Tech To Watch: Profiles

Digital River

Minneapolis-based Digital River bills itself as a multichannel e-commerce solution provider, whose clients include big-time tech companies such as Computer Associates, Microsoft, Novell, SanDisk and Symantec. The company builds, manages and hosts businesses for more than 40,000 software publishers, manufacturers, distributors and online retailers.

Whatever service a company needs to sell its products online, Digital River can provide, according to Ed Merritt, vice president, investor relations. The company develops, hosts and processes shipments--both physical and online--and implements fraud protection and other services. The company doesn't actually own any inventory, but works with distributors like Ingram Micro.

"We operate on a revenue-sharing model," Merritt said. "When our clients sell products, we make money, and technology is at the heart of everything we do."

The company has recently focused on providing more marketing services to its clients, such as site optimization, "to provide as many click-throughs as possible," Merritt said.

Digital River can go behind the scenes of a client's online site, Merritt said, and covertly steer traffic away to another location. For instance, a user can access a Web site, and get one look, while another user can access the same Web site, which might have differences, such as various graphics. The sites are all under the same URL, but are tested against each other to find which has better traffic conversion.

The company's strategy is to stay global, which sets it apart from its competitors, according to Merritt, with six international offices.

Another growth driver this year will be an expansion into new vertical markets, Merritt said, such as the gaming space, and also investing in new technology around the new verticals.

"The bottom line is: We want to sell your product," Merritt said.

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