E-Commerce hosting company Digital River is positioning for a slice of online subscription renewals with a new e-subscriptions service aimed at content providers and publishers.
The company calls the new service an “outsourced
subscription management solution,” geared for publishers looking to use the Web to sign up new subscribers, while at the same time saving them money by offering its own server farm to host the sign-ups and subscription renewals.
As the publishing industry continues to struggle in the downturn of the past few years, Digital River is making the case that its e-commerce service will help save publishers money while they use the Web as a channel through which to market and drive electronic subscriptions along with their efforts at driving subscribers with offline direct marketing.
Digital River’s new service bundles online selling tools along with menus that offer trial-based content to the potential subscriber. It also includes a pitch to host searchable archives on behalf of the publisher and controlled access to exclusive content, which may generate additional sales for the content provider.
The Minnesota-based company said it plans to augment its current e-commerce platform using technology it acquired with its $1 million purchase of Infocon America. The subsidiary builds software aimed at helping publishers Web-enable their publications.
With a client list that includes Symantec, Motorola, 3M, Major
League Baseball Advanced Media and H&R Block, Digital River is now looking to add new publishing clients to its outsourcing base. The announcement comes on the heels of an arrangement with Network Associates in which the two companies will provide site development and hosting services for online businesses, along with e-marketing, fraud prevention, site merchandising, reporting and analytics, and product fulfillment.
