2019 was another year of massive migrations to the subscription-based business model. The subscription market has grown substantially, taking over nearly all product and service categories one can think of. Nonetheless, it has not saturated yet, and every subscription business owner should keep track of the tendencies shaping consumer habits. What to expect in 2020? See our list of major trends!
Why do you keep using Android despite its common errors? Or not change your bank although its mobile app drives you crazy? The answer is simple: you’ve been locked-in. If you want to retain your customers with the same effectiveness, take a look at our 5 vendor lock-in strategies crafted for online businesses and take advantage of the lock-in effect and switching costs management!
You may have heard about the ongoing subscription boom. Every month, more and more subscription-based companies enter the market. Some of them change the rules of the game while other disappear in no time. Go through this entry to learn how to join the former: embrace the subscription business model with all of its pros and cons, and translate this knowledge into profitable decisions!
Once you have gone through dozens of websites explaining how to open an e-store, terms such as KYC or merchant onboarding may ring a bell with you. You will deal with them before jump-starting your online business, so understanding what they mean in advance is going to save you much time. What is KYC in the context of online payments and how does it relate to the merchant onboarding procedure?
Prepaid or postpaid: that is the question. Which payment model should you choose for your business to simplify user experience and boost the company’s revenue? Should your customers add money to an e-wallet and be limited by the amount paid upfront or be charged after every single use of your service? In this blog entry, I compare both approaches using the Mobility-as-a-Service industry as an example.
Online payments are a must-have in the e-commerce world. Period. The times when you gave the clients your bank account number are far behind us. Once you find your perfect-match payment service provider, you should prepare your website/application for accepting online payments. Why is it so important and what to keep in mind while getting ready?
Reducing your online checkout process to a single click is tempting, isn’t it? In the face of phenomena such as the *mobile first* approach, demand for instant gratification among young generations of consumers, and conversions taking a matter of milliseconds, one-click payment might seem to be the Holy Grail of modern online commerce.
Let’s face it: the subscription-based model provides you with loads of valuable customer data but, unless you hire a full-time data analyst, it’s impossible to make full use of them. Moreover, managing subscription plans of every single subscriber manually is a real nightmare. That’s why subscription management software has been created. What is it and how to make the most of it?
In the face of Subscription Economy, offering your merchandise in the form of a subscription-based service may seem tempting. Before you pivot, however, it is worth getting familiar with technology designed to make recurring payments more effective. Here comes Smart Retry aimed at increasing card authorization rate. How does it work and why should you implement it?
In my previous entry, I have proposed some basic questions an online merchant should ask before selecting a payment gateway. If you run a subscription-based business, you should get acquainted with several extra questions specific to your business model. A subscription-friendly payment gateway is a way to gain higher control over your business.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably searching for the best tool to collect payments from your customers and need to understand the differences between diverse solutions available on the market. Here’s a brief guide to selecting the right payment gateway for your online business.
Customer retention is paramount for companies operating in the subscription-based model. One should learn how to measure it and make the most of the statistics at hand. What subscription metrics to track? And how to convert them into actionable insights?
Despite the uniqueness of every customer, the purchasing process they carry out doesn’t vary so much from one to another: they follow specific patterns. The marketing concept of customer lifecycle can help you improve your commercial effectiveness. Learn how to make the most of your subscribers' behavior analysis.
As of October 1st, 2019, Visa, the world’s largest card organisation, is updating its fraud and chargeback monitoring policy. Will it affect you? If you accept cards online – it certainly will. Should you be concerned? Not necessarily, if you have a well-thought risk management strategy. If, however, you do not yet have any fraud prevention mechanisms on board, you better hurry up in getting some.
Selling is all about addressing your customers’ needs. Offline or online, you seek to get to know your clients and offer them what they’re looking for. However, it’s a human thing that we like when things go quickly and effortlessly. On the internet, we can shop the way we like: saving our time and effort. But is it enough to let your customers buy online? Can you still make their shopping experience less absorbing?
Anything-as-a-Service (or XaaS) is a product distribution model, where companies shift from selling products to providing their value proposition as a service. Since XaaS can, quite literally, be anything, it isn’t hard to get lost in the jumble of buzzwords, jargon and concepts. This brief article will help you get an in-depth understanding of the new, service-based economy.
Whilst Black Friday and Cyber Monday, or “Black Friday Weekend and Cyber Week” according to some experts, do not mean as much as, say, 2-3 years ago, the pre-x-mas shopping spree is still among the key determinants of the thickness of your top line. Here’s how to - in the realm of intangible merchandise - make the most of the daddy of all holiday sales.
Simplicity of User Experience, efficient billing model and a well-thought risk management strategy. These are the keys to unlock your business potential on the ever more competitive market of digital services, as uncovered by e-commerce professionals at the very first edition of Warsaw Ecommerce Tech Sessions (WETS) – a new series of meetups powered by Straal and Business Link.
Have you fallen victim to fraud? If the answer is "yes", I assume you have learnt your lesson and already thoroughly inspected what went wrong. The “no” answer does not exist in the case of fraud. It’s only “not yet”. Be my guest and let me invite you to explore the dark side of ecommerce.
Look at you, a fledgling entrepreneur at the threshold of international success. I bet it feels fantastic to see your idea come to life. So now that you’re inevitably positioned for success, give your product away for free - that's how the freemium model works. But is it really that simple?
Your customers won’t wait or engage in cumbersome processes to get your products and - if your competitors are able to provide the service faster – why would they? Straal presents the mathematics of instant e-commerce. Lean on these statistics to put your business in the fast lane!
In the times of flourishing sharing economy, we’re renting, sharing and getting access to everything we need. The line between products and services is becoming thinner and thinner, whereas possession is no longer guarantee for the customer satisfaction. What is in that case?
Do you remember the first time you sold your product or signed a contract for your service? I bet it felt good. Do you know what feels even better? Becoming a trusted provider of your services and products to your loyal customers. That lasting feeling is what the subscription-based business model holds in store for success-hungry entrepreneurs.
How do payment solutions chosen by your company influence your business performance? It's important to decide on such that will not only meet your current requirements but also support your development strategy in the long term and smoothly scale your business.
Fintech insiders oftentimes erroneously assume that consumers, let alone merchants, know much more about the payment ecosystem than they actually do. This might lead to disturbing misunderstandings, make companies miss business opportunities, consumers get a headache and vendors fritter away their marketing budgets.