You may recall that we sent out an email survey a few weeks ago. The intent was to better understand what our readers were looking for, and also balance the amount of time it takes to run this publication. We haven’t raised some ridiculous amount of venture capital and have jobs that keep us otherwise occupied. We write this blog to be objective and transparent about events transpiring in the brick and mortar industries, even if it means we lose customers in our core business (WhatsBusy) because of it.
So please don’t say we have no skin in the game.
After collecting the survey results there were a few things apparent.
One, respondents contradicted each other on the value they would get from more detailed content. We intentionally listed options that would obfuscate what we were after, but compare the monthly investment results to the the quarterly ones. You would think the people who would be willing to pay $50 per quarter ($16.66/month) would have chosen the $10 monthly investment since it would represent a ~40% discount.
Even more, nobody chose the $30 per month option but the 4.2% of respondents who chose $75 per quarter ($25/mo) and $100 per quarter ($33.33) would effectively pay more than the $20/mo option.
Perhaps these respondents were only after a quarterly update of changes, though?
Two, merchants are still doing little to educate themselves; a meager 2.74% of respondents classified themselves as merchants. Considering we write a good bit about POS, and POS is likely the most crucial technological investment a merchant will ever make, the results perfectly explain why the industry is where it is. So when you admonish us for being unfair, reconsider your position – maybe we are just too honest.
Based upon these survey results (and thank you to those who took the time to complete it) we are making the below changes at Reforming Retail.
- We are now offering a $15/mo membership. Today, this investment gets you unrestricted access to content. We publish about 8 articles per month (2x per week). The limit for readers who aren’t members will be 3 articles every 30 days. At the end of 30 days the counter will reset and you will be able to view 3 more articles before the paywall alert pops up again. We landed on $15/mo because it averages the monthly and quarterly responses in the survey. We have no idea if the 3-article limit is right, and will probably play around with it over time.
- Some content will be exclusive to members. This includes a deep dive into solution providers in the space, where we will provide objective commentary and analysis of each. Expect the first traunch of solution providers to be launched later this year or early next – it takes a lot of time to get the right information from each one.
- Further develop value-add platforms that better connect our readers. Because we’ve been able to accumulate a decent following we are considering ways to help our readers better compete. We don’t want to say too much – because it might ultimately prove to be a distraction – but there are some initiatives we’re considering based upon reader feedback.
If you want to grab a membership, you can do so here. We’d appreciate your support and hope that you find the meager investment worthwhile for your professional development.
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