Apprate-CDS - Fernanda Vera

Increasing App Purchases by 30% Through Strategic Web-to-App Migration.

Overview

Cruz del Sur is one of Peru’s leading long-distance bus operators, with a strong offline presence and high brand recognition.

At Reservamos, we partnered with Cruz del Sur to rebuild their digital sales ecosystem — replacing their previous ecommerce provider and launching their mobile app for the first time.

While the new digital infrastructure increased accessibility, a key challenge emerged:

Web-mobile concentrated the majority of traffic and purchases, but the newly launched app showed stronger conversion and retention performance.

The opportunity wasn’t just to promote the app.
It was to strategically shift high-intent users toward a more valuable channel.

The Strategic Problem

Web-mobile concentrated the majority of traffic (~18K–22K weekly searches) and purchase volume, while the newly launched app showed stronger conversion and retention metrics but significantly lower adoption (~2K–3K weekly searches).

Although the app was strategically more valuable, most high-intent users continued completing purchases via web.

The core challenge was not just increasing downloads — it was determining whether shifting users from a high-volume channel to a higher-performing one could be done without harming overall revenue.

Product Goal

Increase the share of purchases happening through the mobile app by strategically migrating high-intent web users, while maintaining overall sales performance across channels.

My role

I worked as a Product Designer within the Cruz del Sur squad at Reservamos.
My responsibilities included ideation, design, and partial implementation, proposing new elements in the user journey to increase app download conversion, with the goal of reaching a threshold that would increase the commission earned per booking.

I collaborated closely with product and engineering, contributing to both the strategic proposal and the execution of the solution.

Goal

Drive app downloads and in-app purchases by redirecting high-intent web users to the newly launched mobile app.

Success Metrics

App download conversion rate from web
Share of completed purchases made in the app

Baseline comparisons were made against the client’s previous ecommerce provider.

Process — Research & Insights 🔎

Using Mixpanel, we analyzed user behavior across web and app funnels to identify high-intent moments and drop-off points.

We found that:

In-app purchases had a higher completion rate than web purchases.
Users frequently reached high-intent states on the web, such as schedule selection and purchase completion.
Post-purchase and time-based touchpoints represented opportunities to introduce the app without interrupting the booking flow.

Hypotheses

Based on these insights, we formed the following hypotheses: Promoting the app at high-intent moments would increase download conversion. Using deep links would reduce friction by preserving user context when moving from web to app. Clear, benefit-driven copy would help users understand the value of switching to the app.

Design decisions

High-intent touchpoints

App promotions were introduced at moments where users had already shown strong intent, such as post-purchase confirmation and time-based entry points.

Deep linking to reduce friction

All promotional elements used deep links to preserve user context when moving from web to app.

If the app was already installed, users were taken directly to the relevant screen inside the app. If not, they were redirected to the app store.

Benefit-driven messaging

Copy focused on clearly communicating the value of switching to the app, emphasizing convenience, faster purchases, and better trip management.

Results (Week 1)

After one week of implementation, the experiment showed positive early signals:
App downloads increased compared to the previous baseline.
The number of active users in the app also increased.

As expected, the overall conversion rate temporarily decreased due to the influx of new, first-time app users, who typically require additional interactions before completing a purchase.

This behavior aligned with our initial assumptions and highlighted the need for continued optimization across the onboarding and purchase flow.

Short-term impact after redirecting web traffic to the app.

Key Learnings

Driving traffic to a higher-converting channel can initially reduce conversion rates due to changes in user mix.
High-intent web users are willing to download the app when value and context are clearly communicated.
Conversion optimization should be paired with onboarding improvements to support first-time app users.

Next Steps

- - Optimize onboarding for first-time app users.
  - Refine deep links to take users even closer to their task context.
  - Continue measuring long-term conversion and retention beyond the first weeks.