How the North Face Increased its App Ratings from 3.68 to 4.23

Challenge

When optimizing an app’s product page, one must use a broad scope and consider not only the metadata but also user ratings and reviews.

Users care about more than the app’s title, subtitle, and screenshots. An app can have the most optimized, polished product page, but if the ratings are low, conversion will be a bust.

After placing a high focus on their keywords and creatives, The North Face was ready to tackle their ratings score. The North Face inquired with AppTweak on how to improve their app’s ratings, and to increase the number of ratings they were receiving.

The App Store benchmark for ratings in the Shopping category is 4.84, and The North Face had a rating of 3.64 when they began this process of improving their ratings in the App Store. On Google Play, The North Face had a rating of 3.86.

Solution

AppTweak recommended for The North Face to insert a review prompt within the app itself. A rating prompt is a pop-up within the app’s User Interface which asks the user for a rating to be left on the app store from which the app was downloaded.

This recommendation included suggestions on where to place the prompt. Ideally, a rating prompt is placed where an app user would be happiest. Placing a rating prompt in the wrong place can be detrimental to an app’s overall rating score.

The North Face placed a rating prompt within the iOS app on October 26th, 2022, which would be triggered after a successful checkout. Within the Android app, The North Face placed a rating prompt on January 19th, 2023, also after a successful checkout.

Results

App Store

Since the prompt was launched, it has gained The North Face 4,509 ratings on the App Store as of September 13, 2023, an increase of over 2,200% when compared to the equivalent previous period.

These new ratings brought The North Face’s overall App Store rating from 3.68 to 4.23, an increase of 14.96%.

During the first 3 months when this prompt was running, The North Face’s App Store conversion rate on Page Views to Downloads increased by almost 60%! (59.06%)

Google Play Store

Since the prompt was launched, it has gained The North Face 91 ratings on Google Play as of September 13, 2023, an increase of 75% when compared to the equivalent previous period.

These new ratings brought The North Face’s overall Play Store rating from 3.71 to 4.54, an increase of 22.25%.