The 10 benefits of licensing plug & play products.

To build a new feature in-house or license a plug & play solution is a question that most service or product providers come across as they seek to add value to their current offers through integrations. 

A plug and play solution refers to a technology or product that is designed to be easily installed and used without requiring extensive configuration or customization. It is built to be user-friendly, usually white labeled and enables seamless integration and immediate usability. Whether you choose to develop solutions in house, or license plug and play products, the solution you choose needs to align with your vision, product roadmap and goals. 

• To start, when opting for in-house development, it is crucial to evaluate if your development team is adequately prepared for this? This involves skills, technical, financial and time resources. As well as post development considerations such as maintenance. 
• If you decide to license software, you’ll need to consider what type of products you are looking for, if they can be white labeled and the preferred integration method.

With the ever-evolving market trends the benefits of licensing modules or software are becoming greater, white label solutions are allowing you to brand it to your liking and open API’s are enabling seamless integrations.

Whether you are looking to become a unified commerce tool or simply add a new product to your offer, licensing is something to consider. For these reasons, in this article, we will be focusing on the benefits of licensing. 

‍

Let’s get to the chase: 

‍

1. Time and Cost Efficiency 

Plug & Play products are designed to work and integrate with existing systems and infrastructure seamlessly. By licensing such products, businesses achieve time and cost efficiency that would otherwise be spent on research and development by the tech team, if there is one. 

Licensing can accelerate project timelines and reduce overall costs.

In a typical software, 20% of costs are dedicated to initial building and rollout. The remaining 80% is spent on ongoing support after launch, not to mention the high-profit opportunities you’ll set aside to accommodate new internal resources and staff. On the other hand, licensing this can be as little as $10 a month or even negotiated to a one time licensing fee.

2. Focus on Core Competencies

While adding more products and integrations to ones' solution gives it added value, and creates customer or network stickiness, one needs to consider whether it's worth it to put resources to reinvent the wheel. Your team should be dedicated to leverage your star and pre-existing solutions and focus efforts and expertise on the core competencies and unique selling propositions. Your secondary offer can help you enter new markets and educate your new market on your core offerings. 

3. Rapid Deployment & Integration

The beauty of plug and play products is how fast they can be merged into your systems and put to use. Either through API’s or SDK’s. Developers who build licensing modules generally have well documented documentation across various language libraries this ensures immediate use with existing offers and a faster delivery time to your POI's. You can integrate them into their existing service offerings, reducing time-to-market and enabling faster delivery to POI's.

4. Reduce Maintenance and Support 

The product vendor usually provides ongoing maintenance and support for licensed plug and play products. This also includes training, off the shelf documentation, marketing and sales material, updating certification and compliance, and will take requests for any new features or embedded integration that is suggested. This greatly relieves the integrator of the duty of maintaining and updating the product allowing you to concentrate on giving your clients and networks high-quality support.

5. Access to new features and integrations

There are regular feature updates and releases from the vendor. By incorporating these updates into their services, businesses can offer their POI's access to the latest advancements and improvements without investing additional resources. This keeps the service offering competitive, lowers the possibility of customers and networks looking elsewhere for more cutting-edge solutions, and finally aids in lowering churn.

6. Enhanced Customer Experience & Loyalty 

Plug and play products will provide additional functionalities that can enhance your customers experience and your competitive advantage. By integrating these products, you can offer a more comprehensive and value added solution. This in turn leads to increased customer & network stickiness, solidifying customer loyalty since they are more likely to stay with the brand rather than switching to alternative providers. Remember positive POI experience, get you closer to your POI.

7. Making it yours 

By white labelling plug and play products, service businesses can incorporate them seamlessly into their existing service portfolio, aligning them with their brand identity and messaging. This helps in establishing a distinct and recognizable brand image in the market. It also differentiates the service or product provider from competitors who may not offer the same level of customization or branding. As a result, customers are more likely to choose a partner that offers a unique, branded solution.

8. Customer acquisition 

Plug and play products can also support customer acquisition efforts. When businesses market their services as a comprehensive solution that includes high-quality plug and play products, it can attract new customers who are seeking a reliable and efficient service package, or the newest solution in the market. The ability to offer a complete, ready-to-use solution with proven plug and play products can be a strong selling point, increasing the chances of acquiring new customers.

9. Cross-selling, up-selling, bundling

Plug-and-play products often complement existing products or expand their functionality. Businesses can recommend related items to their customer and network during the purchasing process (cross-selling), persuade customers and networks to choose a higher-priced or upgraded version of the product they initially intended to purchase (up-selling) or combine multiple products or services together and offering them as a package at a discounted price (bundling).

10. Increased Basket-size 

When integrating new products or services you have two options, either cover the cost for your customers or make it an add-on. Since the licence cost will be lower than then the add-on cost, you can increase your basket-size and make profits from integrating new features. It’s as easy as that! 

To wrap up.. 

Licensing plug-and-play products has many benefits and businesses must carefully consider the products they choose to affiliate with to match their vision and growth goals. To ensure the best match for their service offerings and customer or network requirements, they should take into account factors like product value, vendor reputation, long-term support, and alignment with their business objectives.

If you want to take the next step and discover what plug and play products are available in the market or how an integration process works, book a call with our team who would be happy to support you for free.