Session: Winning With Whales: How To Get, Retain & Monetize Them.

So now we're going to be jumping onto the monetizer track sponsored by our very good friends at Xsolla. And to open up this this track we're going to have Artem and Josephine from Xsolla who are going to be talking about winning with whales, how to get, retain, and monetize them. So may I welcome Artem and Josephine to the stage, please. Um hello everyone. Um so welcome to our speech and let's begin with introducing ourselves. Um my name is Artem. I'm vice president of products and solutions at Xsolla. Yeah, I'm Josephine Friday. Um I'm the

global enterprise ability work with all the mobile publishers. Yeah. Um so thank you so much for staying at lunch time. I know it's another web shop session, but this one's very special because actually web shop is a concept it's created and started by Xsolla a couple of years ago and I'm so um excited here today cuz I'm the sales and BD and here with the guy who created web shop, who created the whole monetization solutions. This is the guy who is behind this and behind all the revenue stream. Okay, first I'll give a big round of applause for to Artem and his team. Yeah, to start the whole thing in the mobile industry. Thank you so much. Okay. So I'm here today. Actually I have a list of questions from the you know enterprise and mid-tier all those publishers from China, US, Europe. So we know we all know web shop, you know, we all know how love, you know, excited about the whales. So the question for you Artem, you are experts. So, how do you determine though from all

those web shop, how do you determine a web shop can attract whales, all the VIP spenders? Um yeah, so um to the date uh we launched more than 500 web shops and uh we brought more than 1.5 uh billion dollars to the industry. And actually significant portion of this revenue comes from from the whales, more than 50% So, these guys, they actually spend $847 on average. And again, this is the average data that we have across all genres, across all games that we work with. So, with core genres like 4X strategies and RPGs, this number is significantly higher. Now, we know for sure that whales on average do 17 repeated purchasing within 1 month. And uh we have this beautiful number, so this is like 560k uh was the the biggest transaction that we've seen so far. So, the bottom line,

you have to bring your whales to the web shop. And actually web shop was created in uh with whales in mind. Um and later on I'll explain why. Okay. So, is there any uh proven ways or effective ways, you know, to get whales to the web shop? Hey, leave your you know leave your mobile games, come to the website. Well, yeah, for sure. Um so, bringing in is quite important. So, whales um they values their time and ability to go as fast as they can uh consuming the content. So, the best way to attract them is actually exclusivity and added value. And by exclusivity, I mean um something that is extremely hard to get in the game. It will take a lot of time, it will take a lot of effort. Um so, this is something exclusive. So, uh, with web shops, you want to give an option for these whales to purchase all these unique things on the web.

And with web shop, you should remember that value is the king. So, as soon as your whale enter the web shop, you should immediately, in the first nanosecond, recognize that the web shop is the place where the value resides. Well, so, um, you have to provide them with extremely valuable incentives to move them, uh, to the web shop. Great. So, now you build a content. You have everything on your web shop. So, how do we talk to, you know, to communicate with the whales, right? Because they're not on the web. They're the in-game in our Discord somewhere else. Is there any like a marketing communication channels you recommended? Well, um, when it comes to communication with whales, every single developer out there is actually trying to treat them as a premium, which is absolutely right. And, um, I suggest like approaching this in the exactly the same way with web shops.

So, I suggest prioritizing direct channels over regular ones. So, that will definitely foster whales exclusivity, and this is something that they want. So, maintain high-quality communication channel, for example, like dedicated community managers, uh, closed Discord channels, direct marketing means means like, say, um, social media messengers, Discord closed chat, and all of this. So, make sure you use all channels that you have to talk with your whales. Okay. So, communication, continue communication. Great. So, okay. So, let's say I'm a whale, you know, I received the message, I visited, you know, the web shop, and make the first purchase, right? And how What do you recommend What do we do the next to, you know, to like engage them come back and uh, uh repeat purchase. Well, retention for whales work pretty much the same as work for every other uh paying uh segment. So, but uh of course, there are some peculiarities like uh web shop uh web

shop uh whales, of course, you have to incentivize them more, so they uh need more incentive to actually uh get in back. So, you have to provide whales with a meaning to return. Um so, high-priced packages with something that is extremely hard to obtain in the game uh works pretty well. So, and I want to share several mechanics with you guys. Um We will be just scratching the surface, but this is something that we uh know for sure works. Um and um I think I will begin with whales tailored offers. So, this kind of an offer should include something of extreme value. Say, for example, as soon as your season ends, you can put some items from this season there uh and now they can purchase it. Uh the the selection of this offer should be always rotating. As soon as special offers was purchased, you need to throw another one and then another one. But, do not forget to add perceived scarcity. Time-limited offers,

quantity-limited offers, that matters. Um you have to continuously reinforce whales' interest in this so that they will retain it and return to the store. So, utilize direct communication channels that we mentioned earlier to remind them uh that they have to return uh to the store. Uh the second mechanic is a VIP progression system. Uh so, basically, players can earn statuses like, say, bronze, silver, whatever. Um and uh with these statuses, they will uh earn more loyalty points with your loyalty program that you obviously have to have. Um and uh please pay attention that I say it's additional value, not discounts. We have seen this many times, and data suggests that all whales prefer added value over, um, discounts. You also have to utilize status decay mechanic, meaning that if they stop purchasing things,

their status should start degradating, and they should be aware of that. Um, you also can use time-limited boosts, like you use marketing to say, "Hey, in the next 24 hours, you will progress faster to get, like, the next status. Or, if you will purchase this really expensive, but extremely valuable bundle, you will immediately get, uh, upgraded to the next status." And, uh, the last thing I want to mention this is reward chains. So, the, um, the reward chains is a pretty cool mechanic where, um, with every single purchase, with every single bundle that, uh, your customers buy, uh, they can get loyalty points. And the more loyalty points they have, they can actually progress throughout. It's like, uh, progress through this, uh, reward chain, and get more valuable and more

and more and more valuable rewards. Um, so, they can actually purchase whatever they want. So, it doesn't matter what kind of purchase they did on the store, they will earn these loyalty points, and move, uh, through like this, uh, reward chain. At the end of this reward chain, and this is extremely important for whales, you should have a ultra valuable something. And you should be very explicit about this. So, you should show that there is something very, very, uh, valuable at the end. And, of course, please limit this in time. So, for example, you should refresh this every single month because you want to put additional pressure on whales so that they can start purchasing more so that you can increase your average check and lifetime value. So, this is it for retention. Okay. So, that's three. Those are three inner mechanism you recommend. So, let's say because we have a different game genres, right? Different user demographic. If, you know, let's say if you have to pick one, which one works, you know, the most

effective, you know, for web shops? What do you recommend? Yeah, um So, to kind of complete the circle with reward chains, I would talk a little bit about loyalty store. And this actually one of my favorites. So, think of um loyalty store. It's a perfect combination of added value exclusivity. So, basically it's a dedicated section of a store where you sell extremely valuable items that is so hard to get in the game in any other way. Um So, um yeah, it should be definitely a dedicated section. Uh so, um what's going on with this later? So, again, remember about the reward chain. When the guys will be trying to purchase something in this loyalty store, they have to get more loyalty points, more and more and more of them. And simultaneously, they will progress through the reward chain. Uh and that's actually very important because everything they will get from the reward chain will perceive as gifts.

And this is a direct hit into uh buyer's remorse, which is extremely important when you work with whales. They should always feel good after they spend significant portion of money. So, the combination of reward chain and loyalty store work extremely well. Um So, yeah, it's synergized with the reward chain extremely well. Um okay. So, the next thing uh you probably want to use is um pricing. So, think about pricing. With web shops, you are not limited to say 99 buck. You can sell things that cost $500, $1,000, and uh we have a lot of customers that actually earn significant portion of all their revenue from this kind of uh bundles. So, uh with web shop, you want to you always want to create personalized experience, meaning um that you don't want to show like the same prices for different segments, different segments

for dolphins, different prices for whales. Um so, we have a partners, for example, like we have a 4X strategy triple A mobile game that all of you know for sure. Like 70% of all web shop revenue coming from uh this valuable uh pricey packages that cost more than $1,000. Uh so, they earn hundreds of millions of dollars from their web shop. So, this is a pretty big um guys to mention. And don't uh forget that a lot of whales are actually acting as a guild sponsors. So, try to provide them with ability uh to do bulk purchases. So, that they can share what they bought with their friends, teammates, uh team guilds, or whatever. So, the next thing I want to mention, and this is actually very important. And it's all about variable reinforcement. So, if you ever played say Diablo, and if you ever destroyed a barrel and get a legendary item out of it, you will be

hitting those barrels till the end of your life because you will expecting to get something valuable. So, variable reinforcement is all about I don't know when, but I will know that I will get something. And you can and should utilize this on the web shop as well. For example, as soon as a player made a significantly um expensive purchase, randomly gift him with something very valuable and tell him, "Hey, thank you for like for this. It's like starting now, you will be randomly receiving these cool rewards. So, please stay with us." So, they will keep this in mind. And you also can utilize a wheel of fortune, but with a trick. Um So, with the after every single purchase, you can basically give a wheel of fortune mechanic. And uh not only valuable prices should be there, but say a coupon for the next purchase. And if they will apply on it, uh they will get more value out of it.

And again, value is exactly what whales whales are looking for. And of course, gotcha. Do not forget about gotcha. Works extremely good every single time. Uh it's not a bad mechanic, even though a lot of folks still kind of think it's not a good thing. But you can implement it in every single way. But what's important, for whales, you want to have very expensive kind of gotchas that have higher drop rates. And you should be very explicit about that. You want to get something? No problem. Pay for that. Um yeah. Okay. I actually I know we're running out of time. I do have a one last question. So, cuz we talk you know, we already mentioned how to build a content you know, attract the whales, how to you know, to build this you know, behaviors, you know, engage with user communication, everything. So, one thing actually, from what I see with all those you know, well-run web shops or like high revenue high LTV web shops is a web shop optimization. So, like if before we go,

is there any advice you can give that team? Because I know this is like a more like a long-term strategy. Yeah. Is there any advice you can give to our audience today? Well, um I think I'm telling this every single time I'm speaking somewhere, but you should treat web shop as an an of your game. Um so, make sure that your live ops teams, they actually treat your web shop as they treat the game itself. Cuz with whales, your goal is to position the web shop as the place where they can always find something valuable. And it's something far more valuable that in the game. And you want to make them believe that the web shop is their ultimate advantage. You want to form a habit. And if you will succeed with this, you probably won this game. Thanks, guys. Thank you. That's all for today's content. Thank you so much. Yeah. And

also, Xsolla, we also have a booth at the big team at the GDC, and welcome to the West Hall. Thank you. Enjoy the show.