Stamps.com 2014 Annual Report Download - page 11

In 2015 we plan to optimize our business in this area by (1) continuing to enhance our technology and software to further improve the
scalability of our solutions for the larger high-volume shipping customers; (2) continuing to introduce shipping related features and
functionality that will improve the value proposition of our solutions; (3) adding new shopping cart integrations for easier data export and
import from the tools that customers like to use; and (4) continuing to scale our sales and marketing efforts including using our national
sales force.
Likewise, the Stamps.com single carrier solution may become an effective drop down solution for those customers whose needs may have
decreased over time and who no longer need a full multi-
carrier solution. We also believe that technology expertise in the various companies
will be synergistic as ShipStation’s web-based expertise complements the client-
based expertise of Stamps.com and ShipWorks. In 2015 we
plan to scale up our efforts to maximize the synergies across these businesses.
We plan to launch new features in our software including continued enhancements to our batch shipping capabilities such as batch printing
tools, design enhancements, international custom forms with hidden postage, and forms that can be used with thermal printers. We also plan
to broaden our support for USPS services such as Priority Mail Express Mail Flat Rate Padded Envelope, which offers cost effective
overnight delivery, Parcel Select service which offers the lowest USPS rates for ground delivery, and USPS Special Services that include
Adult Signature requirement and Hold for Pickup services on packages.
In addition, while our online enhanced promotion channel tends to attract more consumer oriented customers with lower lifetime values, we have
continued to realize an acceptable return on our investment in this channel. We will continue to monitor this channel and plan to continue it so
long as it provides an acceptable return. We currently expect to maintain or reduce our level of investment in this area in 2015 compared to 2014.
PhotoStamps
In 2015 we plan to continue marketing PhotoStamps, but with limited spending and expectations. We will continue our program of focused
direct-to-website PhotoStamps marketing spending with a goal of keeping the overall cost per acquisition at a level that provides an attractive
financial return. We also plan to continue our efforts to generate high volume business PhotoStamps orders which have become a larger part of
our PhotoStamps business in recent years. While we do not expect to increase our investment in PhotoStamps in the short-term, we believe that
there may be potential opportunities to grow the business in a better economic environment.
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Table of Contents
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Enhance our High Volume Shipper Solutions and Sales and Marketing Efforts.
We continue to attract high volume shippers such as
warehouses, fulfillment houses, e-commerce shippers, larger retailers, and other types of high volume shippers to our service through our
efforts in these areas. Postage printed by high volume shipping customers through our solutions in 2014 was up 27% versus 2013 which
reflects our continued investment in our shipping technology and our sales and marketing efforts.
•
Enhance our Multi
-
Carrier Solutions including ShipStation and ShipWorks.
We continue to keep both subsidiaries independent, while
focusing on ways to optimize our efforts across all of our shipping solutions. The ShipStation and ShipWorks platforms offer effective
solutions for high volume shippers such as warehouses, fulfillment houses, e-commerce shippers, larger retailers, and other types of high
volume shippers that may need more than just the USPS for their business. We believe there are significant ways where we will be able to
realize synergies amongst all of our shipping solutions. In the marketing area we have historically targeted many of the same e-Commerce
customers and we believe we have broad marketing expertise that we will be able to utilize to increase market penetration of the multi-
carrier solutions. In addition, we bring financial resources to scale up the marketing efforts of these businesses and a national sales force
who will be able to sell the combined suite of products, offering a more complete set of options to meet the needs of a broad set of
customers. We also intent to offer an effective upgrade path from the traditional Stamps.com single carrier solution to a ShipWorks or
ShipStation solution.
•
Optimize our Business Model and Improve our Customer Experience
. We plan to continue optimizing our registration process and post-
registration customer interactions to improve the initial experience a customer has with our service by shortening and streamlining the
registration process and facilitating easier purchasing of postage by customers during registration. We plan to expand our usage of demo
videos and online how to videos. We also plan to continue expanding our presence in social networking sites, to continue expanding our
customer web portal, and to continue enhancing content on our website.