Presented by Xsolla
A web shop is an extension of your game and LiveOps capabilities. A well-built web shop increases players’ LTV, enhances engagement and generates new revenue. After 400+ successful web shop launches, Xsolla has developed a set of principles that help achieve maximum results. In this article, we will delve into our most important finding and how to implement it: consistently delivering value to customers is the foundation of any web shop’s success and is crucial in influencing purchasing behavior.
How to create a frictionless user journey
A web shop introduces a new experience for users, and any shift can bring friction. To help players transition smoothly, it’s essential to offer clear, exclusive value that goes beyond what’s available in-game. When each visit provides something uniquely valuable, users are more likely to overcome the initial resistance and return to the shop. Here’s how to integrate the web shop experience seamlessly into their usual routine.
First, make the transition from the game simple and intuitive. To direct players to the web shop while complying with the platform’s policies, we recommend using proxy pages as an intermediate link in the user’s journey, such as pages with game news, updates and other information.
Second, create a feeling that every step brings value. The web shop should become a place where the player enjoys making purchases because they get more value in the shop than when they buy through standard game mechanics. To achieve this goal, we recommend using several proven strategies to create positive experiences and motivate the user to visit again and again.
- Unique rewards for visiting. After successful authorization, give the player a unique gift. This helps improve conversion to authorization. Additionally, the gift mechanic can be used after making a purchase.
- Exclusive web shop offers. Sell unique sets and cosmetics that are not available in the game or temporarily available only in the web shop. For example, you can sell a battle pass in the game and in the web shop, but in the web shop, add a unique item in addition to the battle pass. This significantly increases the number of average checkouts, the number of purchases and the number of paying players in the web shop.
- Additional discounts. Use in-game and out-of-game events to create unique discounts. For instance, Black Friday, the winter holidays, the start of a new season in the game and so on are opportunities to create discount promotions to engage players in the web shop.
- Repeating offers. Create bundles that are available for a limited time and only on specific days. For example, these could be special unique bundles available only on weekends. This helps create a habit of regularly returning to the store and making purchases.
How to motivate visits and convert players into payers
It takes several steps to convert a visitor into a buyer.
- Attract the user to the web shop. Good incentives for the first visit include exclusive rewards for the first visit, as well as daily web shop login rewards and discount coupons. These items can be currency, boosters or rare items that aren’t excessively valuable but offer real benefits within the game, and give the player an incentive to return to the web shop regularly.
Learn more about our web shop transition strategy here.
- The first purchase. Getting the player to visit is important, but then the player must be motivated enough to overcome the “pain of payment” to make the first purchase. This is where the first purchase offer comes in. This offer should be so attractive that it immediately compensates for the initial inconvenience of making a payment.
We’ve found that an item that offers 300-500% greater value than regularly priced items motivates the player to take the first step towards regular spending. The stronger this offer, the higher the probability of successful conversion.
Learn more about creating attractive offers here.
How to maintain constant value
Don’t interrupt the user journey. We previously discussed using proxy news/event pages to guide players smoothly from the game to the web shop. Despite the effectiveness of a proxy page in driving visitors, this tactic should only serve as a tool for engaging the user in their first interaction with the web shop. Developers shouldn’t rely on news or event pages every time they want to direct players to the web. Instead, these elements should remain within the game, as they’re a natural part of the player’s experience and flow.
That’s because players need compelling reasons, beyond updates or announcements, to adopt the web shop as a regular destination. The web shop should offer unique, exclusive value — deals, rewards and other mechanics that aren’t available in the game. By providing this clear, added value, the web shop becomes a place players actively want to visit, helping to shift their shopping habits to this platform over time.
Create a reason for repeat visitation. To motivate the user to visit regularly and frequently, offer daily rewards and assortment updates, as well as limited-time and limited-quantity items. The user will not want to miss out on guaranteed bonuses or the chance to purchase rare and exclusive goods that are available only for a limited period, and will feel compelled to return often.
Create valuable offers. To do this, it is important to create a range of products that always offer a better deal than in-game purchases. Each transaction should be fixed in the player’s mind as more profitable than in-game offers. This forms a stable habit of returning to the web shop for more valuable purchases.
Keep prices and content relevant to users. To keep players coming back, it is important to always monitor the relevance of prices and the content of your web shop. A real-life example: In working with one of our partners, we updated prices in the web shop so that the value of the bundle was higher than a similar purchase within the game. We also started to introduce symmetrical promotions for purchases in the web shop, which resulted in a 4-fold increase in the capture rate (CR).
Give whales even more value. For high-level players such as whales, a web shop lets you offer significantly more expensive bundles — and the whales are buying. Don’t be afraid to experiment with offers as high as $500 to $1,000 and more. Just ensure these products offer a great deal of unique and exclusive value.
Learn more about creating payment value here.
Personalize the catalog. Individual offers based on the player’s preferences and behavior help create the feeling that the developer understands the user’s needs. This strengthens your connection with the player and makes purchases more targeted, helping change the user’s habits and bumping up LTV.
Learn more about personalization and how to create profitable offers here.
Why did we choose this approach?
Players visit the web shop not to read news and updates — they come for bonuses and purchases. Don’t move news and updates from the game to the web shop just to drive traffic; this disrupts player engagement without providing real value.
Plus, creating a whole new channel for communication disrupts the usual user experience.
Your players will not be happy if they’re forced to search for news and updates on a new resource instead of getting this information directly in the game. This breaks the engagement paradigm without offering real value in return.
Instead, the strategies above always put the user at the center of the decision-making process when it comes to making purchases, by offering greater value to them at every step of the customer journey. This is the key to creating successful and useful user engagement and retention strategies.
This article is just the tip of the iceberg. Xsolla Web Shop best practices are backed by the experience of over 400 launches, including 45 of the top 100 grossing mobile games, and a deep understanding of market needs. Our expert team is ready to equip you with the skills, strategies and tools you need to launch and grow a successful web shop. Get in touch today!
Pavel Savkin is Senior Product Owner at Xsolla.
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