Building an Unstoppable D2C Engine: How One Publisher Scaled a $2M/Month Web Store with Coda

When one of Coda’s AAA publishing partners set out to launch a Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) web store for their leading mobile game, the goal was ambitious but clear: optimize margins by allowing users to purchase digital content outside of the app through a variety of payment channels. Achieving this required not only building the web store itself but also migrating users from established in-app purchases and third-party marketplaces.

To meet this challenge, the Coda Custom Commerce team deployed a two-pronged marketing strategy focused on awareness and trust-building, combined with creating a strong conversion funnel. Let’s take a closer look at how this approach delivered impressive results.

Phase 1: Winning Players Before the First Click: A Trust-Driven Web Store Debut

The first hurdle was getting users to discover, trust, and adopt the new web store. The Publisher and Coda jointly executed a comprehensive awareness campaign leveraging both the organizations’ owned and operated channels, as well as external paid media.

Pre-Registration Campaign

Before launch, users were invited to pre-register for the web store with the incentive of exclusive in-game rewards upon release. This pre-registration phase successfully generated an early and engaged user base, culminating in 300,000+ users registered even before the store went live. This provided a strong foundation for day-one traffic and engagement.

Launch Activation

At launch, the focus shifted to building confidence among users who were accustomed to purchasing content through familiar platforms like Codashop. By redirecting these existing buyers to the new Custom Commerce web store via trusted Codashop touchpoints, the Publisher was able to transfer the credibility users already associated with Codashop directly to the web store.

Channels utilized included:

• On Codashop platforms: Banners, infobars, homepage tiles
• Direct marketing: Push notifications, targeted email campaigns
• Social media: Localized content on the Publisher’s and Coda’s social handles
• Public Relations: Features in gaming publications across priority markets
• Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising: Billboards in key markets such as Indonesia and Malaysia
• Search Ads: Capturing high-intent users in regions with significant revenue potential
• Paid Social Media Ads: Targeting lookalike audiences aligned with the game’s player base

Additionally, the Publisher amplified trust by leveraging its own channels, such as:

• Official publisher blogs and social media
• In-game daily announcement placements
• Publisher-endorsed communications to validate the web store’s legitimacy

Phase 2: Precision Pays: Crafting a Funnel That Converts and Scales

Awareness alone wasn’t enough. The web store needed clear value propositions to drive purchases and build habitual usage.

Differentiated Value Offering

The first step was to provide users with a unique value that wasn’t available through other channels:

• Exclusive SKUs & Special Pricing: Offering unique in-game items and pricing available only on the web store helped to incentivize purchases.
• Payment Channel Offers: Discounts and cashback promotions tailored to preferred local payment methods boosted conversion, particularly during peak purchasing periods.
• Event-Based Promotions: Aggressive conversion campaigns were synchronized with in-game live-ops events to capitalize on high purchase intent.

Integrated Marketing Interventions

The Publisher and Coda executed fully integrated campaigns surrounding major monetization events. These campaigns leveraged:

• Owned and operated media
• Paid digital media
• Publisher-led marketing channels
• Partnerships with influencers and affiliates to tap into the publisher’s game’s active community

By layering these marketing activities, the web store became positioned as the go-to destination for the Publisher’s game content.

Results:

Key Takeaways: Growth Isn’t Luck—It’s Strategically Set Up

The successful launch of the Publisher game’s D2C web store with Coda’s Custom Commerce solution offers valuable lessons for any publisher or brand looking to build a thriving direct commerce channel:

By combining strategic planning with marketing executions, the Publisher and Coda successfully navigated the complexities of launching a new D2C channel — setting the stage for long-term growth and deeper customer engagement.