Archive for the ‘Best Practices’ Category

Scalability Matters In The Digital Economy

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

The chart below truly highlights the scalability requirements for SaaS providers like ourselves in the Digital Economy, especially during the Holiday Season.  With consumers activating devices, downloading applications, and turning on subscriptions, some of the peak scale needs for merchants don’t fall on Black Friday or CyberMonday, but on Christmas and the days immediately following it.  The graph below highlights one particular client, who saw a fair bit of revenue leading up to Christmas, but knew that December 25th and the days following would dwarf anything they had done to date, and relied on us to support their key marketing and sales requirements for the Holiday Season.

For readability purposes, this chart excludes non-USD currencies but the argument remains true independent of the origins of the transaction.  In fact, some of the percentage increases are even higher for non-USD currencies.  Just in case you wondered if this client could be an outlier, here are a couple of additional digital clients who also saw a sizable Christmas spike.

Sanjay SarathyTags: , , ,
Posted by Sanjay Sarathy in Best Practices, Data Geek, Marketing | 1 Comment »

Campaign Management with CashBox

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Digital merchants constantly experiment and test different pricing models in order to broaden their acquisition pipeline and improve customer retention. The CashBox campaign management capabilities we announced today will even further help digital merchants to drive acquisition and increase retention. Some common questions digital merchants ask us include:

  • Should we have a trial promotion period for our new service, and how long should it last?
  • What benefits can we expect to generate if we provide a one-time discount for leads referred to us by an affiliate partner?
  • What are the A/B testing results from different price promotions and what changes should we make based on the result?

Pricing for a service faces the same life-cycle considerations as the service itself. But with the new campaign management capabilities now available in CashBox, merchants can now:

  • Manage all prices, promotions, and coupons associated with a service from a single environment
  • Analyze and act on the results from various campaigns run through built-in reporting and dashboards
  • Work closely with partners to offer discounted services to complementary products and understand relative successes

We continue to introduce CashBox product enhancements that focus on the twin themes of customer acquisition and retention. With markets and economies continuing to splutter, those digital leaders who understand how to optimize across both will be the ones that survive and thrive in the long run.  We invite you to learn more.

Sanjay SarathyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by Sanjay Sarathy in Best Practices, Industry News, Marketing, Vindicia Press Release | No Comments »

What Does “Build Online Revenue” Mean Exactly?

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

For a few years, Vindicia’s tagline has been sitting a quiet sentry duty. People read it, but it seems to me to be something they absorb without thinking – like those photos with surprise objects in them that everyone looks past. I wanted to stop a moment, take a step back, and explain what Build Online Revenue really means.

First, there is a very tactical answer to that question. Vindicia, since inception and even before we launched CashBox in 2008, was about creating a platform to enable digital merchants to increase their revenues. CashBox extends customer lives while bringing tools and efficiency to our client’s marketing team tasked with expanding the paying freemium or subscriber base.  We do this with our SaaS solution in conjunction with industry best practices.

At my previous company, I personally experienced how hard it was to manage through channel conflict, as physical became digital, while simultaneously dealing with piracy. Delivering software services that delight and allowing business teams to experiment is an essential part of what Vindicia brings to life. We continue to build on the ability to leverage data, both a client’s and our entire network of 120 million accounts and 80 million unique credit cards, to help clients explore the non intuitive world that involves marketing digital services directly to end users.

But there is something larger that Build Online Revenue means. It is an attempt to capture a conviction. I cut my teeth in a world surrounded by pundits exclaiming, “everything is going to be free, man!” Even the wizened opined that the only way to build successful internet businesses were to capture as many users as fast as you possibly could, getting paid be damned.

I don’t believe that. I believe that the advertising model has its place, but it isn’t the way the great intellectual works of human history get created. The services that will be critical to us, that will move us, that will inspire us and allow us to create – they’re going to cost money because they are worth every penny – even more than their public price. Vindicia wants to be the mechanism through which the next wave of digital creation creates wealth.

Vindicia wants to help the entire world Build Online Revenue.

Gene HoffmanTags: , , , , , ,
Posted by Gene Hoffman in Best Practices, CEO Blog | No Comments »

Launching A Digital Business – Global Expansion

Monday, June 27th, 2011

The Internet knows no borders.  As a result, digital businesses have the opportunity to instantly generate a global customer base.  Successfully managing a global presence, however, involves a number of moving parts, all of which must work together in tandem for the business to truly thrive in international markets.

The fundamental question to ask is “What are the key aspects I should consider before launching a global digital service?”

  • Payment Method Support.  The demographics of your target audience, as well individual country characteristics, determine what payment methods merchants should support.  Online payment methods can include credit cards, debit cards, direct debit, mobile carrier billing, pre-paid cards, bank transfers, electronic check, PayPal, and even regional/country-specific payment methods like Boleto Bancario in Brazil.  Before you expand into a particular region, understand which payment methods are most relevant, so you know how to successfully reach—and bill—your audience.
  • Sales Tax. Different countries tax digital content and services at different rates, and your marketing, finance, and infrastructure teams need to be aware of this critical function.  Managing the requirements of different tax regimes is increasingly a crucial part of any digital business, especially as lawmakers try and understand the ramifications of failing to comply with digital goods taxation requirements.
  • Currency and Language Localization. Pricing in local currencies and communicating with customers in their native language aids in overall customer acquisition and retention.  Though supporting this “localized” presence increases your operating costs, doing so should result in higher returns.
  • Regulations. Each country and/or region has its own set of regulations designed to protect consumers from exposure of their personal and/or financial information.  Whether these regulations are the European Data Privacy laws, PCI, or other requirements, ensure both your infrastructure and your company culture support the requisite privacy and security policies in your target markets.

By addressing the aspects explained in the above list, you are preparing your digital business to expand globally and take the world by storm.

Sanjay SarathyTags: , , , , , , ,
Posted by Sanjay Sarathy in Best Practices, Marketing Fury, Payments 101.201.301 | 1 Comment »

Launching A Digital Business – PCI

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Launching a digital business involves many decisions, but one of, if not the most critical decision that merchants must make is the process by which they become compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), PCI DSS are in place to minimize credit card fraud via exposure.  The PCI standards outline how digital merchants need to protect personal information and secure payment transactions, no matter how small or large the merchant is.  It covers six key areas, with multiple requirements in each area.

The Six Categories of PCI Standards

Build and Maintain a Secure Network 1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters
Protect Cardholder Data 3. Protect stored cardholder data
4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks
Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program 5. Use and regularly update anti-virus software on all systems commonly affected by malware
6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications
Implement Strong Access Control Measures 7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
8. Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data
Regularly Monitor and Test Networks 10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
11. Regularly test security systems and processes
Maintain an Information Security Policy 12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security

Equally important as the actual security policies in place is instilling a corporate culture that augments and supports the PCI DSS standard to minimize incidents like the Sony PlayStation Network security breach.

The Latest PCI Data Security Rules

Despite all the literature, PCI remains an opaque issue, yet fundamental to every company that takes some form of credit and debit card payment for their service.  New guidance and clarifications in PCI compliance – known as PCI DSS 2.0 – is now upon us, and while the changes aren’t huge from the previous version, understanding them and their impact to your online business is critical.

PCI Compliance Enforcement

There are numerous costs – with financial and business implications – associated with non-compliance, ranging from fees from your acquiring bank to the actual liability of putting cardholder data at risk.  There are various levels of PCI DSS compliance and Vindicia, as a Level 1 Service Provider, goes through the highest audit bar every year, as we’ve done for the past six.  Learn more about how PCI compliance is enforced.

Sanjay SarathyTags: , , ,
Posted by Sanjay Sarathy in Best Practices, Marketing Fury, Payments 101.201.301 | 1 Comment »
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