gamedev 2017 - mike hines "what the top 50 apps do with in app purchasing that the rest of us...

WHAT THE TOP 50 APPS DO WITH IAP THAT THE REST OF US DON’T

Reach Engage Earn

MIKE HINESDEVELOPER EVANGELIST, AMAZON

@MikeFHines [email protected]

I N T R O D U C T I O N

M i k e H i n e s

Developer Evangelist, Amazon Appstore@MikeFHines

Founder @ 2 Financial Services StartupsFounder @ 2 Software Startups

QA Engineer @ Now SoftwareQA Manager, Product Manager @ MicrosoftEvangelist @ Amazon.com

Mentor @ GameFounders, Dev Bootcamp

Games Judge @Casual Connect Indie Prize, White Nights, and Pocket Gamer Very Big Indie Pitch

Speaker @ GDC, GDCE, Casual Connect, Pocket Gamer Connects, AnDevCon, White Nights, CES, PAX Dev

How the Top 50 apps did vs. the rest of us

TOPIC 112

Cohort AnalysisGroup A: Top-50 Grossing

Source: Amazon Appstore, March 2014

Group B: Rest of Freemium

Day 1: InstallsGroup A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

100100installed

Day 1: Active UsersGroup A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of FreemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

4142

In active

5958

active

Day 1: UninstallsGroup A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of FreemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

iiiiiiiiiiii1318

uninstalled

5958

active

Day 1: Paying UsersGroup A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii1318

uninstalled

5958

active

33

paying

2.62.9


Day 1: EngagementGroup A: Top-50 Grossing


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Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii1318

uninstalled

5958

active

33

paying

# of sessions / active

session length / active(minutes)

× =

avg. session length(minutes)

6.97.4 1822

6.97.4 2.62.9

Day 1: RevenueGroup A: Top-50 Grossing


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Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

=×# of items / paying

100%11

2%

avg. selling price

100%

136%

100%

154%

ARPPU

1318

uninstalled

5958

active

33

paying



× =


1822


1 Day Later…Group A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of FreemiumiiIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii



×


1725

uninstalled

3437

active

11

paying


100%10

6%

avg. selling price

100%10

7%

100%

114%

ARPPU

6.77.7

3.2

3.521

27

=


3 Days Later…Group A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii



×


1928

uninstalled

1923

active


100%

107%

avg. selling price

100%12

2%

100%13

1%

ARPPU

5.97.9

2.63.2

15

25

=


1 Week Later…Group A: Top-50 Grossing

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iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii


Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiiiiiiiiiiiii

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii



×


2032

uninstalled

1418

active


100%10

2%

avg. selling price

100%

121%

100%

124%

ARPPU

5.77.4

2.63.2

15

24

=


2 Weeks Later…Group A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiiiiiiiiii

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii



×


2134

uninstalled

1014

active


100%11

1%

avg. selling price

100%10

8%

100%12

0%

ARPPU

5.77.3

2.53.1

14

22

=


1 Month Later…Group A: Top-50 Grossing

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Group B: Rest of Freemiumiiii

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× =


2236

uninstalled

48

active


100%10

3%

avg. selling price

100%

128%

100%

131%

ARPPU

5.97.3

2.43.1

14

23


Hours Since App Download

IN-APP PURCHASING BY HOUR


0 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90 99 108 117 126 135 144 153 162 171 180 189 198 207 216 225 234 243 252 261 270 279 288 297

PRICE INCREASES OVER TIME

Days User Owned App

80%90%

100%110%120%130%140%150%160%170%


+60%average

selling price

WHAT WE LEARNED

The top have higher average price pointsYou can charge more in the right place and time.

Session length and count are importantRetention is not the only important metric.

What the top 50 do differently-- Selling

TOPIC 22

THE TOP DEVELOPERS KNOW THE NUMBERS

?

ENGAGE CUSTOMER EARLY

MAKE IT EASY TO COME BACK

GIVE THEM A REASON TO COME BACK

37% of users who will purchase, purchase on the first day

48% of repeat purchases happen within one hour of a previous purchase

64% of revenue comes from 3rd order +74% of revenue occurs after first 7 days56% of revenue occurs after first 30 days

Apps with tutorials that introduce IAP items

HAVE A 2.5x HIGHER CONVERSION RATESource: Amazon Appstore, July 2013

Apps showing users how to “consume”GET MORE REPEAT ORDERSGames that providing a post-purchasing tutorial generated 65% more repeat orders than the market average.


Games with bigger selection RECEIVE MORE ORDERS PER CUSTOMERDevelopers that add new items regularly are able to re-engage their paying customers. 1.14% of the customers generate 30% of sales.


1-5 Items 6-10 Items

11-15 Items

69%

100%

145%

ARPPU by # of IAP items for sale

Conversion Rate

INDEX: Average = 100%

Don’t confuse your customerOFFER VARIETY, BUT NOT TOO MUCH


1-5 Price Points

6-10 Price Points

11-15 Price Points

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%147%

101%

52%

Where do appsGENERATE THE MOST REVENUEA 2016 study by Swrve shows that disproportional revenue is generated from higher end price points.

© Swrve 2016 Mobile Monetization Report – used with permission

To sell more IAP items,BE CLEAR ABOUT VALUEMake it obvious what the benefit is for buying different price items. Confused customers don’t buy anything.

WHAT WE LEARNEDGames with bigger selection RECEIVE MORE ORDERS Tutorials that introduce in-app items HAVE HIGHER CONVERSION Showing users how to “consume”GETS REPEAT ORDERSTreating in-app items like a catalogue MAKES IT EASY TO SHOP

1.14%

of paying customers generate30% of sales

What the top 50 do differently-- Engagement

TOPIC 33

REDUCE BARRIERS TO FREQUENT USE

Tuning Game DifficultyWILL ENCOURAGE LONGER SESSIONSToo hard, and users will abandon. Too easy, and they can get bored. Just right, and it becomes addictive!

An active community canIMPROVE ENGAGEMENT, ACQUISITION AND RETENTIONBy creating:• Influencers

• Content Creators

• Revenue Opportunities

Leaderboards and Achievements areTHE MINIMUM BAR FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

FAN CREATED CONTENT IN YOUR COMMUNITY

To be in control,HAVE A LOT OF LEVERSMeasure with Analytics, and use A|B Testing to fine-tune everything from game difficulty to IAP menu choices.

Design IAP into the fabric of your gameMAKE IT EASY TO BUYOffering ways to buy your IAP items when they are needed will increase conversion.

Apps that made it easy to shopINCREASED REVENUE 75% (ARPPU)


WHAT WE LEARNED

Add social and tweak game difficulty toINCREASE TIME AND COUNT OF SESSIONSCater to your best and longest customers with clear valueDIFFERENTIATE YOUR IAP CATALOGGive yourself control of your game in the wildIMPLEMENT A|B TESTING

IF YOU ONLY DO ONE THING…

Cater to your best and longest customersDIFFERENTIATE YOUR IAP CATALOG

IF YOU ONLY DO TWO THINGS…

Cater to your best and longest customersDIFFERENTIATE YOUR IAP CATALOG

Make sure your IAP catalogs areCLEAR ABOUT VALUE

Learn more: http://bit.ly/top50iap

Follow us:/MobileDevMikeHines@MikeFHines

developer.amazon.com/blog

THANK YOU!

http://bit.ly/top50iap

Learn more: http://bit.ly/top50iap

Feedback:

Follow us:/AmazonAppstoreForAndroid@MikeFHines

developer.amazon.com/blog

http://bit.ly/GDCTop50

http://bit.ly/top50iap

http://bit.ly/GDCTop50

gamedev 2017 - mike hines "what the top 50 apps do with in app purchasing that the rest of us...

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