Why App Stories?

App Stories was born from a shift happening at Purchasely. As we evolved from subscription infrastructure into a solution helping product and growth teams shape the entire in-app experience, we found ourselves having remarkable conversations with the people behind some of the world's most successful apps.

Conversations about experimentation, user behavior, onboarding, retention, pricing, personalization, and all the invisible decisions that turn products into daily habits.

This publication is our way of bringing those conversations to a wider audience. Every month, we sit down with the teams building the apps millions of people use every day to understand what they built, why they built it, and what the rest of the industry can take from their experience.

Quadrupling daily Pro sales with one structural change: and other lessons from Switzerland's newspaper of record

Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) first came out in Zurich in 1780. Today, its app is one of its strongest revenue channels. It holds a significant share of NZZ's subscribers, the majority being on annual plans.

It quadrupled its daily Pro sales since 2024 because it runs its app as a subscription business in its own right, with its own pricing logic, upsell paths and experiments.

This issue dives into the strategy behind that success, the lessons any publisher can borrow from it, and the socio-economic factors that drive its readership.

To understand how that works, we spoke with Lukas Metzmacher, Lead E-Commerce at NZZ. His team sits between the Swiss and German revenue teams and runs the app's monetization, from Apple Search Ads to paywalls and Pro upsells.

The App as NZZ's Revenue Engine

Camille from Purchasely: Why did NZZ build its mobile strategy around revenue from the start, rather than going engagement-first like most other media?

Lukas Metzmacher: For one, there are various users that start their journey with NZZ directly from the app. Both the App and Play Store give Marketers various opportunities to experiment with prices, offers and trials with Conversion Rates usually being much higher than on Web.

Since September 2024 the tech stack we use in the app is quite advanced, which gives us the possibility to offer users not just a very native, carefully designed experience but many interesting upselling triggers.

NZZ has been running a metered model for a while now with the Pro layer on top of that. There's no truly free content, on the website or in the app. Depending on the segment you fall into and the platform you come from, you might be able to read one or two articles for free. The only condition is that you register with us.

Do you use what people read for free to convince them to subscribe?

L.M.: We build segments around interests. Politics and economics being the two most relevant. We use that data to bring users toward a subscription, and we are also working on giving users a preview of what the editorial team is working on.

We also collect zero-party data during onboarding, meaning information users share with us directly, by asking them about which topics they're interested in. That helps us show them more relevant content and hence why subscribing would be worth it.

Lastly, we experiment a lot with paywalls that reflect the topic of the article in question and are getting some promising results.

What does the app represent today compared to the website?

L.M.: The app is the flagship product, meaning everything is developed for the App first. Most of our web subscribers use our app regularly as they enjoy all the personalized benefits it gives them. It has also grown to account for a very significant and reliable share of subscription revenue with the majority of subscribers being on annual plans. We see a healthy share of them renewing year over year as well. Moreover, the app matters for upselling as well as subscriber engagement which then helps us a lot in terms of retention.

Has that success changed the way your journalists work, or the formats they publish?

L.M.: Editorial and product are constantly thinking about new formats. One example is a stronger focus on video as well as audio, as younger audiences tend to read less and watch or listen more when it comes to media consumption. In terms of audio, text-to-speech is already a very strong and well adopted feature in the app, our podcast section keeps gaining users, and then in terms of general engagement our recently launched mobile games are growing really well. They are a good example of the kind of daily habits we're aiming for.

When you say text-to-speech and podcasts, do you mean automated read-overs of articles?

L.M.: We have both. Our text-to-speech voiceover is getting better by the day, and we keep improving it: users will be able to choose between different voices, and we're piloting a version where some of our reporters might lend their own voices to their articles.

Then we have our own original podcasts, NZZ Quantensprung would be an example of this, which just won a Suisse Podcast Award.

Why the App Converts Better Than the Web

Your INMA case describes a shift toward efficiency and scalability rather than pure install volume. Did that mean going more premium instead of mass market?

L.M.: NZZ is a high quality news brand. Our core audience is very educated, usually between 35 and 70 years old: people who already work, have a steady salary, and can afford both our base as well as our premium plan, which are both positioned in the upper range of monthly subscription prices in the media sector. That holds true both in Switzerland as well as in Germany.

That said, NZZ has slightly different target groups on the web and in the app.

What does that difference look like in practice?

L.M.: On the web, we run various targeted campaigns on social media, Google, Meta and other platforms to reach a broader audience of people interested in politics, economics, geopolitics. We bring them to our website and convert them utilizing different introductory offers.

Once they are subscribers, we tell them very early in their onboarding journey: we have a fantastic app, it is part of what you paid for, try it out. Then, inside the app, we upsell them to our Pro plan. That journey works really well. In the end, many of our readers start with a web subscription and add a Pro subscription inside the app.

Was leading people to the app a strategy you brought with you when you joined NZZ?

L.M.: When I started at NZZ, I brought my experience of managing the BILD App’s monetization for 4 years where we saw fantastic year over year revenue growth utilizing Apple’s and Google’s offering potential to its fullest. The new NZZ App project was then already well under way. The product vision for this app was to build the best news app on the market, as it was clear that this is what our subscribers would expect from NZZ in a mobile first world.

Once the app was released in 2024, many factors pushed us to lead more and more people into the app. From a feature and product perspective, the app became the product our subscribers would get the most value from. With the help of native In-App Paywalls we could then monetize these subscribers even more.

In media and commerce, seamlessly driving users into an app with one-click purchasing and native checkout significantly boosts conversion rates and revenue.

Beyond conversion, what makes the relationship with app users different?

L.M.: Engagement is measurably higher. We can personalize content, and we send personalized push notifications that bring users back at the right time. The app is simply a much more efficient way to communicate with our users.

One Structural Change, Four Times More Pro Subscribers

What did the in-app Pro offer look like before?

L.M.: We had one subscription group containing a base plan and a premium plan. The premium plan was really only meant for app users who wanted to upgrade inside that same group at all cost. When we tried to upsell existing subscribers to it, it was very difficult, because we couldn't utilize any of Apple’s offering mechanics, an introductory phase, a free trial, or anything like that.

Then we looked at our web setup, which had always worked with a base plan plus a separate add-on for Pro. We thought: why not try this in the app as well? Since we made that change at the end of 2024, we've been gaining four times as many Pro subscribers. Our Pro subscriptions are now an incredible growth lever.

Can you walk us through the problem that split was solving?

L.M.: Take a subscriber on our base plan, NZZ Digital, whom we want to upsell to Pro. Even if the paywall said "you get seven days for free", the moment they tapped the upsell button, they still saw the full price. They had paid 32 francs before, and they would still see that same number.

With a separate add-on subscription, they literally pay nothing for the first seven days, and the Apple purchase dialog itself says "free for seven days". From a psychological point of view, that makes a huge difference.

Did it change anything for churn too?

L.M.: Yes. Under the old setup, a Pro subscriber who canceled was out completely. Now, if you only cancel your Pro add-on, you keep your NZZ Digital base plan. We only lose you as a customer if you cancel both.

And before I forget, one of the most important reasons was this: we saw a lot of NZZ Digital subscribers in our app who had bought their subscription on the web.

Why was that a problem?

L.M.: If they wanted to upgrade in the app, they had to buy the full Pro plan, which already includes the base plan. So they were paying twice for part of the same subscription: once on the web, once in the app. We didn't have a good solution for that.

By separating Pro from the base plan in the app, we solved it. Today, many of our users have one subscription on the web and one in the app, and together they make up the full Pro plan.

Was the new structure enough on its own, or did the paywalls change as well?

L.M.: The technical setup probably made the biggest difference. But we also use different offers depending on what we know about a user’s subscription history and what they're trying to access. What offers have they subscribed with before? Do they want to share an article? Play a game? Read the e-paper, and which one? Or simply open a Pro article? The paywall then highlights the benefits that match that specific underlying user need and we test continuously on every one of those placements.

Finding the Threshold

It all sounds very smooth. Was there an assumption about Pro subscribers or upsells that turned out to be wrong?

L.M.: One assumption we got wrong actually played in our favor. In the beginning, there was some doubt whether it was wise to place too many Pro articles at the top of the page. We thought our base subscribers would be more upset, and that perhaps many of them would cancel their subscription rather than upsell.

We were proven wrong. Of course there are complaints here and there, no doubt about that and there are customers that leave because of this. But the sales we make clearly outweigh those. The growth of our Pro subscribers has been much better than we expected.

How do you decide where the line is?

L.M.: We're constantly testing where the threshold lies. Do NZZ Digital subscribers churn? How many complaints do we get? How do people respond to the upsell? What's the conversion vs. churn rate? Then we take it from there.

Have you tested that threshold on pricing as well?

L.M.: Yes, and this can be a bold move. We raised prices for NZZ Digital in both markets, Germany and Switzerland, for new subscribers as well as existing ones. The latter can be quite risky on the app subscriptions, even when you stay within the limits Apple and Google allow without users having to specifically opt-in to it.

We saw higher churn in Germany than in Switzerland but the revenue uplift by far outweighed the additional churn.

Growing in Germany with a Swiss Point of View

Do your Swiss and German audiences behave differently in other ways?

L.M.: Yes. In Germany, we see very high install rates whenever we run specific campaigns. NZZ still is a less known media brand there, growing very fast. In Switzerland, the brand is well established, so campaigns have a smaller impact.

What does a specific campaign look like?

L.M.: Take an election, like the recent state election in Saxony-Anhalt. We'll run a paid social media campaign to bring users to the website, alongside app campaigns. These work really well, because the topic is of very high interest at that moment and the product holds up its promise to cover all important aspects of it.

Is there an App Store Optimization (ASO) experiment that surprised you, for better or worse?

L.M.: Something that clearly helps our Conversion rate is keeping our App Store screenshots not just very much up to date but to localize them for our key markets. We didn't pay enough attention to that in the past. Now we aim to change them at least once a month to show that we're always relevant in both countries.

We're also making our messaging bolder to cater more to user needs: less about features, more about having all the information you need on topics you care about.

And an experiment that completely failed?

L.M.: In the beginning, we followed Apple’s Advice too closely, and increased bids on certain keywords too quickly. We also switched our setup between broad and exact match campaigns too often, without giving each version enough time to take off. We lost time and ended up with inconclusive data on two of our tests, which was annoying.

Today, I'd spend more time defining the right setup and getting more than one opinion, meaning more than your Apple Search Ads rep's. We're now working with external experts too, because it's such an important channel for us.

What is that German claim about?

L.M.: It's a very unique position NZZ can hold in the German market: a Swiss view on German politics. No one else has that view, and it proves to resonate.

How do you explain that appeal?

L.M.: Partly, I think a lot of Germans are curious about the outsider’s view of German politics. NZZ gives the reader a different perspective on current political and economic affairs.

What does that change on the product side?

L.M.: NZZ has its own editorial team in Berlin. During our app’s onboarding, users must choose between the Swiss and the German edition of the app, and the content they see is completely different. We've also just opened the app to English, French and Italian speakers to explore more markets.

Inside the Team

Who owns the revenue engine at NZZ? Is it centralized under you, or split across product, marketing and engineering?

L.M.: We have a head of revenue who oversees everything, with a specific focus on the Swiss market, as well as a general manager for the German market. They work very closely together, and each leads the revenue team for their specific market.

Our e-commerce team is part of both teams and sits in between. We're keeping a sharp focus on our app's revenue growth, work directly with Purchasely and are also responsible for our other marketing technology tools and partners.

Do your goals come from the revenue leads, or do you decide what to build for the app? And how is your team made up?

L.M.: We have revenue goals, of course, but they're company-wide, not app-specific. But the app is becoming a more and more relevant as well as consistent revenue driver in the platform mix.

Within the e-commerce team, we have experts for each platform, Purchasely, Piano and so on, plus a lead designer and a developer who helps us set everything up. Our lead designer works directly in Purchasely. She knows the tool so well now that we sometimes go from idea to live in under an hour.

Besides your designer, who else works in Purchasely?

L.M.: Three or four people on the team can create screens, set up placements, and decide which Piano rules Purchasely listens to. Piano and Purchasely work together for us: the initial triggers come from Piano, and the execution happens in Purchasely, with its own logic on top.

What does Piano do in that setup?

L.M.: Piano is our subscription management system and rule set composer. It holds the logic behind the experiences we run: who falls into which rule set, depending on the contractual status, where they come from and what they are trying to access. For example, an anonymous user arriving from social media will see something different on the web from a registered user coming directly to the site, in terms of paywalls, offers, and how many articles they can access. All that logic comes from Piano.

Which tools changed your speed the most?

L.M.: Piano lets us target very precisely: by country, URL, article tags, authors, how long someone has been a subscriber, which site they come from. It's a powerful tool on the web. Purchasely covers everything inside our mobile apps. Together, that’s where the magic happens for us in-app.

What advice would you give other product leads in media?

L.M.: One thing I strongly believe in: listen to everybody's ideas and get everyone to the table. When you're creating a new user experience, get the developers involved early. Some of the best ideas come from them, because they know how to build it, and you get to the finished product much faster. And listen to the person who isn't the loudest in the room. They often have fantastic ideas.

I also very much like NZZ's cross company tribe setup, it gives very clear visibility on all larger projects that have been prioritized for the next quarter. When a developer receives a ticket clearly linked to a high-priority initiative, they don't have to double-check whether it matters. They see it's priority one, two or three, and they get on it immediately.

Do you have an example of a great idea that came from a developer?

L.M.: Breaking down our paywalls for several sub-features came from a developer who knew Piano's structure really well. He said: if we create specific tags for these sub-features, we can target them and give each one its own upsell path. Maybe we would have thought of it eventually, but it came so quickly, and was developed so quickly, that we could use it right away.

What Comes Next

Where do you think subscription media apps are heading in the next three to five years?

L.M.: I believe you have to know your strengths and advertise them. If you become too generalist and claim you can do everything well, that probably won't hold up. You need to focus on the topics you're really good at and push them more, either by becoming a little more niche or by improving what you already do best.

Finally, the direction we started with multiple tiers will become the standard. Existing subscribers are much easier to upsell than new subscribers are to win, especially as acquiring them gets more and more expensive.

With print declining, every media company faces the same challenge. Print isn't gone yet, it's still strong, but fewer and fewer people read newspapers. And digital subscriptions are still cheaper than buying the paper every day. So we all have to close that revenue gap, and more and more publishers will go down that road.

What other trends do you see?

L.M.: I 100% believe in personalized feeds, but not in feeds that are 100% personalized. There's still value in the editorial team deciding on the two or three most important stories of the day, so that readers can still talk about the same topics. We're already losing some of that. You'll watch a different show on Netflix in the evening than I do, because people don't really watch linear TV together anymore. Live sports and the football World Cup are about the only moments where everyone still consumes the same thing. So I think there's value in an editorial team deciding what matters today.

How will publishers close the revenue gap left by print?

L.M.: I believe most publishers will try to get existing subscribers to pay more by offering them a better experience, with features that are truly relevant to them, raising prices and upselling users to premium tiers.

Take games: what else can I do on this platform? What can I use it for? We're now creating friend lists for our games. When you have a few minutes to kill during the day, you can check where you rank on our Swiss version of the Wordle, and see how many tries it took your friend today. Four? Let me try to do it in three!

You have to create an experience so fulfilling that people don't really think about the price anymore.

Do you have an example of what that looks like?

L.M.: A good friend of mine once told me a story I like to share, because it's true. There are a lot of restaurants here in Berlin where you can get some great food for a reasonable price. One night, he went to a very exclusive one instead. The service was so unique and every dish looked and tasted so incredible that to this day he still talks about it. He probably paid three to five times more than what he would have at a regular restaurant, but it didn't matter, because it was a delightful experience.

Price is rarely the problem. Disappointment is. A product only feels expensive when it falls short of expectations. Our job is to bridge that value gap, deliver on our promise, and then go above and beyond to delight.

Key Insights

1. Revenue first, engagement as a lever: NZZ built its app as a subscription business in its own right. Today, it holds a large share of subscribers as well as revenue in NZZ’s portfolio with the majority of subscribers on annual plans.
2. The web recruits, the app upgrades: Low-priced web offers bring in a broad audience, an early nudge invites new subscribers to download the app, and the Pro upsell happens in the app. One-click native purchases convert so well that they outweigh the 15% app store fee.
3. Subscription structure is a growth lever: Splitting Pro into a separate add-on let the purchase dialog show "free for seven days" instead of the full price, stopped web subscribers from paying twice, and turned Pro cancellations into partial churn. Result: four times as many Pro subscribers since late 2024.
4. Find the threshold by testing it: Placing Pro content at the top of the page sold far more than it upset base subscribers, while a weekly Pro offer was scaled back after around 20 complaints. The same price increase also weighed very differently in Germany and Switzerland.
5. A unique angle beats a generalist promise: In Germany, NZZ grows on a perspective no competitor can offer, a Swiss view on German politics, amplified by campaigns around elections. Publishers who know their strengths and push them will hold up better than those trying to do everything.
6. Products only feel expensive when they fall short: As print declines, upselling existing subscribers through tiers, games and premium experiences is becoming the standard. The goal is to close the gap between what readers expect and what they actually get.

Case in Point: −13% on renewal, the Black Friday cost most apps only see a year later

The same price change can land very differently depending on who receives it: Lukas's team saw it when they raised prices in Germany and Switzerland. Black Friday puts that lesson to the test every November. Anyone who took a discounted annual plan last year renews at full price right as your new campaign goes live, and may well see your new offer just before they get charged.

Our Black Friday & Beyond Playbook gathers what we've learned across subscription apps using Purchasely, including Headspace, Le Monde, The Times, TomTom and L'Équipe.

Inside, you'll find how to protect last year's cohort before it renews, why rewriting your value proposition is worth +21% on renewal, and why removing the free trial during your offer is worth a median +90% on paid conversion.

Everything comes with a ready-to-use checklist, in the order you'll need it.

Get the Playbook

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