AdAge reports that despite the $3.99 first aid app competing with other free and lower-cost medical apps, it climbed from number 97 on the list of top paid apps in the Apple App Store to break the top 50, ultimately peaking at position 49. This is an impressive feat for the non-entertainment app, which rose above perennially popular titles like Shazam and CNN Mobile.
While he wouldn't disclose actual revenue figures from the sales bump, Jive Media co-founder Doug Kent did say, "The sales increase has been pretty dramatic." He said the app made its way into the top 15 highest-grossing apps and into the number two most popular slot in the health and fitness category of the App Store, up from ranking between 60 and 70 before Woolley's story broke.
The trajectory of Pocket First Aid & CPR is a reminder of how important trust can be to a potential consumer, and how that trust can increase his/her willingness to break out the wallet even when free alternatives exist. Mobile analytics firm Flurry indicated the sales jump witnessed for Jive Media's app went well beyond the typical peak a developer would see after a targeted promotion -- also indicating that trust is difficult to simply manufacture.