By Tobin Harris
Managing Director, Pocketworks
December 10, 2022
Updated December 10, 2022
Mobile Technologies & Practices
Find out why your Android users cancel their subscriptions
Did you know there's a Google Play report that tells you why users cancel their app subscriptions? It's a nice little goldmine of information to help you prioritise your app improvement roadmap.
For subscription app publishers, find the report under:
Financial Reports → Subscriptions → Cancellations on Google Play Console
Don't forget to use the "Download Written Responses" button, too; it gives you a CSV containing all the comments from customers explaining why they cancelled.
Here are some real examples of cancellation reasons from the responses:
- I've downloaded the app.on the wrong phone so I'm going to install it on my other phone
- You have removed the [FEATURE]
- Too expensive
- App no longer calculates ratios , wont be using a now usless app
- Don't need it anymore
- Accidentally signed up
You may want to massage the data once you've got it. For example, we found that 1,781 responses could be deduped down to 310 unique responses in Excel.
If you're feeling adventurous, take these reasons and paste them into ChatGPT by OpenAI and it will nicely summarise them for you. This is the output from simply pasting a list of cancellation reasons in:
Data as summarised by ChatGPT
These reasons for canceling a subscription or service can be broadly categorized into several themes:
Cost/affordability: Many people mentioned that the service is too expensive or that they can't afford it.
Unsatisfied with the service: Some people mentioned that they didn't like the app, that it wasn't useful or comprehensive enough, or that they couldn't find what they were looking for.
Double payment: Several people mentioned that they had accidentally subscribed twice or that they had already paid for the service but were now being charged again.
Preferring the previous version or another product: Some people mentioned that they preferred the old version of the app and didn't want to pay for the app as well.
No longer having a use for it: A couple of people mentioned that they were canceling because they had a need for it.
Switching to a different platform: A few people mentioned that they were switching to a different platform and no longer needed the service.
You have to love OpenAI for it's ability to summarise complex literature.
A quick hat-tip to Alex from our quality assurance team for drawing our attention to the Google Console report.
Making apps that make a difference
In case you're wondering, Pocketworks is a software consultancy that specialises in mobile apps.
We bring you expertise in user research, mobile technology and app growth tactics to help you develop apps that create positive impact for your customers, shareholders and society.
To get a flavour of us, check out our free guides and app development services. Or, see some more background info on us.
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