How to auto-upgrade customers to a higher tier

[katiekeithbarn2]

I'm creating an app called Barn2 Bundles & Bulk Discounts and want to set the pricing like this: 

- Free for Development Stores
- Starter – $12.99/month or $119/year - for stores generating up to $1,000/month in revenue through our app
- Growth – $24.99/month or $239/year - for stores generating up to $5,000/month in revenue through our app
- Pro – $49.99/month or $479/year - no revenue limits

I'd appreciate advice on the best automated way to move both monthly and annual customers between the tiers based on how much revenue is going through the app. It appears that most Shopify app pricing models don't let you move customers between tiers automatically. You can charge an extra fee, but each merchant can set a limit on these extra fees and they may not be enough to cover the difference. 

This seems to be a normal pricing model in the App Store, so how do others do it? Do customers have to approve the changes automatically and if so, do you limit functionality until they have approved the new tier? 

Thank you

[Cristina_92]

Hello @katiekeithbarn2 ,

No, it isn't possible to auto-upgrade, the merchants have to upgrade themselves. As far as I know, some apps notify merchants by sending two or three reminder emails, typically giving them about a week before any functionality is limited. Unfortunately, some merchants won’t take action until the app’s functionality is actually restricted, and at that point, they may leave a negative review.

[katiekeithbarn2]

Thanks Christina, that's really helpful. Maybe we will have to do it manually with reminders etc. as you said. 

[ruijiang]

From merchants' perspective, they probably won't like the idea that apps just silently "upgrade" them and charge more than they signed up for. We also send reminders and limit functionality after tier limit is reached. After all, if your app brings value to them they would be happy to upgrade.

[katiekeithbarn2]

Thanks, that's really helpful to know.

My experience is of WordPress and WooCommerce plugins and whenever you ask the user to do something manually (e.g. annual renewal), they become significantly less likely to continue with the product - so I was worried that the same would happen if we suddenly email them saying they need to pay more. Of course we'll word it in a positive way, like "Congratulations - you've earned over $1,000 this month from discounted products!"