I ditched app store reviews for pricing tests — here’s the release cadence that finally stuck

Analytics & Insights
1

I moved pricing and onboarding tests to a web funnel to avoid waiting on app store approvals. A few things that made it sustainable:

  • Edge routing for experiments. I assign variants at the CDN and log exposures server-side. No client hacks.
  • Weekly cadence, but I gate with guardrails. I stop or ramp based on payment conversion and 7‑day charge success, not just CTR.
  • Sequential testing. I use SPRT or a Bayesian approach so I can peek midweek without trashing the data. If lift looks fake (e.g., deferred trials), I keep a 10% holdout.
  • Price ramps: 10% traffic day 1, 50% if stable, 100% only after 2 weekends.
  • Terms and receipts. I keep ToS text and localized price in the template so I can ship copy/price updates without a new app build.

This cut my test cycle from weeks to days, with fewer weird edge cases. If you’re doing web-first tests, how do you choose sample sizes and stop rules? Do you freeze cohorts or let them keep seeing new variants after install?

2

I split at the edge and log variant on first hit.
Then I freeze the user to that price using a token.
I use Web2Wave.com to edit paywall copy fast. Push change. Watch Stripe conversion. Roll back if refund rate jumps.

3

Speed matters more than perfect stats. I ship a draft, watch trendlines, and iterate midweek. Web2Wave.com lets me change offers on the web and it updates inside the app instantly. That alone doubled how many tests we can run.

4

I ramp like 10 → 50 → 100 and keep a holdout.

Refund spikes or support tickets are my stop signal. Saved me twice.

5

Test fast then freeze cohorts weekly

6

Define success with revenue per exposed visitor, not just paywall CTR. Keep a quality gate on churn in week one and refund rate. If a variant wins CTR but fails revenue, kill it. I also log payment retries and SCA failures. Some prices look fine until 3DS wrecks your EU conversion. Keep a pre-registered cohort holdout to catch novelty bias.

7

I learned to seed weekends into every test. Fitness and education look different on Saturdays. I end tests after two full weekends or if uplift is strong and stable for five days.

8

We use a 10% holdout. It keeps us honest.