Pricing Strategies and Promotion Best Practices

By: Jim Sills Ph.D., CTO, Revionics, Inc

Revionics has pioneered the delivery of price, promotion, and markdown optimization thru the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. This delivery model is much more cost effective than either on-premise or on-demand delivery. Instead of purchasing a software license up front and then paying annual maintenance, SaaS is a subscription-based offering where retailers pay-as-you-go. Revionics assumes all the risk of owning and managing the hardware. All customers are on the same version of the software, so up it is much easier to manage for Revionics—and more cost effective for the retailer. Most importantly, the SaaS model aligns the interests of Revionics with the retailer because is the solution does not deliver value, the retailer is free to cancel their subscription.

SaaS is a game-changing technology trend that is gaining momentum . Today, every major software vendor has a SaaS initiative including Microsft, Oracle, and SAP. This is a triumph of Marc Benioff—the founder and CEO of Salesforce.com. The SaaS model was pioneered by Marc at Salesforce. Recently Marc told his story in his book—Behind the Cloud. This book tells the story of how Marc built Salesforce. He shares his experience and wisdom with the reader. Anyone who works with SaaS technology will benefit from the insights that Marc provides.

I want to encourage retailers to pick up this book. As an incentive, I’ll will give $20.00 to the first retailer who correctly responds by email (marketing@revionics.com) to the questions below.

The pirate flag that flew over Apple in the early days was a symbol encouraging employees to

1. Sink Microsoft
2. Think differently
3. Rebel against the establishment
4. Share songs on the internet

According to Gartner Group, what percentage of Siebel license sales resulted in shelfware?

1. 15%
2. 25%
3. 35%
4. 65%

What company is known for its Machiavellian culture as personified by “We eat our young”?

1. SAP
2. Left Coast Software
3. Saba
4. Oracle

In early 2000, Salesforce.com gave an extravagant party with a theme pulled from this classic author?

1. Sun Tzu
2. Virgil
3. Dante
4. Homer

Who attended the Dreamforce 2004 user conference?

1. George Bush
2. Colin Powell
3. Malcolm Gladwell
4. Howard Schultz

Who was SalesForce’s first customer?

1. Blue Martini
2. iSyndicatel
3. Walmart
4. SunGard

Early enhancements to Salesforce included

1. Adding an API
2. Renaming the Tabs
3. Converting the Technology to ABAP
4. Monitoring customer usage

Which of the following are Salesforce brands

1. Apex
2. Force.com
3. AppExchance
4. IdeaStorm
5. Trust.Salesforce.com

The 1-1-1 model represents

1. Travelers can carry 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger placed in screening bin. 1 liquid ounce volume per bottle.
2. Integrated philanthropy 1 percent equity, 1 percent time, 1 percent product.
3. Sales force desired to be #1 in North America, #1 in Europe, and #1 in Asia.

Who stated, “You can’t just give computers to schools—you have to train the teachers.”

1. Julie Trell
2. Alan Hassenfeld
3. Suzanne DiBianca
4. Colin Powell

Employees who have a favorable impression of their company’s philanthropy  are

1. Twice as likely to remain with their employer.
2. Three times as likely to remain with their employer.
3. Four times as likely to remain with their employer.
4. Five times as likely to remain with their employer.

Where did Salesforce locate their first European Headquarters?

1. London
2. Paris
3. Frankfurt
4. Dublin

What was the total amount of funding that Salesforce raised

1. $15 M
2. $35 M
3. $65 M
4. $105 M

Microsoft has a valuation of 4.5 times revenue, what is Salesforce’s valuation

1. 4 times revenue
2. 5 times revenue
3. 6 times revenue
4. 8 times revenue