Implement a Pricing Model

Pricing models for digital products come in all shapes and sizes, depending on how customers want to use and pay for a product or service. Here is an overview of the four pricing models that the Cleverbridge platform supports, as well as some quick facts about them:

Pricing Models

One-Time Charge Pricing Model

In the one-time charge pricing model, customers pay only once for the exact services rendered at the time of use. The customer An individual or business purchasing your product or service by placing an order through Cleverbridge. The customer is the end user of this product, as they are not allowed to resell the purchased products or services. ​ A customer is unique per client. If a customer purchases products or services from two different clients, there are 2 separate records of said customer.​ pays before or after the service is provided. This pricing model is best for services that are delivered on demand, such as renting a movie online (payment Exchange of money for goods and services in an acceptable amount to the customer where the payment amount has been agreed upon in advance. The customer can only pay with an accepted payment method. Each payment has an individual payment cost. before downloading a movie) or a ride with Uber (payment after the ride).

Fixed Pricing Model

In the fixed pricing model, customers pay a flat fee for a service, such as streaming music. The fee is set for a billing interval and customers are billed upfront on a recurring basis, typically monthly or yearly. The fee can be linear (the same price for each billing interval) or variable (different price for each billing interval). Customers can change their level of service through an upgrade or downgrade. The fixed pricing model can be seen in services such as Apple Music and Netflix.

Seat-Based Pricing Model

The seat-based (or user-based) pricing model allows you to define a price for your product per seat and for a specific time period, for example $20/user/month. In this pricing model, your plan could define a minimum commitment of seats or you could allow a customer to add more seats at any time. You could also charge different amounts for different types of users, for example $10/month for admin users and $5/month for end users. The seat-based pricing model can be seen in products such as collaborative software or Dropbox for teams.

Usage-Based Pricing Model

Under a usage-based pricing model, customers only pay for what they consume and they are normally charged for their usage on a monthly basis. In this pricing model, billing occurs after the consumption of the service, either on a fixed date, for example, the first day of the month, or on the anniversary of a customer’s sign-up date. The usage based pricing model can be seen in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, and a mobile phone subscription billed according to the services you used.

Quick Facts about Pricing Models

The following diagram presents categories of pricing models depending on two aspects: price scaling and billing cadence. Price scaling determines how many products or services a customer buys (seat-based) or how broad the level of the service is, for example separate tiers for basic, professional, and enterprise version (tier-based). Billing cadence defines when the product or service gets billed (one-time or recurring).

The two aspects are not mutually excluding, and you can combine a recurring fixed-price product with seat-based pricing or a recurring usage-based product with seat-based pricing.

In addition to the four pricing models mentioned on this page, Cleverbridge supports also the tier-based model. If you would like to set a tier-based model, see Configure > Product Selection Menu.

Examples for Implementing a Pricing Model

One-Time Charge Pricing

The following provides examples of how you could leverage the subscription commerce platform to implement the one-time charge pricing model. In this use case, a fictional client, Film Now, has a portal where customers can create an account on the Film Now website and then start to buy or rent movies using the Cleverbridge platform.

Process Transaction

To process a transaction, Film Now does the following:

1. When a customer wants to buy or rent a movie, Film Now creates a session URL using the following API route: /urlgenerator/generateusersessionurl. This creates a link to a checkout process where the customer can complete or update the Cleverbridge payment profile and complete the transaction.

   Example

   The following is a sample checkout URL, which is submitted as the TargetUrl in the API call:

   https://<secure.yourdomain.com>/<your client account ID>/purl-checkout?internalcustomer=<uuid-of-the-customer>&cart=<ID of the movie>&firstname=<name>&lastname=<name>

   Note

   When you create the session URL, you can predefine user information such as firstname, lastname or emailaddress. For a list of the available parameters, see Customer Data.

   Note

   To assign the transaction to a customer in your database, use the internalcustomer parameter to implement Single Sign-on (SSO). When the customer buys additional products or services, Cleverbridge will pre-populate the billing profile and simplify the buying process. This has proven to increase the conversion rate. For more information, see Single Sign-On (SSO).

2. Film Now redirects the customer to the link found in the API response. The customer can then modify the payment profile and submit a payment.

   Note

   If the customer chooses an offline payment Offline payment stands for a group of payment options that do not involve online transactions like direct debit, wire transfers, and checks. With the order confirmation, the customer receives a link with information on how to make the payment. Ordered products are delivered as soon as Cleverbridge receives payment confirmation from the payment provider. option (see Available Payment Options – Overview), you receive a NewOfflinePaymentPurchaseNotification. Use this notification to provide payment instructions in the Customer Self-Service portal.

3. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends Film Now a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.
4. Film Now entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

   Note

   You can import all information for a transaction immediately, including links to the invoice. Alternatively, you can use the following API route to get all relevant transaction details: /purchase/getpurchase.

Update Payment Profile

To allow customers to keep their payment profile up-to-date and avoid involuntary churn, Film Now integrates the self-service change payment process that Cleverbridge offers into their website.

Update Billing Contact

To keep the billing contact information of the customer in sync with their CRM, Film Now does the following:

1. Film Now calls the following API route: /subscription/updatecontact

   The API call includes:

   • Updated contact information
   • CustomerReferenceID
2. Film Now receives a CustomerProfileUpdateNotification.

Issue Partial Refund

When a customer receives a partial refund because they forgot to provide a valid VAT ID, missed a marketing campaign, or logged a complaint, Film Now receives a PartialRefundNotification. After receiving this notification, Film Now adds the refund document to the list of invoices in the customer’s Self-Service portal.

Issue Full Refund

When a customer receives a full refund, Film Now receives a FullRefundNotification. If the entitlement is still active, Film Now disentitles the customer to watch the movie.

Fixed Pricing

The following provides examples of how you could leverage the subscription commerce platform to implement the fixed pricing model. In this use case, a fictional company, New Tunes, offers a music streaming service in which your customers are billed on a recurring basis, either monthly or yearly.

Sign Up

Under the fixed pricing model, the customer must first sign up for a subscription and create a payment profile. To enable a customer to complete the signup, New Tunes does the following:

1. Once a customer initiates a transaction, New Tunes creates a signup URL (a simple checkout link).

   Example

   The following is a sample checkout URL:

   https://<secure.yourdomain.com>/<your client account ID>/purl-checkout?cart=<ID of the music>&firstname=Han&lastname=Solo

   When you create the session URL, you can predefine user information such as firstname, lastname or emailaddress. For a complete list of parameters, see Customer Data.

   Note

   If you want to use an existing payment profile to create the signup URL, generate a session URL and include the customer's UUID. For more information, see Single Sign-On (SSO).

2. New Tunes redirects the customer to the link. The customer then completes the payment profile and submits the payment.

   Note

   If the customer chooses an offline payment option Set of payment choices displayed to the customer on the checkout page. Available payment options are based on the customer's GeoIP location and include different payment methods and types, for example: a Purchase order (PO) is a payment option we offer our B2B customers. POs are usually paid via the payment method of wire transfer. (e.g. wire transfer), you receive a NewOfflinePaymentPurchaseNotification. Use the NewOfflinePaymentPurchaseNotification to provide a visual confirmation of the transaction to the user in the Customer Self-Service portal. You should also provide payment instructions on the confirmation page The confirmation page is displayed after a customer makes a purchase. The confirmation page contains the order confirmation and delivery information.. A link to the confirmation page is included in the CustomerConfirmationPageUrlNotification.

3. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends New Tunes a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.

4. New Tunes entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

Auto-Renew

When a subscription is set to auto-renewal, Cleverbridge automatically processes the renewal transaction for New Tunes. During this process, the following occurs:

1. Cleverbridge sends the customer an email reminding them that they will be charged in "x" days. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends New Tunes a SubscriptionReminderChargeNotification.

   Note

   Some customer emails are optional and are not active by default. For more information, see Customer Email Types.

2. On the renewal date, Cleverbridge triggers the renewal transaction using the customer's existing payment profile.

   Note

   Different events occur if a customer uses an offline payment option. For more information, see Flow Charts for Notification Events.

3. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends New Tunes a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.
4. New Tunes entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

Extend Renewal Date

To extend a customer’s renewal date, due to a free trial or complaint, New Tunes does the following:

1. New Tunes gets the current renewal date of the subscription via the following API route: /subscription/getsubscription?subscriptionid={subscriptionid}
2. New Tunes adds the date extension to the current renewal date
3. New Tunes updates the renewal date via the following API route: /subscription/updatenextbillingdate
4. New Tunes receives a SubscriptionBillingDateExtendedNotification.

Switch to Different Billing Interval (Immediate)

Most customers start with the shortest billing interval as it requires the smallest commitment. Once users feel more comfortable with the product they are willing to commit to a longer billing interval because they typically receive a discount of 10% to 20%.

To enable a customer to immediately switch billing plans, New Tunes does the following:

1. Once New Tunes is informed that a customer wants to switch billing plans, they call the following API route: /subscription/updatesubscriptionitem.

   The API call includes:

   • ProductId (billing plan)
   • AlignmentSettings
     • GetCustomerPricePreviewOnly = true
     • AlignToCurrentInterval = true

   In the API response, New Tunes receives the new price that the customer will have to pay.

2. New Tunes displays the new price to the customer in their app or on their website.
3. Once the customer confirms the new price, New Tunes calls the same API route: /subscription/updatesubscriptionitem.

   This time, the API call includes:

   • ProductId (billing plan)
   • AlignmentSettings
     • GetCustomerPricePreviewOnly = false
     • AlignToCurrentInterval = true
4. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends New Tunes a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.

   Note

   If Cleverbridge cannot process the transaction because the customer's payment profile is invalid, forward the customer to the ContinueUrl which you can find in the API response. The user can use the URL to update their profile and complete the transaction.

5. New Tunes entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

   Note

   You can import all information for a transaction immediately, including links to the invoice. Alternatively, you can use the following API route to get all relevant transaction details: /purchase/getpurchase.

Switch to Different Billing Interval (Next Renewal Date)

Sometimes customers may want to switch from yearly to monthly plans on the next renewal date. To enable them to switch on the next renewal date, New Tunes calls the following API route: /subscription/updatesubscriptionitem.

The API call includes:

• ProductId (New Product)
• AlignmentSettings
  • OnlyAlignToCurrentInterval = false

Add a Discount to a Renewal

When New Tunes wants to win back a customer that has not been pleased with their service, they could offer them a discount. They have two options to do so:

Update Billing Contact

To keep the billing contact information of the customer in sync with their CRM, New Tunes does the following:

1. New Tunes calls the following API route: /subscription/updatecontact

   The API call includes:

   • Updated contact information
   • CustomerReferenceID
2. New Tunes receives a CustomerProfileUpdateNotification.

Change Payment Profile

To allow customers to keep their payment profile up-to-date and avoid involuntary churn, New Tunes integrates the self-service change payment process that Cleverbridge offers into their website.

Seat-Based Pricing

The following provides examples of how you could leverage the subscription commerce platform to implement the seat-based (or user-based) pricing model. In this use case, Shieldware offers access to security software which customers pay for on a monthly basis. In their business model, the client charges 10 USD/month for every user.

Sign Up

Under the seat-based pricing model, the customer must first sign up for a subscription and create a payment profile.

1. Once a customer initiates a transaction, Shieldware creates a signup URL (a simple checkout link).

   Example

   The following is a sample checkout URL:

   https://<secure.yourdomain.com>/<your client account ID>/purl-checkout?cart=<ID of the music>&firstname=Han&lastname=Solo

   When you create the session URL, you can predefine user information such as firstname, lastname or emailaddress. For a complete list of parameters, see Customer Data.

   Note

   If you want to use an existing payment profile to create the signup URL, generate a session URL and include the customer's UUID. For more information, see Single Sign-On (SSO).

2. Shieldware redirects the customer to the link. The customer then completes the payment profile and submits the payment.

   Note

   If the customer chooses an offline payment option (e.g. wire transfer), you receive a NewOfflinePaymentPurchaseNotification. Use the NewOfflinePaymentPurchaseNotification to provide a visual confirmation of the transaction to the user in the Customer Self-Service portal. You should also provide payment instructions on the confirmation page. A link to the confirmation page is included in the CustomerConfirmationPageUrlNotification.

3. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends Shieldware a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.
4. Shieldware entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

   Note

   You can import all information for a transaction immediately, including links to the invoice. Alternatively, you can use the following API route to get all relevant transaction details: /purchase/getpurchase.

Auto-Renew

When a subscription is set to auto-renewal, Cleverbridge automatically processes the renewal transaction for Shieldware. During this process, the following occurs:

1. Cleverbridge sends the customer an email reminding them that they will be charged in "x" days. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends Shieldware a SubscriptionReminderChargeNotification.

   Note

   Some customer emails are optional and are not active by default. For more information, see Customer Email Types.

2. On the renewal date, Cleverbridge triggers the renewal transaction using the customer's existing payment profile.

   Note

   Different events occur if a customer uses an offline payment option. For more information, see Flow Charts for Notification Events.

3. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends Shieldware a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.
4. Shieldware entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

Add Users

To add more users to a customer's subscription, Shieldware does the following:

5. Shieldware calls the following API route: /subscription/updatesubscriptionitem

   The API call includes the following:

   • Quantity (of users)
   • AlignmentSettings
     • GetCustomerPricePreviewOnly = true
     • AlignToCurrentInterval = true
6. In the API response, Shieldware receives updated pricing details which the customer has to confirm.

   Tip

   When dealing with a monthly subscription term it might be useful to renew the subscription by a full renewal term to avoid microtransactions. To do so, include the following setting: TriggerImmediateRenewal = true.

7. Once the customer has confirmed the new pricing, Shieldware triggers the transaction by calling the API route again: /subscription/updatesubscriptionitem

   This time, the API call includes the following:

   • Quantity (of users)
   • AlignmentSettings
     • GetCustomerPricePreviewOnly = false
     • AlignToCurrentInterval = true
8. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends Shieldware a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.

   Note

   If Cleverbridge cannot process the transaction because the customer's payment profile is invalid, forward the customer to the ContinueUrl which you can find in the API response. The user can use the URL to update their profile and complete the transaction.

9. Shieldware entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

   Note

   You can import all information for a transaction immediately, including links to the invoice. Alternatively, you can use the following API route to get all relevant transaction details: /purchase/getpurchase.

Add New Service

To add an additional service to a customer's subscription, Shieldware does the following:

1. Shieldware calls the following API route: /subscription/addsubscriptionitem

   The API call includes:

   • ProductId (Additional Service)
   • AlignmentSettings
     • GetCustomerPricePreviewOnly = true
     • AlignToCurrentInterval = true
2. In the API response, Shieldware receives updated pricing details which the customer has to confirm.
3. Once the customer has confirmed the new pricing, Shieldware triggers the transaction by calling the API route again: /subscription/addsubscriptionitem

   This time, the API call includes:

   • ProductId (Additional Service)
   • AlignmentSettings
     • GetCustomerPricePreviewOnly = false
     • AlignToCurrentInterval = true
4. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends Shieldware a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.
5. Shieldware entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

   Note

   You can import all information for a transaction immediately, including links to the invoice. Alternatively, you can use the following API route to get all relevant transaction details: /purchase/getpurchase.

Change Payment Profile

To allow customers to keep their payment profile up-to-date and avoid involuntary churn, Shieldware integrates the self-service change payment process that Cleverbridge offers into their website.

Usage-Base Pricing

The following provides examples of how you could leverage the subscription commerce platform to implement the usage-based pricing model. In this use case, a fictional company, CloudBit, offers security scans for corporate networks. On the first of every month, CloudBit calculates how many scans they conducted during the prior period, and they use the subscription commerce platform to charge their customers.

Sign Up

Under the usage based pricing model, the customer must first sign up for a subscription and create a payment profile.

To enable a customer to sign up, CloudBit does the following:

1. Once a customer initiates a transaction, CloudBit creates a signup URL (a simple checkout link).

   Example

   The following is a sample checkout URL:

   https://<secure.yourdomain.com>/<your client account ID>/purl-checkout?cart=<ID of the music>&firstname=Han&lastname=Solo

   When you create the session URL, you can predefine user information such as firstname, lastname or emailaddress. For a complete list of parameters, see Customer Data.

   Note

   If you want to use an existing payment profile to create the signup URL, generate a session URL and include the customer's UUID. For more information, see Single Sign-On (SSO).

2. CloudBit redirects the customer to the link. The customer then completes the payment profile and submits the payment.

   Note

   If the customer chooses an offline payment option (e.g. wire transfer), you receive a NewOfflinePaymentPurchaseNotification. Use the NewOfflinePaymentPurchaseNotification to provide a visual confirmation of the transaction to the user in the Customer Self-Service portal. You should also provide payment instructions on the confirmation page. A link to the confirmation page is included in the CustomerConfirmationPageUrlNotification.

3. Once cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation, Cleverbridge sends CloudBit a PaidOrderNotification. For more information, see Notification Types.
4. CloudBit entitles the customer to the product. Cleverbridge simultaneously sends the customer a confirmation email, which includes an invoice.

Charge for Usage

To learn how to charge customers for usage, contact Client Experience

Enable Customers to Purchase More Data

• For a full description of how this is possible with the Cleverbridge platform, see the following use cases:
• Renew a Data-Limited Subscription Early at Full Price
• Renew a Data-Limited Subscription Early at Custom Price
• Combine a Data Usage Upgrade with an Early Full-Price Renewal
• Combine a Usage Data Upgrade with an Early Custom-Price Renewal
• Combine Usage Data Downgrade with an Early Full-Price Renewal

Offer Discount

To use promotional tools such as volume pricing, coupons, etc., CloudBit does the following:

1. To avoid churn, CloudBit tries to update the customer's payment information (if they are a credit card user) by calling the following API route: /subscription/updateaccount.
2. CloudBit submits the promotion to the following API route: /cart/processcart

   Note

   To offer promotional incentives, you must set them up in the Cleverbridge platform. For more information, see Provide Incentives for Purchase.

Change Payment Profile

To allow customers to keep their payment profile up-to-date and avoid involuntary churn, CloudBit integrates the self-service change payment process that Cleverbridge offers into their website.