Daily deals site JackThreads is retargeting users of its mobile commerce application with relevant banner ads when they are inside other apps as a way to drive sales.

At more than 50 percent of revenue, mobile is already a very important channel for the members-only online retailer of men?s clothing. With the key holiday shopping period gearing up, JackThreads is using retargeting as a way to ensure it does not miss any opportunities for sales.

?We are retargeting consumers of JackThreads based on their behavior in the app,? said Evan Schwartz, CEO of ActionX, New York.

?All they want to do is drive positive return on ad spend and deliver a great consumer experience,? he said.

?We started the test about six weeks or so ago, and we saw great results and we are ramping it for the holidays right now.?

Real-time segmentation
JackThreads integrated ActionX?s new mobile retargeting program into its mcommerce apps in mid-September.

As a result, when users search, browse and add items to their cart from within the app but leave without making a purchase, the retailer can reach these users in other apps with banner ads related to the items they have already shown an interest in. The ads often include a promotion to encourage users to click.

Users are segmented in real-time, and ActionX finds them in other apps such as Pandora and The Weather Channel.

A JackThreads retargeted ad in The Weather Channel app.

?We target them with banner ads based on their behavior in the JackThreads app in the hopes of getting them to click on the ads, click back into the app and make a purchase,? Mr. Schwartz said.

Targeted ads
ActionX reports that across clients, click-through rates are two to three times higher than for a typical mobile ad while the return on ad spend is typically between four and eight times higher.

The reason why retargeting is seeing strong results is because users are used to seeing untargeted ads in mobile, per Mr. Schwartz.

?When they actually see something they are interested in, whether it be a promotion, a product or an offer, they are much more likely to click through," he said.

In a new partnership with Branding Brand, ActionX will look to bring its mobile retargeting platform to the mobile site and app developer?s clients, which include American Eagle Outfitters, Costco and Ralph Lauren.

During the important holiday shopping season, retailers are typically more intent on delivering strong experiences as the bulk of sales happen during the last three months of the year.

?There is so much traffic going to mobile Web sites and mobile apps during the holidays, it really is a huge shift that is happening,? Mr. Schwartz said. ?Some of our clients were seeing only 10 percent of their users on the mobile site and apps last year, and now it is closer to 40 percent.

?This is where consumers are going, and marketers and brands want to use all of the tools at their disposal to make sure that they are capturing those dollars during the holiday season,? he said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York