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The Rise of the Subscription Business Model

Category: Growth Hacks

The Rise of the Subscription Business Model
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

The Rise of the Subscription Business Model

Subscription business model is one of the most promising emerging models and involves charging the customers a recurring price at regular intervals. This model eliminates the need to make a large upfront payment for buying a product or service. While earlier this model was popular with print media and other specialized domains such as service providers, now more and more business segments are experimenting with subscription business model.

Subscription model is quite resilient and may be customized to meet the specific requirements of a business. While some models provide a fixed menu of products or services, others may offer unlimited use of their offerings for a fixed period of time. The flexibility of the model is one of the biggest reasons behind the success of this phenomenon. However, this is not the only advantage of this model. With a subscription business model, you can reap the following benefits:

  • Predictable Revenue Stream: The subscription model allows a business to make educated prediction about its future revenue and therefore is immensely helpful in planning and budgeting.
  • Customization: The subscription model is also conducive to customization of plans. You can design different types of subscription payment schemes to meet diverse demands of your customer base. Such customization also enables the business to attract new customers as they can get payment terms and conditions to suit their requirements.
  • Optimizing Costs: Since the subscription model allows businesses to predict their demand pattern, it becomes easier to design purchase plans in an efficient manner. Such planning enables the business to optimize their costs and processes.

Once you have decided that you want to turn your business into subscription-based enterprise, there are certain pointers you need to keep in mind. These points will help you in smooth transition and efficient execution.

  • The Right Pricing: Just like conventional revenue models, even subscription model requires the business to determine the right price point. Since your subscription plan will not only impact your current customer base but also the size of your potential market and future subscriptions, it is important that you pay proper attention to different factors such as the income level of your market and the likely demand to determine the price to be charged.
  • Simplify Billing: While it is important to have simple yet clear billing in any business model, the need for simple billing is all the more important in subscription-based models since the invoices are sent more frequently. The businesses should ensure that the bills provide all the details in a concise and clear manner. Reliable invoices help in creating transparent and strong processes, inculcating confidence in customers.
  • Develop Deeper Customer Relationships: Robust customer relationships form the base of the subscription model. As the customers grow, it is important that the quality of customer relationship processes is maintained and improved over a period of time. As the subscription model entails more frequent interactions with the clients, it is important that the business is sufficiently strong to take on the additional burden.
  • Measure and Iterate: The success of the subscription model largely depends on a business’s ability to measure the results and take swift actions to remedy the situation. As the model is still in the evolution phase, it allows for customization and quick changes. It is equally essential that the processes are scaled in response to the introduction of the model. Such a model may also require frequent changes as you may have to introduce more innovative plans to meet customers’ requirements.

The subscription model is here to stay as more and more verticals pick it up for boosting their customer base. While the model offers many advantages, it also has certain shortcomings such as customer fatigue, wherein, clients may grow weary of the same products and services. The model also requires the business to stick to scheduled deliveries with minimal deviation. If the supply side is unpredictable, it may not be possible for the business to maintain such delivery schedule for its customers. Overall, it is important to ensure that the subscription model is suitable for the business in question and that adequate attention is paid to different factors while designing this model for implementation.

5 years ago
Localize Your E-commerce Business to Grow Faster
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Localize Your E-commerce Business to Grow Faster

E-commerce businesses come with the benefit of global reach; however, there is also the need to give a local touch to your enterprise so that customers from different countries to warm up to you. Localization is essential for ensuring that you are able to customize your offerings for different markets within your overall global market. At the rudimentary level, localization may entail providing different language options on your website. However, you can go beyond that to provide a unique touch to each market. Here are some of the strategies which may help you in localizing your e-commerce business.

Why Do You Need E-commerce Localization?

Several studies have shown that online consumers are more willing to buy a product if they are presented with all the necessary product information in their local language. However, merely changing the language does not do the trick as you also need to customize the content to suit local cultural norms. You should also pay attention to various nuances of a language. For example, the French spoken in Paris is vastly different from the French practiced in Francophile regions of Canada.

Localization is equally important for small businesses run online. Despite the size of the business, the owners still need to compete in the international markets as a vast majority of internet users hail from emerging economies such as India and China. The key to success for small online businesses is to optimize their local reach within the constraints of their limited budget.

Know the Local Rules

Chevrolet made a massive marketing mistake while promoting its Nova car in Latin America, where the word ‘No va’ literally translated to “it doesn’t go” in Spanish. So, it is important to ensure that when you localize your online business, you understand the common societal norms, regulations and customs. For this purpose, it is advisable to engage the services of localization specialists, who are familiar with the subtle characteristics of a market. These specialists have the expertise to help you localize your products and services to best meet the requirements of your target market.

Use Social Media the Right Way

The role of social media in promoting online businesses cannot be overemphasized. Similarly, you can also use social media to provide local touch to your e-commerce business. You can create different social media pages or identities for different markets. This segregation will allow you to generate localized content and connect with the prospective buyers in a more customized manner. Again, the hiring of localization specialists may come in handy to ensure that you get the right message across.

Pay Attention to Payment Gateways

The success of an online business depends on a variety of factors, including the ease of completing the transaction. One way to ensure a pleasant online shopping experience is to offer appropriate payment gateways to the buyers. So, when you list down your product or services on your website, take some time to ensure that the prospective buyers are quoted the prices in their local currencies. The use of local currency will help the consumer in making a more informed decision, ultimately earning you their loyalty. Also provide different online payment platforms to suit the current cultural and commercial environment. For example, different international websites have offered payment services like Cash on Delivery in emerging economies such as India, where the use of credit or debit cards is still in a nascent stage.

Strengthen Brand Loyalty

In order to win long term business from your target market, it is imperative to create a unique brand and command loyalty from your followers. There are several ways in which a business can build sustainable customer base. You can focus on providing user generated localized content as it may help you in building credibility. Studies have shown that online customers rely upon the feedback provided by their peers on the internet. Such feedback is even more potent when it is delivered in the localized context. Another strategy to create local brand loyalty is to diversify your products and services. For example, you can expand the menu to include local delicacies or modify your recipe to suit local palate.

Localizing end to end experience for your customer base may seem time consuming and resource intensive. However, the strategy has long term implications and may help you in creating a long lasting cross border online business.

5 years ago
Five Tips to Secure Your Online Transactions
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Five Tips to Secure Your Online Transactions

Digitalization in businesses has transformed the way consumers shop. With digital transactions taking over paper money, cyber-attacks are on the rise owing to the sloppy online shopping habits of buyers. As a result, the need to protect your personal information becomes critical and inevitable.

Although, online transactions come with a risk, there are certain tips that can help you secure them and keep cyber vulnerabilities at bay.

A Secure Connection

If you are initiating a payment online, look for a padlock icon beside the website address. HTTPS only guarantees a basic level of internet security, while HTTP is completely insecure. If the website address features HTTPS with the padlock icon beside it, the website is secure.

Authentic shopping sites redirect you to an encrypted version of the payment page. To validate this, look for logos such as VeriSign. Clicking on the logo will give you additional information regarding how secure the website is. Besides, always keep your internet browser updated. The best alternative is to shop through the official merchant apps that can be downloaded from Apple Store or Google Play.

Know Where to Shop and Where Not to

While it’s mostly safe to shop from a private and encrypted home connection, open and public Wi-Fis are unsafe. It’s wise not to use public Wi-Fi for shopping. And, if at all you transact using public Wi-Fi, change your password immediately from a safe network.

Keep Track of Your Transactions

Keep a record of all the internet transactions you make, and examine the bank statements and credit card bills on a regular basis to verify your transactions. Doing it regularly can help you track wrong or unusual transactions easily. If you find anything suspicious, block your card and notify the bank immediately.

Use Your Accounts Wisely

Do not keep any birth dates or wedding dates as password for your bank accounts. When people resort to social media to showcase their lifestyle, it’s easy to extract their personal information from apps and websites. Try not to disclose such information in social media. Keep the social media details to a minimum to avoid being a victim of hacking and phishing.

While using passwords for bank accounts, use strong and hard-to-guess ones. A two-factor authentication would be ideal for a secure online payment. With that, you will receive a one-time pin to authenticate your transaction. If you use another computer to shop online or if you access your computer from a public network, change your password immediately. If you are using another computer, do not allow the browser to remember your passwords. Be extra observant by clearing the cache, cookies, and history after use. Once you complete a transaction, log out of the bank/merchant website. Also, do not store your account information anywhere on your computer.

Use Firewalls and Anti-Virus Programs

Safeguard your computer with a good antivirus program and update it regularly. This will ensure that you are safeguarded against new hacks and scams. Also, have the firewall turned on to prevent unauthorized access to your computer.

The aforementioned tips can help prevent the sneaky cyber thieves from acquiring access to your important financial and personal data. As a final tip, change your online passwords on a regular basis.

5 years ago
How to generate funds to grow your business
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

How to generate funds to grow your business

Are you an entrepreneur with a great business development model? If you are, you need to get started with generating adequate funds that will facilitate the growth of your business. Sufficient funds are essential for the expansion and growth of your company. Money is required to ensure smooth production, marketing, administration, etc. of your business. The revenue you generate will go a long way for all of these, but this revenue can be seasonal at times and money may fall short. This is why you need to have a backup plan for generating outside funds for your business. Some ways to generate funds are quite traditional while others are more creative. You have to figure out what you can work well with and find the best way to generate more funding.

The following are some of the best ways to generate funds for your business:

  1. Launch a crowdfunding campaign

Over the recent years, there have been a lot of crowdfunding success stories that might have caught your attention at some point or other. If you have the right product and can make the right pitch, you can definitely be one of them. First off, you have to create a good story for your business that people can connect to. You need to make your product look appealing to them. You should also use this opportunity to get feedback on how your product or business can improve. Your pitch should demonstrate the value of what your business offers and how it will serve people. Show them why your business requires more monetary support and how you will be using it. If you do it right, crowdfunding will provide a lot of external funds.

  1. Capital from friends and family

Statistics show that people are more willing to invest their money with someone they know or are familiar with. If you have friends or family with a lot of money, pitch your business to them. Give them shares in exchange or just borrow on interest, according to what works for them. Show them a good business plan that they can rely on. They will need to know where their money is going. You also need to be very clear about any risks involved. Document everything and move forward if this works out.

  1. Apply for loans

Loans are probably one of the most traditional ways to generate funding for businesses. Statistics show that the majority of small businesses raise capital through business loans or some form of credit. You need to find loan schemes that offer you the best rates and favourable terms. See if you meet their requirements and have all the documentation ready. If your bank credit score is bad, you might have trouble getting a loan. Be ready with your business statements like balance sheets and tax returns. If you meet all the requirements, you can get a lot of capital through loans.

There are other ways to get funding for your business. However, these are some of the most commonly used and successful ones.

5 years ago
Create a Loyalty Program in 5 Easy Steps
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Create a Loyalty Program in 5 Easy Steps

Whether you have set up a new business or are looking to expand your existing one, creating a loyalty program can help you achieve your target.  A good loyalty program can help you in creating a sustainable customer base. As it is far more expensive to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one, a loyalty program can be help in running a business more efficiently. Here are the top tips to create a loyalty program which will keep the customers coming back.

  1. Know your Customer Base: In order to create a loyalty program which is just right for your business, it is important to know your customer base well. Some of the most pertinent questions which are required to be answered are the buying capacity of the customers, the type of products bought by them, and the duration for which they have been your customers. Answering these questions will allow you to make more objective assessment of your customer base and fine-tune your program appropriately. Loyalty programs are most suitable for businesses which experience recurring orders at reasonable business intervals. Also, different enterprises require different types of loyalty programs.

 

  1. Decide How to Reward: Rewarding your loyal customers well is the key to the success of a loyalty program. Once you know the main features of your clients, you will be in position to select the most appropriate type of rewards to be offered. It is common wisdom that customers respond more favorably to frequent rewards, even if they are smaller in size. Similarly, rewards in the form of discounts or cashback are also more popular with clients. The businesses are also advised to take a conservative approach towards the rewards as it is far easier to increase these prizes in the future than to decrease them.

 

  1. Keep it Simple: Since a customer loyalty program is long term in nature, it is important to keep it simple. The program should be designed in such a manner that is not only sustainable but also requires minimal resources for its operations. It should also provide positive experience for the clients. The signup process for the program should be self-explanatory and there should not be any ambiguity about the rewards. It is important that the clients are able to anticipate the rewards that they are entitled to so that they do not feel being taken advantage of. It will also make it easier for the employees to explain the program to the customers. All the expenses or qualifiers should also be stated upfront.

 

  1. Leverage Promotional Tactics: While it is important to keep the program simple, it is imperative that some of the time-tested promotional tactics are embedded in the program. The businesses may benefit immensely from endowed progress effect where the customers are provided with ‘bonus’ to give them a sense of quick achievement. Other tactics such as exclusive invites to certain events and premium services may also be used to entice customers to sign up for the program. It should also be ensured that there is proper customer care service available to attend to any query raised by your clients.

 

  1. Use CRM Tools: For running an efficient customer loyalty program, it is important to not only set the goals and budget but also to monitor and measure the progress on a continuous basis. This task may become burdensome over a period of time, so you may think about taking help of Customer Relationship Management tools for this purpose. These tools can help you in tracking your customer interaction and analyzing the results of the loyalty program. Such analysis helps you in making prompt changes to the program to improve its efficiency. You should also ensure that your customer loyalty program does not cannibalize your new client acquisition initiatives.

 

Loyalty programs may help a business in retaining its customers and generate repeat business in an efficient manner. However, it is highly important to customize the program to suit your specific business objectives and customer base. It is also pertinent to note that loyalty programs are good for big and small businesses alike. So, do not ignore this vital tool to boost your client base.

5 years ago