How to Set the Most Optimum In-App Pricing

In-app pricing

The monetization of mobile applications is one of the most important factors to consider when developing a mobile application. After all, the ultimate goal of each developer is to generate revenue from their application not only to cover costs but also to make a profit. There are many ways to do this, but one of the most popular and successful revenue sources for applications is mobile shopping in the application. This is also commonly referred to as in-app purchases. In order to add the option of in-app purchases in your app, you need to set an in-app pricing model that works best for your app.

Total global income from in-app pricing will reach $125 billion in 2020, up more than 200% since 2016. This suggests that application purchases dominate the industry, and should be a focus of application development.

Plan In-App Pricing Beforehand

Many developers focus on developing the basic idea of their application and do not pay attention to in-app pricing within the application and the aspect of monetization of the application till the very end.

However, all of this needs to be planned from the very beginning when you’re building your app’s road map, and this should be a priority.

Remember that many aspects of your application will most likely depend on the model you choose to monetize your mobile application and your purchases in your application – many of the features and application strategy will be built on them. So you have to include this in early development planning to ensure that everything works well together and complements each other.

Title

The first is to choose the titles for app purchases. You need the names to be engaging and to attract the attention of users. Try to go for funny or catchy names so that they remember the users and encourage them to buy the goods.

Description

Here you can explain what each element is or what it offers. Like the names, it doesn’t have to be an exact explanation of each element, you can use it as an opportunity to mimic users or play with them. Users generally appreciate what makes them laugh, so think about it before you choose the direction and tone for your application.

Blind Them

Many studies on behavioral economics, neuroeconomics, and psychology have found many marketing words that appeal to consumers’ primitive instincts and increase their chances of buying. Some of these words include “you,” “new,” “free,” “guaranteed,” and many others.

Be sure to use these words, as well as brighter and more catchy marketing words, to further encourage users to make purchases.

Personalized Elements

One of the strategies that help convince users to buy in the app is to offer personalized items. For example, add a username to the subject name or even to the design of the object itself, or even go further and let users design their objects themselves.

This helps to make the product more personal to the user and therefore improve his chances of getting it.

Remove the Ad

Perhaps one of the oldest strategies for monetizing mobile applications is to offer the app for free, but fill it with advertising provided by the advertising network. Thus, the user is satisfied that they do not need to pay for the application, and the developer is satisfied that they still receive income.

However, some people may not want their experience to be interrupted at any time by advertising or to be distracted by it. That is why many developers offer the option to “Remove Advertising” as a one-time purchase of the application, where all advertising disappears from the application for a small price, which replaces the income received from advertising. Thus, you give users complete control and choice – you have a source of monetization, but you also offer them a way out.

Offer Consumables

Expendable purchases in an application are items that are used once then disappear, and you have to buy them again (such as coins, bonuses, etc.), while non-expendable items are bought once and give you an advantage or access to something forever (such as accessing blocked levels).

A study by Flurry, which analyzed more than 57 million purchases on the Android and iOS platforms, found that spending items contribute the most to the overall revenue compared to other in-app purchases. Therefore, you should keep this in mind and offer consumables in a way that is consistent with your application.

App Store

Make sure that when creating your app, there should be a place that is exclusively for your app purchases and that is easy to find so that users can access it without problems. Make sure it’s visually attractive, beautiful, easy to use, and right to the point.

In addition, don’t forget the order of products display, try different layout and forming options, experiment with which products you want to focus your attention on, and choose what is right for you.

Visual Elements

Create visual images or icons for each purchase in your app that will appear in your app store and make them attractive to your users. Icons don’t have to look the same as the object will look in the game, but the user must know what to expect when he makes a purchase and doesn’t feel betrayed by what he will end up getting.

In addition, visualization of what a user buys can help him make a purchase faster, especially in the case of purchases that may not be represented by real items in the game (e.g. character power, intelligence, etc.). You can also use visual effects to deceive users and force them to buy more expensive items (e.g., imagine 10 coins using one coin, 25 coins using two coins, and 50 coins using a large bag full of coins).

Color Psychology

The psychology of color is very important in the design of your purchases in the app and shop because different colors help to convey different emotions to users. Different colors help you achieve various goals that can help you in the process of buying, for example, to attract the user’s attention, create a sense of urgency and even push him or her to the call to action.

Correct In-App Pricing 

Pricing can be difficult because the goal is to find the price point that does not necessarily guarantee you the most sales, but also the most profitable in terms of income. Therefore, you need to make sure that this is the optimal price that, on the one hand, will bring you the most revenue and at the same time will not be too high to discourage your users from buying it.

You will have to experiment with price guidelines and see what works best for your in-app pricing. A/B testing is a great way to do this, where you show different prices to different groups of users, compare conversion rates to each of them, and choose a price point that not only provides the highest conversion rate but also yields the most revenue to you.

Conversion Factor = (Purchase Count / User Count) x 100

Sunvera Software develops next-level mobile applications from start-to-finish. Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business.