Method and Apparatus for Visualizing and Analyzing Unit Pricing for Digital Product Purchases to Determine Revenue Optimization Opportunities for Service Provider

1 . A method for adjusting pricing of a digital service comprising:

computing a revenue measure and an engagement measure for each customer of a plurality of customers;

separating the plurality of customers into three groups, wherein each member of a first group has a higher revenue/engagement quotient than members of a second group or a third group and each member of the third group has a lower revenue/engagement quotient than members of the first group or the second group; and

adjusting a price charged to a member of the first group or the third group to cause the member's revenue/engagement quotient to fall in the second group.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the revenue measure and the engagement measure for each customer are computed over a common period of time.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the engagement measure for a customer is proportional to a temporal duration of service access by the customer divided by a temporal duration of the common period of time.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the engagement measure for a customer is proportional to a measure of an identifiable customer behavior.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the engagement measure for a customer is proportional to a number of digital service accesses by the customer.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the engagement measure for a customer is proportional to a quantity of data downloaded by the customer.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

producing a scatter plot of the revenue and engagement measures for each customer of the plurality of customers; and

superimposing two curves on the scatter plot to separate an area of the scatter plot into three sub-areas, each sub-area corresponding to one of the first group, the second group or the third group of customers.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the two curves are rays extending from an origin of the scatter plot and each of the three sub-areas are triangular in shape.

9 . The method of claim 7 wherein at least one of the two curves is constructed of a linear segment and a logarithmic segment.

10 . The method of claim 7 wherein at least one of the two curves is a curve approximated by a plurality of piecewise-linear segments.

11 . The method of claim 7 wherein at least one of the two curves is constructed of a linear segment from an origin to a point at (x 0 , y 0 ), x 0 chosen as a median value of engagement across the plurality of customers and y 0 chosen as a median revenue across the plurality of customers having an engagement measure near x 0 ; and

a logarithmic section from (x 0 , y 0 ) through (x 1 , y 1 ), x 1 chosen near a 90 th percentile value of engagement across the plurality of customers and y 1 chosen as less than the revenue measure of at least half of the plurality of customers having an engagement measure near x 1 .

12 . The method of claim 7 wherein a second of the two curves is set at approximately 80% of a value of a first of the two curves.

13 . A system comprising:

a computer for delivering a digital service to a plurality of subscribers via a distributed data network;

a database for recording information about the subscribers' use of the digital service;

computer logic to prepare a demand map showing information about services delivered to the plurality of subscribers over a period of time and fees paid by the plurality of subscribers over the period of time; and

a user interface to display the demand map and accept parameters to control the computer logic.

14 . The system of claim 13 wherein the user interface further displays an estimate of an increased revenue opportunity.

15 . The system of claim 13 wherein the user interface further displays an estimated range of an increased revenue opportunity.

16 . The system of claim 13 wherein the user interface further displays a normal price line on the demand map.

17 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising:

a historical record containing information to allow preparation of a second demand map representing the plurality of subscribers over a different period of time, wherein

the user interface is to display the demand map and the second demand map to permit comparison of the two demand maps.

18 . A computer-readable medium containing executable instructions to cause a programmable digital processor to perform operations comprising:

retrieving revenue and service-consumption information about a plurality of customers from a database;

separating the plurality of customers into sub-groups of customers who have similar measures of revenue and service-consumption; and

listing the customers in one of the sub-groups.

19 . The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , containing additional executable instructions to cause the programmable digital processor to perform operations comprising:

generating a graphical display showing the sub groups of the plurality of customers.

20 . The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , containing additional executable instructions to cause the programmable digital processor to perform operations comprising:

emitting a machine-processable document to schedule a sales activity targeting a customer of one of the sub-groups.

21 . A method for analyzing a digital-service-providing business comprising:

computing a revenue measure and an engagement measure for each customer of a plurality of customers who consume a digital service;

sorting the plurality of customers into a plurality of groups, wherein members of each group have similar revenue/engagement quotients; and

altering a condition under which customers in one group receive the digital service to change the revenue/engagement quotient of the customers so that the customers will be sorted into a different group.

22 . The method of claim 21 wherein the condition is a price paid by the customers to receive the digital service.