Building a SaaS product is just half the battle – shifting your business to a subscription based model and profitably monetizing it can be quite a challenge due to the complex landscape of global markets, diverse distribution channels, multiple consumer touch-points and changes in buyer behavior and expectations.
Going Beyond Subscriptions
Let’s see what this complexity requires in order to be tackled efficiently. In one word, agility. In more words, it requires global reach, multiple touch points and payment methods, currencies, ordering interface languages, international and domestic tax handling, integration into back-end systems, revenue recognition, security, PCI compliance – and the list goes on – add marketing tools, A/B testing, product bundling, advanced merchandising. 
As a vendor, you also need tools that help you penetrate new markets, try various pricing strategies, know what works and what doesn’t fast enough to adjust your strategy. In SaaS, as in subscription based software, retention is key and you will need all the tools and reporting you can get to drive an increased retention rate.
Clearly, no fresh start-up will need all the sophistication of an advanced eCommerce platform, yet as you grow, you need to go beyond just subscriptions. The last thing you want on your plate is constrains with new models or functionality.
Monetizing SaaS
We recommend a webinar coming up on Sept 4th on this topic – Peter Sheldon, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research, and our very own Michael Ni, CMO of Avangate, will uncover the complexities and challenges that software firms face when developing a successful monetization strategy for their SaaS based software products. More importantly, you will learn how to retain and grow your customer base, whether in your home market or on a global scale.
Webinar Takeaways
Here’s what we’ll tackle in the webinar:
- The importance of subscriptions as a model
- Challenges and maturity of needs for supporting subscription based business models across channels, markets, product versions and other coexisting, increasingly intertwined business models
- The evolution of customer ownership preferences for SaaS software products
- The role that technology partners are playing in supporting the monetization of SaaS -considerations on how to retain and grow your customer base
- How to think about and transition to SaaS, challenges and recommendations
When: Tuesday Sept 4th, 2012 / 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PST / 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
Who should attend: SaaS Business Executives & Managers, Marketing & Sales Managers, eCommerce Managers
More Goodies in the Bag
Register for the webinar and also get an upcoming Forrester: “Market Overview Subscription And Recurring Billing Solutions 2012”, courtesy of Avangate.
Feel free to comment below – including questions that you’d like us to answer during the webinar.
