In addition to encouraging subscribers to “right-size” their data package, usage-based billing models enable broadband providers to charge for their services in a manner that seems fair: leveling fees as close as possible to actual data used. But to make this model successful, ISPs need direct, timely communications to keep their subscribers apprised of current usage, and to avoid billing surprises. One of the nation’s top ISPs achieves this communication using PerfTech’s in-browser messaging platform and credits its usage-based billing models as a significant contributor to attaining one of the highest ARPUs in the industry.
In March of 2020, and after years of successfully delivering usage notices directly to users’ browsers, the ISP temporarily eliminated overage fees in order to aid customers coping with the added demands on household bandwidth due to COVID. In July of 2020, usage notices with fees were resumed. In-browser messages are sent at multiple usage levels: 75%, 85%, 95%, and 100% of the user’s respective tier limit. If the user has surpassed 100% for the first time, their usage fee is waived on a one-time basis (C100% notice level below). Each message displays several actionable buttons, including “Ok, thanks”, “Learn more”, and “View usage”. Response rates for the latter two buttons are combined below, as ”Learn more” receives far fewer clicks than “View usage”, but both are positive responses that link to more information. Response rates for each notice level during a period of six months, from July 2020 through December 2020, follow:
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
75% Notice
Ok, thanks 57.2% 57.5% 57.3% 57.5% 58.5% 53.8%
View usage 7.2% 8.2% 7.3% 7.0% 7.6% 7.5%
Total 75% 64.4% 65.7% 64.6% 64.5% 66.1% 61.3%
85% Notice
Ok, thanks 57.2% 57.9% 56.7% 57.4% 59.1% 54.0%
View usage 6.2% 7.0% 6.0% 6.0% 6.3% 6.7%
Total 85% 63.4% 64.9% 62.7% 63.4% 65.4% 60.7%
95% Notice
Ok, thanks 60.8% 61.5% 60.0% 59.6% 61.1% 56.3%
View usage 6.9% 8.1% 7.0% 6.8% 7.1% 6.9%
Total 95% 67.7% 69.6% 67.0% 66.4% 68.2% 63.2%
100% Notice
Ok, thanks 69.6% 70.2% 68.1% 68.0% 69.2% 59.2%
View usage 13.8% 16.4% 13.9% 14.1% 13.6% 14.0%
Total 100% 83.4% 86.6% 82.0% 82.1% 82.8% 73.2%
C100% Notice
Ok, thanks 60.5% 61.5% 59.9% 59.5% 63.1% 33.7%
View usage 18.7% 20.8% 18.1% 18.4% 17.7% 20.5%
Total C100% 79.2% 82.3% 78.0% 77.9% 80.8% 54.2%
The above statistics reflect the aggregate delivery of 7,701,338 in-browser messages to a total of 2,032,482 unique subscribers. Within a specified time window, if subscribers do not respond to the message immediately, it reappears later on a subsequent browsing request; in this case, a given usage notice appeared 3.8 times before the subscriber clicked an action response, which halts further delivery.
Interestingly, response rates for the 75%, 85%, and 95% notices were fairly consistent, with an overall 60-69% positive response, of which 6-8% represented clicking a link to learn more or, most often, view usage. Among those who received notices of 100% overage, the overall response rate reached 79-86%, and linking to view usage occurred practically twice as often, generally between 14-16% for those who had surpassed 100% on a previous month, and a whopping 18-20% for those who surpassed 100% for the first time. Note that for an unknown reason, December numbers were a bit low; however viewing usage was still a popular response.
Another perspective for measuring the effectiveness of the progressive-level usage messages is to consider the number of subscribers who received notices at each level and the subsequent drop in numbers. Those statistics show:
Percentage Drop in Number of Subscribers From 75% Usage Level to Higher Levels
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
From:
75% to 85% 24.3% 24.6% 25.7% 24.4% 25.7% 25.5%
75% to 95% 39.8% 38.1% 39.3% 43.2% 42.6% 43.5%
75% to 100% 42.6% 40.4% 42.0% 45.0% 46.0% 39.3%
Takeaways from the statistics above show that, after receiving a notice that monthly household usage had reached 75% of allotted limits, on average a quarter or 25% of those subscribers kept usage at under 85% for the month; on average 41.1% kept usage under 95%; and on average 42.5% kept usage from surpassing 100%. Note that because 95% usage and 100% usage occur so closely, there is often not a lot of difference between them. In addition to notifying the subscriber of accrued overage fees, the statistics provided by PerfTech’s reporting tool help the ISP know when to recommend that the subscriber migrate to a higher tier, giving the ISP another opportunity to boost revenue.