APPLE OPENED THE DOOR TO WEB PAYWALL–OUR TEST SHOWS IT MIGHT HURT CONVERSIONS

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

RevenueCat tested in-app purchases against web purchases after Apple allowed developers to bypass the App Store fee. In a four-way experiment with 5.6K new U.S. users of Dipsea, a subscription-based audio storytelling app for intimacy and wellness, the in-app only variant saw a 42% higher initial conversion and trial start rate than the web-only version, even with a 30% web discount. Most drop-off happened at the payment step, showing that sending users out of the app significantly reduces conversions. While web payments may offer longer-term advantages like faster payouts, early data suggests they come with a steep short-term cost.