Apple App Store E-Commerce Business Guide

A business guide that covers the Apple App Store's e-commerce offering, market & consumer behavior, challenges and benefits, mechanics and metrics.

Oscar de la Hera Gomez
Written by Oscar de la Hera Gomez
First published on 02/26/2023 at 19:34
Last Updated on 04/05/2024 at 12:57
A flower that represents Apple with the text "Apple App Store E-Commerce Business Guide" beneath it.

A business guide that covers the Apple App Store's e-commerce offering, market & consumer behavior, challenges and benefits, mechanics and metrics.

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E-Commerce Offering

Businesses can offer Consumable and Non-Consumable In-App Purchases and Non-Renewable and Auto-Renewable Subscriptions through apps on the Apple App Store.

Apple takes a 15% - 30% fee per transaction but take no fee if you sell a digital or physical good or a service that is not related to their platform (i.e. an NFT, a guitar or an Uber ride).

E-Commerce Fees in Apple App Store Apps

Subscriptions must be implemented as part of a Subscription Group which allow you to create multiple subscription tiers within a group as a means of offering a tiered service where customers can upgrade or downgrade, depending on the level of service that they desire.

What are Apple App Store Subscription Groups?

Non-Consumables and Auto-Renewable Subscriptions come with optional Family Sharing functionality, by which a Non-Consumable or Auto-Renewable Subscription is made available to an entire Apple Family, bringing value to more customers.

What is Apple Family Sharing?

For explanations and examples of Apple's App Store Offering, please consult the articles listed below.

Consumable In-App Purchases

What are Apple App Store Consumable In-App Purchases?5 Examples of Consumables In-App Purchases on the Apple App Store

Non-Consumable In-App Purchases

What are Apple App Store Non-Consumable In-App Purchases?5 Examples of Non-Consumables In-App Purchases on the Apple App Store

Non-Renewing Subscriptions

What are Apple App Store Non-Renewing Subscriptions?Examples of Non-Renewing Subscriptions

Auto-Renewable Subscriptions

What are Apple App Store Auto-Renewable Subscriptions?Examples of Auto-Renewable Subscriptions

Apple's App Store Connect platform enables businesses the ability to create offer periods for In-App Purchases and Subscriptions, which could be useful during events and holidays such as Black Friday or Christmas; where customers can gain access to a Subscription or buy an In-App Purchase at a discounted price.

How to plan a In-App Purchase price change in App Store ConnectHow to plan a subscription price change in App Store Connect

Apple has optimized Auto-Renewable Subscriptions to allow for enhanced acquisition and retention of customers as well as to win back customers by providing functionality for introductory offers, promotional offers and custom offer codes.

Introductory offers and custom offer codes can be paired to extend a customers access to a trial or discounted period, before paying full price for a subscription.

Combining Offers in App App Store Apps

For explanations and examples of introductory offers, promotional offers or custom offer codes, please consult the articles listed below.

Introductory Offers

What are Apple App Store Introductory Offers?Examples of Introductory Offers

Promotional Offers

What are Apple App Store Promotional Offers?Examples of Promotional Offers

Custom Offer Codes (Coupons)

What are Apple App Store Custom Offer Codes?

Grace Period and Billing Retry

In order to reduce involuntary subscriber churn, Apple's App Store includes a billing retry period of 60 days, by which Apple will periodically try to collect payment from a customer after a failed payment. Apple also offer businesses the ability to implement a grace period, to allow subscribers to maintain access to a service whilst they fix their payment issues.

How does Billing Retry and a Grace Period work in the Apple App Store?

Market & Consumer Behavior

<p>257 billion new app downloads. $171 billion App Store spend. 5 hours daily time spent per user. $362 billion mobile ad spend. 5.1 trillion total hours spent.</p>

The Apple App Store and Google Play Store generated 257 billion downloads and $171 billion in revenue in 2023.

<p>92.7% of the Apple App Store apps are free, 7.3% are paid. 96.7% of the Google Play Store apps are free, 3.3% are paid.</p>

92.7% of apps currently available on the Apple App Stores are free, demonstrating the power of a freemium business model.

<p>In terms of revenue, paid apps made $42.98 billion, subscriptions $45.6 billion and in-app purchases $82.42 billion.</p>

Direct downloads accounted for $42.98 billion; In-App Purchases for $82.42 billion and Subscriptions for $45.6 billion.

<p>In terms of total consumer spending, Apple takes 66% valued at $112.86 billion compared to Google's 34% valued at $58.14 billion. In terms of subscription revenue, Apple takes 76% valued at $34.66 billion compared to Google's 24% valued at $10.94 billion.</p>

In 2023, Apple's App Store was responsible for generating $147.52 billion in revenue; with $34.66 billion from Subscriptions alone.

Please consult our article on the global app market to get a deeper dive into consumer spending, market sizes and latest trends.

Global App Store Market Overview

Use Cases, Challenges and Benefits

To learn about our research into popular use cases for In-App Purchases, Subscriptions or Offers, please consult the articles below.

Popular Mechanics for In-App PurchasesPopular Subscription MechanicsPopular Offer Mechanics

To learn about the challenges and benefits of using In-App Purchases or Subscriptions, please consult the articles below.

Challenges and Benefits of In-App PurchasesChallenges and Benefits of Mobile Subscriptions

Metrics & Analysis

Apple's App Store comes with an incredible powerful engine known as App Store Server API (ASSA), which includes App Store Server Notifications (ASSNs).

What is the Apple App Store Server API?What are Apple App Store Server Notifications?

Although optional, we strongly recommended that you implement ASSA & ASSNs into your business, as it will allow you to:

  • Contribute to refund requests.
  • Provide best-in-class customer service.
  • Gather, manage and refund transactions.
  • Generate accurate e-commerce metrics that will inform you of how your app is performing.
  • Automate marketing communications when a customer makes a purchase; renews, upgrades or downgrades a subscription; claims a refund or any other e-commerce transaction event.
What can I use the App Store Server API for?Apple App Store Server Notifications: What you get and How to use them

Finally, for a list of recommended e-commerce metrics. Please consult the article below.

Recommended Metrics for E-Commerce Apps

Are you looking to build an app that uses In-App Purchases or Subscriptions?

Book a consultation or read our business guide for building an apps that use In-App Purchases or Subscriptions using the links below.

Book a ConsultationHow to build an app that uses App In-App Purchases and Subscriptions

Any Questions?

We are actively looking for feedback on how to improve this resource. Please send us a note to inquiries@delasign.com with any thoughts or feedback you may have.
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