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> <channel><title>Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog &#187; API</title> <atom:link href="http://www.getelastic.com/category/technical/ecommerce-development/api-ecommerce-development-technical/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><link>http://www.getelastic.com</link> <description>#1 Subscribed Ecommerce Blog</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 14:19:14 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2</generator> <item><title>Google Glass: Is G-Commerce Next?</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/google-glass-is-g-commerce-next/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/google-glass-is-g-commerce-next/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:04:16 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=17691</guid> <description><![CDATA[Google Glass is nearing consumer launch, with Google already holding developer hack-a-thons and offering advanced pairs (at a $1500 price tag) to contest winners. As a novel device that&#8217;s expected to run apps and connect to the Internet, the natural curiosity is what potential it holds for digital marketers and ecommerce. Is G-Commerce on the [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/google-glass-model1.jpg" class="alignleft" />Google Glass is <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/whats-behind-google-glass/" target="_blank">nearing consumer launch</a>, with Google already holding developer hack-a-thons and offering advanced pairs (at a $1500 price tag) to <a
href="http://www.google.com/glass/start/how-to-get-one/" target="_blank">contest winners</a>.</p><p>As a novel device that&#8217;s expected to run apps and connect to the Internet, the natural curiosity is what potential it holds for digital marketers and ecommerce. Is G-Commerce on the horizon?</p><h2>A disruptive device?</h2><p>Like smartphones and tablets, Glass can capture input and send and receive information. Innovative as it is for headwear, nothing it does can&#8217;t be done through smartphones &#8212; take a picture, record video, check stocks, weather, email, receive texts, make a video call, use GPS, etc. The differentiator is that it&#8217;s hands-free (aside from controls on the side of the device), enabling quicker access to information, while bringing the connection &#8220;closer to the senses.&#8221;</p><p>Elastic Path digital commerce strategist David Chiu comments:</p><blockquote><p>I don&#8217;t think that Glass will be disruptive just because it&#8217;s a wearable device. That&#8217;s like saying that a mobile phone with no software or apps is disruptive. Both are just pieces of glass that provide a UI. The disruptive part will be the evolution/creation of digital products and services which provide value-adds that weren&#8217;t previously practical without that specific kind of screen (PC, laptop, television, tablet, mobile, and now wearable).</p></blockquote><p>Developers will shape the utility of Glass, but ultimately it&#8217;s Glass users who will determine what &#8220;sticks.&#8221; But that doesn&#8217;t mean we can&#8217;t do some crystal-ballin&#8217; on what <em>may</em> emerge.</p><h2>Disrupting Search</h2><p>Perhaps Glass&#8217; biggest disruptive potential is how we search when we&#8217;re on the go. Google&#8217;s mobile Search app currently supports image capture search. For example, aiming the camera at a book&#8217;s barcode using the Google Search app&#8230;</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/barcode-scan.jpg" /></p><p>&#8230;brings up options to search Google Shopping or view in Google Books.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/barcode-results.jpg" /></p><p>Google Shopping further drills down to vendor results and &#8220;search nearby.&#8221;</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/search-nearby.jpg" /></p><p>A Glass Search app is a no-brainer. A mash-up with Maps and a database of local product inventory (provided through data feeds from local merchants) leveraging GPS could provide directions to the nearest copy of this book, all without pulling your phone out of your pocket.</p><p>But Google&#8217;s more ambitious than this &#8212; it could one day disrupt its own search engine baby with the expansion of its card-based Android app <a
href="http://www.google.com/landing/now/" target="_blank">Google Now</a>. <a
href="http://www.droid-life.com/2012/12/05/here-is-the-complete-list-of-google-now-cards/" target="_blank">Cards</a> are packets of information organized around subjects like sports, travel, weather, real estate and restaurants that are personalized and predictive, like an always-on digital butler.</p><p
align="center"><iframe
width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pPqliPzHYyc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Imagine a Google Shopping card, integrated with Google Wallet, that enables a purchase experience like this:</p><p><object
width="560" height="315"><param
name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QITw-4TDgrM?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0"></param><param
name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param
name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed
src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QITw-4TDgrM?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p><p>Glass could capture a barcode, scour the Google Shopping database and identify available product attributes, enabling the Glass user to add to a virtual cart and purchase. The card could use a predictive decision engine that selects the lowest price plus shipping source (or highest rated merchant), eliminating the need to comparison shop or share financial information with any third party.</p><h2>Will you need a Glass App?</h2><p>Glass is paired to a mobile device, so it could easily tap into existing smartphone apps. Glass has an API for developers, but it&#8217;s too early to make a business case for Glass-specific ecommerce apps.</p><p>However, Glass may in the short-term boost Android&#8217;s momentum, amping the priority for developing Android apps over iOS. Considering <a
href="http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=clientFriendlyUrl&#038;id=2334916" target="_blank">Apple&#8217;s share of the mobile OS market</a> is decomposing, iOS apps may become much more of a luxury than a necessity for mobile commerce.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/gartner-mobile-OS-market-share1.jpg" /></p><p>In the long-term, rather than require native apps, Glass and other &#8220;smart&#8221; products are expected to be platform agnostic, fetching and sending data from apps in the cloud, sending and receiving only the digital information it needs to perform its own relevant functions. Gartner calls this &#8220;<a
href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2342115" target="_blank">cognizant computing</a>.&#8221;</p><blockquote><p>Cognizant computing is not a new concept, it is the natural evolution of a world driven not by devices but rather collections of applications and services that extend across multiple platforms and exist outside the realm of connected screens, such as phones, tablets, PCs or televisions.</p></blockquote><h2>Disrupting the WWW?</h2><p>These cloud-based, platform-agnostic apps and services offer the &#8220;ultimate in responsive design,&#8221; and could be what ultimately disrupts the browser-based World Wide Web as we know it. Commerce may be conducted entirely through APIs.</p><p>Until Glass and its API are officially released to the masses, we don&#8217;t know exactly how (or if) users wanna use it, and what apps make sense. Innovation will unfold (and we&#8217;ll be watching). The question is, can you future-proof your business against emerging tech and ensure your products and services are accessible in the context your customers are seeking them?</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/google-glass-is-g-commerce-next/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Prescription for a Great Commerce API Strategy</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/prescription-for-a-great-commerce-api-strategy/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/prescription-for-a-great-commerce-api-strategy/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:06:35 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=17531</guid> <description><![CDATA[Forget banner ads and coupon codes, the new wave of affiliate marketing is going API (application programming interface). The shift to mobile is putting the squeeze on banner ads. Standard ad units don&#8217;t always resize for mobile devices, forcing publishers and affiliate partners to resize them or ditch them altogether. Coupon codes cost you margin [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/walgreen-prescription.jpg" class="alignleft" />Forget banner ads and coupon codes, the new wave of affiliate marketing is going API (application programming interface).</p><p>The shift to mobile is putting the squeeze on banner ads. Standard ad units don&#8217;t always resize for mobile devices, forcing publishers and affiliate partners to resize them or ditch them altogether. Coupon codes <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/coupon-box/" target="_blank">cost you margin</a> and don&#8217;t foster loyalty.</p><p>APIs, on the other hand, enable your products and features to be integrated into useful applications, with seamless transaction capabilities (in-app), and to generate repeat business. Walgreen&#8217;s prescription refill API is a perfect example of this.</p><p>Walgreen&#8217;s is already using its API to power its own mobile app, with barcode scanning and refill capabilities.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/walgreen-refill.jpg" width="250" height="444" /></p><p>It&#8217;s external facing Pharmacy Prescription Refill API is a <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/20-api-business-models-deconstructed/" target="_blank">developer-gets-paid model</a>, with 2 launch partners, <a
href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocketpharmacist-drug-information/id387365379?mt=8" target="_blank">PocketPharmacist</a> and <a
href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/healthspek/id576488481?mt=8" target="_blank">Healthspek</a>. Both are personal health management apps for the iPad (the former for iPhone also).</p><p>Healthspek connects users with their medical records in the cloud, including medical charts, prescription information, immunization history, existing conditions, doctor contact information, insurance information, and scheduled appointments. The app enables the whole family to be managed from one account, and information shared through the app with doctors, hospitals and clinics.</p><p>Walgreen&#8217;s affiliation with the Healthspek app is win-win &#8211; it enables Healthspek to generate recurring revenue and offer one more value prop to users (who pay $4.99 per download) &#8211; simple prescription refills. Walgreen&#8217;s boosts brand value and can poach repeat customers from competitors like CVS, Rite Aid and Walmart.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/healthcheck.jpg" /></p><p>PocketPharmacist was developed by a pharmacist and serves as a trusted source of non-pharma supported information on drug interactions, side effects, dosage, pill identifier tools and user profiles that can be forwarded to family or medical professionals &#8212; all features unavailable in Walgreen&#8217;s own app, and the brand association with this highly rated app is quite valuable to the pharmacy chain.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/pocketpharmacist.jpg" height="499" width="260" /></p><h2>Walgreen&#8217;s prescription for a healthy API strategy</h2><ul><li>Walgreen&#8217;s clearly understands where the puck is moving. Busy people are more likely to be near a smartphone than a desktop machine at any given time, and prescription refills are tasks that don&#8217;t require the desktop experience.</li><li>It&#8217;s thinking about the <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/3-rules-of-digital-disruption-and-why-any-business-can-be-a-disruptor/" target="_blank">adjacent possible</a> &#8212; what&#8217;s the next useful thing it can do with its products and services, what fills a consumer <em>life</em> need, and which features of a mobile device can be leveraged to create a useful customer experience (e.g. GPS, barcode scanning, push alerts, etc).</li><li>Rather than launch the API and wait for developers to bite, Walgreen&#8217;s already thought through which existing apps would be a natural fit, reached out to them, and can now piggyback their existing user base and marketing activities hit the ground running.</li><li>Though with its own time and money, Walgreen&#8217;s could have built much of these third party apps&#8217; features into its own, it would be limited to marketing to its own customers. Walgreen&#8217;s can still recommend its partner apps to customers, but also benefits from trustworthy, non-commercial apps&#8217; own marketing and awareness.</li><li>Marketing to developers is a huge part of a successful API strategy. Launching with reference &#8220;customers&#8221; provides context around what the API does and gets far more PR than a simple &#8220;hey, we got an API!&#8221; release.</li></ul><p>The Pharmacy Prescription Refill API is not its first kick at the API can. QuickPrints API is already integrated into a number of Android and iOS apps.</p><p
align="center"><a
href="https://twitter.com/WalgreensAPI" target="_blank"></a></p><p>Though Walgreen&#8217;s enjoys a first-mover advantage, its competition could romance developers with similar tools, and even join forces with Walgreen&#8217;s partners. But Walgreen&#8217;s demonstrates the innovative culture that I predict will remain ahead of the pack. This won&#8217;t be their last API.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/prescription-for-a-great-commerce-api-strategy/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>18 API Business Models Deconstructed</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/20-api-business-models-deconstructed/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/20-api-business-models-deconstructed/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:03:48 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=17241</guid> <description><![CDATA[Behind ecommerce&#8217;s social and omnichannel evolution lie APIs, whether they be internal or 3rd party. Powering apps, widgets, sharing tools and content feeds, APIs enable systems to communicate with other systems, and empower you to expand your catalog and content experiences beyond a storefront. For us non-techies, understanding the opportunity for using and monetizing APIs [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/API-all-the-things.jpg" class="alignleft" />Behind ecommerce&#8217;s social and omnichannel evolution lie APIs, whether they be internal or 3rd party. Powering apps, widgets, sharing tools and content feeds, APIs enable systems to communicate with other systems, and empower you to expand your catalog and content experiences beyond a storefront.</p><p>For us non-techies, understanding the opportunity for using and monetizing APIs (application programming interfaces) can be best explained by real-world examples. Today&#8217;s post is based on a section of slides from a presentation <a
href="http://www.slideshare.net/jmusser/j-musser-apishotnotgluecon2012" target="_blank">Open APIs: What&#8217;s Hot, What&#8217;s Not?</a> by John Musser of <a
href="http://www.programmableweb.com/" target="_blank">ProgrammableWeb</a>. We&#8217;ve fleshed out the examples to provide context for each model.</p><p>Here&#8217;s the org chart at a glance (keep reading to see enlarged sections):</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/api-business-models.jpg" /></p><p><em><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/api-business-models-at-a-glance-large.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></em></p><p>And the breakdown:</p><h2>Free</h2><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/free-facebook.jpg" /></a></p><p><em>Example: Facebook</em></p><p>Facebook offers its API free to any developer.  However, the model is freemium &#8212; like Apple and Google, it takes a cut of in-app payments, e.g. the purchase of Farmville Coins. Facebook charges a 30% service fee, plus any applicable sales tax or VAT, on each Facebook Payments transaction.</p><h2>Developer Pays</h2><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/developer-pays.jpg" /></p><p><strong>Pay as You Go</strong><br
/> <em>Example: Amazon</em></p><p>Amazon Web Services is a cloud computing product, its appeal is its efficiency &#8211; pay only for what you need to use. It can scale up or down as needed.</p><p><strong>Tiered</strong><br
/> <em>Example: VerticalResponse</em></p><p>Developers can use the email marketing tool&#8217;s API to create a customized UI or reporting dashboard, for example. Pricing depends on the usage tier you fall in (how many database calls you make in a month).</p><p><strong>Freemium</strong><br
/> <em>Example: Compete.com</em></p><p>Compete offers a free and paid &#8220;all access&#8221; version of its data, similar to free anti-virus software and a premium edition.</p><p><strong>Unit-based</strong><br
/> <em>Example: Google Adwords</em></p><p>Power-PPC managers may desire beefed-up functionality, such as auto-generated keywords, ad text, and destination URLs. Google Adwords prices its API access a bit like CPM &#8211; developers are billed $0.25 per 1000 API calls.</p><p><strong>Transaction fee</strong><br
/> <em>Example: Paypal</em></p><p>For ecommerce sites that want to use PayPal transaction processing without exposing customers to the PayPal interface, the Direct Payment API allows developers to design and host their own checkout pages while the payment processor works behind the scenes. PayPal makes money off the transaction fees.</p><h2>Developer Gets Paid</h2><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/dev-gets-paid.jpg" /></p><p><strong>Rev-Share</strong><br
/> <em>Example: Google AdSense</em></p><p>Google AdSense Host API enables community sites to share AdSense revenue with its users to incentivize content creation. Think YouTube channels.</p><p><strong>Affiliate</strong></p><p>There are a few affiliate models. Publishers who advertise Amazon products on their websites can earn commissions when referred visitors make a purchase. Shopping.com ads pay out per click.</p><p>Rdio is a recurring-revenue product, sharing the recurring spoils (subscription and mp3 downloads) with its affiliate partners through LinkShare. You can earn recurring revenue each month, for as long as a subscriber recruited by you remains an Rdio subscriber. You can also earn revenue each time someone purchases and downloads an MP3.</p><p>Jigsaw offers a unique way for developers to earn &#8220;Jigsaw points&#8221; by affirming or challenging the accuracy of Jigsaw data (helping Jigsaw improve its data quality).</p><h2>Indirect</h2><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/indirect-API-business-models.jpg" /></p><p><strong>Content acquisition</strong></p><p>Ebay&#8217;s APIs support sellers with content population (e.g. create listings, upload data feeds) and management (leave feedback, update tracking information, manage disputes) which indirectly results in revenue.</p><p><strong>SaaS</strong></p><p>Software vendors offer APIs for 3rd party developers to extend their platform. This helps the software vendor focus on the core product without complicating their road map with features not everyone needs. Extensions can be developed to enhance the product, make it more attractive to users who can add the apps they want, and save internal resources. Some software companies have a marketplace where apps can be discovered and downloaded.</p><p><strong>Content Syndication</strong></p><p>Content publishers like the New York Times don&#8217;t sell their API to syndication partners, but the API facilitates the syndication.</p><p><em>Internal use, consumer facing</em></p><p>Twitter&#8217;s API is offered to 3rd party developers to improve the user experience with a broad range of Twitter experiences like Klout, Hootsuite, Clicktotweet and Twitalyzer. Netflix&#8217; API enables it to be extended to mobile devices, increasing the attractiveness of the service.</p><p><em>Internal use, internal facing</em></p><p>Internal facing APIs are used on your back end to use your own data to build out your own features. Ecommerce APIs, for example, may be used to build a companion mobile app or connect social data to your ecommerce platform. NPR offers external API access to its radio programs that can be connected with its Transcript API, which it could also leverage internally, for example.</p><h2>Why are APIs useful for ecommerce?</h2><p>For more information on APIs for ecommerce, check out our previous posts:</p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/7-wicked-ecommerce-applications-of-shopping-apis/" target="_blank">7 Wicked Applications of Shopping APIs</a></p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/monetizing-ecommerce-api/" target="_blank">Monetizing Commerce APIs [Video]</a></p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/creating-new-business-models-with-transactional-apis/" target="_blank">Creating New Business Models with Transactional APIs</a></p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/the-rise-of-shopping-apis-infographic/" target="_blank">The Rise of Shopping APIs [Infographic]</a></p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/the-business-of-apis-interview-with-an-api-evangelist/" target="_blank">The Business of APIs: Interview with an API Evangelist</a></p><p>Thumbnail credit: <a
href="http://nickapedia.com/2012/06/05/api-all-the-things-razor-api-wiki/" target="_blank">Nickapedia</a></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/20-api-business-models-deconstructed/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>23 Fun Facts About APIs [Infographic]</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/23-fun-facts-about-apis-infographic/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/23-fun-facts-about-apis-infographic/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 30 Nov 2012 08:03:58 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=16899</guid> <description><![CDATA[It can be difficult for non-techies to grasp the concept of APIs, and their usefulness. This week&#8217;s infographic is by Rackspace highlighting fun examples and stats about application programming interfaces. Tweetables: 60% of eBay transactions are via their API Tweet this 50% of Salesforce transactions are from APIs Tweet this Netflix&#8217; API allows it to [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It can be difficult for non-techies to grasp the concept of APIs, and their usefulness. This week&#8217;s infographic is by <a
href="http://www.rackspace.com/blog/api-adoption-and-the-open-cloud-what-is-an-api-infographic/" target="_blank">Rackspace</a> highlighting fun examples and stats about application programming interfaces.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/api-infographic-full.jpg" /></p><p
align="center"><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/egbCs" target="_blank"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/tweet-infographic2.jpg"  /></a></p><p><strong>Tweetables:</strong></p><ul><li>60% of eBay transactions are via their API <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/31nv2" target="_blank">Tweet this</a></em></li></ul><ul><li>50% of Salesforce transactions are from APIs <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/8X50J" target="_blank">Tweet this</a></em></li></ul><ul><li>Netflix&#8217; API allows it to stream over 200 devices <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/lEZdU" target="_blank">Tweet this</a></em></li></ul><ul><li>Google and Facebook each receive over 5 Bill API calls/day. Twitter receives over 13 Billion <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/4aHMi" target="_blank">Tweet this</a></em></li></ul><ul><li>API use have increased 13x since 2007 <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/a4Wmd" target="_blank">Tweet this</a></em></li></ul> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/23-fun-facts-about-apis-infographic/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>7 Business Models for Monetizing Digital Content</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/7-business-models-for-monetizing-digital-content/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/7-business-models-for-monetizing-digital-content/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:03:30 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=16657</guid> <description><![CDATA[In our latest webinar Monetizing Content in a World of Digital Disruption I covered a number of examples from across industries of innovative ways to get paid for digital products and content. While I encourage you to check out the replay for all the juicy details, this post recaps the various business models represented by [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/digital-content-monetization.jpg" class="alignleft" />In our latest webinar <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/webinar/monetizing-content" target="_blank">Monetizing Content in a World of Digital Disruption</a> I covered a number of examples from across industries of innovative ways to get paid for digital products and content.</p><p>While I encourage you to <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/webinar/monetizing-content" target="_blank">check out the replay</a> for all the juicy details, this post recaps the various business models represented by the examples.</p><p>Let&#8217;s go.</p><h2>Just free</h2><p>&#8220;Just free&#8221; is a legitimate business model, though not a sustainable one (unless you&#8217;re lucky enough to get bought out by a big fish). Many startups charge nothing in order to get a critical mass of users and word of mouth before figuring out how to profit (think Twitter in its early years). While it&#8217;s not a viable long-term strategy, it can make sense in the short-term. (Remember, no business is married to just one business model over the life of a product or service.)</p><p>Simply free may also be a way to drive sales in another channel. For example, the software is free, but the company makes money on services and/or sister products.</p><h2>Subscriptions</h2><p>The subscription model is common for all types of digital content &#8211; software, gaming, newspaper, magazine, telco services and streaming content (Netflix, Hulu, Spotify). Many of these types of content use paywalls.</p><p>Paywalls may be presented immediately, after a free trial, or be &#8220;metered,&#8221; appearing after a certain number of page views or content views/listens. 78% of newspapers use a metered paywall, which allows them to generate more ad revenue than shutting visitors out.</p><p>Publishers can experiment with &#8220;<a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/should-you-use-google-consumer-surveys/" target="_blank">soft paywall</a>&#8221; alternatives like Google Consumer Surveys and Double Recall &#8211;  interactive surveys and ad-units that provide inexpensive market research for brands and greater recall than banner ads.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/double-recall.jpg" /></p><p>Selling content by subscription is getting harder for newspapers, and publishers must figure out how to mitigate disruption from news aggregator apps like Pulse, Zite and Flipboard. Curated news is gaining popularity, but it threatens the appeal of subscribing to individual publications while at the same time potentially drawing in new customers. For example, the New York Times allows its subscribers full access to stories through Flipboard, while non-subscribers see only the top 10 stories in full text. Non-subscribers are given the opportunity to subscribe, and teasers within Flipboard may create that desire to unlock full access. However, revenue driven through Flipboard must be shared with Flipboard.</p><p>We may see habits shift to a Twitter-like summary of the news, rather than full articles. A <a
href="http://memeburn.com/2012/11/17-year-old-designs-news-summerising-app-gets-millions-in-investments/" target="_blank">17 year-old recently raised millions</a> in capital for his app that shrinks daily news down to 3 or 4 paragraphs. Says the teen founder “<em>I designed Summly because I felt that my generation wasn’t consuming news in the traditional way any more</em>.&#8221;</p><p>However, other subscription verticals like gaming, software and media are thriving, themselves disrupting the old model of ownership of physical products.</p><h2>Microtransactions</h2><p>Microtransactions are what they sound, piece-meal access to digital content and applications, being either pay-to-play (streaming content, time-limited access to content or applications) or pay-to-own (download a track, movie, article, image, etc.) This model pre-dates the common use of the Internet &#8211; think pay-per-view movies and sports and arcade games.</p><p>iTunes is a prime example of a microtransaction model, and O&#8217;Reilly publishing has been offering <a
href="http://toc.oreilly.com/2007/06/buy-oreilly-books-by-the-chapt.html" target="_blank">books by the chapter</a> for years. Newer examples include Google&#8217;s freshly launched micropayments option for Wallet users (a paywall alternative for publishers).</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/micropayments.jpg"  /></p><p>The question remains whether this model will work for news and magazine articles, which are typically one-time reads, where music and video track downloads are more sticky.</p><h2>Freemium</h2><p>The hallmark of freemium is offering a free and paid (premium) version. There are a few variations of this model:</p><ul><li>Free and paid version (e.g. lite use and power use, personal vs. business use, ad-supported vs. ad-free, basic vs. enhanced features, etc.)</li><li>Free with in-product transations (e.g. virtual goods and currency in-game, which accounts for <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/economics-of-freemium-mobile-gaming/" target="_blank">72% of Apple App Store revenue</a>)<li>Free and premium with microtransactions (buy ad-free Angry Birds, buy levels and goods within the game)</li></ul><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/farmville1.jpg" /></p><p><strong>Ad-supported freemium</strong></p><p>Ad-supported free products are common across digital verticals, from newspapers and magazines to games and software, on-demand video, music services and social networks. But it goes beyond banner ads. Viggle is an example of innovative ad opportunities.</p><p>Its second-screen app (companion to television) is not only free for users, but rewards users for engagement with TV shows and ads through its own loyalty program. Points accrued from check-ins to favorite TV shows, ad viewing, trivia and other actions are redeemable for real gift cards like Starbucks, Amazon, Groupon, Fandango and Facebook. This differentiates it from other second-screen apps like GetGlue.</p><p>Another differentiator is its own proprietary audio recognition technology (similar to Shazam) that verifies a user is watching a program.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/viggle-viggle.jpg" /></p><p>The company&#8217;s also created new ways to watch TV, like MyGuy, a fantasy sports app that allows you to pick your star player for a game, and win extra points when your player is doing well.</p><p>Ad revenue comes from TV networks looking to promote their shows and brands that advertise within the app. A TV show pays for point value, which increases the attractiveness of checking into the show. They may also pay for placements in other contests and promotions.</p><p>The long-term goal for Viggle is to become an AdWords-like platform where network shows use real-time bidding to drive tune-ins and engagement for their shows. The viability of this depends on Viggle&#8217;s ability to make its app the new way people watch TV.</p><p>Viggle&#8217;s business model has a downside. It doesn&#8217;t have a deal with the reward card vendors, it buys the rewards itself. Down the road, Viggle may be able to negotiate discounts on the rewards in exchange for the brand exposure they get in its points catalog, but for now it remains the more engagement and point-churn Viggle gets, the more money it has to bleed.</p><p><strong>Freemium hardware</strong></p><p>Kindles that include ads and sponsored screensavers are available at a discount price. This may catch on with other device manufacturers.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/ad-kindles.jpg" /></p><h2>Affiliate</h2><p>Shazam is an audio recognition app that helps you discover or remember who sings that song you&#8217;re hearing right now. &#8220;Tagging&#8221; a song searches its database and presents the answer along with affiliate links to download tracks or buy tickets to local gigs.</p><p>Shazam began as all-free, and moved to a freemium model. Its free version was limited to 5 song tags per month, and unlimited access for a one-time payment of $4.99.</p><p>Down the road, Shazam dumped its freemium scheme for free-for-all access, a move that can potentially increase it&#8217;s revenue greatly. Providing everyone unlimited tagging widens its opportunity for affiliate revenue. More tags = wider funnel.</p><h2>Licensing</h2><p>Services like Spotify license content from record labels and independent artists, Hulu and Netflix from Hollywood. Software products white-label. Publishers syndicate content. There are many examples of licensing digital goods.</p><p>Beyond content, innovators can license their proprietary technology to others. Shazam could license audio recognition technology to other companies (like Viggle) to add an additional revenue stream.</p><p><strong>API-as-a-product</strong></p><p>Many content producers are sitting on piles of existing and legacy content that can be remixed into new experiences and licensed to third parties. I covered <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/api-as-a-product-how-pearson-education-is-monetizing-its-content/" target="_blank">Pearson&#8217;s API</a> on Get Elastic, along with 7 other wicked <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/7-wicked-ecommerce-applications-of-shopping-apis/" target="_blank">applications of commerce APIs</a>.</p><p><strong>Data-as-a-product</strong></p><p>The Last.fm music service sits on a mound of listener data, and can offer advertisers highly targeted campaign opportunities. An example is for Puma&#8217;s Deadmau5 running shoe. The brand was able to target the band&#8217;s fans within a social network using Last.fm&#8217;s technology features.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/deadmau5.jpg" /></p><p>Selling data is an opportunity for additional revenue for digital products and services that collect it.</p><h2>Derivative products</h2><p>Similarly, pieces of content can be remixed into new products, or derivative products, used internally or licensed to developers. Two examples mentioned in the webinar are Hark and Eyewitness.</p><p><a
href="http://www.hark.com/" target="_blank">Hark</a> is a YouTube for audio clips from popular movies, TV shows and even political quotes (how timely). It streams sound files and enables social sharing and embedding, with links to rent or buy full content from Amazon.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/hark.jpg" /></p><p>Guardian&#8217;s Eyewitness mobile app features its famous photographs, repurposed for iPad. The app is freemium, sponsored by Canon (a fitting partnership). Free users get a daily photo, paid users get an extra 3 photos per day and sports photos for £1.49 per month.</p><p>More examples can be found in our webinar, available on demand: <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/webinar/monetizing-content" target="_blank">Monetizing Content in a World of Digital Disruption</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/7-business-models-for-monetizing-digital-content/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>API as a Product: How Pearson Education is Monetizing its Content</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/api-as-a-product-how-pearson-education-is-monetizing-its-content/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/api-as-a-product-how-pearson-education-is-monetizing-its-content/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:03:54 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=16593</guid> <description><![CDATA[Pearson publishing is a pioneer in innovation in digital content monetization. Its Plug and Play developer program uses APIs to make thousands of pieces of content assets acquired over decades available for remixing into new, creative and interactive products and experiences. The API as a Product A great example of the &#8220;productization of APIs,&#8221; Pearson&#8217;s [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/pearson-api.jpg" class="alignleft" />Pearson publishing is a pioneer in innovation in digital content monetization. Its <a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/" target="_blank">Plug and Play developer program</a> uses APIs to make thousands of pieces of content assets acquired over decades available for remixing into new, creative and interactive products and experiences.</p><h2>The API as a Product</h2><p>A great example of the &#8220;productization of APIs,&#8221; Pearson&#8217;s Plug and Play developer program offers subscriptions to various API products depending on the amount of database calls used per month:</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/api-calls.jpg" /></p><p>The currently available data sets include:</p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/eyewitness-guides/apimethod/entries-guide/189/overview" target="_blank">Eyewitness Guides</a></h2><p>Based on the famous <a
href="http://www.penguin.com.au/DK/eyewitness/titles.cfm?series=guides" target="_blank">Eyewitness Travel Guides</a>, this API supplies developers with geocoded restaurant, café, bar, and hotel listings for major cities of the world, tagged with metadata like address, phone number, opening times, website, and transport information.</p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/longman-dictionary/apimethod/get-entry-0/189/overview" target="_blank">Longman Dictionary</a></h2><p>Voted one of the best dictionaries by iPhone app users, The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English boasts &#8220;the most up to date dictionary of the English language aimed at non-native speakers of English.&#8221; It includes audio files in British and American English and highlights the Academic Word List for English-as-a-second-language students.</p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/ft-press/apimethod/get-book-block/189/overview" target="_blank">FT Press</a></h2><p>Provides access to business-centric content like Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Book Series.</p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/nursing-health-survival-guides-api/apimethod/get-article/189/overview" target="_blank">Nursing &#038; Health Survival Guides API</a></h2><p>The Nursing &#038; Health Survival Guide series provides pocket guides for health and social care professionals, but how impractical to carry a library of these books around? This API enables access to topics like diabetes, cancer care, midwifery and dental nursing.</p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/dkimages-api/apimethod/list-images/189/overview" target="_blank">dkimages</a></h2><p>The vast library of DK Publishing illustrations and photographs (you remember these books, right?) are available for use in apps. Here are some examples to jog your memory.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/ultimate-motorcycle.jpg" /></p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/bugs.jpg" /></p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/airplane.jpg" /></p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/pearson-kitchen-manager/apimethod/courses/190/overview" target="_blank">Pearson Kitchen Manager</a></h2><p>My personal favorite, this API connects to over 3,000 recipes from text books of the top culinary schools. The API has been hacked and worked into some smokin&#8217; apps already:</p><p><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/new-showcase-seven" target="_blank">Kitchen Manager</a></p><p>This internally developed app for Windows 7 is a hands-free virtual cooking tutor. Using text-to-speech, recipes from across publications can be searched, and instructions can be &#8220;read out&#8221; without the need to get your mucky hands all over your device.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/kitchen-manager.jpg" height="476" width="250" /></p><p><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/new-showcase-nine" target="_blank">Tasteful Movies</a></p><p>Two apps are better than one. Kitchen Manager API meets Netflix API to suggest movie-and-meal pairings.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/tasteful-movies.jpg" /></p><p><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/new-showcase-eight" target="_blank">Angel Cook</a></p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/angel-cook.jpg" /></p><p>Just enter the ingredients you have, and it will search the database for what’s possible to cook.</p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/peachpit-visual-quickstart-guides-api/apimethod/get-article-0/190/overview" target="_blank">Peachpit Visual QuickStart Guides</a></h2><p>Millions have learned software and technology through the <a
href="http://www.peachpit.com/imprint/series_detail.aspx?ser=335245" target="_blank">Visual QuickStart Guides</a>&#8216; task-based tutorials. The potential to remix this content into teaching apps is huge. Imagine being able to search across programs by task &#8211; should you use Photoshop or Illustrator to achieve such-and-such effect? Or across titles within the web usability genre to address specific issues?</p><h2><a
href="http://developer.pearson.com/api/penguin-classics-api/apimethod/get-article-1/189/overview" target="_blank">Penguin Classics</a></h2><p>Just released last week, there are no built examples to point to, but remixing works like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm, Dracula or Jane Eyre has potential for interactive and fun Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style stories, where the reader can explore alternative endings or plot lines.</p><p>Or, the API could be combined with the Longman Dictionary to define difficult words for young readers, or provide translation and audio pronunciation for English-as-second-language. Think of the potential for creating new products for the education system.</p><p><strong>Pearson made ~$2 billion from digital content last year</strong>, and repurposing these assets offers more opportunity to monetize. But its APIs can also be used internally. There&#8217;s no word when or if its premium content like Financial Times or its higher-ed content will be offered to third party developers. Developing its own remixed products, especially in the education space, can breathe new life into the business.</p><p>In our <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/7-wicked-ecommerce-applications-of-shopping-apis/" target="_blank">webinar Q&#038;A</a> with Forrester Analyst, Brian Walker noted:</p><blockquote><p>The ecosystem has evolved to the point that APIs are core to business strategy. A business leader needs to think about APIs as a way to drive and extend their business. It’s not just about integrating 2 technologies together and leveraging APIs to do that in a programmatic and efficient way. What makes a shopping API different is it’s a productization of what APIs can do, and it becomes part of a business strategy moving forward. Think about a shopping API as an investment, and in itself a channel that can be utilized in a wide variety of ways to drive the business forward.</p></blockquote><p>APIs as a product to sell and to use internally is a business strategy that Pearson is embracing, it will be interesting to see what other digital content companies follow suit.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/api-as-a-product-how-pearson-education-is-monetizing-its-content/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>The Rise of Shopping APIs [Infographic]</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/the-rise-of-shopping-apis-infographic/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/the-rise-of-shopping-apis-infographic/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 18 Jul 2012 08:03:06 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=16030</guid> <description><![CDATA[Infographic Friday comes early this week, we&#8217;ve teamed up with Monetate on the Rise of Shopping APIs. Click image to enlarge Tweetable stats: 100 new APIs are launched every week Tweet this Programmable Web estimates there&#8217;ll be 30K APIs by 2016 Tweet this More than 2K mashups have been created with Twitter and Facebook APIs [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Infographic Friday comes early this week, we&#8217;ve teamed up with <a
href="http://monetate.com/" target="_blank">Monetate</a> on <strong>the Rise of Shopping APIs</strong>.</p><p
align="center"><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/rise-of-shopping-API-LG.jpg" target="_blank"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/rise-of-shopping-APIs.jpg" /></a></p><p><em><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/rise-of-shopping-API-LG.jpg" target="_blank">Click image to enlarge</a></em></p><p><strong>Tweetable stats:</strong></p><ul><li>100 new APIs are launched every week <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/C2iH0">Tweet this</a></em></li></ul><ul><li>Programmable Web estimates there&#8217;ll be 30K APIs by 2016 <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/ZjBE7">Tweet this</a></em></a></em></li></ul><ul><li>More than 2K mashups have been created with Twitter and Facebook APIs <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/npdV5">Tweet this</a></em></a></em></li></ul><ul><li>250+ shopping and payment APIs are currently available to developers <em><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/Snhf4">Tweet this</a></em></a></em></li></ul><p><a
href="http://clicktotweet.com/ad178"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/tweet-infographic.jpg" /></a></p><p>If you would like to feature this infographic on your own site, embed code is below:</p><p>LARGE (1000px wide)</p><p><textarea rows="6" cols="75" onclick="this.focus(); this.select();"><br />
<a href="http://www.getelastic.com/the-rise-of-shopping-apis-infographic/"><img src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/rise-of-shopping-API-LG.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.getelastic.com">via GetElastic.com</a> and <a href="http://www.elasticpath.com/">Elastic Path</a><br />
</textarea></p><p>MEDIUM (600 px wide)</p><p><textarea rows="6" cols="75" onclick="this.focus(); this.select();"><br />
<a href="http://www.getelastic.com/the-rise-of-shopping-apis-infographic/"><img src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/rise-of-shopping-APIs.jpg" /></a><br />Via the <a href="http://www.getelastic.com">Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog</a> and <a href="http://www.elasticpath.com/">Elastic Path</a><br />
</textarea></p><p>For more information on commerce APIs, check out other Get Elastic posts:</p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/creating-new-business-models-with-transactional-apis/" target="_blank">Creating new business models with transactional APIs</a></p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/monetizing-ecommerce-api/" target="_blank">Monetizing ecommerce APIs</a></p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/7-wicked-ecommerce-applications-of-shopping-apis/" target="_blank">7 wicked ecommerce applications of shopping APIs</a></p><p><a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/apis-the-difference-between-good-and-great/" target="_blank">APIs the difference between good and great</a></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/the-rise-of-shopping-apis-infographic/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Meet BEV: The Twitter Activated Vending Machine</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/meet-bev-the-twitter-activated-vending-machine/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/meet-bev-the-twitter-activated-vending-machine/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:04:27 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=15813</guid> <description><![CDATA[Now this is innovative &#8212; a South African beverage company has built an iced tea slinging robot that connects to Twitter&#8217;s streaming API to recognize tweets containing the hashtag #BOSTweet4T. It dispenses samples when it detects based on geolocation when the Tweeter is in close enough proximity to pick up the drink. The machine de-activates [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Now this is innovative &#8212; a South African beverage company has built an iced tea slinging robot that connects to Twitter&#8217;s streaming API to recognize tweets containing the hashtag #BOSTweet4T. It dispenses samples when it detects based on geolocation when the Tweeter is in close enough proximity to pick up the drink.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/BOS.jpg" /></p><p>The machine de-activates itself for a brief period of time to display the Tweeter&#8217;s user name and counts down the seconds before reactivation.</p><p><a
href="http://www.bosicetea.com/" target="_blank">Bos Ice Tea</a>&#8216;s BEV machine is the world&#8217;s first Twitter-activated sampling machine. She currently resides at Wembley Square. Follow <a
href="http://twitter.com/BOS" target="_blank">BOS on Twitter</a> to stay on top of her whereabouts.</p><p>This is just one example of the possibilites of APIs when connected to physical goods. With a <a
href="http://www.getelastic.com/why-a-shopping-api-is-the-best-way-to-future-proof-your-business/" target="_blank">commerce API</a>, this type of thing could become transactional&#8230;</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/meet-bev-the-twitter-activated-vending-machine/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>5</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Hackers Gonna Hack: Virtual Fitting Room With Xbox Kinect</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/hackers-gonna-hack-virtual-fitting-room-with-xbox-kinect/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/hackers-gonna-hack-virtual-fitting-room-with-xbox-kinect/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:03:17 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=15794</guid> <description><![CDATA[Every year, Elastic Path-ers take part in a 24-hour, pizza-and-Red-Bull fuelled fiesta of coding we call the Hack and Mash-a-thon. This year, teams had a chance to hack on DCAPI (dih-cap-ee), Elastic Path&#8217;s Digital Commerce API. From QR code shopping, to t-commerce and mobile, this year&#8217;s Hack n&#8217; Mash didn&#8217;t disappoint. Here are the highlights: [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/hackers-gonna-hack.jpg" class="alignleft" />Every year, Elastic Path-ers take part in a 24-hour, pizza-and-Red-Bull fuelled fiesta of coding we call the Hack and Mash-a-thon.</p><p>This year, teams had a chance to hack on DCAPI (dih-cap-ee), Elastic Path&#8217;s <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/products/digital-commerce-api" target="_blank">Digital Commerce API</a>. From QR code shopping, to t-commerce and mobile, this year&#8217;s Hack n&#8217; Mash didn&#8217;t disappoint. Here are the highlights:</p><h2>The Winner: O&#8217;SHIrT</h2><p>Since the introduction of the Kinect, there have been many attempts at using the device outside of gaming for other commercial purposes. Project O&#8217;SHIrT is one such attempt. The goal was to build an interactive shirt fitting store that will have its catalog, customer authentication and checkout handled by Elastic Path, demonstrating how DCAPI can be integrated with various devices, and with languages aside from Java and Javascript.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/qr-kinect.jpg" /></p><p>O&#8217;SHIrT is a simple <a
href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms748948.aspx" target="_blank">Windows WPF application</a> with UI elements that a user interacts with through the Kinect. On start up, it loads the shirt catalog by calling into DCAPI.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/kinect-2.jpg" /></p><p>When a user selects a shirt, he or she can log in as an existing customer by holding their QR code in front of the Kinect. The user name and password are read from the QR code image and sent to DCAPI for authentication. When the user decides to checkout, it makes the appropriate calls to DCAPI to submit the cart and create a purchase. For all of the above calls to DCAPI, we used a combination of RESTSharp and JSON.Net to create the requests and deserialize the response.</p><h2>2nd Place: Couch Potato</h2><p>T-commerce is poised to shake things up, whether on a television or through streaming video. Couch Potato uses DCAPI and HTML5 to embed commerce into any video stream. With some additional work, it would also allow true synchronized second-screen experience a la Microsoft SmartGlass, but with commerce. Offers might be contextual based on metadata, manual merchandising, subtitle track etc. with not much additional effort.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/panormous-pizza.jpg" /></p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-generation.jpg" /></p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/couchpotato-cart.jpg" /></p><h2>Honorable mention: Project FTW!</h2><p>As mobile device usage is peaking, online sellers are increasingly concerned about their mobile storefronts. Project FTW! is an automated testing tool for mobile devices which runs Selenium (today&#8217;s leading web automation tool) on iPhones, iPads, Android phones and Android tablets.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/ftw.jpg" /></p><p>The Selenium webdriver captures screenshots when a test fails, storing the images in a target/screenshots folder.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/penguin-party.jpg" /></p><p>This tool helps online sellers increase user satisfaction with apps, which translates to more engagement, better app reviews and more good vibes about the brand.</p><p><em>For more information about our <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/products/digital-commerce-api" target="_blank">Digital Commerce API</a>, read up on it <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/products/digital-commerce-api" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/hackers-gonna-hack-virtual-fitting-room-with-xbox-kinect/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>APIs: The Difference Between Good and Great</title><link>http://www.getelastic.com/apis-the-difference-between-good-and-great/</link> <comments>http://www.getelastic.com/apis-the-difference-between-good-and-great/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:09:23 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Linda Bustos</dc:creator> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.getelastic.com/?p=15768</guid> <description><![CDATA[Internal commerce APIs promise the utopia of multichannel single view of the customer, on all devices that exist and are yet to come, with lightning speed, agility and ROI. But the reality is there are real risks when there is not a fully structured approach in place, and when the vision isn’t blended with the [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/webinar-image1.jpg" class="alignleft" />Internal commerce APIs promise the utopia of multichannel single view of the customer, on all devices that exist and are yet to come, with lightning speed, agility and ROI. But the reality is there are real risks when there is not a fully structured approach in place, and when the vision isn’t blended with the right business logic and usability right out of the gate.</p><p>In our latest webinar <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/webinar/api-for-execs-resource" target="_blank">Business Challenges Solved by APIs: What Every Executive Should Know</a>, API evangelist Kin Lane recounts an example of a large retailer who enjoyed strong partner relationship, stellar conversion rates and hardened control of their web experience. As soon as they jumped into Facebook and opened up their own API to developers, they found what developers built were not as tight as their website. Without the same standards, even partner relationships were in danger, due to contract restrictions.</p><p>The risk lies in the combination of lack of strategy and usability (developer usability and architecture) and technical limitations of the implementation itself. Without proper business control, potentially good initiatives like social apps can be killed off.</p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/the-dream.jpg" /></p><p
align="center"><img
src="http://www.getelastic.com/wp-content/uploads/reality.jpg" /></p><p>Join API evangelist Kin Lane and Elastic Path’s digital commerce strategist David Chiu and senior product architect Matt Bishop for a 30-minute rap about the gulf between the promise and reality of APIs, and the difference between “good” and “great” ones. Suitable for both business and technical audiences. The webinar will be made <a
href="http://www.elasticpath.com/webinar/api-for-execs-resource" target="_blank">available on demand</a>, and catch David’s recap <a
href="http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/10072-what-every-executive-needs-to-know-about-api-technology" target="_blank">What Every Executive Needs to Know About API Technology</a> on Econsultancy.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.getelastic.com/apis-the-difference-between-good-and-great/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>