Skylight · B2C · digital family calendars and frames
Knock money off the device when people buy it with the subscription
Much higher subscription attach on the own website than on Amazon or in stores; no numbers
Workedupsell-expansionpricinglanding-page
What they did
On the owned channel (myskylight.com) the subscription is turned on automatically at purchase and buyers get a discount on the hardware if they sign up with the subscription, plus a free month and the option to opt out. Most people don't opt out. Not possible on Amazon or in retail stores. The size of the hardware discount was also a variable in the price tests (t1).
What happened
Owned channel has a 'much higher attach rate'; called 'a super successful way to get subscribers'.
“in our owned channel on myskylight.com, we have a much higher attach rate to the subscription because we can turn the subscription on automatically”
“we give a discount on the hardware if you sign up with the subscription, and that is a super successful way to get subscribers, because it seems like a great deal”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Skylight: Raise the yearly plan from $39 to $79, not the $99 tests favoredMinimal loss of subscribers or retention; ARR curve 'transformative'; no exact numbers
- Skylight: 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
- Skylight: 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
- Skylight: Test a free trial, with and without asking for a credit cardNo extra subscribers; trial takers were people who'd have subscribed anyway
- Skylight: 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
- Skylight: 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
- Skylight: 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
- Skylight: Don't mark which features are premium once someone has subscribedRenewal rates high even for light users of paid features; no numbers
- Skylight: Survey customers on whether the product is life-changing, and build to raise that shareAbout 20% say life-changing today; goal is 50%
- Skylight: 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
- Skylight: Sell the device everywhere: your own site, Amazon, Costco and Best BuyCalled very successful; retail acts as a quality stamp, but lowers subscription attach
- Skylight: Change how you show what's in the subscription bundleRarely moved the share of buyers who subscribe