The Digital Age is changing how we live, work, and communicate. It’s reshaping the things we value and the way we value them. One such example is how we value ownership.
We, as consumers, have changed. We’re looking for new ways to engage with products and services. Today, we have a new set of expectations. As Tien Tzuo puts it, “We want outcomes without the burden of ownership.”
In the old world (let’s call it the Product Economy) it was all about things. We wanted to acquire new things and we would be billed for one-time transactions. But in this new era, we want relationships. More and more we are becoming subscribers because subscription experiences built around services meet our needs better than the static offerings or a single product. Subscription experiences mean accessibility to services with a seamless customer experience that gets better over time in reward for loyalty.
This change in consumer behaviour and business model is beneficial for both parties. The subscribers get what they want and the subscription businesses don’t have to start from scratch every month. In fact, a myriad of local businesses, across as many industries, are proving that subscription models are as beneficial locally as they are international. The subscription model is offering local companies the ability to predict and manage their recurring revenue and to better understand their customers as the data flows in. We have seen sustainable and dynamic subscription models appearing in everything from car-hire to grocery shopping.
One of the primary reasons customers enjoy the subscription model is because the payment process is easy and recurring. But on the back end, businesses often look at payments as an afterthought.
Subscription businesses need to understand what their requirement needs are first then determine the type of technology best suited to support the rollout of products and services without customer interruption.
Recurring billing is a core requirement to support the subscription model. Having the ability to accept and automate recurring, subscription payments on a pre-agreed upon schedule, customize billing plans, create and store customer data, pair subscription plans to the customer, and effectively manage payments by pausing and resuming subscriptions are important functions that create a winning subscription billing experience.
We will continue to explore this change in thinking over the forthcoming weeks so if the Subscription Economy interests you or if you would like to know about how we can assist then please drop us a mail or keep an eye out for our next post.
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