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The subscription management space really sits at the intersection of ecommerce and online payments. It comes as no surprise, then, to see a giant like Amazon expanding their commitment in this space. What’s been really cool is how Vindicia has been playing a role in their recent moves behind the scenes. Several months ago, one of our clients approached us and asked if we would support Amazon payments. We get inquiries like this all the time- would we support the payment method or that one- but we only take on projects where we think there will be significant market adoption. After all, scaling our own business depends on getting leverage out of the R&D work that we do. Over the past few months we have been working closely with Amazon to understand what their business goals were with the new offering, and helping to share our perspective from dealing with hundreds of millions of subscriptions. There are some key questions that can make or break a payment method: For the merchant:

• How widely adopted is it?
• Does the user experience fit with the checkout process I already have?
• Will it be additive to my business, or will it just cannibalize existing payment methods?
• What is the commercial structure of the relationship?

For the consumer:

• Is this payment method accepted at sites selling content that I want?
• How do I reload the wallet?
• Is it a hassle when my underlying funding mechanism changes?
• What are the benefits of this payment mechanism over others I might already have?

Getting these aspects right from the beginning can mean the difference between a payment method that that languishes and on one that gains traction and share of wallet. We were pleased to offer to Amazon the key learnings that merchants consider when evaluating a new payment method. Now, one could be forgiven for wondering whether this is just cheeky self-promotion. After all, Amazon is literally the world’s largest ecommerce site. Our experience, though, is directly on point with the new product they were bringing out. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how receptive they were to our feedback. Over the course of several months of product development, we met a number of times, and they continued to enhance their product design based on the many sessions we had together. The product they are unveiling now should be well received in the market because they’ve taken the time to understand both the consumer’s perspective and the merchants’ viewpoint.  In the coming months, I’m looking forward to the debut of Amazon Payments on the websites of a number of clients who have been involved in the pre-launch development program. This is definitely a payment method that is both merchant friendly and carries significant benefit for the consumer.