How can Brands Benefit from Using Subscription Services

The subscription-based revenue model is fast emerging as one of the most sought-after option for businesses. While the model has been around for quite some time, its popularity has sky rocketed in recent times, owing to advancements in technology and changing consumer preferences. The subscription model has proved to be successful for various services such as health clubs, magazines and newspapers in the past, but now it has been extended to several other segments as well. Here are some of the main benefits offered by subscription model.

Promotes Customer Loyalty

Subscription model is highly customer centric and provides robust value to the clients. This proposition, in turn, promotes customer loyalty towards the business as it helps in building long-term relationships. Automation of the purchase process leads to brand awareness while the convenience of the model prompts customers to come back. The model also offers various other benefits such as flexibility and savings. As the customers are required to sign up and then set up the schedule only once, it also saves time for them. A subscription-based model promotes accountability as well, since the businesses are required to ensure that they keep providing their products and services at existing standard of quality or exceed that.

Scalable

The subscription-based model is not only good for customers, but it is highly convenient for businesses as well. One of the biggest advantages of this system is that it is very flexible. As the business grows and the customer base expands, the revenue model should be able to accommodate higher volume. This feature is beneficial for the customers as well since they can adjust their purchases without undergoing additional paper work. This model is suitable for scalability as it is easy to set up and understand. The companies may plan their work load in advance since they can predict the demand in a more reliable manner. Such forecasting may also help businesses in designing their marketing strategies in a way that their operations become more efficient and economical.

Budget Friendly

This revenue model helps both the businesses and clients in the budgeting process. As the businesses have useful data in the form of predictable revenue stream, the process of forming plans and budgeting becomes a lot easier and more robust. They are better able to form their expansion plans and strategies. Similarly, customers are also aware of their future expenses and are assured of no surprise escalations; they can design their personal budgets well in advance. They are also able to exercise better control over their expenses. The predictability associated with this revenue model makes future planning more convenient.

Economical

The subscription-based revenue model also tends to be more economical as it allows businesses to acquire customers for a longer period of time, thus reducing the costs related to customer retention. Once the customer has subscribed, the business may then focus on providing them with the best possible experience through their products and services. The model is economical for customers too as they are assured of a flat rate for a fixed period of time. Many times, such a model also allows the business to achieve economies of scale, which may then be passed on to the clients. The subscription model has also been found to offer higher margin and thereby bigger profits.

Value-Added Service

While the subscription-based model is related to revenue management, it offers a host of other services as well. The data provided through subscription plans can help you carry out better analysis. You can get detailed information about the type of subscriptions which become more popular and the various criterion used by the customers to make their decisions. With the help of such data, the business may tweak their marketing and operational activities. It can also aid the funding process of nascent firms as they can get more reliable data about their future revenue and expenses, thus providing better business valuation.

The subscription-based model is now prevalent in almost all the business segments. The model helps in optimizing customer acquisition and retention costs, improving the margins for the organization. However, it is important to design the subscription model as per the features of your target market.