e-Commerce: Complete. Configured. Connected.
Posts tagged ecommerce
Not Surprising… Survey Finds Poor Online Experience Costs Businesses Billions in Lost Revenue
Jun 7th
A recent report from Econsultancy and Tealeaf found that companies are losing billions of dollars in revenue as a result of consumers’ poor online experiences. The assessment, “Reducing Customer Struggle,” surveyed more than 500 businesses across the globe, finding that the majority of companies are losing 24 percent of their annual online revenue because their customers’ report a bad, cumbersome shopping incident.
Come on… this is no surprise to us here at Plimus. We understand the importance of creating a frictionless customer experience in which the selling point becomes part of the focus of the online shopping event. Make the customer feel safe, secure and valued. Ease his or her hesitation and anxiety. Do those things as a seller and you’ll see an increase in revenue. With these simple adjustments, you’ll see significantly less shopping carts left abandoned on your website.
As you may recall, in April we surveyed more than 100 random, consumers via Facebook and Twitter. Results of this social survey mirror the Econsultancy report. The survey, “No Shopping Cart Left Behind: The Buying Habits of Virtual Goods Consumers” found:
More than half of consumers purchase more online digital goods than they did last year
Two thirds of survey participants indicate that ease of transaction is the most important factor when making online purchases
More than 20 percent of respondents reported that sites with complex order forms keep them from completing a transaction
One in five respondents would shop online more frequently if the checkout process was faster
Improving the payment process means increasing monetization. Digital commerce continues to grow daily and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. With this continual growth, vendors can’t afford to lose sales. Optimize the shopping experience!
Plimus can help sellers create a better online experience for buyers. With Plimus’ payment processing platform, vendors can provide single-click purchasing, customizable order pages and a seamless checkout process for their consumers. Plimus gives online merchants the tools needed to eliminate the stress and hassle of the buying experience, making each transaction a positive experience for the consumer.
Additional information on Econsultancy survey can be found here.
Plimus Chats it up with Brian Walker, Forrester Research
Feb 2nd
Last Friday, I caught up with Forrester’s e-Commerce guru, Brian Walker, about some of the progress Plimus has recently made and what we have in store for 2011. We last spoke with Brian during the launch of the Buy Anyware API…so obviously we had a lot to talk about! Our call with Brian covered a number of topics including; customer success stories, trends that we are seeing in the market as well as the directions we see e-Commerce heading.
During our call, we discussed a few specific Plimus customers that have seen great success through the adoption of single-click purchasing, enabled by the Buy Anyware API. Customers from a variety of industries including; One Hour Translation and Matrix Games have all realized benefits due to this new hybrid payment model, which allows returning users to make purchases without launching another browser window.
Additionally, we touched on the growing trend towards dynamic subscription payment methods. Our discussion around how traditional online subscriptions have evolved in response to changing customer demands was extremely interesting. We also talked about how this payment method is even taking off in the cloud with vendors such as Plimus customer, CloudShare, offering a self-service “point-and-click” cloud platform that enables businesses to create, collaborate on and run full enterprise applications instantly and on-demand.
Brian was especially interested in learning more about how the advent of the app store has changed the Plimus business. The wave of apps and the consumer demand for them has created a huge rush in businesses (across all verticals, telcos, software, entertainment, social gaming – to name a few) to develop the software and build their presence in the app space. This new “in-app commerce” is continuing to grow and Plimus considers it among the company’s priorities.
Lastly, we talked a little bit about a term we have recently coined “Connected e-Commerce.” We will delve more into this later, but in short Connected e-Commerce refers to the connection between vendors, consumers and affiliates in today’s buying process.
What do you think? Is there anything you’d like us to ask Brian during our next check-in?
Charlie Born,
Head and VP of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/raster/188700129/
Plimus Affiliate Marketplace
Jan 19th
As a follow up to last week’s Affiliate Summit show in Las Vegas, I wanted to just summarize a few highlights of our successful Affiliate program. As you all read in my last post, Plimus met with hundreds of vendors and affiliates at our booth and hospitality suite and had some of our affiliate experts on hand to answer all questions including Mark Hassin, who is our VP of Strategic Accounts. Overall, we had a great time at the show and met some awesome new sellers and affiliates seeking a platform for maximized conversions and optimized ROI. While we work with many of you already, we look forward to being the perfect platform for the rest of you very soon.
In case you missed us, here’s a bit more about our program. The new Plimus Marketplace is the go-to place to find exclusive deals to the many innovative products available for promotion. This easy-to-use marketplace allows affiliates to find items to sell and to begin partnering with sellers all in one spot. The Plimus Marketplace hosts catalogues of products that affiliates and sellers can browse the more than 100,000 products by specific requirements, such as, average earning per sale, average commission, percentage of active affiliates, etc. We make it easy to find the product that works just for you.
As a member of the Plimus Marketplace, you’ll receive offers completely exclusive to Plimus; a plethora of top converting products to promote; as well as access to the more than 5,000 active sellers on the Plimus Marketplace to date. It’s time for you to join our community!
Additionally, I’ve outlined a few of the top headlines coming out of the show. With such an engaging, active affiliate community in attendance, it’s hard to just pick a few but here are some.
- This year’s show had the biggest attendance rate ever with over 4,600 attendees. As FeedFront reports, the steady climb over the years, especially during this economic hardship, is proof of the strength of the affiliate marketing industry. In fact – I think the trend goes beyond just affiliate marketing – but the maturity of online marketing as a science.
- It’s clear that while the social web and the broadcast effect of sites like Facebook create the buzz and global awareness, it is known and trusted connections that make sales. The actual selling process demands more e-commerce-like, demographically-tuned, personalized approaches. As the audiences segment into smaller and smaller communities, it is clear the strength of online marketing as demonstrated by affiliates will become a stronger force in the industry.
- Although it’s been around since 2005, this year’s hot buzz new trend seems to be “multi-channel e-commerce.” Even leading analyst firm, Forrester Research is predicting that this will be the largest growth area of 2011. What do you think?
Are there any others that I’m missing? If so, please share. As I mentioned above, Plimus is excited to start working with many new sellers and affiliates in the New Year. Visit our website to learn more about the Plimus Marketplace.
Charles Born,
VP and Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carworld/3780566252/
Recalling 2010 and Looking Ahead at 2011
Dec 15th
As the holiday season rolls around, we’re starting to see feedback from the media and industry analysts discussing what was hot in 2010. Additionally, there is a lot of noise around 2011 forecasting projections and discussions about new companies, technologies and people that will be the next big thing.
2010 was, another successful year for Plimus. We saw tremendous customer uptake, launched our Buy Anyware API in June, partnered with PayPal on their new digital goods platform and participated in some leading tradeshows across the globe. In all of our industry conversations, we have continued to see some common technology trends and developments.
Here are some of the things we think were hot in 2010:
- Social gaming: Let’s all play together. Everything about social gaming was hot, hot, hot this year. According to the 2010 Digital Goods Report, roughly 64 percent of users make at least one social gaming purchase a month and nine percent buy virtual goods daily on social games.
- Location-based applications: I’m checked in at Plimus, Inc., where are you? According to Pew Research, four percent of online Americans use location-based services. While it doesn’t sound like much, consider that leading app provider, Foursquare, grew to five million users this month, only a year since its inception.
- Apps, apps and more apps: Are you on app overload? If you are, there’s an app for that. Need I say more?! Apple’s app store has over 300,000 apps available and continues to grow daily with Android closing in from behind.
- Tablets: Welcome to the world of the iPad. Apple’s new iPad was launched in April of this year and sold three million devices in just 90 days – making it the fastest growing consumer device to date.
The above contenders are only just getting started and will continue to infiltrate our lives in 2011. However, we have some new front-runners that will be blasting onto the scene shortly.
Here are some of the things we think will be hot in 2011:
- Affiliate marketing: The way in which consumers, sellers and affiliates work together will change in the New Year. We’ll chat more about this very soon and you’ll see just how cool it will be.
- Social networking in the workplace: The Millennial generation that has entered the workplace within the last five years is the perfect example of social networking users. In order to mesh older generations with the younger, connected workforce, we’ll have to bridge this division with a common ground, such as social networking.
- Subscription-based billing models: Virtual and digital goods providers will begin to adjust their business models to accommodate a subscription-based billing model. Companies will begin to offer a no to low-cost on boarding fee to engage customers and then any add-ons or premium services are a pay-as-you play model. We covered this a bit in our Nov. 8 post, but stay tuned for future blog posts on this topic.
- Cloud services for SMBs: In the wake of the economic recession, more than 25 percent of SMBs have already turned to cloud computing in order to save time and money. In 2011, SMBs will continue to cash in on the benefits and rewards enabled by the cloud and will also expand the types of cloud-based services they are currently using.
Now, this list is by no means all inclusive. So, what do you think was hot in 2010 or will be in 2011?
Charles Born,
VP and Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heemaz/5222325470/
Cyber Monday Hits an All-Time High
Dec 8th
2010 marked an all-time high for the e-Commerce industry. Cyber Monday, a day dedicated to online holiday shopping deals following Black Friday’s official kick-off to the holiday shopping season, surpassed one billion dollars of online spending in the United States. This year’s event is now the heaviest online shopping day in history. Pretty cool, if I may say so myself.
comScore released figures, following the day, which indicated a 16 percent increase in e-Commerce spending versus a year ago, $887 million in 2009 to $1.028 billion dollars this year. So what does all of this mean?
It means that consumers are increasingly pounding the virtual pavement and shopping online in addition to visiting shopping malls and department stores for their holiday shopping. It means that online retailers and e-Commerce and deals sites, such as Amazon.com, eBay, BestBuy.com, Facebook, Groupon, etc. are giving consumers a good enough reason to choose shopping for deals on the couch with their iPad in pajamas over venturing out into the holiday craze. And it means consumers don’t have to get up at 4 a.m. and wait in those insane lines on Black Friday – instead, they can sit comfortably at home (or in the office as the case seems to be) and click away for the big holiday sales. In fact, nearly half of consumers this year did their holiday shopping at work.
That is great news for Plimus and our Plimus sellers and affiliates. Plimus’ e-Commerce platforms handle nearly 20,000 digital goods transactions daily. With that said, digital sales for our customers and affiliates helped beat the billion dollar mark as consumers are planning to give and also receive digital goods this holiday season.
In my recent post, I discussed a holiday survey we conducted, “Are Consumers Dreaming of a Digital Holiday?” The survey solicited via social media platforms, asked consumers about their projected holiday spending and how big a role digital goods would play. I’ve included some of the highlights below and you’ll see that our responses match up nicely with the numbers collected from comScore.
Charles Born,
Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_justified_sinner/2498066986/
Game Developers Got Game – New Game Monetization Models, That Is
Nov 8th
For as long as I can remember, offline subscription billing models have been dynamic. Consumers pay one flat rate for the service they are subscribing to and are given only what the fee includes – nothing more – at least not without a hefty price. While it may have taken some time, the online world has finally caught up with the offline world. Online vendors, most successfully social game developers, are now offering dynamic billing models online.
Let me explain dynamic subscription billing in a bit more detail, using an offline subscription we know so well, our monthly cell phone plan. Each month you pay a flat rate of $50 a month for 400 weekday minutes. This means that 12 times per year, the carrier is guaranteed at least $50.00 from your wallet, $600 total in a calendar year. However, given the dynamic subscription billing, you never pay the base rate.
In order to get SMS text messaging and emails on your phone you’ll need to pay extra each month, which adds to the bill. And should you happen to talk more than 400 minutes in a month, you will be charged a premium fee for each additional minute. That’s how carriers have been able to capitalize on dynamic billing subscriptions and reap additional revenues from their subscribers.
Yet, times have changed. Offline subscription billing that we’re accustomed to has now moved online. How, you say? I thought you’d never ask.
Retailers of virtual goods are now offering dynamic subscriptions to users opening their business models up to unique revenue streams. Instead of a flat monthly rate, small, independent game developers are increasingly offering zero to low on-boarding costs to game players. The philosophy of this business model is that the lower startup cost will engage more users and help build a broader customer base. Additionally, once the player has been activated, payment for services within the game are issued as they are consumed. Gamers do not need to leave the current page they are playing to buy the magical sword that will defeat the dragon; instead, they can buy it instantly in the game. Yes, it might cost the gamer a premium to get the sword, but without it they can’t move forward and win the game thereby earning themselves bragging rights the next time they hang out with their friends or as they’re playing with their friends online, as the case may be. And who doesn’t like winning and bragging?!
Game developers are now catering to their customers by offering pay as you play pricing, instead of paying for unlimited online gameplay for $19.99 a month. This is a winning subscription offering that Plimus has seen executed successfully by several of its customers. The revenue growth is much higher for the vendors leaving gamers equally satisfied because of their instant access to additional purchases within the game.
While casual game developers are leading the pack on billing model innovation, I’m also seeing larger gaming powerhouses turning to a dynamic model. For example, the next release of the Lord of the Rings video game will be sold to gamers through this new model. This release will be the industry’s first massively multiplayer online (MMO) game that’s completely free for gamers. Any gamer can download the game for free and any additional activation, tools, weapons, etc. that he or she wants to buy can be purchased within the game for a premium. The cost of these premium purchases is up to the game developer and varies depending on the accessibility and value to the gamer.
This new model is here to stay. By the end of 2011, Plimus believes that dynamic billing subscriptions will outpace traditional billing models and there will no longer be monthly fees.
If you’re still looking to learn more, check out Plimus’ new whitepaper, “The New Monetization of e-Commerce 3.0” that we proudly announced today. Click here to read the entire whitepaper.
Charles Born,
VP and Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shareski/2703624033/
Plimus at Rise of Social Commerce 2010 “Entering the Gaming Market – New Techniques for Monetization in the Age of Social Networks”
Oct 12th
Last week’s Rise of Social Commerce inaugural conference appears to have been a huge success. Our very own Simon Jones was a featured speaker in the session “The Games Social People Play.”
During his session Simon spoke about ‘Turning on the TAP.’ He discussed the importance of understanding that success is represented by the three-legged stool of Technology, Audience and Process. To better articulate this tiered approach, Simon presented three case studies outlining key elements involved in driving online engagement, and revealed some of the key lessons we have learned along the way to help guide companies looking to enter the market.
Simon shared a Plimus case study as well as two customer case studies, Youdagames and Yummy Interactive.
Horst Streck, CEO, Youdagames:
Chris Hennebery, VP Software Distribution, Yummy Interactive
We truly appreciate the help from our customers and value their continued partnership with Plimus.
The basis for this presentation is built upon the ongoing growth of the social Internet. The social Web, and marketing games within, has become a vital business play for game developers looking to expand their reach, their fan base and revenue. With the ongoing explosion of social networking and online gaming, we at Plimus are quite confident this phenomenon won’t be going away anytime soon. However, the market is getting increasingly crowded, and the “build it and they will come” approach that blossomed in the last couple of years doesn’t work anymore. As a result, game developers must strive to create the perfect online environment in order to thrive.
At Plimus we are working to solve the needs of clients who are looking to optimize their investments in e-Commerce 3.0, the newly developing way in which online customers want to buy anytime, anyplace, anywhere, with as little hassle as possible. Call it a desire for ‘frictionless e-Commerce.’ Simultaneously, many game consumers have shifted their attention toward the social Web to supply them with their next distraction-of-choice. The combination of factors means that simply looking at one element of the mix won’t get the job done: you may have awesome technology, but if you don’t know your audience’s preferences, you’re toast, and vice versa.
Thanks to the Altimeter Group for the opportunity for allowing Plimus to participate in your event. It was a huge success and we’re already looking forward to next year’s show. I’ve included a few images of Simon’s speaking engagement below.
Charles Born,
Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/2326448445/
Want to Improve Your e-Commerce Site? APIs Can Help.
Sep 8th
In case you haven’t seen the increasing number of industry reports and news articles, e-Commerce is growing at an exponential rate making it vastly important for online merchants to find new ways to make their businesses relevant enough to cut through the market clutter. In a piece for Practical Ecommerce, Armando Roggio gives an overview of how Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) enable Web-based applications to interact –helping online merchants improve store features, add site content and engage customers and partners… pretty cool, huh?
In the article, Armando compares the API to a simple instruction manual – in that APIs explain how a Web developer can operate a particular application. In order to illustrate his point, Armando uses the example of an online merchant using an API to track customer information and transfer it externally for marketing purposes. Many API’s not only allow merchants to transfer this information to an external marketing site, for example, they also instruct merchants on what formats can be submitted (i.e. XML), how to connect to the application’s servers and provide all kinds of other information as well.
Additionally, Armando explains how APIs can improve online businesses through user interface enhancements, helpful feature add-ons and much more. For example, it’s an API that provides users with real-time shipping rates from FedEx and the United States Postal Service online. So, when an online merchant connects to an external application to add a useful feature and improve the user experience, it’s most likely an API that’s doing the heavy lifting, enabling website features many of us have come to expect in our day-to-day online activity.
We had a great conversation with Armando back in June regarding the launch of the Plimus Buy Anyware™ API. You can read the result here. The Buy Anyware™ API allows e-Commerce developers to integrate online sales solutions into website content or applications without requiring users to go to a virtual store or shopping cart. For example, if a social gamer wants to purchase one virtual good or another, he can do so without being diverted from the game screen. These anytime, anywhere transactions can turn browsers into buyers and lead to increased revenue. It’s a great example of how APIs can improve business online by providing a seamless experience for consumers while boosting monetization for vendors.
Customer Profile: Yummy Interactive Talks Frictionless Gaming
Aug 27th
For today’s blog, I’d like to highlight one of our partners, Yummy Interactive. This week, Christopher Hennebery, VP of software distribution at Yummy Interactive, spoke with Rebecca Lieb from Econsultancy about making digital rights management as painless as possible. During the discussion, Christopher described how Yummy is now able to offer its customers a “frictionless” e-Commerce experience – with the help of Plimus.
Plimus announced its relationship with Yummy Interactive back in the middle of June at E3 and since then we’ve been working with them to offer a seamless online buying experience for gamers. Yummy Interactive’s GameShield In-Game Activation, developed with Plimus, provides game developers a way to turn the trial-to-purchase process into a hassle-free, immersive experience. This e-Commerce platform provides a one-click purchase experience, which helps maintain immersive gameplay throughout the transaction. This, in turn, gives these developers a new tool to use to increase revenue and convert trials into sales.
Rebecca’s post includes a great conversation with Christopher and provides some interesting statistics on how Plimus and Yummy Interactive are helping game developers increase their revenue streams, “We’ve seen one of our clients base a 19% increase in conversions from trial to purchase.” Click here to read the entire blog on the Econsultancy website.
Charles Born,
Head of Marketing
Social Gaming: Who’s Spending What, Where?
Aug 4th
As the popularity of social gaming continues to grow, the marketplace for virtual products is now offering consumers more options than ever before. Today gamers can purchase nearly any type of virtual object – from elephants to guns – nothing seems to be off limits. According to a recent report conducted by market researcher VGMarket, roughly 75 percent of online gamers are using their cold, hard-earned cash to purchase virtual goods. But how and where are these consumers spending their money?
Dean Takahashi took a look at the habits of these online spenders and broke it down in an interesting article for VentureBeat. In his piece, Takahashi highlights that not only are gamers buying, they are buying often! According to the 2010 Digital Goods Report, roughly 64 percent of users make at least one purchase a month and 9 percent buy virtual goods daily. And there seems to be no buyer’s remorse here, with half of these online shoppers reporting that they plan on spending the same amount on digital goods over the next 12 months.
And there’s no shortage of sites offering virtual goods. Currently, social networks dominate the online marketplace with users reporting that they spend an average of $50 per year on digital goods through these platforms. Trailing shortly behind social networks, consumers in the multiplayer and causal gaming markets, shell out nearly $40 per year for digital goods ranging from weapons to puppets.
Surprisingly, while men play more online games and are the primary purchasers of virtual goods, women over the age of 24 report spending disproportionately large sums of money on certain products. Women surveyed in the study, reported spending an average of $55 dollars on social networks per year compared to males who only spent about $30 dollars per year. Similarly, women reported spending twice as much as their male counterparts when buying in-game currency.
It seems there is no end in sight. It will be interesting to see where this market will expand and what digital goods will emerge as a result. For now, we here at Plimus will continue to focus on making this buying experience as immersive, seamless, and enjoyable as possible for all.
Charles Born,
Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohman/219249582/
