App Conversion Rate: Store to Purchase

App conversion rate depends on which step you measure: store-listing clicks, onboarding completion, paywall purchase or installs that become buyers. A general formula is conversion rate = people or devices completing a step / people or devices who started that step × 100. The denominator depends on the step you are measuring. Keep store visitors and post-install cohorts separate because they are different populations.

Store listing conversion and Google Play CTR

Store-listing metrics measure activity before installation. Keep them separate from in-app rates measured after installation.

For Apple store metrics, use App Store Connect Analytics. See Apple's metrics definitions.

Google Play's current store-listing report uses click-through rate (CTR), replacing its legacy conversion-rate metric. Its formula is:

Google Play listing CTR = unique store-listing visitors who click Install, Open or Pre-register / store-listing visitors × 100

Play Console's Conversion analysis shows visitors, clicks and CTR for a selected period, with filters for dimensions such as country, language and traffic source. The default report includes new and returning users. See Google's store-listing report guide for the current metric definitions.

Onboarding completion rate

To measure how many installs finish onboarding, divide completed installs by installs in the same period:

Onboarding completion rate = installs that completed onboarding / installs in the period × 100

Count unique devices in the same install cohort for both stages. ActivationPal's onboarding funnel analytics follows first_open installs through onboarding steps and completion, then through paywall views and purchases. This measures the post-install funnel; store-listing visitors are not its denominator.

Paywall-to-purchase conversion

Paywall conversion asks how many installs that saw a paywall went on to purchase:

Paywall conversion = installs that purchased / installs that saw the paywall × 100

Use unique devices from the same install cohort for both counts. The denominator is the installs that reached the paywall, not all installs. ActivationPal records paywall shown, plan selected and purchase as funnel stages. Its placements view also counts paywall views outside the install cohort. For subscription revenue and purchase outcomes, see subscription analytics.

Install-to-purchase conversion

To measure buyers across the full post-install path, divide installs that purchased by installs in the period:

Install-to-purchase conversion = installs that purchased / installs in the period × 100

ActivationPal uses unique devices from the selected range's first_open install cohort for its funnel stages. The broader denominator includes installs that never saw a paywall. The event definitions describe how those install-cohort stages are counted.

Compare app conversion rates across cohorts

Keep the population, date window and observation period consistent when comparing rates. Give each install cohort the same time to reach onboarding completion or purchase; otherwise, newer installs may appear to convert less because they have had less time.

Count each device once in the starting population and once in the outcome population. For paywall conversion, limit both counts to the selected installs that saw the paywall. Keep the cohort definition stable across app versions and segments, and report store CTR beside post-install rates rather than combining them. A before-and-after change alone does not show that a release or listing edit caused a rate to move.

ActivationPal measures onboarding and purchase funnels from install cohorts. See ActivationPal for the product.