Lite to Full Conversion Rate

**Oliver Drobnik** · 04-06-2009, 06:38 AM

I am currently getting a Lite to Full Conversion Rate of 0.7% for our game LuckyWheel.

That means 0.7% of people who download the free Lite Version also buy the Full version at $1.99.

Has anybody of you also calculated a conversion rate and would be willing to share their result?

My second question relates to price: How do you think the best releation between Full Price and conversion rate should be? i.e. do you think I would be making more if I a) decrease the price or b) increase the price.

CommanderData · 04-06-2009, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver Drobnik

I am currently getting a Lite to Full Conversion Rate of 0.7% for our game LuckyWheel.

That means 0.7% of people who download the free Lite Version also buy the Full version at $1.99.

Has anybody of you also calculated a conversion rate and would be willing to share their result?

My second question relates to price: How do you think the best releation between Full Price and conversion rate should be? i.e. do you think I would be making more if I a) decrease the price or b) increase the price.

Ouch! It may not help that the *only* review on the full version is a horrible one star review as well (at least in the US as of this morning 4/6). Too bad when people enjoy something they usually don't bother to leave feedback.

Anyone else have conversion rates to share? If the average is this low was it still worth the trouble to make a lite version?

jaguard · 04-06-2009, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Anyone else have conversion rates to share? If the average is this low was it still worth the trouble to make a lite version?

It's not low. 0.7% is quite high value overall. Some free games are downloaded more than million times, so that will result in at least 7000 sales. These are direct sales, but there are also sales that will be the result of these sales (increased overall position gives better exposure).
We've been running lite version for only a few days, I don't have any real numbers, but I would estimate the conversion is about the same, or slightly lower.

It was a lite version after all, which allowed iShoot to hit number 1 place in appstore. None have repeated this kind of strategy successfully, though.

CommanderData · 04-06-2009, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaguard

It's not low. 0.7% is quite high value overall. Some free games are downloaded more than million times, so that will result in at least 7000 sales. These are direct sales, but there are also sales that will be the result of these sales (increased overall position gives better exposure).
We've been running lite version for only a few days, I don't have any real numbers, but I would estimate the conversion is about the same, or slightly lower.

It was a lite version after all, which allowed iShoot to hit number 1 place in appstore. None have repeated this kind of strategy successfully, though.

Yes, some freebies may be downloaded a million times or more. But how many enjoy that exposure? And is that over 1 month, or 3 months, or 6 months? Isn't it equally likely that if we pick a free lite game at random that it's seen maybe 10,000 downloads a month? That's only 70 extra sales a month...

iShoot definitely got really lucky with the combination of lite and full game! I mean, it helps to have a fun, quality title of course... but there's still an element of luck in getting enough recognition and momentum to reach that coveted top spot.

Is anyone willing to share not just the conversion ratio, but the actual number of lite versions downloaded for a period of time (day, week, or month)? If 0.5 to 1.0% conversion is the norm, then the number of lite downloads in a time period is the only value of real interest

If it sounds encouraging I might have to give it a shot

jaguard · 04-06-2009, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Yes, some freebies may be downloaded a million times or more. But how many enjoy that exposure?

All the "tophundreders"

. Top-10 gives you 100-200k downloads per day, which (combined with "normal" sales) at the conversion of 0.7% allows you to break into the top-100 paid. I guess iShoot had a better conversion, since it's just skyrocketed to number one spot in no time.

Quote:

And is that over 1 month, or 3 months, or 6 months?

Free apps are just like the paid ones - if you reach top-100 (and then eventually top-50), you're golden with 100000s downloads, otherwise you'll just get a few hundreds/day, which will have no effect on your sales.
We are now at #74 in top-100 games section, with about 3k downloads in US top daily. Sales indeed have increased by a several percent, but that as well might be just the fluctuation..
Still about 24 places to reach the bottom of top-100

. The real fun begins when you reach top-50, because lots of people download free apps from mobile appstore.

Quote:

Isn't it equally likely that if we pick a free lite game at random that it's seen maybe 10,000 downloads a month? That's only 70 extra sales a month...

Quite possible, too.

Quote:

iShoot definitely got really lucky with the combination of lite and full game! I mean, it helps to have a fun, quality title of course... but there's still an element of luck in getting enough recognition and momentum to reach that coveted top spot.

This hadn't been this fun if there were no luck involved, had it?

.

**Oliver Drobnik** · 04-06-2009, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Yes, some freebies may be downloaded a million times or more. But how many enjoy that exposure? And is that over 1 month, or 3 months, or 6 months? Isn't it equally likely that if we pick a free lite game at random that it's seen maybe 10,000 downloads a month? That's only 70 extra sales a month...

iShoot definitely got really lucky with the combination of lite and full game! I mean, it helps to have a fun, quality title of course... but there's still an element of luck in getting enough recognition and momentum to reach that coveted top spot.

Is anyone willing to share not just the conversion ratio, but the actual number of lite versions downloaded for a period of time (day, week, or month)? If 0.5 to 1.0% conversion is the norm, then the number of lite downloads in a time period is the only value of real interest

If it sounds encouraging I might have to give it a shot

Here are some rough numbers that might help you:

No lite version available: 5 downloads a day of Full
Lite version available: 15 downloads a day of Full, 1000 downloads a day of Lite.

The Lite is responsible for 5 additional sales a day, 5 extra sales come from added visibility, because Lite made it up to Rank 10 in some countries. (Lebanon, Spain)

Executive Summary: The Lite version trippled my sales.

CommanderData · 04-06-2009, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaguard

All the "tophundreders"

. Top-10 gives you 100-200k downloads per day, which (combined with "normal" sales) at the conversion of 0.7% allows you to break into the top-100 paid. I guess iShoot had a better conversion, since it's just skyrocketed to number one spot in no time.

Free apps are just like the paid ones - if you reach top-100 (and then eventually top-50), you're golden with 100000s downloads, otherwise you'll just get a few hundreds/day, which will have no effect on your sales.
We are now at #74 in top-100 games section, with about 3k downloads in US top daily. Sales indeed have increased by a several percent, but that as well might be just the fluctuation..
Still about 24 places to reach the bottom of top-100

. The real fun begins when you reach top-50, because lots of people download free apps from mobile appstore.

Quite possible, too.

This hadn't been this fun if there were no luck involved, had it?

.

jaguard,
This is some valuable info! Thank you for sharing... I had no idea you were the developer of that game... I'd say you have seen some significant success already, perhaps close to iShoot

Again, I really appreciate those datapoints.

This mirrors a bit of what I'd expected- 1 million downloads of a free/lite app will probably be spread over many months, even in the case of a game like yours. As you point out though, that conversion could add enough sales a day and launch you into the top 100 paid.

Oliver,
Your info is quite interesting too! If I take these two extremes I can see that a lite version could be easily worth another 10-25 copies sold per day in many cases (based on 1,000 to 3,000 lite downloads per day, plus the associated visibility boosts)- perhaps a lot more if you get a bit of lady luck on your side!

Thanks to both of you for sharing. It gives me something to consider!

jaguard · 04-06-2009, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderData

jaguard,
I'd say you have seen some significant success already, perhaps close to iShoot :D Again, I really appreciate those datapoints.

You're welcome! As for the success - I'm not even near :). iShoot was #1 for a longer period, he was selling it for $2.99 (three times more), and he worked alone. So he's probably 10 times richer than me right now :).

Quote:

This mirrors a bit of what I'd expected- 1 million downloads of a free/lite app will probably be spread over many months, even in the case of a game like yours.

Well, not quite. It's usually a spike. You can expect to get 1 million downloads in a first month, and then decline forever. Just like it usually happens with paid games, just like it happened with iDracula.
The spike is not especially this big. It can be only 100000 downloads with a maximum of 5000 daily, or 10% of that, all depends on a game.
The funny thing is that it's harder to reach the top-100 in free games than paid :). At least for us.

Quote:

As you point out though, that conversion could add enough sales a day and launch you into the top 100 paid.

That was the idea :). Doesn't work well yet, but will see.

CommanderData · 04-06-2009, 09:58 AM

jaguard, even more useful data there! Thanks!

I experienced a similar (but much smaller) spike in my paid sales during the first week. Based on the initial interest level I received I wouldn't expect a million downloads a month of a lite game in my theoretical case, but perhaps 100,000+ is not out of the question... which would then translate out to the rough 10-25 new sales a day I speculated about previously

I would imagine the top 10 free applications have a ridiculously large number of downloads per day, in the 50-100K range

Best of luck to you, hope you continue to do well. Maybe you can catch up to iShoot eventually!

jdk2man · 04-06-2009, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaguard

We are now at #74 in top-100 games section, with about 3k downloads in US top daily.

Is that paid or free?

thanks

johnqh · 04-06-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver Drobnik

I am currently getting a Lite to Full Conversion Rate of 0.7% for our game LuckyWheel.

That means 0.7% of people who download the free Lite Version also buy the Full version at $1.99.

The magic number is 1%. It could be anywhere between 0.2% to 5% but 1% seems to be the mean.

If you do PC software with try-to-buy model, your conversion rate for a good application is 1%.
If you have an good e-commerce site, again, the visitor-to-buy conversion rate is also about 1%.

So, 0.7% is totally normal.

jaguard · 04-06-2009, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdk2man

Is that paid or free?

thanks

I was talking about free version.

**ftm** · 04-24-2009, 11:04 PM

I didn't see this thread, or I probably would have posted my info here instead. I created a thread showing the sales of one of my applications over the first month for both the Lite (Free) version and the Paid version. It can be found here:

Actual sales trend data of a #1 ranked kids game - One Month

m0s · 04-25-2009, 06:44 AM

are you able to tell when someone actually converts from lite to full. or is this just sales bump post lite version?

**Oliver Drobnik** · 04-25-2009, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m0s

are you able to tell when someone actually converts from lite to full. or is this just sales bump post lite version?

No, I know precisely who first has the Lite and then purchases the full(details = trade secret I can only divulge for a donation into my wedding fund at PayPal oliver@drobnik.com).

gizmo99uoft · 09-17-2009, 12:45 PM

Resurrecting this thread to see where you guys stand in therms of conversion

I am still sitting around 0.7-0.8% globally.

1) Can we assume that some countries will NEVER pay ? (USA is above 1%)
2) Should I expect a lag between downtown & purchase or is it a impulse buy scenario
3) My app is currently at 2.99, thinking of dropping the price to get a better conversion rate. Dropping it to 99 cents would require me to get a 3x in volume to recuperate loss profit. Thoughts ?

Sinecure Industries · 09-17-2009, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gizmo99uoft

3) My app is currently at 2.99, thinking of dropping the price to get a better conversion rate. Dropping it to 99 cents would require me to get a 3x in volume to recuperate loss profit. Thoughts ?

If you've already covered development costs dropping the price would make sense since you can make pure profit from volume. By selling it for more you have to factor in the opportunity cost of lower volume causing a lower ranking. Gotta weigh your options!

gizmo99uoft · 09-18-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinecure Industries

If you've already covered development costs dropping the price would make sense since you can make pure profit from volume. By selling it for more you have to factor in the opportunity cost of lower volume causing a lower ranking. Gotta weigh your options!

You were right, I dropped the price to 99 cent. Conversion Rate doubled but received my 1st 1 star.. hahah

No App in my opinion deserves 1 star (at least give 2 for effort)

price going back up today