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As the shopping season heats up, we’re excited to share Unboxed – The Mobile OEM Advertising Playbook for E-commerce Apps. It’s our first e-commerce app growth guide, built to help marketers discover new audiences and drive measurable results.
From Black Friday and 11/11 to Diwali and year-end holiday sales, peak moments are make-or-break for e-commerce apps. Rising ad costs and crowded channels only make the challenge greater.
That’s where Unboxed steps in. Created for user acquisition managers, growth leads, and performance marketers, this guide offers strategies to reach high-intent shoppers, strengthen loyalty, and unlock new growth opportunities through mobile OEMs and alternative app stores.
The E-commerce Market Has Shifted. So Should Your UA.
E-commerce is booming, but acquisition has become more expensive and harder to control. Traditional UA platforms like Google, Apple, and Meta are still important, but performance is often inconsistent and competition fierce.
Growth hasn’t stopped – it has simply moved. Mobile OEMs open a new channel to reach high-intent shoppers directly on their devices, making them especially powerful during peak shopping seasons. That’s why the e-commerce app growth guide shows how mobile OEM advertising can help marketers discover fresh audiences and improve performance where other channels fall short.
Who This Playbook Is For
This e-commerce app growth guide is for marketers of shopping apps ready to look beyond the usual channels and find growth where others aren’t looking.
Whether your app focuses on quick commerce, marketplaces, fashion, lifestyle, or electronics, Unboxed will help you:
✅ Break free from the Google-and-Meta loop
✅ Reach high-intent shoppers at the moments that matter
✅ Unlock regional opportunities your competitors may be ignoring
✅ Learn from brands already winning with OEM placements
What’s Inside the Playbook
AVOW’s e-commerce app growth guide is packed with strategies, insights, and expert knowledge for today’s UA challenges
- The State of E-commerce Apps – Market shifts shaping growth and acquisition costs
- The Diversification Imperative – Why moving beyond Google, Apple, and Meta matters
- Mobile OEM Advertising: The Untapped Growth Engine – Premium placements and privacy-friendly targeting
- High Returns From Leading E-commerce Players – Real-world results from top brands
- High-Impact Regional Insights – Playbooks for SEA, India, and North America
- Bonus Level: Our e-commerce app growth guide includes market insights supported by AppsFlyer, Adjust, Alison.ai, Remerge, Sensor Tower, SocialPeta, Huawei, and Xiaomi
What Is OEM Advertising, and Why Does It Matter?
Mobile OEMs like Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Transsion give advertisers direct access to the device itself through placements such as:
- Preloaded app prompts during setup
- Featured app store positions
- Push notifications and smart banners
- On-device recommendations
These placements are:
✅ Privacy-friendly
✅ Brand-safe
✅ Delivered at moments of high purchase intent
That’s why OEM inventory is a central theme in this — it shows marketers how to leverage device-level access to reach shoppers in ways traditional channels can’t match.
Comparing UA Channels
| Channel | Strengths | Limitations |
| Google & Meta | Scale, advanced targeting | High costs, saturated, privacy constraints |
| Programmatic Ads | Flexible, cross-channel reach | Fraud risk, performance varies |
| OEM Advertising | Device-level placements, high-intent users | Limited awareness among marketers |
👉 The key takeaway: Mobile OEM placements complement existing UA channels and fill gaps where performance is harder to maintain.
Why This Playbook is Important
The holiday season highlights a hard truth: e-commerce marketers can’t afford to keep running the same playbook. Unboxed shows how OEM advertising drives installs, retention, and sales – helping UA teams stay competitive when it matters most.
Robert Wildner, CEO and Co-Founder of AVOW, explains:
“Mobile OEM advertising remains one of the most underutilized levers in app growth. With Unboxed, we’ve built a practical e-commerce app growth guide to help marketers tap into this opportunity effectively. Timing is everything in e-commerce — reaching shoppers during peak moments of demand can be the difference between being installed or ignored, and this playbook shows how to get it right.”
What E-commerce Marketers Want To Know
The e-commerce app growth guide was shaped by the real questions UA managers and growth teams ask every day. Here are five of the most common — and how OEM advertising provides the answers:
- When are the best times to advertise an e-commerce app?
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Singles’ Day (11/11), Diwali, and the wider holiday season are peak opportunities. - Which app categories benefit most from OEM advertising?
Marketplaces, quick commerce, fashion, lifestyle, and electronics see strong results, along with resale apps like Vinted or eBay-style platforms. - How do you measure success in OEM advertising?
Beyond installs: track retention (D1, D7, D30), ROAS, cost per engaged shopper, and incremental sales lift. - Why go beyond Google, Apple, and Meta?
These channels are crowded and expensive. OEM placements provide fresh reach and premium visibility at moments of high intent. - What are dynamic preloads, and how do they help e-commerce apps?
They’re optional install prompts during device setup, giving apps high-intent installs with no wasted impressions.
Learn more about Dynamic Preloads.
Ready To Reach More Shoppers?
Unboxed – The Mobile OEM Advertising Playbook for E-commerce Apps is now available. This guide to e-commerce app growth is packed with strategies, insights, and partner intelligence that leading e-commerce apps are already using to win.
📖 Download the Playbook → Get your free copy today
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