Subscription services win ahead of direct payment on mobile marketplaces

Until recently, direct payment for each downloaded application has been the main revenue driver for the two largest mobile content marketplaces in the world: Google Play and the App Store. Now, however, even the big two have launched their own subscription platforms: Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass.

More and more hours of content are being consumed on mobile devices. It is estimated that, by 2020, streaming video consumption on smartphones and tablets alone will exceed 650 billion hours. It is a fact that users have adopted the mobile phone as a new and essential entertainment tool. And, as such, we need variety in the offering.

Buying a DVD or a video game is no longer enough. We need a full library of resources that we can access in search for new material, constantly. Without a doubt, the user considers this a form of saving; not in terms of the previous consumption he made of these services, but in terms of his future consumption. Because, with so much quality and quantity on offer, users want to see everything and try everything whenever they please.

But, what for the consumer mind means savings, is a billion size income opportunity for telcos and technology companies, which find in this sector an economic growth alternative to the increasingly stagnant sale of devices and traditional tariffs.

Subscription services provide users access to large content repositories, in exchange for a small and convenient monthly payment. An insignificant amount for the user and a constant and stable income for the content publisher. In addition, within these repositories, marketers have the opportunity to monetize little-known content or content of exclusive interest to niche markets (long tail); and creators or mobile content providers, have the opportunity to launch premium products without being an added expense for the consumer.

Such is the effectiveness of this model popularized by creators, content providers and telcos that even the big marketplaces have adopted it following suit.

At Upify, subscription services are at the core of our platform technology. Services applied with intelligent functionality to help the user find the content that best suits their tastes, facilitating discovery of new products that may be of interest. Thus guaranteeing the best experience and retention for consumers. A process that begins by analyzing the content to be published in our consumer network and helping creators and content providers optimize their offer to achieve the best possible positioning and highest performance.

13 March 2020