October 14, 2008

Selling Packaged Software To Consumers

Consumer Product Strategists Should Push Software Subscriptions More Aggressively

by J.P. Gownder, Remy Fiorentino

with Michelle de Lussanet, Laura Wiramihardja

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Four out of five US households have a PC, but most consumers spend $50 or less each year on software. Free software bundled with new PCs, as well as free and open source software and Web-based applications, have made it much more difficult to sell consumers packaged software. Despite the plethora of free applications available, most consumers still want to purchase commercial software, but they find the prices to be prohibitive. Data analytics can help product strategists and marketers identify the segments most likely to purchase software. A consumer software subscription (CSS) sales model will help lower the barriers to entry for consumers — and will also provide vendors with a more predictable revenue stream.

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