Skylight · B2C · digital family calendars and frames
Change how you show what's in the subscription bundle
Rarely moved the share of buyers who subscribe
What they did
What happened
In their words
How Skylight Balances Growth and Profit for Sustainable Success – Michael Segal & Mark Ungerer, Skylight
Mark Ungerer… out new things that are like, hey. A good example was we launched a meal planning module. And it was like, for people who are meal planners, it's really clear what that's going to do. Think I'm going to be able to plan the family's meals. And we said that wasn't part of the product before, so you're still getting the same thing that you got for $300, for that same $300 and this new thing that they can grok is going to go behind the paywall.
Mark UngererAnd a lot of those things we don't even test. Sometimes we just say, hey, that makes sense. It's obviously easier to start behind the paywall when you're adding something new that passes that, yeah, I grok it, I want it test and then move it out, then the other way around. It's very painful. So, that's how we've felt our way into it. Also, counterintuitive point number one here is we have tried changing the merchandising of how do we show what is in the bundle to users. And those changes often don't change the attach rate, what we call the attach rate, what percent are subscribing, very much.
Mark UngererSo, a lot of times we get the sense that as long as there's value in the bundle and the customer is excited about Skylight, they're like, give me the whole thing. I want this subscription, and they're going to start with it and turn it on. And this optimizing of how exactly do we frame it. We haven't yet seen a ton of change in the attach rates based on how we rebundle things.
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More from this episode
- Raise the yearly plan from $39 to $79, not the $99 tests favoredMinimal loss of subscribers or retention; ARR curve 'transformative'; no exact numbers
- Keep old customers on the old price, and honor it for anyone who asksGave up an estimated couple million dollars for goodwill; no measured effect
- Send the device's QR code to an Apple in-app purchase instead of a web checkoutOver 100% more conversions, on a small slice of users
- Knock money off the device when people buy it with the subscriptionMuch higher subscription attach on the own website than on Amazon or in stores; no numbers
- Test a free trial, with and without asking for a credit cardNo extra subscribers; trial takers were people who'd have subscribed anyway
- Make every first purchase cover what you paid to get the customerEvery order in company history paid back on day zero; grew without VC money
- Borrow from risk-tolerant lenders at 15-20% to buy holiday inventory, not raise VCStayed bootstrapped and profitable; paid 15-20% a year at times
- Keep what people bought the device for free; charge for new add-ons like meal planningPhotos-on-calendar paywall 'just worked' for years; now some customers want it free
- Don't mark which features are premium once someone has subscribedRenewal rates high even for light users of paid features; no numbers
- Survey customers on whether the product is life-changing, and build to raise that shareAbout 20% say life-changing today; goal is 50%
- Push marketing spend on a new calendar product before the product was goodDidn't work; nearly killed the product; took off only after product fixes in fall 2022
- Sell the device everywhere: your own site, Amazon, Costco and Best BuyCalled very successful; retail acts as a quality stamp, but lowers subscription attach
Tags: bundle-merchandising, attach-rate