The Problem...
The Requirements...
Using both quantitative & qualitative research, it was discovered that customers were seeking more value, clarity & speed from the premium product.
Quick filter & search for multiple recipes.
Maintain free option for Android customers.
Clear benefits of paying for recipe 'content'.
Speedy onboarding - get cooking fast.
Consolidated grocery list across recipes.
Ongoing recipe updates (monthly).
Feel closer to the FitMenCook community.
Low-cost implementation (development).
Increased revenue - support growth of app.
The Solution...
Following a successful app launch, improvements were found to show & expand the benefits of paying, with new onboarding & functionality. Running various experiments on copy & ordering. Premium became a much more popular option for those seeking healthy recipes in their daily lives.
Free
Adverts & restricted functionality🛒 Grocery List - view by recipe only
🖤 Favourite Recipes - up to 10
🔍 Search for Recipes - only 1 filter
🎯 Adverts - when browsing recipes
$4.99
One-time purchase🛒 Grocery List - by aisle & recipe
🧡 Favourite Recipes - unlimited
🔍 Search for Recipes - all filters
🚫 No more adverts + Dark Mode 🌔
1M+
Massive milestone of over 1 million app downloads worldwide, simply on Android.
52%
Monthly revenue 52% higher, with a huge boost of paid upgrades after optimisation.
4.9
Average app ratings increased to ⭐ 4.9 (from 4.6) due to superior experience.
Customer Feedback
A selection of reviews of the FitMenCook Android app, following the changes to premium features & onboarding.
"This app is perfect. If you're health-conscious or diet restrictive, this app is for you. The app is designed to help you quickly sort through so many recipes and find what you're looking. You can sort by a multitude of specifics like vegan, low card, keto, protein, snacks etc..."
Anonymous
Google Play Store
"Love these creative unique recipes all in one spot! Effectively categorized, and I'm able to heart my favorites for easy reference. I would buy it again.
Worth a few bucks to add multiple recipes to your shopping list.."
Kim A
Google Play Store
"This app is awesome! Easy to use and TONS of great recipes that you can easily filter, search, and save. The ability to add ingredients to an in-app shopping list is super convenient!
Well worth upgrading for the one time small fee."
Jim E
Google Play Store
The Learnings...
What was the biggest takeaway?
That there are always ways to improve conversion & help customers understand your product better. Particularly via ease of use, timely nudges & clever copy. We ran various experiments using split-testing to improve conversion, perfect the ordering & show custom upgrade prompts inside the app.
In addition, it was very interesting to see customers behave differently after a certain period of time with the product. Data suggested that if they didn't convert to the premium product in their 1st week, they were more than twice as unlikely to purchase at all.
What was your favourite part of the project?
It was really fun working with a new developer to implement the final solution, having worked with an outsourcing team for the original app build. It allowed the entire problem to be approached with a fresh set of eyes and for the research to guide its direction. There was less bias & fewer expectations as a result, allowing us to experiment more with variations.
One other great dynamic was reporting back to the rest of the company on the performance of these changes, getting others involved with predicting the outcomes our experiments week to week. Something I shall take with me into future projects as PM.
What would be done differently next time?
Further experimentation and split-testing. It felt like we only scratched the surface with the assets that we had available to us. It would have been interesting to incorporate animated images, videos & more social proof (e.g. surfacing more reviews or weight-loss stories) into the experiments. We might have seen more people tempted into upgrading.
What we heard from earlier research was that people wanted to feel closer to the FitMenCook community. Therefore hearing from other people just like them may well have inspired them to get more value from the app and nay have exaggerated the results we saw. All in all however, the company was over the moon with the results we saw given the resources at-hand.
How could the product be improved today?
The FitMenCook app has a huge audience and reach, reaching almost 2m pockets worldwide. The Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) is low, limited to just a single purchase. It would be nice to find a way to offer additional benefits to some of the most loyal & vocal fans of the FitMenCook community. The recipe app became fairly mature in its lifecycle, especially to differentiate vs MealPrepPro. Therefore as we stand today, the app simply receives recipe updates each month.
Kevin, the founder of FitMenCook, is a YouTuber with over 40 million views worldwide. He provides a huge amount of quality health advice via the FitMenCook YouTube channel and is a trusted resource. The app would become an incredible launchpad to grow his reach, keep users active & potentially grow revenues by utilising this strength. Particularly using cutting-edge AI to custom-segment video clips based on certain search terms & themes. For example: managing allergies, mental health, hydration, training & kitchen kit. This feels like the next logical step, beyond providing personalised meal plans, in order to help people eat healthy but never ever boring.
