t1k:marketing:iap:upsell-ladders

Field	Value
Module	`iap`
Version	`0.2.5`
Effort	`medium`
Tools	—

How to invoke

/t1k:marketing:iap:upsell-ladders

Upsell Ladders

This skill designs the post-first-purchase upsell journey — how to move a player from their initial $1.99 purchase through a Starter → Pro → VIP ladder to higher ARPPU tiers over time. The core principle is the 1:3:10 gap rule: each upsell target should offer 3× the value and cost approximately 3× the prior purchase, with a 10× jump reserved for the highest whale tier. Monetization PMs and live-ops designers use this skill when overall ARPPU is below genre benchmarks despite healthy PUR, indicating that payers are not being moved up the value ladder. It does NOT cover first-time-payer acquisition (see starter-pack-design) or whale-specific personalized offers (see whale-segmentation).

When to Use

ARPPU is flat despite growing paying user count — the median buyer is stuck at the entry tier
No structured post-purchase offer sequence exists; offers are ad hoc or always the same
Contextual upsell rate (cross-sell triggered by in-game action) is below 5%

Purpose

Upsell ladders systematically increase ARPPU by creating a clear, contextually triggered path from entry payer to high-value customer. The 1:3:10 gap rule defines the price ratio between ladder rungs; contextual triggers (resource depletion, failed level, event start) determine when to present each rung. Cross-sell recommendations (e.g., “Players who bought X also buy Y”) add a horizontal dimension alongside the vertical ladder. Industry data shows that titles with explicit upsell ladders and contextual triggers achieve 40–80% higher ARPPU than titles relying solely on the static shop.

Status

Stub — deepen iteratively via /t1k:sync-back as real usage surfaces priority. Priority sources for when deepening: Mobile Dev Memo upsell teardowns, GameAnalytics ARPPU segmentation studies.

References

See brainstorm: theonekit-core/plans/reports/sales-modules-brainstorm-260527-1625.md