Billing and Usage Statistics: page structure and recommendations

In this article (~6 min read):
1. Use cases when the deposit model is activated
2. Use cases under other pricing models

Most clients of Competera currently use a prepaid or deposit-based pricing model introduced in April 2018. It ensures transparency and control over account's balance as well as provides visibility into the way an account is debited for the platform use. 

We've been working on the significant improvement to the way clients of Competera see their expenses and charges on the billing page. So far its updated view is more user-friendly and understandable. 

Use cases when the deposit model is activated

As of December 2018, the billing page (Other > Billing & Usage statistics) is composed of two information blocks: account balance and expenses dynamics on top and the statistics of data delivery & usage on the bottom.

The block with account balance and graph of expenses is available exclusively to those clients who already use the deposit system. 

What we see here is:
- current account balance in the currency specified in the client's contract,
- the graph of expenses dynamics as of the first day of the month,
- client's average monthly expenses (calculated by dividing the aggregate of all payments by the number of months),
- estimated date of funds running out (the forecast of account balance zeroing out based on historical data about previous months expenses). 

After the first payment within the deposit model, both the monthly fee and the amount to be credited to the client's account are not limited or fixed. 

Consequently, Competera billing is becoming usage-based for more and more clients, what results in the monthly fee being proportional to the platform usage. It is possible to modify a current configuration of features and services on a monthly basis, adjust the scanning schedule, add products and data spiders. 

Furthermore, the usage-based billing and a forecast of when the account will run out of funds (based on historical data about previous months expenses) enables a client to plan their budget for the presumably low and high season. 

In the case of a negative balance, the latter is highlighted in red with a recommendation to reach out to the Customer Success Manager to add funds. Subsequently, in such case, it is impossible to build a forecast of account balance zeroing out. 

N.B. As the deposit-based pricing model was introduced in April 2018, data for the graph of expenses hadn't been collected prior to that. However, if a client switched over to the deposit system later their graph of expenses starts from the moment of their current contract coming into effect. Furthermore, any time custom conditions are introduced to a client's contract, or current conditions change, this graph is updated correspondingly. 

The breakdown of fees will be implemented in the nearest product releases. 

Use cases under other pricing models

If a client doesn't use a deposit-based pricing model but has access permission to the billing page, their account's usage statistics is still available here as a table with previous and this month data. 

Below is the description of every row in the table:

1. Maximum number of products: the highest number of products observed within previous or this month. 

2. Maximum number of stores: the highest number of stores in client's monitoring observed during a specified month. 

3. Total updated matches count: the aggregate of matches a client changed or updated during the observation period. 

4. Total scan count of product pages: the number of page scans of the stores in client's monitoring (excluding scans of their own product pages) within previous or this month. 

5. Total number of added stores: the aggregate of new stores added for monitoring within a specified period. 

For personalized information on Competera pricing models or to request to switch over to the deposit system, please reach out to your dedicated Customer Success Manager.