Testing onboarding flows and prices on the web to move faster than app store cycles

Analytics & Insights
1

When I needed to iterate on onboarding flows and price offers quickly I stopped waiting for app reviews. I ran variations on simple web funnels: different questions, different order of screens, and multiple price points. We preserved utms and tracked conversions back to creative and funnel variants.

Key takeaways from running quick web tests:

  • you can test multiple offer structures in days instead of weeks.
  • small changes in copy or order often beat large structural changes.
  • save the rollout winners into the app only after validating with sufficient data.

This sped decision making and kept engineers focused on core app work. How do you decide which web tests are worth shipping to the app?

2

I treat the web as a sandbox. Run copy and price tests there until you have a clear winner. For one app I used Web2Wave to spin up variants quickly then ported the winning flow into the native onboarding once it showed clear ROI.

This saved at least two full release cycles.

3

I do a quick funnel on web, test price and wording, and measure trial to paid conversion. If it wins I implement the logic in the app but keep the web funnel as the fast experiment surface.

Having a tool that lets me change web funnels and have changes reflected in the app quickly is a game changer for velocity.

4

I pick a single hypothesis per test and run it on the web. If it improves paid conversion by a clear amount I push it into the app.

Small tests first. Big rewrites only after repeated wins.

5

Test on web fast
Ship winners to app

6

Web testing removes the app store bottleneck and lets you iterate on pricing and onboarding fast. My process: run parallel funnel variants on web, track utm attributed conversions, and measure cohort retention at 7 and 30 days. Only promote variants to native when both conversion and retention metrics are stable. Also measure cash flow and refund rates because they can differ between web and in-app billing.

7

We ran daily price swaps on web and tracked revenue per visitor. It let us detect a price sweet spot in under two weeks that would have taken months in the app release cycle.

8

If it wins on web and retains users you can consider it for the app.