SaaS, les avantages sans les inconvénients

Publié par : pascal le 2 jui.09

J’ai souhaité partager cet article intéressant sur le mode de fonctionnement on-demand, dont la croissance inéluctable convainc de plus en plus. Pascal

On-Demand Technology: The Gain Withoutthe Pain

March 2008

Knowing what to look for in on-demand software

Drivenby the desire to reduce infrastructure costs andreallocate those funds intomarketing, merchandising, and customer acquisition,retailers are moving awayfrom licensing or building their own softwareplatforms in favor of on-demandsoftware, also known as software as a service.While the primary attractions ofthe on-demand model are standardized featuresand functionality, and speedierdevelopment and implementation cycles forupgraded versions, retailers stillneed to perform due diligence when selectingthe appropriate vendor.

Amongthe issues retailers need to weigh beforeentering into any contract are thevendor’s definition of on-demand software,how the on-demand model will benefittheir business, what level of support andservice they will receive from thevendor, and what it is they are paying for.

Clarificationof the vendor’s definition of on-demandsoftware is essential because the definitionitself is blurring, according toScott Olrich, chief marketing officer for ResponsysInc., a San Bruno, Calif.-based, global providerofon-demand marketing automation solutions.

Bydefinition, on-demand software is software thatresides at a single locationand that multiple customers access and use asneeded. It is a low-cost way forretailers to obtain the same benefits ofcommercially licensed or home grownsoftware without high implementation andmaintenance costs or the complexity ofcustomizing the platform to their needs.

Universalupgrades

Trueon-demand platforms are multi-tenant, therebyallowing all users to run thesame version as opposed to customizedapplications. The payoff from thisapproach is that upgrades are universal tothe user base so that when one userdiscovers the need for a new feature, thevendor rolls it out across theplatform. Vendors will upgrade their platform asoften as once a month,compared to every 12 months or longer for licensedapplications. Changes tohome grown platforms are slower, too, as IT personnelmust be shifted away fromtheir core duties.

“Multi-tenantplatforms allow end users to betterleverage the power of the software becausethe cost of upgrades are spread outacross the user base, which means theyhappen faster,” Olrich says.

Theconfusion over the definition of on-demand softwarecomes from vendors. “Someproviders of single tenant, on-demand platforms areblurring the differencebetween their offering and the on-demand, multi-tenantmodel for marketingpurposes,” says Olrich.

Distinctdifferences

Theloose definition of on-demand software oftenincludes the managed serviceprovider model, also known as MSP. While a managedservice provider arrangementis similar to on-demand platforms in that bothprovide such fundamentals asrack space, power, connectivity, security, storage,backups, monitoring, andbasic maintenance, there are distinct differencesbetween the two.

“Withan MSP, the software is deployed on serversdedicated to the client,” explainsJeff Max, CEO of VendaInc., a New York-based e-commerce platformprovider.“Provisioning clients on the MSP model is as involved as licensedsoftware.Upgrades are infrequent due to the resources required to modify eachclient’scustom deployment one at a time and performance depends largely onthecustomer’s dedicated server capacity.”

Trueon-demand platforms are deployed on a singleinstance, multi-tenantarchitecture. “Because of the homogeneity of the codebase, better self-servicetools are provided that give clients improved abilityto customize andadminister their own virtual environment,” Max says.“Provisioning takes halfthe time, upgrades are routine and the shared resourcesgive the system moreresiliency and performance.”

Theprimary question to be asked of a vendor is whetherevery user on the platformruns the same version of the software. If the answeris no, retailers are aptto pay more money over the long-term for the platformand wait longer forupgraded versions as new features are added on aclient-by-client basis.“Single tenant solutions are more costly and the enduser bears more of thecost for upgrades than they would for the multi-tenantmodel,” adds Olrich.

Onceretailers are clear on whether the vendor providesa true on-demand platform,they need to consider how it will benefit theirbusiness. The most obvious andimmediate benefit is that the vendor’s supportteam has a greater breadth ofexpertise than that of the in-house IT staff.

“Thetime spent solving an IT problem in-house takesthe retailer away from theircore business,” says Shawn Schwegman, chiefmarketing officer for Vcommerce Corp., a ScottsdaleAriz.-based provider of e-commerceplatforms. “Plus, in-house IT staff has tosolve problems as they arise. Withthe multi-tenant on-demand model, problemsare addressed for all users at once,which in most cases is before many of theusers identify the problem exists.”

Thiscapability allows the client to leverage the skillset of the vendor withouthaving to reinvent the wheel each time. One wayVcommerce leverages thisexpertise for clients is through A/B testing. As testsare run for individualclients, trends are identified and the knowledge fromthose tests is appliedsimultaneously across the user base. “This means clientslearn faster aboutwhat works and what doesn’t,” says Schwegman.

Havingan experienced third-party support staff tooperate and maintain the platformis critical, as retailers’ operating platformsbecome more complex as they growin proportion to their revenues. Subsequently,retailers struggle toeffectively train their IT staff on how to get the mostout of the software.

Complexitiesthat arise as a retailer’s business growsinclude making sure the softwareplatform meets compliance requirements forsecurity across all phases of theirbusiness such as PCI, a data securitystandard created to ensure the safehandling of credit card account information,and compliance when printingshipping labels for package carriers.

Theturnover problem

“Theaverage IT staffer stays in their current positionabout 2.5 years, which meansa retailer’s IT staff can turn over within threeyears and that is a huge lossof resources and experience with the platform,”says John Marrah, president andCEO of ProfitCenterSoftware Inc., a Uniondale N.Y.-based e-commerceplatform provider.“In an SaaS model providing and training support staff arethe responsibility ofthe software provider, not the retailer. It is almostimpossible for amulti-channel retailer to afford the depth of personnel tomake sure they alwayshave trained and experienced staff. For an SaaS provider,it is a cost of doingbusiness.”

Withso many systems feeding into the multi-channelplatform, such as CRM,point-of-sale, order management, and customer serviceapplications, it istougher for retailers not only to manage those systems, butalso to stayabreast of the latest advancements for each application. “It israre thatretailers can manage their platform in a manner that is seamless andknow theactions that took place at each customer touch point,” continuesMarrah. “Weimplement and roll out new versions of our platform monthly.”

Toensure the highest level of technical supportProfitCenter Software providesconstant training for its own staff as well as thatof the retailer’s internalIT staff. “Most of our staffers start their trainingwith how to service clientneeds by learning the client’s business and theirobjectives,” Marrah says.“In-house users struggle to effectively train theiremployees on how to get themost out of the software.”

Marrahjoined PCS in 2007 after serving as president ofEscalate Inc., a softwareprovider to direct and multi-channel retailers. Duringhis eight years atEscalate, Marrah grew the company through a strategy ofacquisition and organicgrowth around Escalate’s Ecometry and Blue Martiniproducts.

Supportfor in-house staff

Ongoingtraining and support also need to be providedto the retailer’s in-house ITstaff. With each new release of its platformProfitCenter Software givesclients release notes and a tutorial video thatexplains the new features andfunctionality, how to deploy them and how to bestleverage them to benefittheir business. “A lot of training gets delivered tothe client through videoand online,” Marrah says. “This approach lets them comeback to refresh theirunderstanding of the application and they don’t have topay to attend anothertraining session. This makes training sessions reusableand more costeffective.”

Furthertraining and support come from an executive advisoryboard made up of users andby having support personnel spend about 30% of theirtime visiting clients,Marrah adds.

Providingongoing training to clients gives retailers agreater feeling of control overthe platform. In doing so, PCS is knocking down oneof the barriers retailershave to acceptance of on-demand platforms. “Retailerslike control over theirsoftware platform, but that is waning as they gain abetter understanding ofthe SaaS on-demand model,” says Marrah. “They see theresources that drive theproduct from a functionality standpoint.”

PCS’sProfitCenter Software is a web-basedmulti-channel application that automatesand manages the entire customerlifecycle across all sales channels andprovides retailers with unified customerand inventory views that reduce thecosts and complexities of traditionalsoftware.

Stayingahead of the client

Amongthe resources PCS can deliver to retailersthrough its platform are speedydevelopment and implementation of new featureson a monthly basis. “If we seeour platform lacks a capability we try to beproactive and add newfunctionality ahead of customer needs,” says Marrah. “Wetry to use technologyas an enabling force to allow clients to run theirbusiness and optimize theirfinancial performance while minimizing costs. Thisallows them to focus ontheir core strengths of marketing, merchandising,promotion, and supply chainmanagement, which is why retaining control over theplatform is not as big abarrier to acceptance with retailers as it was threeyears ago.”

Nevertheless,retailers are best advised to take aproactive role in the management of theirweb sites to determine whether avendor is living up to expectations. Issuesthey need to stay abreast of includewhether the vendor promptly takes productpages down when an item is out ofstock or states on the product page when lessthan 10 units remain or that anitem is on back order. Other issues to trackinclude whether bounce rates arerising, return rates are increasing, andwhether shoppers on the web site areplacing more phone orders for specificitems.

Allof these metrics help retailers quantify theperformance of the vendor.“On-demand users really need to have the onlinebusiness skills to controltheir own destiny,” says Venda’s Max. “If they havethe right business skills,they will be able to distinguish business problemsfrom technology problems anddetermine when the vendor could be doing more.”

Ideally,retailers want a partnership betweenthemselves and their platform provider inwhich they collaborate with the vendorto leverage the full capabilities of theplatform. To achieve this goal,Responsys offers webinars and user groups wherecustomers can exchange ideas onways to optimize the capabilities of theResponsys platform and improve it.

“Weoffer client workshops on how to use ourapplication to execute the programscustomers want to put in place at the lowestcost in order to drive the highestvalue,” says Olrich. “We will help them buildcampaigns and create templates.Retailers want technology partners that help thembuild core competencies intheir organization.”

Indoing so, retailers can get the most from theirinternal resources and those ofthe vendor, which is the best of both worlds. Ifretailers are tooself-sufficient, they are not leveraging the skill set of thevendor. If theyare too reliant on the vendor, they are not necessarily buildingcorecompetencies. In either case, retailers are forgoing acollaborativeenvironment that enables them to optimize the full functionalityof the platform.“A collaborative environment gives retailers more options whenit comes toleveraging their platform to meet their business needs,” saysOlrich.

Akey component of creating a collaborative environmentis helping retailersdifferentiate the customer experience. Olrich cites the exampleof a flowerretailer that offers shoppers the option of receiving a notificationofdelivery via e-mail or wireless mobile device.

Aspart of the notification process, the retailerenhances the customer experienceby including a single question pertaining totheir level of satisfaction withthe purchase. The question is phrased simply,i.e. did they find the entireshopping experience to be positive or negative.

Ifthe response is positive, a thank you is sent alongwith an incentive toencourage a future purchase or for referring a friend tothe site. If theresponse is negative another message asks what they found tobedissatisfactory. “In a collaborative environment, the vendor supportstheretailer’s marketing and operating goals,” Olrich adds.

Thecost of ownership

Avery important aspect when evaluating a vendor is theactual cost of ownership.This goes beyond the fees charged for usage to includesecurity, maintenance,support, development and implementation costs for newfeatures andfunctionality. “Most retailers underestimate these costs whenweighing the costof the on-demand model vs. licensing a platform,” saysVcommerce’s Schwegman

Somelarge retailers can spend as much a 3% to 6% ofrevenues on IT support costs forlicensed software, he adds. Vcommerce bases itspricing on a revenue sharingmodel in which retailers pay a percentage of therevenue from the total dollarvalue of the transactions running over theplatform. Pricing tiers based onvolume enable retailers to decrease their costsas volumes increases.

Figuringthe cost of ownership requires retailers toperform a technical deep dive andmap out the workflow of the steps involved toprocess each transaction. “Ateach step of the process retailers need to ask howa feature or functionalityaffects the customer experience and how problems aredealt with to ensure asatisfactory customer experience,” says Schwegman. “Dropshipping, forinstance, is becoming a popular option with retailers because itenables themto increase their virtual inventory, but it is a complex piece ofthe ordermanagement process that needs to be fully understood before committingto aplatform.”

Partof the technical deep dive is to ask vendors tolist all the features includedin the platform and if the retailer or vendorwill need to add technologypartners, such as credit card processors.“Determining upfront where a platformbegins and ends is the challenge thatcomes with determining whether they arebuying a true end-to-end solution,”Schwegman says.

Inmany cases, short-term contracts do not work becausethere are multipleintegration points across all sales channels before thoseobjectives areachieved. “Non-IT personnel tend to simplify the complexity ofusing on-demandplatforms to achieve their business objectives,” says Schwegman,who addsretailers can outsource some or all of their platform functionalitytoVcommerce. “Our approach is to install in phases, reevaluate, and redeployasnecessary. The worst mistake a retailer can make is to try to do everythingallat once. Adding capabilities over time is a more effective approach,especiallyin a multi-channel environment.”

In2007, Vcommerce added a full service onlinemarketing services group to supportits platform.

Theflat-rate alternative

Whilethere is no question the lower cost of ownershipof an on-demand platform canhelp retailers justify such arrangements, somevendors are moving away fromrevenue sharing models and offering flat rates tocreate straightforward pricing.

“Thegoal is to bring transparency to on-demandsoftware because many vendors offerpretty similar services and functionality,”says Venda’s Max. “Flat ratepricing normalizes the cost and delivery of theplatform and allows retailersto plan for the actual cost of the platform.”

Undera revenue sharing model retailers can pay from 2%of sales volume to as much as40%, according to Max. Such fluctuations can bedifficult for retailers todigest, because it means their costs areunpredictable.

“Retailersmay persuade the provider to bill againstmore predictable business metrics,such as number of orders or new accountregistrations or they may insist on acap in overall fees per billing period,”says Max. “But all of these approachesrequire non-standard concessions for mostproviders.”

Vendacharges $12,000 per month for its service, plus afee for its credit cardgateway. Contracts typically run three years withoptions to renew forsubsequent one-year periods thereafter. “Signing a contractfor a minimum offive years can give vendors too much room to rest on theirlaurels,” says Max.

Manyalso recommend that retailers build into theircontracts specific requirementsfor up-time, response time to service requests,and guarantees that give an outif expectations aren’t met. “With these types ofcontracts, retailers knowexactly what they are getting,” Max says.

Alast resort

Whileincluding an out clause in a contract providesretailers a measure ofprotection in the event vendors fail to meetexpectations, exercising it oughtto be an act of last resort. “Exiting acontract before it is fulfilled andswitching platforms will disrupt theretailer’s business,” Max says. “It isbetter to try to work through theproblems with the vendor than cut and run. Butif it is clear the vendor is notpaying attention to the retailer’s needs, thenthat’s a tough problem to solve.”

Asretailers look to shift their focus away fromlicensed and home growne-commerce platforms to on-demand platforms that offerstandardize features andfunctionality, knowing the right questions to ask of aprospective vendor ismore important than ever.

Leveraging the rich features of on-demandplatforms

Asretailers increase their adoption of on-demandsoftware they are finding thebenefits extend beyond lower operating costs toinclude delivery of richerfeatures sooner than those that trickle into themarket through the traditionalsoftware licensing model or that many retailerscan afford to build themselves.

Providersof on-demand software, also known as softwareas a service, are able to deliverricher features faster and more affordablybecause they work closely withclients to learn their business objectives.

“Wetake a consultative approach that requires a lot oftalking to the client abouttheir business and goals in order to get at the painpoints they usuallyexperience,” says Gary Van Roekel, vice president of salesand marketing for Melissa Data Corp., provider of dataquality applications.

Inaddition, many providers of on-demand servicesstress flexibility in creatingbusiness relationships. For instance, Cupertino,Calif.-based SLI Systems Inc., a provider ofsite search solutions, does not chargeretailers for additional functionalityonce the application is up and running.“If we charged for this, clients mightbe more inclined to take site search tothe level they want initially, but notmodify it after deployment, which candetract from the effectiveness of theapplication and their business,” saysGeoff Brash, vice president of marketing.“This approach allows retailers tomake changes without having to get internalapproval for the expenditure,because there is no cost to add functionality. Italso means we will addfeatures as retailers identify new opportunities to useour platform to enhancetheir business.”

Keepingup

Additionally,the rapid pace at which e-retailingevolves prompts many retailers to look aton-demand solutions to interact moreeffectively with shoppers, because even ifthey can build such features, it is amonumental task to do so.

Lackof internal resources to add rich features is abig drawback to the in-housemodel, many on-demand advocates say. That’sespecially true when it comes tosuch complex deployments as personalization.“Personalization does not end atthe web site, it has to be extended to the callcenter,” says Cid Jenkins, vicepresident of sales, North America, for Reston,Va.-based eStara, an ArtTechnology Group Inc. company and provider ofe-commerce optimization services,which offers click-to-call functionality forweb sites.

“Wemanage the retailer’s program through our webportal which contains establishedrules for engagement prompts that can bechanged daily along with the type ofinvitation offered to the shopper,” Jenkinssays. “This provides the retailerwith control over the process because theydon’t have to use in-house IT staffto make the change.”

On-demandsolutions often revolve around services ortechnology that retailers would findvirtually impossible to create. Forinstance, a common pain point retailersexpress to Melissa Data is that it coststhem $10 to $15 for everyundeliverable address. “That hurts, especially if theaddress comes from amanufacturer’s sales lead,” says Van Roekel. “In ourbusiness, it is importantto get the address correct before the order is fulfilledand ships. As soon asthe retailer inputs shipping data, labels are printed anda cost is incurred.That is why we focus on address verification as a point ofentry with theretailer.”

Fixingthat problem would be cost-prohibitive for mostretailers. Rancho SantaMargarita, Calif.-based Melissa Data has developed itsData Quality Suite toverify and correct addresses at the point of entry andcatch data entry errorsmade by shoppers before they enter the retailer’s databaseand the shippingprocess is initiated. “Our aim is to help retailers understandthe importance ofdata quality, how it cuts across the company, and the expenseassociated withbad data,” says Van Roekel.

Avoidingcomplex problems

Meetingdata handling requirements and securitycertifications for information sources,such as the United States PostalService, is another built-in benefit ofMelissa Data’s platform Theserequirements include building firewalls and USPSCASS certification. CASSenables the USPS to evaluate the accuracy ofaddress-matching applications for avariety of mailing types, includingfive-digit ZIP codes; ZIP + 4/ deliverypoint, and carrier route coding.Vendors can use CASS to test theiraddress-matching software. After achieving adesignated percentage ofcompliance, they receive certification by the USPS.

“ThePostal Service has a lot of security, data qualityand formatting requirementsand that means a lot of certifications for users oftheir data,” says VanRoekel. “Our handling of these requirements makes it a loteasier for theretailer to manage their use of Postal Service data. Plus,certifications bringa higher level of customer confidence to our data.”

In2008, Melissa Data responded to a growing demand foraccess to moreinternational databases for addresses and phone numbers bycomplying with thedata standards required by the sources for that information.“We can now verifyall international data,” says Van Roekel, who adds furtherenhancements includethe ability to generate sales leads for clients from itsdatabases. “We arealso willing to guarantee our uptime beyond the standard99.9% if that ismission critical to the retailer.”

No-costtest

Beforecommitting their data quality to an outsideagency, retailers have the optionto test Melissa Data’s applications for 30days at no cost. During the trialperiod, retailers have the opportunity to talkto tech support staff in areal-use environment and make use of all availablefeatures. “Demos are allright,” says Van Roekel, who adds the company offers anon-site demonstration.“But a trial goes further by giving retailers hands-onexperience with theapplication that helps them determine if the platform is theright fit.”

Retailersalso have the option to purchase data accessfor a few months. All contractscome with a 30-day money back guarantee.Retailers accessing 100,000 records in12 months pay 3 cents per request. Theprice drops to as low as a fraction of acent when volume reaches the millions.“Flexibility is the name of the game,”says Van Roekel. “This lets us work withsmall retailers up through the large ones.”

Trialperiods are important when retailers areconsidering an on-demand service. Itgives the retailer’s IT staff theopportunity to ensure that the technologylives up to expectations. But in somecases it also gives the retailers thechance to gauge customers’ views of theservice or the technology free ofcharge. SLI, for instance, includes a questionto measure customer satisfactionwhen the search result is returned. Questionsare kept simple so as to be lessintrusive, such as “Did you find these resultsuseful?”

Gaugingthe value

Askingthese types of questions helps retailers measurethe value of the platformduring the trial period. SLI will also report on thequality of the searchresults, whether the quality of results is improving, andif shoppers arefinding what they want.

Havingaccess to this information can help retailerstweak their site search to reduceabandonment. 73% of shoppers will leave ane-commerce site within two minutesof not finding the item they are searchingfor, according to an SLI sponsoredsurvey in late 2007. 36% of those surveyedsaid they would never return to thatsite and 56% said they would come back onlyif the site had completely uniqueitems that couldn’t be found elsewhere.Overall, 96% of those surveyed said aweb site’s search function is important tothe online shopping experience.

“Trialsare a way to prove ourselves as a provider andthat we can meet the client’sunique needs,” says Brash. “They also help retailerspredict their ROI afterroll out. Vendors need to demonstrate their capabilitiesupfront so retailersknow what they can expect from the vendor and how thevendor can help themachieve business goals.”

Thatis important because business objectives vary amongretailers. “Some measuresuccess by revenue increases, others measure it byreduction of complaints, andsome measure whether the length of shopper sessionsincreases,” Brash says.“Providing an on-demand solution that meets theparticular objectives helps toearn the retailer’s trust, which is important,because they can have concernsabout giving up control with the on-demandmodel.”

SLI’sSite Champion is an automated search engineoptimization service that tracksvisitors’ search terms and uses them to createrelated search links for each pageof a retailer’s site. Shoppers who click on arelated search link receiveresults for that term, directing them to cross-sellor upsell opportunities oradditional content relevant to the item they areresearching. Related searchlinks also increase natural search traffic byproviding links to the retailer’ssearch results pages that are crawled bysearch engine spiders.

Gettinga handle on costs

Asopposed to most in-house applications, where aretailer can amortize an upfrontinvestment so that the cost of using thetechnology goes down as usage rises,retailers in on-demand contracts pay on theamount of searches conducted byshoppers and fees rise in proportion to thevolume, which makes the serviceaffordable to small retailers. To help retailersget a handle on what they arelikely to pay, SLI tracks volume during the trialperiod and projects it out onan annual basis. Contracts can include the costfor potential spikes in volumesaround the holidays to bring a greater sense ofcertainty about costs to theretailer.

“Aprimary advantage of the on-demand model is that itis more nimble and helpsretailers keep pace in a fast changing environmentregardless of their size,”says Brash.

Dealingwith customer service inquiries at web sites isalso an area that can benefitfrom an on-demand model as shopper behaviorchanges and retailers arehard-pressed to keep up with the ever-increasingtechnology demands of thatevolution. “Shoppers are multi-channel and retailersneed a solution andstrategy to bridge the movement between the online andoffline channels,” sayseStara’s Jenkins.

Consumersoften research a product online and make thepurchase offline. This dynamicpresents a challenge for online retailers whostruggle with low conversions,high abandonment and transient customers.

Oneway to address this issue is to offer click-to-callfunctionality on a website. “Using this type of strategic engagement convertsthese shoppers at twicethe rate of those placing an inbound call because theyare looking to get overthe final hurdle to buy,” says Jenkins. “The goal is toprovide features thatempower the retailer to drive customer contacts thatconvert into sales andreduce abandonment.”

Oneof the primary benefits of on-demand software isthat upgrades are delivered tothe entire user base throughout the calendaryear, thereby reducing the cost ofdevelopment. Retailers access eStara’sapplications through the company’s webportal. The company provides quarterlyupgrades. To implement eStara’sclick-to-call application, retailers add a lineof programming code to eachpage in their site. The code uses a set of rules toidentify the type ofcustomer to engage. When a shopper clicks on the button,the service request isrouted through eStara to the retailer, which services theshopper. Retailerscan identify candidates to whom it wishes to present aclick-to-call buttonusing several metrics, such as click streams. A primeexample would be ashopper who places an item in her cart and then moves off theproduct page,only to return.

Cuttingcall costs

Automatingthe decision of which customers to engage,and when, is one piece of thepuzzle. Another piece of the puzzle is call centeragents’ ability to see theshopper’s session and the problem the shopper isseeking to resolve. The codingtags that identify each customer engagementcapture live data from theshopper’s session and automatically forward it to thecall center agent. Todetermine what data is necessary for the call center agentto service the shoppereStara tests how blind a retailer may be on inbound callsand what level ofdetail the agent needs to sees.

“Givingagents this information creates a bettercustomer experience and fasterresolution,” says Jenkins “If we can slice 30seconds off every inbound call bynot having to inquire about the problem thatis a huge cost savings to theclient.”

EStara’sco-browsing application works in a similarfashion showing the agent what theshopper sees. Agents can then enterinformation on the web page to aid theshopper. Shoppers do not have to downloada software applet to initiate aco-browse session.

Retailerspay a monthly fee for inbound calls. Thecompany charges additional fees if theretailer exceeds the contracted volume.Projected volumes are calculated usinginformation from the retailer, which cantest applications for 90 days.

Retailersalso need to remember that in order to makecustomer engagement work they mustmesh the objectives of the call center andweb site. “The objectives and goalsof each tend to differ, which is why a consultativeapproach is necessary toidentify the pain points,” says Jenkins. “This istechnology retailers need totake a closer look at.”

Given the growingthe popularity of on-demandplatforms, that is unlikely to be the case muchlonger.