# Locking free content for three days cut OnSwitch purchases

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Onboarding (SaaS)
- Elements: Push notification, Engagement
- Test run by: [OnSwitch](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/onswitch/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/text-color-change-in-a_b
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/onswitch-locked-content-push-return/

OnSwitch locked some popular free scenes in its freemium lighting app for the first three days, then unlocked them with a push notification, and users bought less. They came back slightly more often, but the purchase drop made it a loss. OnSwitch ran the test using Apptimize, and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study.

## Result

**Users came back slightly more but bought less**

- Purchases: down. This is a negative result; no figure was shared.
- Return visits: slightly up, but not enough to make up for lost sales.
- OnSwitch repeated the test with different locked content and got similar results.

## Control

New users of the freemium lighting app had all free scenes available from day one.

## Variant

Some popular free scenes were locked for the first three days, then unlocked with a push notification to bring users back.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- Holding back free content may have made the first days feel less generous, which can weaken the urge to pay.
- The push brought people back, but a return visit is not the same as intent to buy.
- Users who got their favourite scenes late may have formed a weaker early habit with the app.

## Caveats

No figures, sample sizes or durations were shared, and the source page is no longer online. Testing was done with the vendor Apptimize.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we delay some free content and unlock it with a push notification, then users will return and buy more because the unlock creates a reason to come back.
- Primary metric: Purchases per new user
- Guardrail: Day 7 retention
- Guardrail: Push opt-out rate
- Guardrail: Uninstall rate
- Who should test it: Freemium apps looking for return triggers. Given this result, test it with care if your free tier is what drives early upgrades, and watch purchases, not just return visits.

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Credit: OnSwitch ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/onswitch-locked-content-push-return/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.