Zuora Announces Z-Commerce for Facebook

The Business Cloud Comes to Facebook; Zuora Provides the Subscription Commerce Engine for Developers to Monetize Facebook Applications and Kicks-Off the “Subscribe, Don’t Advertise” Developer Contest

PALM SPRINGS, CA, DEMO 2009 CONFERENCE, March 2, 2009 — Zuora, Inc., the fastest growing subscription billing and payments service, today announced Z-Commerce for Facebook, the missing link to making the Facebook Economy a reality. Until today, the vast majority of Facebook applications were limited to an advertising-based revenue model. Now, Zuora’s vision of the Business Cloud — the commerce engine for cloud-based services — is available to all Facebook developers who want to charge for their applications using recurring pricing, usage-based fees, one-time charges, or the subscription pricing model that best fits their service.

“Everyone knows that, even though Facebook is hugely popular, it lacks a genuine revenue model for applications. Facebook’s potential won’t be realized until there is a viable commerce engine — this is what Z-Commerce for Facebook is all about. Z-Commerce for Facebook brings the Business Cloud to Facebook and makes it possible for developers to get paid.” said Tien Tzuo, CEO, Zuora.

“Today less than 2% of Facebook developers make any real money,” said Bruce Richardson, AMR Research. “The Facebook community is 150M strong and has tens of thousands of applications. Imagine if just 20% of Facebook developers started charging $1 a month for their applications. Do the math on that, and you see the true potential that Zuora unlocks for the Facebook community.”

Combining the Business Cloud and Facebook Platform

The Facebook developer community of more than 660,000 produces an average of 140 new applications every day. Currently, there are more than 52,000 Facebook applications. Recently, Facebook partnered with salesforce.com to make Facebook an ‘enterprise-friendly’ platform. However, developers were still limited in how they can generate revenue from these applications. Now, Z-Commerce for Facebook makes it possible for developers to make money off the applications they build through subscriptions, not just through advertising. This flexibility opens the door for more business-focused applications on Facebook.

“Z-Commerce for Facebook is a much needed solution and furthers the potential of the Facebook Platform. It creates a new class of Facebook applications and a new opportunity for developers to get paid for the services they build for Facebook users,” said Chris Shipley. “Zuora’s vision and innovation delivers for Facebook developers and I am delighted to have them on stage at DEMO 2009.”

Z-Commerce for Facebook

Z-Commerce for Facebook introduces four new modules specific to Facebook developers:

  • Subscription Console: An online console for developers to register their applications with Zuora, set up their various price plans, and view which Facebook users have subscribed to which applications.
  • Plug and Play Commerce Widgets: Developers can add pre-built widgets directly into their Facebook application, to handle common operations such as subscription signups, updating billing and contact info, viewing subscriptions, invoices, and payments.
  • Access Control: Z-Commerce for Facebook provides an easy way to limit access to Facebook applications only to subscribed users, and direct them to the appropriate sign up, update payment information, or other screens as needed.
  • Self Service Account Management: Z-Commerce for Facebook allows users to update their own billing preferences, payment methods, and billing information, as well as upgrade to other price plans.

The “Subscribe, Don’t Advertise” Developer Contest

In conjunction with the unveiling of Z-Commerce for Facebook, Zuora is also announcing the “Subscribe, Don’t Advertise” contest. Zuora is seeking five Facebook developers to be the very first to build a subscription-based application with Z-Commerce for Facebook.

All developers are encouraged to apply. Selected developers will receive free access to Z-Commerce for Facebook for one year.

Zuora launched its first product, Z-Billing, in May 2008. Z-Billing is the first billing application designed specifically for subscription companies, giving them the flexibility and power to create, manage, and grow their business. In October 2008, Zuora launched its second product, Z-Payments. Z-Payments is a complete payment solution built for subscription businesses and includes the ability to accept PayPal payments. In November 2008, Zuora unveiled Z-Force, the first billing and payment system fully integrated with salesforce.com and 100% native to the Force.com platform. Zuora unveiled the Business Cloud developer platform, Z-Commerce, in January 2009. In its first year, Zuora added more than 80 customers, including Cloud9 Analytics, Marketo, and Box.net.

About Zuora, Inc.

Zuora is the fastest-growing on-demand subscription billing and payment service. The Zuora platform changes the way subscription businesses manage and sell to customers and allows them to bring new products to market in less time, with less hassle. Zuora is built from the ground up by SaaS industry visionaries and veterans from salesforce.com, WebEx, Accenture, Postini (now Google), and Oracle. The company is based in Redwood City, California. To learn more about Zuora, please visit zuorainternprd.wpengine.com.

October 10, 2014