General process

Purchasely offers the possibility to add new In-App Purchase to your catalogue in the app remotely, without needing any app submission.

The general process for adding new In-App Subscriptions and In-App Purchases to your app is the following:

1. Create the In-App Subscription or In-App Purchase in each store.
2. Create a Plan in the Purchasely Console and attach it to a Product
3. Map the Plan with the App store In-App Subscription by pasting the store product Id (also called SKU Id further)

Configuring a Product

The first step before creating a Plan is to create the Product to which the Plan will be associated.

A Product is the equivalent of a Subscription Group in the App Store Connect Console. If you don't know what a Subscription Group is, here is everything you need to know about them.

Follow these steps:

1. Browse to the section Products & Plans in the Purchasely Console

2. Click on the button + Add new Product in the upper right corner

   

3. Fill in the fields:

   • Name: display name in the Purchasely Console
   • Id: the internal Id you want to give to the Product
   • Description (optional): only used in the Purchasely Console, to record whatever information you need to remember for that Product

Configuring a Plan

1. Create the new In-App Purchase or In-App Subscription in each App store.
   You can follow these guides:

   • App Store - Configuring In-App Subscriptions
   • App Store - Configuring In-App Purchases
   • Play Store - Configuring In-App Subscriptions
   • Play Store - Configuring In-App Purchases

2. Create a Plan in the Purchasely Console

   

3. Fill in the fields:

   • Name: the display name in the Purchasely Console
   • Id: the internal Id you want to give to the Plan
   • Description (optional): will only be displayed in the Purchasely Console
   • Type: choose a value among the following
     • Renewing Subscription: used for In-App Subscription which renew automatically at the end of each billing cycle.
       99.9% of the subscriptions are like this in the App stores.
     • Non-renewing Subscription: In-App Subscription which does not renew automatically.
       Almost no app uses them.
     • Consumable: In-App Purchase that can be purchased several times.
       Eg: a stack of coins that can be bought again one consumed.
       ⚠️ Note: Consumable cannot be restored.
     • Non Consumable: In-App Purchase that can be purchased only once and remains forever.
       Eg: a book or an album.
       Contrary to Consumable, Non Consumable can be restore>>d.
   • Level: used to order Plans inside a Product to define upgrade/downgrade policies. See below
   • Default paywall (optional): this parameter is used for Promoting In-App Purchases on the App Store.
   • Then for each App store or payment platform (Stripe), you can associate the App store product id that you can gather directly from the store.
     • Where can I find the App Store PRODUCT ID?
     • Where can I find the Play Store PRODUCT ID?

Ordering the Plans inside a Product

The parameter Level associated to a Plan allows to define upgrade/downgrade/crossgrade policies within a Product for the Play Store, like it's possible for the App Store.

When switching from Plan A to Plan B within the same Product, the migration policy applied will be based on their levels:

• Upgrade (Level Plan A < Level Plan B) - 2 different policies are applied for each store:
  • App Store: The user is immediately upgraded and receives a refund of the prorated amount of their original subscription.
  • Play Store: The user is immediately upgraded and the remaining time will be prorated and credited to the user
• Downgrade (Level Plan A > Level Plan B): The subscription continues until the next renewal date, then is renewed at the lower level and price.
• Crossgrade: (Level Plan A = Level Plan B):
  • App Store:
    • If Plan A periodicity = Plan B Periodicity (e.g. Monthly -> Yearly): The crossgrade happens immediately and the user is refunded for the time that was left on Plan A
    • If Plan A periodicity != Plan B Periodicity (e.g. Monthly -> Monthly): The crossgrade happens when Plan A expires
  • Play Store: The new subscription begins immediately without changing the current billing cycle. The new price will be applied at the beginning of the next billing cycle (IMMEDIATE_WITHOUT_PRORATION)

In short:

• the Plans offering more benefits and with higher prices should have higher levels
• the Plans offering less benefits with lower prices should have lower levels
• Plans with equivalent benefits or prices should have the same levels
• if you want the same migrations policies as in the App Store, you should rank Plans in the same order as in the corresponding Subscription Group (reading top down)

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Difference of ordering between the App Store Connect and the Purchasely Console

When ordering subscriptions within a Subscription Group in the App Store, the value provided is a rank. Subscriptions are ordered by rank ascending.

In the Purchasely Console, Plans are ordered by Level descending. Highest value plans have therefore the highest Levels.