In-app ordering plus 2 years of checkout tests: +88% daily conversion
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsNitro moved purchasing for Nitro Pro inside the desktop app and then kept testing banner messages and order steps, and reported an 88% rise in daily conversion.
This is the combined result of many changes over about two years, not one test.
Nitro ran the work with its ecommerce vendor, and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study.
- Daily conversion: +88%. This is the cumulative result of many changes, so no single change gets the credit.
- Revenue share: in-app ordering became about 30% of Nitro's overall revenue.
- Average app sessions per day for Nitro Pro rose 380%, per the case study.
The change
The whole purchase and activation moves inside the app instead of the website.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Trial users had to leave the Nitro Pro app and go to the Nitro website to buy.
Variant
Users could buy from a button on the app's ribbon bar and finish the whole purchase and activation inside the app. Nitro then tested banner messaging and order steps one variable at a time.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Sending trial users to a website to pay added a jarring break at the moment of decision.
- Buying inside the app kept the purchase close to the product people were already using.
- A simple activation button after purchase removed a step where desktop software often trips people up.
- Steady one-variable tests on messaging and steps likely added up over time.
Caveats: This bundles the in-app ordering launch with about two years of follow-up tests, so the 88% can't be credited to any one element. Sample sizes were not shared, and the data is from 2014.
Who ran it
Nitro ran this test and published the results (MarketingSherpa case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Nitro →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we let trial users buy inside the product instead of on our website, then trial-to-paid conversion will rise because buyers don't have to leave the tool they are enjoying.
- Primary metric
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Guardrails
- Support contacts about activation
- Refund rate
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Desktop or in-product SaaS with a free trial and self-serve buyers. It probably won't help if most deals close through sales or your web checkout is already one click from the product.
Questions
Does in-app purchasing improve trial conversion?
In Nitro's case, daily conversion rose 88% after moving purchase into the app and testing the flow for two years.
That figure covers many changes, so expect a smaller lift from the move alone.
What should an in-app checkout include?
Nitro kept the flow minimal: product selection, billing and a buy button, then an activation button and serial number.
Extras were added only once tests showed buyers wanted them.
Is it worth handing checkout to an ecommerce vendor?
Nitro did so to free its team to focus on product work.
Whether it fits depends on your payment, tax and licensing needs.