A shopping app needs more than low-cost installs. You need to know which searches bring people who purchase, what they buy and whether those customers create value after discounts, cancellations and returns.
SaltyPistachio applies its intent-led Apple Search Ads approach to retail and ecommerce apps: category-specific Custom Product Pages (CPPs), exact-match long-tail management, tailor-made automation and reporting that connects Apple Ads with mobile measurement partner (MMP) and approved commerce data. We work with London and international app teams.
Show running trainers to footwear shoppers, grocery ranges to grocery shoppers and home products to people searching for home shopping.
Our approach manages tens of thousands of exact-match terms. Organise relevant category, product, brand and market demand with clear budgets and exclusions.
Build tools for discovery, classification, keyword routing, bid operations and monitoring across markets, within agreed account limits.
Connect acquisition with first purchases, repeat orders and mature customer value where reliable attribution and available data support it.
01 / Match the intent
A product search deserves
a relevant shop window.
A search for running trainers should not meet an unrelated catalogue. Match relevant category terms to themed exact-match ad groups and CPPs that show the corresponding product range. The fictional SaltyShop examples below illustrate three routes for a multi-category retailer.
Running essentials
Show the footwear range instead of a generic department-store page.
The weekly shop
Bring everyday grocery categories into the first impression.
Make room for home
Lead with furniture and home accessories for home-shopping searches.
SaltyShop is fictional. These creative and app-interface concepts illustrate intent matching, not live App Store screenshots or measured results. Show only ranges and features the real app offers. Apple exact match can include close variants, so search-term review remains part of the work.
02 / Discover, classify, control
Make category complexity
practical to manage.
Retail demand changes across products, categories, brands, seasons and markets. We use tailor-made tools to classify that demand, expand relevant exact-match coverage and keep operational work manageable without losing account oversight.
Discover
Find relevant demand
Use supported Search Match and discovery campaigns, including Maximize Conversions where suitable, to surface searches for review. Discovery does not replace customer-value analysis.
Classify
Understand the intent
AI-assisted classification groups terms by product, brand, market and relevance. Agreed rules and confidence thresholds determine what can be automated.
Route to exact match
Move suitable terms into themed Manage Bids ad groups, paired with the relevant category CPP. Use negatives where needed to guide routing.
Exclude mismatched demand
Exclude searches for categories, products or markets the app does not serve. Review negative match types and variants before bulk exclusions.
Keep a review queue
Review ambiguous and low-volume terms before acting. Sparse purchase data alone is not evidence that a keyword has no value.
Bulk changes follow agreed spending limits, review rules and monitoring. Your team can see what changed and why. Custom tooling supports decisions; it does not remove account oversight.
03 / Connect spend to customer value
An install starts the journey.
A purchase adds context.
Bring Apple Ads spend together with MMP events and approved commerce data. Review first purchase, repeat purchase and customer cohorts; agree how discounts, cancelled orders, returns and reporting delays affect the revenue used for acquisition decisions.
Apple Ads
Acquisition activity
Spend · taps · installs
Campaign · ad group · keyword · market
MMP & commerce events
Shopping outcomes
First purchase · repeat purchase · order status
Attributed revenue · returns · cohort maturity
One agreed measurement framework
Align identifiers, attribution windows, markets and reporting dates. Analyse at the finest reliable level the data supports. Agree whether ROAS uses gross or adjusted revenue, how returns are treated and when a cohort is mature. Revenue ROAS is not a profit measure; margin can inform a separate commercial view.
Separate brand demand
Keep own-brand activity distinct from category and suitable competitor discovery. Brand-attributed purchases are not automatically incremental orders.
Plan around the catalogue
Account for product availability, category priorities and seasonal events. Avoid promising prices, stock or delivery features that the app cannot support.
Scale with customer value
Use reliable purchaser quality, mature revenue and agreed CPA or ROAS targets to inform bids and budgets. Compare first-time and returning customers where data allows.
Platform, MMP and commerce figures may differ. Privacy limits, event coverage, attribution and returns affect reporting. Purchase and revenue data can inform our decisions without being native Apple Ads bidding targets. Agreed targets are not guaranteed outcomes.
Which retail apps does this approach suit?
It can suit fashion, grocery, home, marketplace and other shopping apps with relevant App Store demand and usable measurement. Campaign scope follows the real catalogue, market coverage and customer journey rather than a generic set of keywords.
Can you optimise for purchases rather than installs?
Where reliable data is available, first-purchase cost, repeat orders and mature revenue can inform keyword, bid and budget decisions. We agree the event definitions and attribution limits; we do not assume every downstream event is a native Apple Ads bidding target.
How do CPPs help with shopping intent?
A category-led CPP can show relevant screenshots and messaging for its keyword theme. The SaltyShop examples illustrate the idea; real CPPs must reflect the app and pass the relevant reviews. Deep links can connect to specific in-app content where supported. Read Apple’s guidance on ad variations.
How do you separate brand demand and new customers?
Keep own-brand campaigns distinct from category and appropriate competitor discovery, use supported negatives and compare attributed purchases with organic trends. First-time purchaser segmentation requires suitable customer data. Attribution alone cannot prove incrementality.
How are management fees agreed?
Ongoing management can be priced as a percentage of managed advertising spend. We agree the rate, scope, creative responsibilities and tool requirements before work starts, keeping media spend and agency fees clear.
Send your App Store link, target markets, priority categories, current or planned monthly spend and the events you use to measure purchases. We can use that context to scope an account review or ongoing management.
Explore our wider Apple Search Ads approach
Email
hello@saltypistachio.com
Address
The Old Pump House, 1a Stonecross
St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 4AA
England