Snapchat Launches Snapchat+ Service in India, at a Significantly Lower Price Point

This is one way to boost your ‘average revenue per user’ stats.

A month after launching its new Snapchat+ subscription offering to users in predominantly western markets, Snap is now also making the option available in India – though at a much lower price point than the initial push.

Snapchat+, which offers exclusive access to new and experimental features, including alternative icons, profile badges, additional analytics and also a desktop version of the app, is available to users in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and UAE for $US3.99 per month (or local equivalent).

But in India, Snapchat+ will be launched at a starting price of ₹49 – which converts to around $US0.62.

That seems like a fairly big discount, and according to reports, Snapchat+ in India will offer access to all the same features and tools that the general offering has.

So why so cheap?

Well, for one, it’s a different market, and Snap needs to price its offerings in line with the local economy. Snapchat+ also doesn’t cost Snap anything to produce, as such, as there are no production costs built in (other than system maintenance), so it has the flexibility offer variable price points, if it so chooses.

And as noted, it could crucially be a way for Snap to enhance its revenue per user stats, which, right now, reflect its strong reliance on the North American market for revenue.

If Snap can even that out, and show how it can become a more important, valuable platform in other markets, and make money from its presence, that could help to improve its market standing, while also bringing in additional revenue – which would also be income that’s not reliant on ad spend. And like all social apps, Snap’s ad revenue has taken a hit due to Apple’s ATT update.

It seems like a logical and sensible approach, helping to make the app more sticky with Indian users, and ideally, increasing adoption and revenue intake in another key region.

Snap has seen significant growth in India since it upgraded its Android app back in 2019. Android is by far the most popular OS in the Indian market, and as local connectivity and tech continues to evolve, that’s also opened the door for Snapchat to establish a bigger local presence, while the banning of TikTok in 2020 also pushed Indian users to find alternatives, further enhancing Snap’s appeal.

Indeed, Snapchat is now reportedly up to 144 million daily actives in the Indian market, overtaking the US (108m) as its top country by user adoption – so while it’s not the highest earning region for the company, it is now, arguably, the most important, which is why the expansion of Snapchat+ makes sense.

And while western users may be annoyed that they have to pay more for these features, it could be a clever push by Snap, which could end up paying off big time for the app.