Menu
-Discover trends driving the digital download popularity
-Get tips on how to integrate a digital download product to your ecommerce site
-Learn how Metallica, Ticketmaster, and SeaWorld are capitalizing on the digital download frenzy
Consumers are willing to pay 48 percent more for a physical product over the digital version.
75 percent of consumers say convenience is the top reason for purchasing an ebook.
Metallica.com sells downloadable music, content, and gift cards directly on its ecommerce site to provide a seamless experience for the band’s fans.
Twenty or thirty years ago, if you wanted tickets for the opening night of a movie or tickets to a concert in Madison Square Garden, you waited in line for the better part of a day. In the digital era, it’s no surprise that consumers ditched the long lines to purchase event and movies tickets online. As a result, the customer experience is holistically better from ticket purchase to the live event. The same can be said for music, content, and books. The simplest reason for consumers favoring digital downloads over their physical countertops is ease of use. Why wait three to five days for a package to be delivered or spend time driving to the store to buy the item?
When was the last time you went to the local music store and bought a new album? Or the last time you subscribed for a physical magazine, one that actually came in the mail each month? These once normal, everyday activities now seem almost archaic. Why sign up for a magazine when you can get all the same content online? Why drive to the store to buy a new album when you can go to iTunes or Spotify and access hundreds of thousands of songs in the palm of your hand?
If you’re looking to launch a new product, a digital download can make perfect sense: no inventory, infinite scalability, simplicity, and instant “free delivery.” Overall, digital downloads are considered a low risk—you’re not investing in physical storage or fulfillment and delivery centers, and you won’t have to worry about purchasing enough materials or units to meet customer demands. There’s no need for stock management or shipping calculations and delivery is free and instant…
Explore challenges for three brands that rely heavily on digital downloads. Metallica sells live music recordings, studio recordings, singles, gift cards, and PDFs on their ecommerce site— all available in digital download format. Ticketmaster is the largest ticket distribution company in the US, but still has to navigate the continually expanding market and being able to differentiate themselves from the competition, especially for resale tickets. Lastly, SeaWorld crafts a seamless user experience for a wide range of customers, including single park visitors, water park visitors, annual pass shoppers, hotel packages, and international visitors.
Learn strategies for investing in, pricing, designing, building a user experience, and marketing a digital download-focused ecommerce store. Not all industries are ideal for digital downloads, but fortunately, digital downloads do not require a substantial investment in terms of overhead. Concerns around piracy, consumer valuation of products, and speedy fulfillment should all be top of mind.
There are a number of tools that can make selling digital downloads easier and less expensive. In this section, we cover the benefits of finding technology vendors who can provide a host for files, payment gateway, fraud check, email communications, an order management solution, and an ecommerce platform.
This report also contains a list of other helpful resources to help you further your understanding and strengthen your position as a digital downloads expert.
We're friendly, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible! Please allow up to 5 business days for a response.
Blue Acorn is a digital agency and systems integrator dedicated to maximizing client satisfaction and online revenue for leading B2C and B2B brands. For all your ecommerce needs, an integrated team of designers, developers and strategists work together to deliver engaging shopping experiences for your customers and efficient processes for you. Whether you’re looking for fundamental or incremental change, the team at Blue Acorn will adopt your ecommerce KPIs as our own, and deliver the results that matter most to your organization. Services include replatforming, ecommerce design, systemsintegration, A/B testing, ongoing support, new feature development, analytics, and personalization.
About Fundamental Incremental Clients Blog