Digital River And Incentra Solutions Follow Different Paths To Success

Digital River (2008 CRN Fast Growth 100 No. 95) bills itself as a multichannel e-commerce solution provider, whose clients include big-time tech companies such as Microsoft, Redmond, Wash.; Novel, Waltham, Mass. and Symantec, Cupertino, Calif. Digital River builds, manages and hosts businesses for more than 40,000 software publishers, manufacturers, distributors and online retailers.

Whatever service a company needs in order to sell its products online, Digital River can provide, according to Ed Merritt, vice president of investor relations. The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company develops, hosts and processes shipments (both physical and online), implements fraud protection and provides other services. The company doesn't actually own any inventory, but works with distributors such as Ingram Micro, Santa Ana, Calif.

"We operate on a revenue-sharing model," Merritt explained. "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 view, while another user can also 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 in this year will be an expansion into new vertical markets, Merritt noted, 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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