# Paywall button to a web checkout: -25% instant conversions, +17% LTV

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Paywall (App)
- Date shared: 2025-08
- Test run by: [Zumba](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/zumba/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth/how-zumba-grew-ltv-by-17-with-relentless-user-feedback-sub-club/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/zumba-web-checkout-button/

Zumba routed its paywall button to a Stripe web checkout with Apple Pay and Google Pay preselected, and LTV rose 17% even though immediate conversions fell 25%. Lucy Levy and Nicole Page of Zumba shared the result on the Sub Club podcast, published on the RevenueCat blog.

## Result

**Immediate conversions -25%; LTV +17%**

- Immediate conversions: down 25%. This is a real cost at the top of the funnel.
- Annual plan share and retention: both rose.
- LTV: up 17% overall, which more than made up for fewer instant buyers.

## Control

The paywall used the native in-app purchase checkout.

## Variant

The paywall button opened a Stripe web checkout, with Apple Pay and Google Pay preselected to cut friction.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Leaving the app adds a step, so fewer people bought right away.
- The users who did buy on the web picked annual plans more and stayed longer.
- Web billing avoids app store fees, though the write-up does not say how much of the LTV gain came from that.

## Caveats

Sample size, duration and test setup were not shared. RevenueCat's customer story gives +15% LTV for the same change, and RevenueCat sells web billing tools, so the result is vendor-published.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we send paywall taps to a web checkout with Apple Pay and Google Pay preselected, then LTV will rise because buyers choose annual plans and stay longer, even if fewer buy right away.
- Primary metric: LTV per paywall viewer
- Guardrail: Immediate conversion rate
- Guardrail: Annual plan share
- Guardrail: Refunds and chargebacks
- Who should test it: Apps in markets where app store rules allow linking to web checkout, with enough volume to wait for LTV data. It may not pay off for apps that live on impulse buys.

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Credit: Zumba ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/zumba-web-checkout-button/).
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.