Rewarding loyal users<\/p>\n
Mature apps with longtime subscribers, initially drawn in through low prices and reliable features, face a predicament. Those loyal users are good for business, but they\u2019re often content with software that functions as it always has\u2014and don\u2019t expect to pay more for it.<\/p>\n
But stagnant growth doesn\u2019t mix well with inflation or stockholder expectations. It can also leave companies without enough revenue to develop new features and keep software up to date. Sometimes, the prices apps launch with aren\u2019t sustainable in the long term, as Plex has said<\/a> about its lifetime pass, which has seen its price increase by 525 percent over two price hikes since March 2024. We\u2019ve seen a similar pattern with streaming apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n New features can help soften the blow of massive price hikes. But it\u2019s still hard for old customers to accept prices that double, or go even higher, especially if they were happy with the app as it was.<\/p>\n Developers have options for covering rising costs and funding new features beyond price hikes. For example, they could reward longtime customers with grandfathered pricing, exclusive features, or other perks to help offset higher costs. And when price hikes are unavoidable, giving customers advance warning<\/a> can go a long way toward showing loyal users they\u2019re valued.<\/p>\n