Airba Fresh

Challenge

At Airba Fresh, our mission is to make it easier for people in Kazakhstan to get high-quality groceries delivered straight to their doorsteps. We serve customers in Almaty and Astana, and we offer everything from fresh produce and meat to ready-made meals. But as our business grew, so did the challenge of scaling efficiently.

My focus as Head of Digital was clear: we needed to grow our app user base, but not at the expense of profitability. It wasn’t just about getting installs. It was about acquiring real customers: people who would place their first order and become part of our long-term ecosystem.

That’s where things got tricky. We needed to maintain strict control over our Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) while increasing first-time purchases through the app. Our unit economics depended on making sure that each new install had a strong chance of converting. That meant optimizing both acquisition and post-install engagement, and doing it with precision across both major platforms: iOS and Android.

Solution

To help us tackle this, we partnered with Bidease and tapped into their Autopilot technology—an automated media buying platform designed to optimize performance in real time. What stood out to me immediately was how hands-off yet intelligent the system was. Autopilot used real-time predictive algorithms to allocate our budget dynamically, balancing traffic and adjusting bids based on current conditions.

We ran a hybrid strategy that combined user acquisition and retargeting, which helped us stay connected to users who had installed the app but hadn’t yet converted. The goal wasn’t just to expand our reach, but to drive quality installs that turned into orders.

Bidease also helped tailor the campaign to different app categories that aligned with strong user intent. On iOS, that meant focusing on Gaming and Online Shopping categories. On Android, we leaned into Puzzle, Tools (like calculators and memory managers), and Productivity apps. These proved to be fertile ground for reaching users who were open to trying something new, and who appreciated convenience in their day-to-day lives.

On the creative front, we worked closely with Bidease to develop a mix of video and static ads that matched our brand tone and visual identity. The video ads demonstrated how easy it is to place an order through our app, while static creatives highlighted our core value proposition: a discount for first-time orders. The messaging was simple but effective, and designed to convert.

Results

The campaign exceeded all expectations.

Over a four-month period, from October 2024 through January 2025, we saw first-time purchases on the app increase five-fold. That kind of growth was exactly what we’d hoped for, and it confirmed that our strategy was working not just at the surface level, but at the point of conversion.

Even better, we achieved that growth while keeping CAC within our KPI targets. In fact, in some months, our acquisition costs came in below target, which gave us added confidence in scaling up. The unit economics held firm, and we were able to grow without compromising profitability.

This campaign reinforced something I deeply believe: quality performance marketing isn’t just about volume, it’s about precision. You can’t afford to throw budget at installs and hope for the best. With the right tech, a focused creative approach, and a partner who understands performance, real efficiency is possible.

Looking ahead, this success has laid the groundwork for how we think about future campaigns. We now have a playbook for how to scale, convert, and optimize with programmatic, backed by proof that it works in our market and for our users.

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