Trash Panda Maximizes App Revenue after Setting the Best Subscription Price with A/B Tests

Learn how Trash Panda App launched A/B tests to determine the best subscription price and the most optimal trial period for their mobile app.

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Company Overview

Trash Panda, an innovative app launched three years ago, helps users make healthier food choices by decoding ingredient labels and providing detailed information about food ingredients. Trash Panda enables users to navigate the grocery store more effectively and select healthier options tailored to their dietary needs.

The Challenge

When Trash Panda was first launched, it was completely free for users. For the first year, Slytrunk, the development company and owner of the product, focused on creating a proof of concept and growing the user base.

When they validated the idea and saw the user base growing, it was time to monetize the app to sustain its growth and development. They decided to introduce subscription options with premium features.

Initially, they tried launching subscriptions on their own through the App Store, but noticed it required a lot of their time, focus, and development team resources. There’s a lot to do: you need to figure out a way to manage various offers in the app, the subscription plans and one-time purchases. You need to synchronize that data between the App Store, backend servers, and the app, manage user data that use your app across different platforms (iOS, Android, Web), and so much more. This means that the app owner needs a dedicated team to maintain the subscription infrastructure only, which leaves little room for developing new features or growing the app.

Seeing this, Trash Panda’s team realized the need for a solution that could tie App Store Products to user entitlements and registrations within the app with minor involvement on their side. This led them to search for a suitable solution, ultimately finding Qonversion.

Discovering Qonversion

One of the decisive factors why Trash Panda’s team chose Qonversion as a robust subscription management solution was the flexible pricing model. Back then, Slytrunk bootstrapped the Trash Panda app and focused on growing revenue while optimizing the costs for development. They loved how easy it was to integrate Qonversion and started experimenting with A/B tests to maximize app revenue.

Experiments: Implementing In-App A/B Testing Results and Benefits

Using Qonversion not only as a technical subscription infrastructure but also as a monetization tool, Trash Panda started setting up A/B tests in the app to optimize their subscription offerings.

We often think that the lower the price, the higher the conversion rate, but is it so? Aren’t you wondering if your price tag is too high or too low and if your app could generate more revenue?

With these questions in mind, Trash Panda started experimenting with different pricing tiers for monthly and annual subscriptions. They tested three different prices for both monthly and annual subscriptions.

A/B Test #1

This initial experiment helped determine the most lucrative pricing model for their business. The price of the control group here was $29.99 versus the price in the test group at $19.99. As a result, they noticed that the user-to-paid conversion rate was slightly higher for the $29.99. Therefore, they chose to stick with the $29.99 annual subscription price.

A/B Test #2

After the first experiment, it was clear that Trash Panda’s users found enough value to opt for a higher price, so in the second experiment, they tested $29.99 for an annual subscription against $39.99. The A/B test proved the $39.99 tier more profitable, leading to a new pricing strategy with $39.99 for annual subscriptions and $5.99 for monthly subscriptions.

A/B Test #3

After determining the pricing model, Trash Panda ran another experiment to see how offering a trial of different values affects users' opting for the annual subscription instead of the monthly one. In this experiment, they had three groups: one offered a one-week free trial with the annual subscription, the second offered a two-week trial, and the third showcased no trial. They concluded that offering a two-week free trial works best and are planning further experiments to refine their offerings.

Trash Panda’s team first set up the remote configs to run experiments. Once the setup was complete, the product manager continued to create and manage A/B tests independently with no help from the dev team. Sure enough, the ability to implement changes and updates without requiring a new app release was particularly beneficial.“Overall, our experience in using Qonversion has been great, we use it everyday, and it has become instrumental for growing our app," said Julia Putzeys, Product Manager at Slytrunk.

Key Thoughts

Trash Panda started making data-driven decisions that significantly improved their monetization strategy, helping them achieve a revenue-positive status while continuing to grow and enhance the app.

For startups like Trash Panda, Qonversion's startup program offers an ideal blend of cost-effectiveness and powerful features, enabling seamless subscription management and growth without overwhelming complexity. Join Trash Panda in using this offer and start growing your app revenue with Qonversion today.