Problem:
Matt Remes has formed a small business and has just completed building an electronic commerce Web site that sells subscriptions to special-interest newsletters. The titles range from Apple Growers Digest to Wilderness Backpacking Newsletter. Many organizations and individuals produce the newsletters, and Matt's role is to raise the visibility of these somewhat obscure publications. The newsletters are published and available either biweekly or monthly. Unlike traditional subscription services, Matt's business has an agreement from all newsletter publishers that he can sell subscriptions for single issues or for periods of up to three years. He does not want to allow subscribers to use their payment cards to purchase a subscription that is less than two years in duration. But he finds that nearly 60 percent of the first-time customers on his site prefer to order a sample issue before committing to a subscription of a year or more. Discuss this case and present possible solutions to the problem. In about 200 words, describe existing systems that Matt could use to provide his subscribers with a system that does not depend on payment cards.