Paid Apps Model Revisited
How many times have you hesitated before buying a 99-cent app?
You’re staring at the reviews. Looking for a Lite version to try out first. Catching yourself at the thought: “I’ve spent more time thinking about buying this thing than the 99 cents that it’s worth.”
What if I don’t like that game?.. What if it doesn’t work on my phone? I sure don’t want to call customer service to ask for a one dollar refund, that would make me feel even more dumb..
There’s a grand canyon of friction between free and 99 cents. An ocean between free and a $4.99 game that everyone is talking about. All of these are symptoms of friction. Friction that App Store tzars have created and are oblivious to.
What if, instead of asking you to think, causing you the angst of making a decision, Apple and Google learned from Xerox?
In the early 1960s, Xerox was a pioneer in the copier space. They had a significant issue, however: a large, expensive machine wasn’t an easy sale, and decision-makers would hesitate before making a purchase. Do we really need one? Will the office workers use this? Returning it would be such a hassle…
So Xerox leadership invented a stratagem. Their salesperson would bring the fancy copier to the office for free and just leave it there. Play with it, they’d say. It’s free, no obligations whatsoever. I’ll pick it up in a month.
Guess what – nobody wanted to give it up in a month. It was a great product and sales went up tremendously as a result of this move. We now know this move as a “free trial” – lots of SaaS and shrink-wrap software is sold this way.
Why aren’t app stores facilitating this type of transaction, though? Apple, Google – how about giving each paid app out for free, and only charging the consumer if that app is still installed on their phone a day later?
Of course, there are one-and-done apps that offer a single-use value proposition: museum tours, cheat codes, contact sync apps. These and similar apps should be able to opt out of this scenario. But for the vast majority of apps – apps that aim to deliver value over multiple sessions – this would be a huge net gain.
Just imagine: no need to develop and maintain a separate Lite version. No buyers’ remorse. No fear or hesitation when buying an app.
Whether you’re an app developer or an avid app user, let me know what you think about this concept in the comments.