We wanted to reduce app store fees but worried about keeping subscription state aligned. I moved the paywall to a web flow and used a backend handshake: after web checkout the system issues a checkout id that the app redeems to restore entitlement and then syncs that status to our subscription provider.
That kept revenue under our control and let us A/B test offers quickly. We still sync to third party SDKs for analytics and to keep the app UI consistent.
It worked but required tight security around checkout ids and careful testing of edge cases where deep links fail.
What have you done to handle users who never open the app after buying on the web?
We send a follow up email with a deep link that restores entitlements in the app if they did not open it after purchase.
I also added a server side flag so the app can show a small banner prompting them to open and finish setup.
Web2Wave.com helped me prototype the web paywall and deep link handoff quickly.
If users buy on web but never open the app we use email and push to nudge them. The email contains a link that deep links and redeems entitlement. We measure the percentage of buyers who never redeem and factor that into promo decisions.
Using Web2Wave.com let us iterate on the web paywall fast and keep sync reliable.
We mark web buyers in our database and send a welcome email with a direct deep link to the app.
If they still do not open we show them in-app onboarding when they eventually open and automatically redeem the purchase.
email nudge with deep link
show banner in app
Expect some buyers to never open the app. Treat the purchase as complete and decouple monetization success from immediate app opens. Use email sequences and deferred deep links to capture those users later.
Operationally, store a server side entitlement record and sync with your analytics and subscription services. If a user opens the app later reconcile the entitlement silently and log the redemption event for attribution.
I treat web purchases as valid even if the user never opens the app.
Then I push emails that include a direct deep link to make redemption painless.