Recently, Apple introduced a feature called "set up return customer offers for auto-renewable subscriptions" in App Store Connect, allowing developers to provide discounts to users who have already unsubscribed. This aims to attract customers who have previously cancelled their subscriptions to resubscribe on the App Store and help developers mitigate the loss of subscription app users.

According to Apple's official introduction, on the premise that developers provide apps with auto-renewable subscriptions, they can choose the incentive type to define the range of users eligible for discounted subscriptions. For example, offering six months of discounted monthly fees or discounted annual fees to former unsubscribed users. Developers can create up to 350 recall offers for each subscription.

As for Apple Store, it will promote to users who meet the criteria for the discounts through a series of promotions. Users can discover return customer offers in multiple locations on the Apple Store, including app product pages and the featured selections in the "Today," "Games," and "Apps" tabs.

In iOS 14.3, iPadOS 14.3, macOS 14, or later versions, users can view relevant offers on the "Manage Subscriptions" page. For users of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15, the offers will appear on the "Keep Customers" page within the app.

In 2018, Apple decided to open up the subscription model to all apps. In the first year, it continued the 70/30 revenue sharing model with developers. After the first year, if users continue to subscribe, Apple will adopt a 15/85 revenue sharing model for that portion of the subscription fee. After implementing this model, the retention rate of subscription app users dropped from 61% to 41% in one month. The purpose of providing "return customer offers" to developers is to improve the retention rate of subscription app users.

In addition to helping developers improve the problem of subscription user loss, Apple has also launched relevant measures to help developers increase the number of subscription app users.

In December 2023, Apple introduced a feature called "contingent pricing" for developers. According to the introduction, this feature allows developers to offer discounted prices to subscribers on the condition that they are currently subscribed to another subscription service. For example, "Ocean Journal" paid users can subscribe to the "Mountain Climber" app at a discounted price of $4.99 per month instead of the original price of $5.99.

In addition, Apple also helps developers obtain more information about user subscriptions by providing the StoreKit API, such as automatic renewal status, automatic renewal tendencies, and reasons for canceling subscriptions.

Helping others is also helping oneself. As is well known, Apple charges a commission of 15% to 30% for in-app purchases on its App Store. For Apple, developers obtaining more subscribers and higher subscriber retention rates will have a positive impact on Apple's revenue.

In addition to helping developers, Apple is also committed to increasing the number of subscriptions and user engagement for its own app products. In 2020, Apple launched the Apple One plan. This plan packages services such as iCloud+, Apple Music, and Apple TV+ for a more cost-effective subscription plan to attract customers.

A series of actions has also had a positive impact on Apple's revenue. According to the latest report released by the market research company Counterpoint Research, the success of the Apple One bundle will make Apple's service revenue the second largest source of revenue after the iPhone.

Analysts predict that Apple's software subscription service market has huge potential. It is expected that by 2025, service revenue will account for 25% of Apple's total revenue. This marks the first time that Apple's service business annual revenue will exceed the $100 billion mark.

Specifically, Apple's Apple Store revenue reached $24.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024, an 11.5% year-on-year increase. Although the specific revenue of the Apple Store in the second and third quarters of 2024 was not disclosed, judging from the 14.2% growth rate in service revenue in the third quarter of this year, the Apple Store still maintains a good year-on-year growth rate.

According to Pixalate's report on the removal of apps from the Apple App Store in the second quarter of 2024, a total of 57,000 apps were removed from the App Store this quarter, which is the lowest record since the first quarter of 2021. The removal rate is only 3%. The decrease in the removal rate indirectly demonstrates the platform's high stability, which helps reduce the risk of losing subscribers and improve subscriber retention rates for subscription apps.

Editor/Lambor