Average iPhone and Android In-App Shopping Cart Reaches $14

July 26, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Most iPhone and Android users are familiar with how freemium App content works. First, the user downloads a game from their respective App Store, which they can then play for free. The number of features or levels available to the free user are intentionally limited, encouraging the in-app purchase of the full game. This model has been very successful for app and game developers, and a recent report shows that the average in-app purchase amongst 3.5 million users on both Android and iPhone iOS has reached $14.

Here are some even more surprising numbers: Of all the in-app revenue generated, approximately 51% of that revenue comes from in-app purchases of $20 or more. Despite this fact, the overwhelming majority of in-app purchases (71%) are actually coming in at the lower end of the spectrum, ranging from $10-$20. Purchases greater than $20 come in at only 13% of the total number of in-app purchases . What’s more, the highest end of in-app purchasing is in fact suprisingly high, roughly $50 a transaction.

This news reaffirms the suspicion that smartphone users are more inclined to add an app to their shopping cart if they feel they are getting content for free, even if it is a limited experience. It also shows that consumers are more likely to upgrade their freemium experience if they are first given a sample of what they are buying.

Flurry, the company conducting the research, notes that digital distribution of games is throwing the portable retail game category for a loop. The market that was once dominated by the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP is now being taken over by consumers who prefer to add digitally distributed games to their shopping cart. The revenue share of portable games on the iOS and Android platforms has risen from just 1 percent in 2008 to 34 percent in 2010. In turn, Nintendo’s market share in portable games went from 75 percent in 2008 to 57 percent in 2010.

Flurry also noted that games drive 75 percent of the revenue among the top 100-grossing iOS apps. 65% of the game revenue comes from free-to-play games, with in-app purchases driving the success of these titles.

source: www.zippycart.com