app strategically to drive incremental revenue growth.

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Working with the Venn Apps team, AYBL devised a strategy that would help them drive online store shoppers to the app, where they would then be able to effortlessly re-engage them with push notifications. This approach would help AYBL facilitate sustainable retention without a reliance on paid media.

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Utilising Venn Apps’ app-exclusive features, AYBL effectively converted online store shoppers into app users during key periods throughout the year. The strategy was straightforward yet impactful: launch exclusive sales and products on the app first to drive downloads.

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Importantly, these sales didn't require users to input a code; discounts were automatically applied at checkout. This made the app a highly effective conversion tool, achieving double the conversion rate of the online store.

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Another critical requirement was supporting AYBL's complex international setup. With six expansion stores, the brand couldn't rely on off-the-shelf app builders. Venn Apps’ expertise in internationalisation enabled support for multiple languages, currencies, content, and messaging. Crucially, this was managed from a single app instance, - meaning AYBL’s team don’t have the complexity of maintaining an individual app for each market they sell in. This greatly reduced complexity and saved considerable time for their eCommerce team.

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Finally, AYBL needed an app provider capable of handling enterprise-scale operations. With 500,000 active users and substantial traffic spikes during sales, the brand required a robust solution. Thanks to Venn Apps’ serverless architecture, the app remained stable during peak periods, including Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) and could handle usage spikes in excess of 50k active shoppers.

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The Results

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AYBL’s strategy of driving app downloads seriously paid off. With over 500k active users in the past year and peaking at number 1 in the Dutch shopping chart, the demand for their app was apparent.

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74% of customers who downloaded the app opted into push notifications, which allowed AYBL to re-engage them throughout the year without paid ads. With push, they could bring users back regularly — and those users consistently spent more. On average, app customers had a 17% higher AOV than web shoppers.

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Over time, these strategies helped shift customer behaviour. 28% of total revenue now comes through the app, where customers shop more often, spend more per order, and stick around for longer.

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By making the app a central part of their retention strategy, AYBL saw:

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87x ROI from their mobile app

17% higher average order value for app users

28% of total revenue coming from the app
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The combination of strong tech foundations, exclusive app moments, and smart use of push notifications helped AYBL turn their app into a high-performing growth channel — one that pays off all year round.