When it comes to pricing a product, developers often have to make a best guess and hope it works out. If they try to charge too much, it may scare off many potential paying customers. Asking too little may result in thin profits that may become unsustainable. The Google Play team has taken note of this challenge and built a new tool to make it possible for developers to perform A/B testing on prices for in-app purchases. Of course, for users these experiments may lead to unexpected changes in pricing, or even being asked to pay different amounts than their friends.
Google has long used A/B testing in its own apps to judge how well large groups of people respond to certain changes to features and interfaces. It’s a simple enough process where different people are served a slightly different experience, and analytics are used to determine the effectiveness of each version.
With the new capability toperform A/B testing for in-app purchases, developers may choose to try out different prices for select items, and Google Play will track metrics like revenue uplift, revenue derived from new installers, buyer ratio, orders, and average revenue per paying user. Each test can be market-specific, making it easier for developers to selectively optimize each locale. Everything can be run directly from the Play Console, so it’s possible to run tests without making code changes.
Price experimentsaren’t live yet, but the feature is planned to roll out to the Play Console in the coming weeks. In the meantime, developers are encouraged to check out thePlay Academycourse for guidance on running pricing trials.
And for users, it may be a good time to make a mental note of the IAP prices of your favorite games and apps, just in case they dip down in the future.
