Why 90% of Users Are Leaving Your App On The First Day? A Guide To Increase Retention Rate

In “Don’t make me think” -usability guide published in 2000- Steve Krug states that users scan an interface like a driver scans a billboard going by at 60 miles an hour. Twenty years later, the digital product supply has dramatically increased and the battle for users' attention has never been more fierce.

According to growth guru Andrew Chen, the time available to impress the user is - on average - about 20 seconds. In a Product Benchmark Report published by MixPanel in 2019 emerged that 64% of the users abandon an app the same day they download it from the store. Only 9% make it till the second day and after a month it’s very likely that only 5% of the initial user base will still be around.

Depressing, isn’t it? Yes, but also No. While being very hard to engage, regular users are the most profitable income source for most companies in the industry.

According to the statistics, the probability to sell to an existing user is
60–70%, against 5–20% for new users. This data resonates even more if we consider that attracting new users is from 5 to 7 times more expensive than retaining existing ones.

Increasing retention by only 5% can grant a profit increase of 25 to 90%.

What is Retention Rate?

Retention Rate is one of the most effective metrics to measure the success of a product. It measures the percentage of users that return to use an app after the first day they launched it.

It has two variables to be decided:

• The key action the user needs to perform to be considered active (launch the app, make a purchase, use a key feature…).
• The period of time in which this action must be performed (a week, a month, a year…).

Based on these two variables it is possible to calculate different kinds of Retention Rates.

• Classic retention
• Range retention
• Rolling retention

These metrics are usually calculated using analytics and are a very powerful tool for Design Teams to demonstrate with real data the value of UX decisions toward stakeholder’s goals.

How to Increase Retention Rate?

1. Know your users

Being aware of users’ behavior within your app is crucial to tailor the best possible user experience based on their needs and pain points.

Using analytics you can divide your users into clusters, based on their behavior inside the app. Define from 2 to 6 clusters and then observe which clusters tend to stick the most with your product. Which feature do they use the most? Do they use all the features or one in particular?

Starting from this data you can improve your app’s UX, investing in the areas regular users use the most. This will keep them happy and attract more users that might be part of that cluster. At the same time, you will be able to understand which cluster is more at risk, being able to take actions to increase their loyalty.

To know everything on how to use analytics to increase Retention Rate you might want to check this article from Rita Tavares.

2. Make it fun

You can use game-like features inside your app to keep users entertained. Through gamification you can enhance the user experience by providing incentives such as points for completing certain actions or goals to achieve, this will motivate the users to come back once more.

3. Communication is key

Make sure users won’t forget about your product.

Use in-app messages to keep the conversation flow. Make sure that errors, payment failures, version upgrades (…) are notified to users through clear in-app messages, written with a voice tone that they can easily understand.

Push notifications are another great tool to stay in touch with your users, although they must be dispensed with caution. Be sure that the notifications display useful information or the user will perceive it as spam.

Communicating in a clear way is as important as the ability to listen to your customers’ feedbacks. Having this kind of two-way communication with your users allows you to intercept and fix bugs before a bad review is posted in the App Store.

4. Build habits around the app

Give your users a reason to come back on a daily basis. Provide them every day something new to discover. Build your features in order to link to their daily routine.

5. Make it awesome

As obvious as it might sound, the quality of your product is the only thing that will make it stand out in such a saturated market as the digital one.

Crafting a great onboarding experience, avoiding asking for a review or a login too soon, keeping the user excited and aware of where they can find valuable features are all great ways to start a long, trustworthy relationship with them.

Nourish this relationship over time by doing constant research, observing user behavior, providing constant improvement.
Understand where you can add value to your users' life and take action.

Carmine Acierno
UX/UI Designer @ Air Apps