

Revenue Effect of Putting your App on Sale - ChelseaT
http://blog.apptopia.com/mobile-app-sales-and-revenue/

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lutusp
The title: "Revenue Affect of Putting your App on Sale"

The linked article: "Revenue Effect of Putting App on Sale"

Affect (noun): "feeling or emotion"

Effect (noun): "something that is produced by an agency or cause; result;
consequence"

Moral: Don't _invent_ article titles, _copy_ them.

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mbizzle
Interesting that most saw no change in revenue. While the article does make a
point for price testing and competitive intelligence, the story I'm taking
from the data is that it might be a bigger issue of marketing. What channels
are driving your new user interest and sales? Pricing is so marginal - $0.99,
$1.99, $2.99 - that it seems there's a relative inelasticity for app pricing.
Consumers are more interested in what apps they have a perceived "need" for
and thereby exposure and recommendations are a larger determiner of sales than
pricing.

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talmand
I would have liked to see if there was anything about the actual pricing of
the different apps. For instance, did the apps that increased their revenue
the most during the sale happen to be the highest priced? Valve claims, with
numbers from Steam, that deep discounts during a sale tends to lead to higher
revenue. But, as you say, with prices so low that a 50% sale on a $1.99 app
isn't much to bother with. Either you want the app or not, the price in most
cases is not that big a deal.

I just wonder if there's a value thing associated with the price of the app.
For instance, someone seeing that $5.99 app they're kind of interested in, but
not convinced, on sale for $2.99 may buy it. A higher dollar amount suggests
quality (not necessarily true) and a 50% discount on a possibly desirable
product suggests a deal worth considering.

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ChelseaT
That is a good point - I'd like to actual before & after prices as well.

What I personally find most interesting is what this means about the
difference between Android customers and iPhone customers in terms of price
sensitivity. It may be strategic to price the same app differently across
different platforms in some cases if possible.

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talmand
Depending on the app, that's worth considering. More people need to understand
that the iPhone and Android markets are, for the most part, completely
different.

In most cases, iPhone users are paying a premium for their device and probably
expect much the same for the apps. On the other hand, with a huge range of
entry for the Android ecosystem, expectations for apps will have a similar
range.

For example, I have a cheapo Android phone because it suits my needs and has
no contract. I have never bought an app for it. I have a Galaxy Tab 2 7" and
have bought several apps for it. The problem is how can developers know this
so they can market to me for their benefit. But then my buying habits may not
reflect the market in general.

It's a tough nut to crack.

