'Net Features : subscriptions

Subscriptions and Local Currency Coming to Facebook

Allison Howen — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:45:00 GMT

Facebook has been busy in the payments department recently.

The world’s largest social network has axed Facebook Credits and announced two major updates to their payments product – subscriptions and local currency pricing.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions offer developers a new way to monetize online content. While many developers sell apps as a one-time purchase, subscriptions enable them to establish a recurring revenue stream by charging a monthly fee in exchange for updated content or premium experiences.

The subscription feature doesn't launch until July, but it is already being tested and interested developers can sign up for the feature here.

Local Currency

Facebook also announced the death and replacement of Facebook Credits. Credits was launched in 2009, and according to Facebook, there is not much need for it anymore because most games on the social network implement their own virtual currencies.

As a result the new payment method to support pricing is local currency – such as the U.S. dollar, British pound and Japanese yen. This should simplify the purchase experience because it offers more flexibility and provides Facebook users with a more familiar way to purchase apps and games.

Additionally, while subscriptions are already using local currency pricing, all apps and games that sell virtual items are required to use local currency by the end of the year. According to the company's blog, the transition from Credits to local currency will be seamless for Facebook users, with all remaining Credit balances eventually be converted into local currencies.

Modal Acquisition Comes to Listrak

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:39:00 GMT

Email marketing provider Listrak announced the release of a solution aimed at helping online retailers acquire new email subscribers from their website visitors.

When customers visit the website, a popup window (hence the term modal acquisition, as in modal window) invites them to subscribe to an email list as the background fades. The modal subscription box is not displayed to subscribers who previously signed up via the popup, and clients can control the delay before the popup reappears to visitors who did not opt-in.

The new subscribers may be directed to a more detailed preference center or merchants can opt to display a simple “Thank You” popup. An email “welcome series” is then automatically triggered for deployment upon subscription to engage new subscribers when they’re most attentive.

“On average, companies lose 30 percent of their email subscribers per year,” says Ross Kramer, Listrak CEO. “Retailers that target and deploy behaviorally triggered campaigns could have slightly lower churn rates, but as subscribers’ needs change, they stop opening and responding to irrelevant messages so marketers must constantly work to replenish and grow their lists to increase reach and revenue,” adds Kramer.

Elastic Path 6.3 Delivers Subscriptions & Testing Features

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:40:00 GMT

Elastic Path Software released a new version (6.3) of the enterprise ecommerce platform. The platform now includes Subscriptions and A/B Split Testing-features which could help providers of digital goods and services stay competitive in the growing online market.

The Subscriptions feature of Elastic Path 6.3 enables enterprises to sell digital goods and services with a recurring charge as part of a bundle or as a standalone item - ideal for software and game vendors, consumer and business services, and providers of digital media such as books, publications, music, video, and information.

Elastic Path 6.3 will also include A/B Split Testing, integrating the multivariate testing capabilities of Adobe® Test & Target to combine price testing with web experience testing - giving enterprises the capability to discover the most profitable price points.

In addition to Subscriptions and A/B Split Testing, Elastic Path Commerce 6.3 also includes Advanced Search, which allows users to filter searches based on more complex criteria such as price ranges, and the exclusion/inclusion of certain brands-just one more feature from Elastic Path Commerce 6.3 to help enterprises stay competitive in the growing market of digital goods and services.

Five Minute Refresh : Thank You Pages

Administrator — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:22:00 GMT

Many ecommerce sites (or any site selling directly to users or signing them up for subscriptions, memberships, etc.) are wasting a valuable opportunity.

Thank you (also know as receipt or confirmation) pages are an area of a website left unattended by many Web marketers. To be honest, it's often for no good reason at all. Take a minute now to look at your confirmation pages now. Is there an opportunity to promote other products, gather feedback, provide instructions on how to track orders, offer coupons for future purchases, or refer others? While it's true that the users seeing this page have done what was asked of them, they remain the best opportunity available to us to spread the word about a business and its products or services, increase average order value and learn about what's working and what's not on websites being promoted.