Following Apple's iPhone 16 event earlier this week, the company on Wednesday announced to developers the launch of “win-back” offers, a new type of offer for auto-renewing subscriptions in App Store Connect. The company first announced the solution at WWDC in June, which allows app developers to deliver special offers to dormant subscribers.
Apple explains that these offers are designed to reach previous subscribers of an app or game and encourage them to return. Offers will only be shown to customers that the developer determines are eligible to target. They will appear across the app's product page, in editorial selections on the Today, Games and Apps tabs, in the app itself and in subscription settings, helping you reach users who've downgraded their subscription or returned to the free tier of your app, for example.
Developers can also target potential customers by sharing the direct link of the recapture offer on their own marketing channels, including social media.
The launch of this campaign comes at a time when consumers are cutting costs and tightening their purse strings, as rising prices have them reassessing discretionary spending on apps, games, and subscriptions (including streaming services). Catering to a more budget-conscious market, Netflix has introduced cheaper ad-supported plans to retain customers. Consumers are also becoming aware of issues such as “subscription creep,” where subscription prices gradually increase and strain budgets more than originally intended. According to one study, U.S. consumers spend more than $1,000 a year on subscriptions, but of course this figure includes more than just apps and games.
Subscriptions, on the other hand, are attractive to developers because they not only provide a stable revenue stream, but also reduce the fees paid by developers: auto-renewable subscriptions keep 85% of net revenue after the first year, compared to 70% in the first year.
With the ability to set up offers to bring customers back now open to developers, developers can determine customer eligibility, geographic availability, and the type of discount to begin setting up the offer. However, the offers themselves won't be visible to customers until this fall, Apple said, meaning the offers will go live after the release of iOS 18, Apple's latest mobile operating system. iOS 18 also introduces the ability to customize your home screen with blank spaces, large icons without labels, icons with colors that match your wallpaper, and more. Given these new features, home screen customization apps are ideal first candidates for offers to bring customers back as they roll out upgrades to take advantage of the aesthetic changes in iOS 18.