Industry benchmark data reflects dominance of subscription-based model and prevalence of key local payment methods

2Checkout (formerly Avangate), a leader in eCommerce, payments and subscription billing solutions, today released its H1 2017 benchmark report on Digital Commerce Trends in Software & Online Services Sales, showing that subscription-based software solutions, downloadable or as a service, maintain a strong upward trend. Consumers continue to prioritize security product purchases but also show interest in multimedia and design software.

The company’s Digital Commerce Benchmark follows trends in the global consumption of software and digital services, as reflected by purchases via the Avangate platform, highlighting fast-growing regions and categories as well as uncovering the most popular payment methods worldwide. Key trends from the report include:

Security matters – With 2017 marked by cyber security breaches – WannaCry, Goldeneye, Equifax – it is not surprising that security and privacy products are the leading category in software products sold online, accounting for over 30 percent of online sales. Multimedia and design software (including audio-visual tools) follows at 23 percent, and online services come in strong at 20 percent. Other categories tracked in the report include utilities, marketing tools, web tools, office tools and development tools.

Subscriptions continue to gain ground – The overwhelming shift to subscription commerce is even more evident when comparing data over time. In 2012, only about half (49 percent) of software sales were for subscription-based products and services, while a substantial 75 percent of sales so far in 2017 have been subscriptions.

More, smaller transactions – The global average order value (AOV) for software, SaaS and online services in 2017 is $47, a small drop from $48 in 2016, as subscription-based approaches continue to take more market share. The increased diversity of product popularity may suggest that consumers are beginning to shift toward more, smaller purchases of different types of items.

Regional variations in payments preferences – Visa and MasterCard continue to dominate in terms of payment methods, accounting for 68 percent of global online sales, followed by PayPal at 20 percent and American Express at 7 percent. This distribution holds in the United States, with other countries showing stronger preferences for local payment methods such as Alipay in China (54 percent), iDEAL in the Netherlands (44 percent), local credit cards in Brazil (23 percent) and Turkey (17 percent), Carte Bancaire in France (at 12 percent) and JCB and Konbini in Japan (with 15 and 5 percent respectively).

Movements amongst the top 10 Countries – The United States continues to lead in global sales of software, SaaS and online services, accounting for half of sales worldwide, followed distantly by the UK. Germany now claims the third spot, pushing Canada from third to fifth place. Germany, France and Japan account for a bit more than one third of sales in non-English-speaking countries, with Italy, the Netherlands and Spain coming in close behind.

Revenue uplift sources for software sales – Very popular within the software industry, affiliate-generated sales account for 25 percent of revenue for companies connected to the Avangate affiliate network, with promotions touching 22.5 percent of revenues, cross-selling 4.5 percent and upselling 8 percent.

“The global software market continues to shift toward subscriptions and diversify in terms of the types of products people demand,” said Erich Litch, Avangate’s Chief Revenue Officer. “As companies continue to expand into international markets, they need to be prepared to support a broad range of payment methods and business models, employ a variety of merchandising tools and sell through multiple channels and touchpoints.”

The Digital Commerce Benchmark is based on a sample of hundreds of thousands of worldwide transactions moving through 2Checkout’s Avangate platform between August 2015 and July 2017. 2Checkout continuously tracks fluctuations in sales, empowering software and digital goods providers worldwide to make smarter decisions.

For more insight into Avangate’s Digital Commerce Benchmark, please visit the Avangate’s 2017 H1 Digital Commerce Benchmark infographic.