I agree from one perspective it is good that cutomers have credit cards on file, I just think this could be off-putting for some people and impossible for others, and since first impressions when you buy a product are important, avoiding hassle for brand new customers would be better than nailing them on the cc when they sign up.
-Joel
I think a good compromise would be something like this in the account signup (anthropomorphized):
Roku: Please enter your credit card so you can use the built in Roku app store.
User: No thanks.
Roku: Are you sure? If you don’t link a card, you can’t use our store, not even for free channels. This will limit you to only the Netflix, MLB and Amazon channels.
User: That’s okay, I’d rather not.
Roku: Okay, we’ll create your account now without a CC. Whenever you attempt to add a channel in the channel store, we’ll send you a gentle reminder that you need to set up a CC to access all these wonderful things. (But we’ll still let you look at them all!) Have fun with your new Roku!
“kbenson” wrote:
I think a good compromise would be something like this in the account signup (anthropomorphized):Roku: Please enter your credit card so you can use the built in Roku app store.
User: No thanks.
Roku: Are you sure? If you don’t link a card, you can’t use our store, not even for free channels. This will limit you to only the Netflix, MLB and Amazon channels.
User: That’s okay, I’d rather not.
Roku: Okay, we’ll create your account now without a CC. Whenever you attempt to add a channel in the channel store, we’ll send you a gentle reminder that you need to set up a CC to access all these wonderful things. (But we’ll still let you look at them all!) Have fun with your new Roku!+1
So basically now, say
“krazy” wrote:
- can the provider still can sell on his own with codes etc.. and not lose that 30% ?
I don’t see anything stopping you from using some alternate authentication mechanism to try to limit running of your channels, such as some login system you set up. The 30% cut is really for management and tracking of the installation and the whole billing infrastructure. If you think you can set up and maintain something equivalent and make more money doing that, more power to you (that’s how Netflix works).
paypal is a payment processor and they charge like 3% only not comparing both but, the infrastructure should be lesser than what owned by paypal
what i think is 30% is very very huge , there will be nothing left to the distributor especially in video content business at this rate
70/30 is standard for application/channel stores across the industry for on-time purchases. For subscription, contact us (partners@roku.com)
Even still, we think the increased ease of purchase plus increased exposure should add up to a better ROI than running your own service on the backend.
I was looking for documentation on this feature - did I miss it?
I was wondering if the subscription model has multiple levels or options. For instance, will be able to say “$X monthly”, “$X every 6 months”, and “$X annually”? Many subscription models allow for this and give certain discounts for longer renewal rates.
“retrotom” wrote:
I was wondering if the subscription model has multiple levels or options. For instance, will be able to say “$X monthly”, “$X every 6 months”, and “$X annually”? Many subscription models allow for this and give certain discounts for longer renewal rates.
Monthly or annually for subscriptions.
Is there any functionality available that would allow us to give users limited time or one time use discount/free codes?
A few examples:
A marketing promo in which the first 50 users to respond get a code that will let them get our newest app free, instead of normal price.
Completing all levels in a puzzle game reveals a code good for half off any other game we make.
“Use this code this Saturday only and get $1 off of all our paid apps.”
Having implemented promo systems before, I’m aware the above is a fair chunk of functionality. 
For now, I’m just asking if there is any functionality of this type available or planned, and if so, what it provides.
Do applications have to be modified to take advantage of this billing through Roku?
Regards,
Manuel.-
“retrotom” wrote:
I was wondering if the subscription model has multiple levels or options. For instance, will be able to say “$X monthly”, “$X every 6 months”, and “$X annually”? Many subscription models allow for this and give certain discounts for longer renewal rates.
Bad Pun warning:
you mean I can’t have $X every day?
“jbrave” wrote:
“retrotom” wrote:
I was wondering if the subscription model has multiple levels or options. For instance, will be able to say “$X monthly”, “$X every 6 months”, and “$X annually”? Many subscription models allow for this and give certain discounts for longer renewal rates.Bad Pun warning:
you mean I can’t have $X every day?
Bravo sir.
“GandK-Geoff” wrote:
Is there any functionality available that would allow us to give users limited time or one time use discount/free codes?A few examples:
A marketing promo in which the first 50 users to respond get a code that will let them get our newest app free, instead of normal price.
Completing all levels in a puzzle game reveals a code good for half off any other game we make.
“Use this code this Saturday only and get $1 off of all our paid apps.”
Having implemented promo systems before, I’m aware the above is a fair chunk of functionality.
Ping?
Right now, those types of promos are not possible. We are working to improve the promotional features, however.
“RokuPatrick” wrote:
Right now, those types of promos are not possible. We are working to improve the promotional features, however.
Thanks!
“krazy” wrote:
paypal is a payment processor and they charge like 3% only not comparing both but, the infrastructure should be lesser than what owned by paypal
what i think is 30% is very very huge , there will be nothing left to the distributor especially in video content business at this rate
Ran across this today, and think it’s relevant to this older conversation. http://feefighters.com/paypal-calculator
It really illustrates the benefit for the channel store for very cheap channels. Paypal is easy to integrate, but they are actually more expensive than the channel store 30% when the channel is $0.99. As the price goes up, paypal becomes more attractive compared to the channel store, as long as you don’t mind tracking sales/subscription data. For some online sites it’s already a requirement for their normal business, so of course it makes sense to go that route. At the other end of the spectrum is integrating a merchant processor for your own online billing. This will (apparently) let you achieve the best profits, but that requires quite a bit more up-front effort to do correctly (as I can attest to, and did so earlier in this thread).
Anyways, more food for through on those considering which payment scheme to go with.
P.S. I hope Roku has a really good deal with a merchant processor, otherwise they are getting frighteningly little for the $0.99 channels.
“RokuPatrick” wrote:
Right now, those types of promos are not possible. We are working to improve the promotional features, however.
Any info on this? I would love to be able to give out promotional codes or something.
This is horrible. Forcing a user to enter a credit card or paypal account will drive a lot of users away.
We have been testing Roku and want to use it for our users. We would like to recommend to all our users to use Roku instead of our current platform.
However it is going to be a hard sell to my users that they have to put a credit card on file with Roku.
They may never purchase anything from the Roku app store.
We have 15,000 users and this might be something that send us looking for a new solution.
I hope Roku reconsiders mandatory credit card (or paypal) on signup
