Counterpoint: one of the products I’m most fiercely loyal to (Pacifist.app) is an app I very seldom use. I use it to inspect macOS installers before running them. There aren’t many to run, definitely not very often. By usage metrics I’m basically a retention failure, except I keep coming back when I need it.
Don’t measure just for usage metrics. Measure for usage success and satisfaction.
I had a client who had a usage frequency similar to AirBnB (one or two transactions a year) but then tried to cross-sell meal tickets (one or two transactions a week) because VCs were telling them users were not "using the app enough".
The meal ticket experiment turn out to be an expensive mistake - users never used the feature again after the promo period. From a retention perspective they didn't lose anyone, but the blended CAC for that quarter was horrible.
In hindsight, I think the practice of comparing retention between companies is doing more harm than good.
If your retention rate tells you you are providing a "one-off" service - that's OK. You just have to focus on being a cost-efficient service provider instead of splurging on CAC like everyone else.
Re:User Retention
by 0xferruccio on Saturday September 11, 2021 @11:11PM
(#28498311)
I agree for one off services retention is useless!
I think airline sites are a good example of how to make the most out of one-off payments. Cross sell relevant things (like hotels, car rentals and insurance) so you can get more revenue from that one-off experience.
Re:User Retention
by happybuy on Saturday September 11, 2021 @10:22PM
(#28498076)
This article conflates retention of product use and retention of ongoing paying customers without being clear on which it is talking about at any point.
-You can measure how many users use your product for each period – which is usage retention
-You can also also measure how many users subscribes to your product on a continuing basis over X periods – which is paying subscriber retention
Without being clear about what is being talked about, the comparative % figures could be misleading. It also can change how you would evaluate the usefulness (or not) of a product to users.
Don’t measure just for usage metrics. Measure for usage success and satisfaction.
The meal ticket experiment turn out to be an expensive mistake - users never used the feature again after the promo period. From a retention perspective they didn't lose anyone, but the blended CAC for that quarter was horrible.
In hindsight, I think the practice of comparing retention between companies is doing more harm than good.
If your retention rate tells you you are providing a "one-off" service - that's OK. You just have to focus on being a cost-efficient service provider instead of splurging on CAC like everyone else.
I think airline sites are a good example of how to make the most out of one-off payments. Cross sell relevant things (like hotels, car rentals and insurance) so you can get more revenue from that one-off experience.
There’s even companies like Cartrawler that provide this as a service: https://www.cartrawler.com/
No harm, I did like your original comment, sympathize with the misunderstanding, and appreciate your apology.
-You can measure how many users use your product for each period – which is usage retention
-You can also also measure how many users subscribes to your product on a continuing basis over X periods – which is paying subscriber retention
Without being clear about what is being talked about, the comparative % figures could be misleading. It also can change how you would evaluate the usefulness (or not) of a product to users.
The higher retention rates required for PMF of B2C subscription are because it’s retention of paid users
Same thing for B2B Saas, that’s target retention for paid users