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Introduction
Earlier today, Jessica Dewell announced that she has completed her career in e-commerce, and her last day working for Digital River, Inc. as Director of RegNow.
Jess was with RegNow since its founding in 1997. She served RegNow by establishing the end-user and client-support expectations, and the initial fraud prevention system. She was a sales manager bringing in new clients, a representative and speaker at many conferences, a marketing strategist, and a business owner.
After RegNow was acquired by Digital River in 1999, Jess became Director of RegNow, and continued to run the daily operations. In late 2003 her role changed, and she became more involved across Digital River-owned shareware properties. She worked to define the uniqueness of each property, as well as to effectively communicate to clients the feature additions, changes, and industry trends that help clients grow their businesses.
For nearly four years, Jess and I served on the Board of the Educational Software Cooperative (ESC). We've also worked together in the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), where Jess spent many years as a Board member, as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and now as ASP's President. So, this is hardly the first conversation that we've had.
Jessica, everybody would like to know why you've left RegNow, and what you're going to be doing in the future.
Jess: I believe that everything has a cycle so that new opportunities can be realized. My time with RegNow provided me with experience running a business. I've provided services to developers as part of a small business, as a small group within a larger corporation, and as a large integrated core team of many different e-commerce platforms.
I played a large part and enjoyed working in the e-commerce business, and now I am off to realize other new opportunities.
When RegNow started I was in college, and two years into college I chose to focus on RegNow instead of my education. I'd promised myself that I would go back and complete my degree. Last year, I started classes again, and expect to complete my degree in a little over two years. This will be a primary focus for me with this change.
I will continue to be actively involved with the ESC and the ASP in my leadership roles. The time I spend supporting these organizations is important to me because I believe that both organizations provide excellent and important benefits to members.
I can't imagine not being in this industry, and I expect to fill my free time with a lot of projects. I'm confident that I'll start another business, and I'll have some free time to explore new ideas!
When choosing an e-commerce company, most developers talk mainly about fees. Are all e-commerce companies the same, and should developers choose based mainly upon price?
Jess: Developers need to take advantage of all the e-commerce company's services to get the most for the money they are spending to get the best value and the most for their money!
Price is only one factor to consider when choosing a provider. Other questions to consider are:
How involved do I want to be in managing my company's orders? Do I want the e-commerce company to support my delivery? Are they able to do it? Do I want them to handle refunds for me? Can they handle them? Do I need to integrate with a shopping cart, or do I automatically get one?
How much promotion do I want to expose my customers to when purchasing? Do I have options to create and manage offers easily? Does the e-commerce company support the promotion avenues I want to use? What reports are available to measure my results?
Price determines each services' features because price is very important to everyone using e-commerce. Features can be very easy to use, or very hard to use. They can be fully-developed, or a work-around to facilitate a need. The uniqueness and strengths of each of the various e-commerce platforms gives you insight into their focus, their drive, and how they will interact with you when providing you with service and support.
Do all e-commerce companies offer pretty much the same shopping carts and customizable order forms?
Jess: In my opinion, every e-commerce service offers a solution for all of the basic needs that a shareware or "try before you buy" (TBYB) company needs to support their business. While implementation and management requirements vary, the core features and functionality are offered by all e-commerce companies, in some form, to their client bases.
Each service is different, and each service does something better than the other services. You've got to find the balance that best fits into your business model, as an extension of your daily activities.
E-commerce continuously changes as the Internet grows. More markets open up, new regulations will be implemented, and new features will be needed to effectively market and convert customers. You should be able to look to your e-commerce service to provide solutions for your business.
Should developers be concerned about e-commerce companies going out of business, and not being able to pay the developers at the end of the month? Are bigger e-commerce companies more stable than small ones?
Jess: Companies go out of business all the time, and this is a risk that developers face when creating any partnership.
I would concern myself with the stability of the e-commerce companies that you have relationships with, and not worry about any other company's actions. The more integrated you choose to be with your e-commerce provider, the better you need to understand their reliability and stability, to protect your business.
As long as e-commerce company customers feel the service has value, the service will grow and prosper. So the real question is, "If you were looking to build a relationship with an e-commerce company based on the exact needs of your business, would you still choose the service you are with today?"
What about affiliate programs - are they important?
Jess: Oh yeah! I'm glad I'm not alone on the affiliate program soap box anymore!
The term 'affiliate' means something different today. When the idea for affiliate programs first began, the sole purpose was to get other people to promote and sell your software.
Today, an affiliate can be any strategic partnership you have, where money is exchanged based on defined metrics. Strategic partnerships will help small businesses gain product awareness in new markets, and build new customer relationships to continue to sell to. Affiliate relationships will remain an excellent opportunity for small businesses to gain market share, and to create an increased awareness about their products.
Are there real differences between various e-commerce companies' sales networks and "buy now" buttons on download sites?
Jess: All are important, and all offer niche markets typically not available through other e-commerce services.
It is important to know who the target market is for each channel relationship, and whether the e-commerce company's channel reaches your user demographic. If it doesn't reach your target market, it isn't worth the time and energy to set up and manage. If it does reach your ideal demographic, then jump in with both feet!
Every marketing objective can be measured and evaluated for success. You can determine whether or not to continue with that path. If the results don't match your expectations, drop that channel and look for another avenue.
When just a few people wear many different hats, processes that work will continue to receive time and energy. If a process performs poorly, it gets bumped to make time to try a different process with unexplored revenue possibilities.
There's a lot of talk about Digital River (DR) monopolizing e-commerce in the software industry. Should developers be concerned? If they're concerned, should they be running to or from Digital River?
Jess: Instead of focusing on 'monopolization', developers should focus on making sure that the DR-owned e-commerce service(s} they use continue to meet their specific business needs.
If there isn't a fit, and they've told you that what you need is not one of their current and planned features, then start looking for a new service. Looking for a new service includes looking at other DR owned services! Just because one DR service doesn't fit your business model doesn't mean that none will. The e-commerce services they've acquired offer a huge range of excellent features and benefits that fit many different business models and specific company requirements.
From your perspective, is the shareware industry healthy? Can a new independent developer be successful?
Jess: The fact that a person can start up a company, and be able to obtain a product to sell {through affiliate programs or contracting R&D or self development}, and set up a website to sell through - all with such little initial investment - is amazing. Many people and companies continue to enter this space because they see opportunity to make money. It amazes me to see the increasing number of new products and existing products marketed as shareware/TBYB.
How international is the English-language software business? Are developers from Asia and from the former Soviet Union bloc of countries taking a significant market share?
Jess: The US offers the biggest online purchasing market. Every business, no matter where it is located, wants credit-card-happy-people to buy their product. Competition is good, and without it we would not be pushed to improve our marketing programs, our products, and our overall Internet presence.
The emerging consumer markets in Europe and Asia don't seem to be seen as an immediate opportunity by most American companies. Even though there are cultural aspects to take into consideration when entering another market, it is an opportunity that should not be overlooked. Becoming a well-known brand in emerging non-US markets will establish you as a market leader, making it difficult for your competitors to gain a foothold in those areas as they discover the same opportunity.
Granted there may be local competitors, so entering new international markets slowly and consciously will help prevent missteps, and maximize marketing efforts. It is important to understand cultural attitudes and beliefs, and to create a marketing plan with objectives that are in line with local attitudes: Will an English-language product be accepted? Will they buy with a credit card? Do I need to offer support in non-English languages? The list goes on!
What advice would you give software developers?
Jess: Don't worry about what your e-commerce company is doing in relationship to the entire world. Instead, worry about what they are doing for you to help you grow your business and manage your customer's ordering experience. You need to tell them what you like and don't like so that they know how to improve their service to fit your business needs.
When you're ready to tell the world about your next business project, will you let me make the announcement to the software development community?
Jess: Absolutely! I wouldn't have it any other way!
Thanks, Jessica, and best of luck with everything that you do!
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