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Product Managers who work in a business with a subscription model need as much time and space as possible to innovate and create the best product offering. Surprisingly, the key to this opportunity lies in subscription management best practices. This article talks through 10 of the most effective tips there are.In this article: Automate Billing Processes Implement Tiered Pricing Models Optimize Onboarding Experiences Leverage Data Analytics Enhance Customer Communication Focus on Customer Retention Use Feedback to Drive Product Improvements Regularly Review and Update Subscription Plans Ensure Compliance with Regulations Invest in Reliable Subscription Management Software A Product Manager’s job isn’t easy. You juggle process paralysis. Stakeholders that don’t understand how much investment needs to go into product development. The stress of deadlines and launches. And siloed decision-making, just for a start. So when you see an article about tips for subscription management, it might seem confusing. But if a subscription-based business wants to be successful, it needs effective recurring revenue management. It increases customer retention, builds the customer base, cuts operations costs, and serves as the stabilizing factor in the relationships between customers and the products you work so hard to innovate. If your company’s subscription management could use some improvement, here are 10 tips for how to achieve a subscription management process that is seamless and makes your job a lot easier. Tip 1: Automate Billing Processes The billing process in businesses with recurring revenue can be a significant challenge. Silos between sales, revenue, customer service, and product servicing (when applicable) can make invoicing and payments collection take weeks or even months. They can also be incorrect, which creates a new set of problems from disputes with customers to revenue leakage. But automating the billing process from invoicing to payment collection can save time, cut expensive human errors, and make customers a lot happier. What you get with automation: Accuracy: Automated systems take contract terms regarding your products and translate them into correct bills you cancel confident about. That cuts the expense of re-issuing invoices, and cuts churn. Efficiency: Automation enables the free-flow of information between your teams, and takes into account add-ons, upgrades, cross-selling and any other changes in subscriptions and feeds them directly into the process. There aren’t any delays. And the teams involved have a lot more time to focus on strategic tasks. Customer Satisfaction: When customers get correct bills on time, they trust your brand more. That means they’re more likely to buy more of your products. How to get automation: Choose the Right Tools: There are a lot of options out there, but a solution that covers your end-to-end is going to save a lot more time and money as time goes on. Create Automated Workflows: Depending on the nature of your products and subscriptions, define your workflows for the payment process, including what to do with late and defaulted payments. Monitor: When you regularly review your processes, you’ll be able to spot any areas for improvement. And when things are ticking over nicely, you’ll be able to concentrate on developing the best new products. Tip 2: Implement Tiered Pricing Models Choosing pricing models can be a high-pressure situation. No one wants to get it wrong- it’s too easy to lose customers to another brand that offers better terms, a clearer subscription, or cheaper prices. As the Product Manager, the last thing you want is for customers to either be so confused, locked into terms they don’t like, or priced out of experiencing your products. And you don’t want them to be undercharged either. Your products have value, so the pricing models should reflect that. With tiered pricing models, customers will get the flexibility that suits their unique circumstances.Why tiered pricing works: Attract Multiple Segments: Though it’s great to be rock-solid with a particular segment, growth comes from attracting as many segments as possible to your products. Multiple pricing tiers give them options that meet their needs and budgets. Upsell Opportunities: Customers that you already have are far more likely to buy off you than brand-new customers. Lower tiers encourage them to upgrade as their needs grow. More Revenue: When there are multiple pricing options, no one is priced out, forced to go to your competition. That means more inbound revenue. How to get tiered pricing to work for you: Understand Your Customers: Knowing your customers, their behaviours and their needs will always pay in dividends. Whether that’s market research, or crunching data that segments and suggests appropriate tiers, you’re far more likely to package your products in a way that they will want. Make Clear Value Propositions: Your products are amazing. You spend a lot of time developing and launching them. But customers need to see their value. Tiered pricing creates multiple value propositions that can justify the price differences. Test and Adjust: Testing systems, such as the classic A/B will help you evaluate which pricing tiers work best for the customer base. That way when adjustments are needed, you know where and why. Tip 3: Optimize Onboarding Experiences Often onboarding is the first experience a customer has with a brand or a specific product. That’s why the onboarding process should be as smooth as possible. You want your customers to be able to focus on how great your products are, not when onboarding is going to happen, why it’s so difficult or confusing, or what’s the point in the product in the first place.Here’s what’s in a good onboarding process: Personalization: The process should be shaped to meet each customer’s needs, goals, and schedule. Clarity: It should be as easy as possible. Step-by-step instructions, online tutorials, 1-on-1 support, demonstration videos, and other resources can help guide them through the process. Support: The most impactful customer service doesn’t wait until there’s a problem. The proactive approach (including live chat, check-ins and even chatbots) keep things ticking along. How to create a good onboarding process: Segmentation: Different customers have differing needs. So onboarding paths can be based on customer-segmented behavior and needs, as well as usage. Interactive Content: Interactive content like quizzes, tutorials and even apps boosts retention, engagement and emotional investment in the product. Get Feedback: Customers will tell you what’s working for them and what isn’t. Feedback is essential to improve the experience. Tip 4: Leverage Data Analytics Data analytics is a powerful tool for optimizing subscription management. The surprising thing is that many companies leave data to the side. It stays an untapped resource, instead of the pure gold it can be. Analyzing customer data can inform everything from product development to targeting marketing, and a personalized CX that boosts CLV and cuts churn.Why data analytics can work for you: Customer Insight: You can get deep insight into the behavior, preferences, patterns, and needs of both your current customer base and potential new customers. Predictions: Predictive analytics can automatically provide forecasted trends, warn you of what’s risking churn, and help you take proactive measures before the problem is a real problem. KPIs: Data helps you track key performance metrics that are essential to your company’s health. These include MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue), CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), and LTV (Lifetime Value). How to get value from data analytics: Bring in Comprehensive Analytics Tools: There are many types of analytic tools out there, so ensure your tools are robust enough to cover everything from customer segmentation to financial data, to monitoring the current market and even what your competitors are doing. Monitor and Interpret KPIs: Analytics will keep their eye on the metrics that are most important, and translate that into dashboards that are easy for you and your stakeholders to understand. Actionable Insights: The best analytics tools will create insights and reports for you to strategize on a number of issues including pricing optimization, boosting retention, and creating the best unique customer experience. Tip 5: Enhance Customer Communication The better the communication with customers, the better the result. Customers appreciate that a business is there for them after the sale. This is especially true with subscription customers, where the necessity of long-term communication is built into the model. Communication enables stronger customer relationships, which translates into better satisfaction.What’s needed for better communication: Multi-Channel Approach: There are a variety of channels waiting to be enhanced. And that’s a good thing! Everything from social media, SMS, email, and in-app messaging provide opportunities for you to build engagement and trust where each customer is most active. Personalization: With communication, definitely does not fit all. Customers value the personal touch, whether that’s simply using their need or tailoring your communication to their behavior, needs, and preferences. Updates: When you send regular updates, customers stay informed what you work so hard on: new products, features, and subscription packages. What you can use for communication: CRM Systems: Customer Relationship Management is a godsend for busy companies. They manage and personalize communications for your company, saving a lot of time, effort, and resources. Automation: You can set up automated messaging (that can be personalized!) for everything from emails, personalized offers, renewal reminders, and loyalty schemes. Feedback: Mechanisms that make feedback effortless for customers will vastly improve your feedback rate. Surveys, pop-ups, and scoring can gather opinions on whatever you want, including suggestions for future products. Tip 6: Focus on Customer Retention Existing customers are far more likely to buy more of the products you develop, and spend more money versus brand new potential customers. That’s why keeping your existing customers is far more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. The stronger your customer retention strategy and investment, the better the potential for growth and stability.Which strategies work for retention: Regular Engagement: Things like product updates, newsletters, and personalized content will keep customers interested in what you have to offer. Loyalty: Customers love loyalty programs, so reward long-term customers with exclusive access and products, referral bonuses, and special offers. The Proactive Approach: When support is proactive, it drastically cuts the possibility that you’ll have to go into damage control with a customer. Find potential issues early before they escalate, so they can be solved before they’re an expensive problem. How to measure your retention success: Churn Rate: When customers leave, you know something’s not right, and things have to change. Customer Satisfaction: Feedback will not only let you know how happy your customers are, but why they’re happy. Renewal: You can track the renewal rates to gauge customer loyalty. Tip 7: Use Feedback to Drive Product Improvements Though feedback is always important for the health of a company, product development needs customer feedback for direction. Some Product Managers don’t get the investment they need into customer feedback to drive the best types of product innovation. But you need that - otherwise how do you know what your customers want and need?Collecting feedback: Surveys: Surveys can give the anonymity necessary to get truthful feedback. Sometimes identifiable customers don’t want to admit things about their needs and vulnerabilities, so this solves that problem. Focus Groups: Focus groups can offer in-depth conversations about what customers think about your products and their uses. Focus groups can be segmented as well, giving insights into the segments you have and the ones you want to attract with your new products. User Interviews: 1-on-1 interviews can also give deep insights into customer needs because your side can adjust questions depending on the information they’re getting. What to do with the feedback: Analyze It: Different teams will analyze and interpret feedback in different ways, so the more the feedback is read and discussed the more comprehensive the meaning of the feedback. Improve: Product Managers need the space to prioritize changes in products and development based on the feedback. That’s how to meet customer needs and solve their problems. Broadcast the Changes: When you alter your product offering based on your customer feedback, let them know! Customers want to see the value of your products, and they love to feel valued by you. Tip 8: Regularly Review and Update Subscription Plans Like products, subscription plans should change to meet both the market and customer needs. Very few people’s circumstances remain unchanged, so it helps to meet them where they are. This involves regularly checking over and updating the subscription terms, offerings, product combinations, add-ons, cross-selling, and upgrades.What’s important in the reviews: Analysis of Competition: There’s a lot of competition in subscriptions. Competitors constantly innovate their products and pricing. And their advantages can help poach your customers away. That’s why it’s essential to be on top of your competitors’ offerings, and exploit gaps and chances for differentiation. Customer Feedback: Customers will tell you what they’re hoping for, and what changes they would like to see. It’s the way you’ll understand their needs and preferences at any given time. Usage: Usage data gives a clear picture how how your products are used, which are most popular, and whether there are trends that can inform your plants and strategies What’s needed in the update: Introductions to the New Features: When you add new features and benefits (which comes to you naturally), your subscription will increase in value. So can your price. Adjusted Prices: Pricing relies on more than just the objective value of your products. Things like market conditions, your CLV and CAC, etc. can all influence it. Simplicity: No matter what changes in the offering or plan, everything needs to remain as simple as possible, so customers know exactly what they’re choosing and getting. Tip 9: Ensure Compliance with Regulations Compliance with regulations is critical for a variety of reasons. When you are non-compliant, you’re vulnerable to legal issues, fines, lawsuits, and destruction of customer trust and your reputation, no matter how excellent your products. That’s extremely hard or even impossible to overcome. The stakes are that high. That’s why your company must keep up with any relevant regulations across your company and customer locations.Key types of regulations (this isn’t an exhaustive list, just a starting point of examples): CCPA: Because consumer data protection in the USA varies by state, it’s important to keep abreast of all the states. for example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) protects consumer privacy rights in California. GDPR: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates data protection and privacy throughout the European Union. PCI DSS: Payment regulations like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Strategies for regulatory compliance Audits: Make sure to conduct regular audits (internal and 3rd party) to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations. Training: Give employees the training they need about regulatory requirements, best practices, and an understanding of the consequences of falling out of compliance. Data Protection and Trackers: Ensure your own systems are secure, and that you constantly track the regulatory landscape so that changes aren’t missed. Tip 10: Invest in Reliable Subscription Management Software We understand that all these tips appear to require a huge investment of time and resources. But with the right subscription management solution, it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, you can action ALL of the above tips and still end up with more time, revenue, and growth because the best solutions can streamline all these processes for you, while boosting efficiency, and improving and personalizing the customer experience. All with one platform.What you get from subscription management software: AI-powered Automation: The end-to-end subscription management solution will harness AI-driven power to automate billing, invoicing, and payment processes to cut manual errors. It can create offerings and pricing models and spot sales opportunities. It also monitors your KPIs and creates reports of all kinds, with numbers you can rely on. Integration: The best solutions can integrate with systems that you already have, and migrate legacy data for you so it isn’t lost. Scalability: It allows you to scale with total ease. How to choose the right software: Features: Find out whether the software meets all of your needs- through research, discovery calls, etc. User Experience: How accessible is the software? Does it feel unique to your business? Is the experience enjoyable? Demonstrations can help you see how it would work for you. Support and Training: Ensure that the software developer has ample support and training, along with continual check-ins to see how it’s going. Conclusion When your company’s subscription management runs well, your customers will be happy. That means that your products have a much higher chance of success. Implementing these tips will not only streamline the entire end-to-end subscription process, but boost customer satisfaction, cut churn, and pull in far more revenue. On top of that, it optimizes operations for cost and time savings so that you have the time and energy to continue to drive your company forward with innovative products that set you apart from your competitors. If this sounds like an ideal situation, why not book a free, no-obligation discovery call? We’d love to hear about your unique challenges and circumstances. Let’s work together to create an environment where your products take center stage.

9 Things Growth Officers Need All too often, Heads of Growth and Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) in subscription-based business lack the resources they need to generate revenue and scale. Though this can feel like an impossible situation, there are solutions available. This article gives both insight and 9 actionable strategies to take to stakeholders that will help optimize subscription management to help.In this article: Understanding Subscription Economics Advanced Customer Acquisition Strategies Maximizing Customer Retention Using Dynamic Pricing Models (link) Personalization and Customization Enhancing Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities Optimizing the Onboarding Process Staying Ahead with Innovation and Trends Leveraging Data Analytics for Revenue Optimization Subscription-based businesses, particularly in industries such as SaaS and IT Services, face unique challenges and opportunities. For Heads of Growth and Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) in businesses with subscription models, the pressure is extremely high to create revenue and scale. But if you’re a growth officer, the problem is that more often than not, you’re not given the budget or tools you need to build sustainable growth. This article will give you actionable insights and effective strategies that will help optimize subscription management to drive significant revenue growth. Your Challenges As a growth officer, you’re faced with a lot of challenges. Any of these sound familiar? Sourcing investment in tech that supports scaling/growth targets Stakeholders and C-Suite do not allow bold and decisive moves Lack of information flow and collaboration between marketing, finance, product and sales teams A lack of efficient end-to-end process including operations Customer data management strategy Cutting churn and building customer base with better CLV Adapting to buyer behaviors that change all the time Struggling to function with legacy systems Unable to spot areas for improvement Missed opportunities, and revenue leakage affecting revenue targets. It’s a long list of problems. Each of them can impact whether you meet your goals. Combined, it becomes a list that makes your job impossible. The Subscription Model and Management The subscription model can be key to driving long-term revenue growth. But the success of a subscription-based business requires effective subscription management. It’s only by eliminating these challenges and optimizing the end-to-end process that a growth officer can deliver noticeable revenue growth. So what are the strategies and actions that can help you overcome the obstacles that come naturally with your job? 1. Understanding Subscription Economics Subscriptions bring in revenue, which is why it’s key to understand and monitor the specific metrics that are fundamental to its economics. These metrics are generally measured both quarterly and annually. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): This is the total cost of acquiring a new customer. The CAC includes the costs of marketing and sales. The lower the CAC (especially when combined with a good CLV), the more potential for short and long-term profitability. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This is the total revenue your company will bring in from a specific customer over their relationship with you. If you bring in good products and customer retention strategies, you’ll maximize the CLV and significantly increase your revenue growth. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): This is the amount of predictable income that your company brings in every month from your subscription fees. This is an extremely hard figure to get right if you use legacy systems, but it’s a key indicator of your subscription success and health. Churn Rate: This is the percentage of your subscribers who cancel in a given amount of time. It is one of the most important metrics to get right, because it’s the snapshot for the current success of your brand. Though there are other metrics you can measure (link) these 4 are the most important. They are interdependent and must all be optimized for the best revenue-boosting results.  2. Advanced Customer Acquisition Strategies One of the most important things a company can do is attract and convert new customers. Acquisition strategies have to be more than basic afterthoughts because there’s too much competition, and customer expectation is the highest it’s ever been.   Strategies need to be as advanced as possible. These include:   Targeted Marketing - Customer data-driven analysis can create segments down to micro-segments identifying their pain points, challenges, and needs. That way marketing uses the right language and methods to help communicate how your products are exactly what they need. Personalization - It’s one step further than targeted marking, but a whole new world. Customers need and expect personalization. In fact, it’s one of the biggest factors in deciding which brands they go with. Personalization attracts and converts more leads. Leveraging Partnerships - You and your brand don’t have to go it alone. Most likely your products can be complemented or enhanced by a non-competitor that is related to the experience that you want to give your customers. Forming a strategic partnership gives you a new audience and customer base and brand trust that pushes conversion rate as well. Sales Processes - Without effective sales strategies and a good team, you won’t have any inbound revenue, period. The sales process should be as streamlined as possible to push down the CAC and boost the CLV. Automation, training, and the free flow of information between teams help this. Consultative Selling - Like partnerships, consultants can relieve some of the pressure you feel. Consultants have a strong understanding of customer needs, a good level of trust, and an already established customer base. Building a strong relationship with consultants will free up your time and give you access to new customers without additional effort. Acquiring customers is absolutely key to both the short-term and long-term success of your subscription business.   Of course, it’s also just the first step in the customer journey.   3. Maximizing Customer Retention Acquiring customers is important, but so is keeping them, because that’s the only way to achieve a good CLV.   It is far easier to sell to existing customers than new ones. They are more likely to buy more often and spend more per purchase.   What keeps customers staying, and cuts churn?  Choice and Flexibility - The best self-service portals can completely change the ease and attractiveness of a subscription plan. They enable customers to manage their subscription, whether it’s pausing it, changing delivery dates or frequency, adding products and services, or changing subscription dates. The screenshot below, from science-driven nutritional brand AG1, show the options that customers love: Proactive Customer Support - Excellent customer support is more than just dealing with problems when they occur. It’s about keeping them onboard all the time with things like clear and easy-to-understand subscription terms, bots for after-hours queries, regularly scheduled check-ins, and fast resolution when problems come up. Personalized Assistance - Customers need to know that personalization doesn’t just stop with the purchase. It’s part of their customer experience. Tailored assistance that meets their needs can look like recommendations, content, and onboarding. Unique Loyalty Programs, Referral Bonuses, Discounts, and Offers - Though it can be difficult to logistically run, when customers get rewards that are suitable for their needs and wants, they’re happier and more incentivized to keep (or even upgrade) subscriptions. Communication of Value - Subscription customers have to continue to see the value in their subscriptions because there is a lot of competition out there trying to both undercut pricing and offer them more. Making awareness of value a regular thing, through creating new features, sharing relevant and valuable content, and incentivizing them sharing their own success stories on social media can reinforce why you’re so valuable. These efforts will be appreciated by your customers because they build trust. That makes them less likely to leave for a different brand. 4. Using Dynamic Pricing Models Because the subscription landscape changes so much and so often, dynamic pricing is a must. Adjusting prices that take into account your target customer’s behavior and the market demand at any given time will make your offerings much more attractive and give you a slight edge over your competitors. Whether you decide to go with value-based pricing, tiered, freemium, flexible, or usage-based pricing, (or combinations) your company can conduct market research, create focus groups, and get current customer feedback about what they need and what ideally, they would like. You can also conduct A/B testing and pricing experiments (including personalized discounts, different price points and structures), which will give you direct evidence to bring to stakeholders about what actually works best. It also will help you understand where your customers see the value in your offerings, so that you can make future adjustments with features, new products, etc. and bring even more ongoing value. 5. Personalization and Customization Personalization and customization are so important to the customer experience, they actually deserve their own section. Both enhance everything from the first marketing messages throughout the life of your relationship with each customer. They drive higher satisfaction rates and customer retention. And that means better long-term growth. Aside from the personalized marketing already discussed, what can personalization and customization look like? Personalized recommendations for product combinations and servicing. Content-based filtering. Onboarding that is created, shaped and scheduled to meet needs. Follow-up tutorials and training based on subscription products. Preferred communication including emails, in-app messages, notifications, etc. Payments based on each customer’s preferred methods. Any of these make the customer experience much more enjoyable and cut churn. They also make it far more likely that you’ll benefit from word-of-mouth as well. How does optimizing selling opportunities further your revenue growth? 6. Enhancing Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities There’s more to subscriptions than just the one subscriptions. The nature of most subscriptions includes upgrading and buying more. There’s so much revenue to be had through upselling and cross-selling. When these offerings are well-chosen it’s easier to sell them than it was to sell the subscription in the first place. And both boost your CLV. Here are a few options: Product bundles. Exclusive products only available to existing customers. Upgrades to the subscription or just to the next shipment or service delivery. Limited-time offers and discounts. One caveat here: it doesn’t matter how tempting the add-on, upgrade, cross-sell is if the timing is wrong. If your customer is busy, has a really tight budget, doesn’t use the services they’re already paying for, or - heaven forbid - unhappy with your products and service, they might reject it outright. So your sales process needs to understand the best timing for the offerings. One thing that can also boost the rate of success is a self-serve option, because buyer intent is already much higher. Once you sell your subscriptions and subscription add-ons and upgrades, onboarding becomes a very important next step. Especially if this is a new customer. 7. Optimizing the Onboarding Process Onboarding is the first experience they have of your service, so to increase revenue it’s important to get it right every time. No one needs a damaged reputation before the products are even used. The best onboarding processes happen fast. They cut complexity and friction and give the customer as seamless an experience as possible. Here are some things that can help make your onboarding as pleasant as possible: Streamlined Sales-to-Service Process Unfortunately, one of the biggest hinderances to onboarding is siloed information between sales, customer service, finance, and servicing teams. For example, onboarding can be delayed if your finance team is still waiting for contracts and terms from sales to set up invoicing and payments. That can delay onboarding by weeks or even months. Information must flow freely in real time to combat this extremely common problem. Self-Service Resources There are huge chunks of the onboarding process that could be automated and self-service. This not only saves tons of time but meets the pace and needs of your customers. It can be anything from FAQs, information hubs, video tutorials, onboarding process examples, knowledge bases, and video tutorials. Interactivity Interactivity (whether self-service or guided) steeply increases customer satisfaction and absorption of necessary information. Walkthroughs, augmented reality experiences, webinars, guided tours, segmented product demos, and even step-by-step instructions and training sessions with service teams really help. Feedback Loops Though it can be tough listening to some customer feedback, it’s essential for long-term improvement. Checking up at each stage, one-on-one chats, surveys, even pop-ups through the process will give you the information you need to improve the experience of each customer. Workflows Sometimes it’s just about keeping the customer (as well as your teams) informed where they are in the process. Workflow information and personalized onboarding plans ensure that the customer doesn’t feel forgotten or confused about what’s coming up in the process so that they can adjust accordingly. 8. Staying Ahead with Innovation and Trends It sounds like such a cliche, but without innovation, growth isn’t going to take off. There are so many competitors out there, and it’s very easy for them to find and reach out to your customer base. That’s why staying ahead of what is going on in your industry and investing in leading-edge products is the firm foundation you need to boost and drive sustained growth. It’s an attitude that must be embraced by everyone in the organization, from the C-Suite to your customer service reps. Everyone gains from acting on a growth mindset, and everyone has a unique point of view about which products and processes are ripe for improvement. Growth officers struggle to get support from stakeholders about investing in knowledge and innovation because it tends to be invisible to them. All they look at are success rates for the products. Sometimes they need to see why seizing opportunities to get ahead of the competition leads to growth. Whether that’s creating case studies, finding the money for investment by reducing the costs of operations, pointing to similar companies who have failed because they didn’t invest, or some other strategy, stakeholders must understand that this isn’t a negotiable. This can involve multiple strategies: Process Optimization - Automating routine tasks and streamlining the workflows helps create the space and revenue needed to redirect investment. Product Innovation - Doesn’t have to mean all new products all the time. It could be better performance, new features, or expanding to a different market through collaboration. Industry Analysis - Everything from trend and regulation monitoring, attending industry events, creating a clear brand voice that is involved in thought leadership, to understanding tech and market shifts allows for both proactive and reactive strategizing. Technology Adoption - There are a vast range of technologies out there specifically designed to make innovation and keep up with the landscape much easier and even pain-free. They range from artificial intelligence to machine learning and real-time analysis, to cloud computing. When companies make the investment in their future, they’re far more likely to get a good return. 9. Leveraging Data Analytics for Revenue Optimization So many companies don’t make use of one of the most powerful tools that there is to build growth - data. With the right platform, data can both identify and create opportunities for you to build growth. Here are just a few ways: Segmentation You can segment customers based on their buying behavior, preferences, engagement, usage, and demographics like regions and countries. All these allow your company to tailor marketing, product, experience, and retention strategies that will cut churn and boost your base and revenue. Prediction and Forecasting Predictive analytics can forecast everything from customer behavior to finance and revenue outlooks. No matter what the nature of predictive reports you get, the insights inside help you to take preemptive measures that will help you make more informed decisions, avoid possible disaster, and gain a competitive advantage. Regulation Regulations, guidelines, and laws change. And the stakes are high - without compliance, you risk fines and destruction of your reputation. If your customer base reaches across regions, countries, continents, and industries, you’re subject to a host of rules that it’s your responsibility to keep track of. But data and analytics can do this automatically. Revenue Insights Revenue data can provide a lot of insight to spot revenue opportunities. Through product performance and customer profitability analysis, you’ll be able to understand which products deliver what revenue so that you can pivot, lean into what works, and change what doesn’t. Data and analysis give an excellent foundation to drive growth. They also give you the numbers you can take to the C-Suite and other stakeholders. Don’t leave those numbers by the wayside. Conclusion Driving revenue growth in subscription-based businesses will always require a holistic and comprehensive approach. It will involve everything from acquisition to customer retention, use of data and analytics, the right pricing and product offerings, optimized operations, personalization, cut churn, and innovation. But with all that, Heads of Growth and CROs need the support and tools necessary to achieve significant revenue growth by optimizing end-to-end subscription management. That’s the way things get done, and things get better as time goes on. If you’re ready the growth of your subscription-based business to the next level, you’ll need the best of breed Cloud ERP Subscription Management solution tailored to your company’s needs. Something you can take with confidence to your stakeholders. Why not book a 30-minute discovery call with us to explain your unique circumstances and what’s needed to help you drive significant revenue growth?

Retail has been transformed by the subscription model. It offers multiple benefits including stable revenue streams and a better Customer Lifetime Value. This article takes a look at retail subscription brands like WineCollective, Stitch Fix, and BarkBox to show how it has elevated retailers to a new level of success.   There’s been a massive shift in retail in the last few years thanks to the subscription model.   They’re now everywhere in retail. And it’s no surprise - when done right they bring a lot of benefits, with very little drawback. Subscriptions have unlocked new ways for sustainable growth and revenue streams.   They can be a great addition to a retail business. In this article, we’ll explore how subscriptions have impacted the industry, the benefits they bring to a business, some success stories, and some tips for bringing in subscriptions to your retail business.   How Subscriptions Have Changed Retail   Generally speaking, retail has been a transactional industry. One-off purchases have defined the business/customer relationship.   But once things went online, customers’ expectations began to change a lot and often. It was all about convenience, flexibility, lower cost, and personalised experiences. Once retailers cottoned on to the potential of subscriptions to meet these expectations, they started reaping rewards they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.   Because subscription models can charge customers on a recurring basis, they have transformed the way retailers think about revenue too.    If we look at the benefits of subscriptions, it’s easier to see why they’ve become so popular in retail.   The Benefits of Subscription Models   Whether you want to add a subscription model to your retail business, or you’re tempted to start a solely-subscription retail business, subscriptions can bring a lot of goodness:   Predictable Revenue - One-off purchases make it hard for retail businesses to make accurate revenue predictions. But with subscriptions you’ve get a more stable revenue stream. You’ll be able to manage your cash flow better. And it will help you with forecasting, and even inventory and supply chain management.  Customer Insights - Subscriptions bring you an ongoing relationship with your customers. With the right tools, you can get deep insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and trends. This can help with product development and customising an offering even further, boosting loyalty in the long run.   Increased Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): It can be difficult and expensive to boost your CLV with one-off purchases. But subscriptions up the CLV because it is a lot easier to sell to existing customers. They tend to buy a lot more if they trust you and see the value. According to BIA Advisory, your current customers spend 67% more than new ones.   Market Growth & Potential: The subscription market has exploded because customers like subscriptions. When you offer a service that customers like, you open yourself up to organically growing your customer base.    Let’s have a look at the benefits in action with three real-world retail subscription success stories.   Three of Our Favorite Retail Subscription Stories   WineCollective WineCollective is a Canadian subscription service for wine enthusiasts who want to try wines from around the world. Their subscribers get a personalised selection, recommendations for food pairing suggestions, and information about the wine and where it comes from.   Because the program focuses on discovery and education, it’s great for anyone from wine newbies to proper oenophiles. It’s actually clever customer base building because as each customer’s wine knowledge grows, so does their satisfaction with the brand.  WineCollective started in 2009, and since have become so popular that they’ve been featured in Huffington Post, Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, Toronto Life, and the Canadian Broadcasting Channel, just to name a few.   Stitch Fix Stitch Fix is happy to offer personalized clothing and styling services through its subscription model. After they define their taste, needs, and budget, customers receive curated boxes of apparel and accessories. They keep what they like and return what they don’t.   Founded in 2011, Stitch Fix grew so quickly that it went public within 5 years. Stitch Fix is now worth $1.638 billion. What’s the key to their success? Using a data-driven approach to fashion retail. Combining AI and interactive quizzes and other interfaces, Stitch Fix solves a problem everyone who buys clothes online has - how will I know that this will suit me and if I’ll like it?    BarkBox BarkBox is a monthly subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences to 2 million dogs and their owners. They’re extremely popular, having tapped into the huge pet owner market by offering themed collections of toys and treats.    Founded in 2011, it has shown explosive growth. Revenue growth from 2020 to 2022 was over 41% and annual revenue is now $535 million. And it’s no wonder- BarkBox is known for high-quality products that pets and their owners need (and want!).    Like these companies show, there is a lot of potential. But of course, it has to be done right.   So what can you do to boost your chances?    Implementing a Successful Subscription Model  We’ve worked with a lot of subscription businesses, and here are some of the things we see with the most successful ones.   Know Your Audience - An ongoing relationship with your customers demands that you understand them. That includes who they are, what they want and don’t want, what they value, and what they’ll pay. That way you’ll be able to tailor your offerings to meet their specific needs and preferences. Why would they go anywhere else?    Offer Exceptional Value - Unless you’re very lucky, there’s a lot of competition out there, so you’ll need to stand out. The way to do that is to offer something so compelling that customers feel like it’s a no-brainer. They’ll need to see clear value in the products. Things like exclusivity and personalised pricing are part of it too.    Focus on Customer Experience - Customers have never been so picky. Expectations are high. It’s important to give them a seamless, hassle-free customer experience that extends from the sign-up through customer support, renewals and cancellations, to payments and feedback. It should all be designed with convenience and satisfaction in mind.  Leverage Data for Personalization - Customer data is like gold. And most people don’t make the most of it. But it’s the data collected through your subscription service that allows you to continually make your offerings better. And that brings loyalty.   Innovate and Evolve - Your customers’ needs and wants will change over time, so your subscription offering needs to stay as agile and flexible as possible. Keep an eye on market trends, your competition, and your performance metrics to keep your offering innovative.    Use Automation - Automation makes the entire subscription management process a lot easier, but it also cuts costs, boosts efficiency, makes your customers happy, and scales as fast as you need.   Automation streamlines inventory management, so you don’t get caught out. It creates sales opportunities and keeps track of contracts and terms.   All the data needed is fed in real time to finance for automated (and correct!) billing and payment. It also recognises revenue   and reconciles everything back into the books. And monitors your performance and ensures compliance.   And on the marketing and customer service front, personalized automated email campaigns can enhance engagement and retention, while AI-powered chatbots offer instant support, improving the overall customer experience.  Your numbers will be reliable, you’ll have excellent forecasting and reports, and your workers won’t be burdened with manual tasks that are error-prone and rob them of all their time. You’ll all be able to focus on high-value work that drives the business forward.  Done right, subscriptions are a great addition to a retail business.   It’s a chance at more sustainable revenue and growth. It builds long-term customer relationships.   Though there are best practices to make subscription models as successful as possible, the potential for rewards is worth investigating.   Curious to learn more? Why not book in an exploratory phone call with us? We’d be happy to show you how you could grow in extraordinary ways. 

A Strategic Shift for Sustainable Business Growth  Exploring the advantages of subscription-based revenue models can reveal significant opportunities for businesses. Subscriptions offer predictable revenue streams, foster customer loyalty, and provide the flexibility to adapt to market changes. Notable examples like Adobe, Dollar Shave Club, and Porsche demonstrate the model's effectiveness across various industries. By adopting a subscription approach, businesses can benefit from a strong value proposition, flexibility, consistent quality, excellent customer service, and robust subscription management technology. This strategic shift can drive sustainable growth and ensure long-term success.Every business wants to make money. That’s why we look for as many ways to make it as possible.  But sometimes we miss big chances. Like bringing in a subscription model. And we get it - sometimes the subscription thing doesn’t seem to make sense with what a business might sell.   Take pizza. There aren’t a lot of pizza places offering pizza on subscription. But we can’t think of anyone who would say no to a pizza subscription.   It’s just thinking about logistics.   That’s why we thought this article might be helpful to people who are either looking for a new revenue stream or wondering if the subscription model is right for them.   Let's get a deep dive into why the subscription model is a good idea for your business, what it takes, and how it can potentially unlock new avenues of long-term growth.  What’s great about subscriptions?  Those of us who are subscription customers know how great subscriptions can be.   And it can be great on the other side too.   The subscription model can offer practical, tangible, and proven benefits to businesses. We’ve experienced this firsthand - we’re a subscription company that works with subscription companies.   Here’s what we see, over and over when subscriptions are done right:   1) Predictable Revenue Stream  Who doesn’t want a predictable revenue stream? Though one-off purchases are great, they can be difficult to predict, which makes long-term financial decision-making more challenging.   But with customers paying a regular fee to your business to access your products or services, you get a steady income flow.   This type of stability makes financial forecasting and budgeting much easier. You’ve got a lot less risk with revenue fluctuations too.   2) Broader base of happier customers  Some customers prefer subscriptions. So by giving them what they want, you’re far more likely to get them to stick around. And the subscription model is scalable, so your base can grow with ease.   Subscriptions also give you the opportunity to cultivate long-term relationships with your customers. And it’s not just because you’re making your offering more accessible to customers who might not be able to afford or accommodate a one-off purchase.   Because you’re engaging with your subscribers on a regular basis, you’ll have multiple opportunities to understand your customers' needs, preferences, and behaviors.   In return, this allows you to continue to deliver personalized experiences, products that continue to solve their problems, and the content they want to stay satisfied and loyal.   The data you get from these longer-term relationships can facilitate everything you need to boost not only your word-of-mouth, but your Customer Lifetime Value.   And that’s where the real growth is. It’s so much easier to drive growth by selling to existing customers rather than acquiring new ones. According to Forbes, in SaaS alone it can cost 4-5 times more to acquire new customers than it is to keep your current ones. And businesses have a 60% to 70% chance of selling to a customer they already have, but for a prospect, it’s only 5 - 20%.    3) Flexibility and agility   Then constant feedback you get from your subscription model (through customers, data, behavior, etc.) enables you adjust your offerings when you see shifts or new opportunities in market demand and competition.   When you are agile enough to quickly capitalize on new opportunities and pivot away from what isn’t working (and the sunk costs that go with what isn’t working) you set yourself up for more success.   And this potential can only grow. Whether you aim to reach new markets, brining in extra tiers of service, or bundle products differently, subscription models let you innovate and experiment as customer needs and expectations change.  These benefits aren’t just theoretical. Businesses that are trying subscription models are reaping the rewards. Let’s have a look at a few.    Real Companies Benefiting from the Subscription Model  The subscription model's success is not limited to a specific industry or business size. Companies across various sectors, from startups to established enterprises, have successfully adopted the subscription model and experienced transformative growth:  Adobe: Adobe’s move from software packages to a cloud-based  subscription service radically transformed who they were. Now subscriptions make up over 90% of their revenue. In the last three years alone, their subscription revenue has grown from $11 billion in 2020 to $18 billion in 2023.     Dollar Shave Club: By bravely going up against Gillette by offering a subscription-based razor delivery service, Dollar Shave Club seriously disrupted the grooming industry. It made $4 million in revenue in the first year and in 4 years, grew to $240 million before they sold to Unilever for $1 billion in cash in 2016.   Porsche: Porche started a subscription model a few years ago and it’s exploded in popularity. They give subscribers the thrill of driving multiple Porsches without the long-term expense or commitment. They’ve exploded their customer base- now 80% of their subscribers were totally new to the brand.   These examples show that subscriptions can be a profitable model, even in industries where subscriptions aren’t normal. And subscriptions can be about service, not just products. In other words, you can offer subscription maintenance and add-ons for your base products.   Of course, bringing in a subscription model can be a big undertaking. And the success of your subscription model depends on your industry and how much you can offer.   How to shape your models   You can boost your chances of success by ensuring that your subscriptions have these factors:   Value Proposition - Your subscription has to offer clear benefits that should either meet customer expectations or exceed them. This could be anything, from exclusive access, to convenience, cheaper price, personalised products or service, or a bundle offering they can’t get anywhere else. The key is uniqueness, and now that meets your target market’s needs.   Flexibility - Customers want options, and they want to be able to change their subscription to meet evolving needs without penalty. And that’s not just the offering. It can be terms, products, price, add-ons, usage, etc. You can offer different tiers of service, and the ability to pause subscriptions too. Quality and Consistency - To keep customers coming back for more, both your offering and service need to be consistent. Subscribers want reliability and any decline is going to make them look at what other options are offered by your competition.   Customer Experience and Support - You can’t have a good subscription model without great customer service. They should have easy access to your company, quick resolution of any problems, and proactive and open  communication. Some customers like self-service too, so user-friendly websites and apps help.  Invest in Technology for Subscription Management - This is really important because there’s a lot to subscription management. One of the biggest mistake companies make is frankensteining all their management processes including multiple apps, programs, and manual processes, to try and keep up.  This always backfires because as the business scales, there comes a point where current processes aren’t tenable anymore. But that point always comes after a lot of damage to revenue, compliance, and customer satisfaction has already been done.  A subscription model needs a streamlined, integrated, automated platform. A reliable system for managing subscriptions, billing, and customer communication.   That’s why we’ve put together an end-to-end solution that automates the subscription process for you.   The subscription model presents an amazing opportunity for your business to bring in regular revenue, drive growth, and secure a long-term relationship with your customers.   While the transition will need to involve careful planning and the right tools, the potential benefits make it a worthwhile consideration for any long-term forward-thinking business. 

Leveraging Subscription Management Solutions for Enhanced Customer Insights in Retail What’s important about customer insights? The best insights can personalize offerings and CX, manage inventory, and optimize customer relationships and revenue. It’s all about harnessing the most cutting-edge analyses to support operations in an ultra-competitive industry.No one knew what Egyptian hieroglyphs meant.   They were just a mystery, packed with meaning, but inaccessible to everyone.   Until French soldiers accidentally discovered the Rosetta Stone in 1799 during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt.   The Rosetta Stone was a decree written in three different languages side by side- demotic, Greek, and hieroglyphic.   And it helped Jean-Francois Champollion translate it in 1822, opening up a new world, and transforming our understanding of one of the most important cultures in ancient history.   You might be wondering the point of this story in an article about subscription retail.   It’s about how unlocking the meaning of information that’s always been there can change everything.   Retail Subscription   Given the instability of the last couple of years, retailers have looked for ways to bring in a little stability. Enter the subscription model, which has become a way to bring in steady revenue, and grow customer loyalty.   Everyone wins, right? Not necessarily. Because there’s another level to subscriptions that many retailers don’t understand. But the thing is that this level can change everything.  The subscription model relies on an intense understanding of customer needs and preferences, and the insights that provides. It’s the only way to effectively create and evolve the retail offering, as well as figure out what they will want in the future to keep them happy and loyal.   A whole world that’s completely hidden without the right translation, so to speak.   What Happens without Customer Insights   How are you supposed to make your customers happy if you don’t know who they are or what they want?  If you’re a subscription retailer who doesn’t have customer insights, you’re probably facing some or all of these problems:    Higher churn rates: It’s easy to lose customers in the retail landscape. There’s so much competition, and bigger brands can afford to give huge discounts, offer products and experiences that are personalised, to a wider market.   Customers expect an excellent customer experience that’s completely tailored to who they are as individuals. And if they don’t get it, they will easily go to a competitor that will give them what they want. And there’s no reason to think they will come back.   Retail brands with superior customer experience bring in 5.7 times more revenue than competitors that lag in customer experience. - Forbes/RetailCustomerExperience.com Inefficient Inventory Management: All retailers know how costly mistakes in inventory management can be. And it’s not usually their fault - retail is volatile and notoriously fickle. We’re all human and without the right tools, we’re going to guess wrong sometimes.   Without reliable customer insights (that include predictive analytics) you’ll get caught out from time to time. And whether you’re paying storage for deadstock, or you’ve run out so lose customers to companies that have the items they’re after, you’ll lose money.  Missed Cross-Selling and Upselling Opportunities: Retailers know it’s a lot easier to sell to customers you already have, rather than convincing new and potential customers to spend their money.   One of the great things about subscriptions is that you have a base of customers who are more willing to buy from you and spend more per item.   But without the knowledge you need about your customers, you can’t identify and leverage those opportunities for cross-selling and upselling. That impacts both your short-term and long-term revenue and growth.   How Customer Insights Help Subscription Retailers  Just like Jean-Francois Champollion created a completely new understanding of people by cracking open the “data” about them, you can unlock that customer data just sitting in your system.   It’s there for the taking.   And here’s how you can get insights you can leverage to seriously boost your chances of success as a subscription retailer.   Personalization: Knowing how the behaviour and preferences of your customers changes and alters as time goes on (and the reasons that happens) will help you not only personalise your subscription offerings, but how you interact with your customers, from how you shape your website CX, to how you create social media, rewards programmes, etc.   Keep your customers: When you understand what makes your customers (and potential customers) happy in everything from what you offer to the words that you use, you’ll be able to cut churn. And this is especially true with subscription customers where you have the chance on an ongoing relationship to remind them of why you’re so awesome.   Clued-up inventory management: The best analytics will be able to forecast demand more accurately while keeping a real-time eye on your stock levels. That way you’re far less likely to get “pinched” with either stockouts or deadstock.   Better product development: The more feedback and hard data you get about what makes customers excited and what turns them off, the more insights your teams will have to shape future offerings. And that can work for retail curation (building collaborative relationships for future offerings) or your own product innovation and development that stands out and meets needs.    Critical decision-making: Retail businesses need to always have one eye on the future. And when you have the best subscription customer analytics, you’ll get an overall view of not only your performance, but the customer lifecycle, what your competitors are doing, market trends, and a host of other things that you need to know about to guide strategic decisions that are critical to driving growth and efficiency.  You must know what the present is to know what the future could look like.   Here’s the Key to Unlocking Those Insights  You want to unlock that sweet, sweet data.   The great news is that just like the Rosetta Stone was one thing that changed everything, you only need one thing to change everything.   That’s a subscription management solution that knows exactly what to do with your data and tie it up in a neat package for you, with no extra effort on your behalf. After all, you’re busy enough.   The best subscription management solution will combine all the power of data-driven AI and advanced analytics, to give you the insights you need to take your retail business forward.   Here's how they can make a difference in how you work:  Forecasting: AI-powered tools can analyze historical customer data, as well as what’s going on in the world, market trends, seasonality, past events, etc.) to predict the future behaviour of both your current and potential customers. This helps you anticipate demand in an ongoing way, not just a one-off.   Segmentation and personalization: The more you can whittle down your current and ideal customer bases into segments and microsegments, the easier it will be to meet them where they are. Analytics will segment those customers for you, based on their behaviors and preferences.   That means you’ll have targeted marketing and tailored offerings in your personalized subscription experiences. That boosts their loyalty and keeps them coming back for more and stops them from leaving.    According to Zippia, a 5% increase in customer retention results in a profit increase of 25% to 95% percent.   Automated inventory management: All the problems that come with manual inventory management will be gone. No more human errors, no more guesswork, no more oh-we-missed-that. Even your supply chain can be monitored! You’ll have a system that constantly checks how much you have of everything, at all times. And the best systems will order things for you.    No more missed sales opportunities: Data-driven insights will also be able to spot customers who are at-risk so that you can action targeted retention strategies. AND the analytics will identify the opportunities for upselling and cross-selling at the best time, so you’ll never miss another sales opportunity.    More agility: It’s a word that’s thrown around a lot, but it’s still important! When you have access to real-time data on customer interactions, transactions, and feedback, you’ll always be able to make agile, informed decisions whether for individual customers or long-term growth of your company. You won’t have to wait around anymore or cross your fingers and hope for the best.  Excellent product development and decisions: Data-driven AI subscription management solution will continually push feedback to multiple areas in your retail business. You’ll get what you need for innovating your products. And you’ll always have a clear idea of the numbers, so that you can make decisions that keep building your growth and revenue.    It Can Be Yours for the Taking   Even though they didn’t know what the Rosetta Stone was, Napoleon’s soldiers knew they had something of value. They just had to find the person to unlock its value.   And it’s the same with you and your subscription retail business.   Don’t deny yourself all the benefits you can get with data-driven insights. You have nothing to gain but happy customers and a stronger revenue stream. 

How Subscription Models are Revolutionizing Retail Pharmacy  Subscription models are revolutionizing retail pharmacies by tackling challenges like compliance, tech integration, patient engagement, pricing, and competition. They enhance patient compliance with regular refills and reminders, offer personalized medical solutions, and ensure predictable revenue streams. Benefits include increased customer loyalty, fewer supply issues, automated inventory management, and streamlined billing and workflow processes. As more pharmacies adopt these models, they achieve scalable growth and improved patient experiences, positioning themselves at the forefront of healthcare evolution.One of the most notable sectors that subscription models have transformed is the retail pharmacy sector.   And it’s changing everything from healthcare delivery mechanisms to patient experience to the actual health of patients.   In this article, we’ll have a look at challenges the retail pharmacy industry faces, what this revolution looks like, why it’s needed, and the benefits that the subscription model brings to the retail pharmacy, and delve into the evolution of subscription models in retail pharmacy. Common Challenges for the Traditional Retail Pharmacy   The traditional retail pharmacy industry is packed with challenges that can be difficult to overcome. Here are some of the most common:   Compliance: Regulations can vary and be complex, especially across regions and long periods of time. Whether it’s healthcare data privacy, reliable billing practices and audits, or anything else regulation-related, there’s no room for error. Compliance has to be ensured, which takes up a lot of resources and puts money and reputation at risk.    Tech and data integration: Legacy pharmacy systems (both digital and analogue) can be difficult if not impossible to consolidate. That means either an incredibly expensive Frankenstein strategy that risks lost data or missed information, or skyrocketing labour costs so things are manually tracked.    Educating and engaging patients: It can be very challenging and resource-intensive to get patients on board with medication plans and membership services in a way that suits each of them and their circumstances.   The best pricing possible: Pharmaceutical pricing is always a sticky situation - price gouging, patents, generics, supply vs. demand, and insurance co-pays keep everything in a state of flux. It’s very difficult to remain competitive and profitable while keeping track of customer pricing expectations. And one big mistake and the customer can go elsewhere.   Competition: Pharmacies have to do what they can to differentiate and standout from the competition.    Each of these problems has the potential to do some real damage to a retail pharmacy.   Fortunately, the subscription model offers some solid solutions to these problems.   The Rise of Subscription Models in Retail Pharmacy  There’s no doubt that switching to a subscription model (or as it’s also known, the membership or value-based model) does take some time. It also changes how operations are done in a business.   But industries soon discover its value once they make the switch because subscriptions bring so many benefits.  What can subscription models bring to the retail pharmacy sector?  Better patient compliance: Life is complicated and patients are human. They can forget to take their medicine or simply lose track. And pharmacies can run out of medicine, causing delays. But with subscription models, they get regular refills and reminders. In fact, a study published in Science Direct found that prescriptions drive adherence by increasing “proportion of days covered” rates above 90%. The more patients comply with their healthcare plans, the more likely they are to have better health outcomes, and cut healthcare costs.     Medical personalization: The right subscription solutions use AI-driven data analytics to predict and analyse health trends, viruses and diseases, and personal health history and circumstances to create targeted interventions that meet needs and preferences.    Predictable revenue streams: As businesses who use the subscription model in any industry discover, subscriptions give retail pharmacies a predictable revenue stream that can lead to more impactful stability and financial planning.   As of last year, subscription-based companies surveyed have experienced 3.7x faster growth rates when compared to the S&P 500 over the past 11 years. - Subscription Economy Index Improved customer loyalty: When customers get convenience and ongoing support (especially for something so important as health), customers are far more likely to stay. Research from Harvard Business Review indicates that loyal customers are more likely to recommend a pharmacy to others and contribute significantly to long-term profitability.  Fewer supply problems: Sometimes there are unavoidable pharmaceutical shortages- that can’t be helped. But with a subscription model, a retail pharmacy will know exactly what’s needed next week, next month, etc. And with the right solution, it will be able to accommodate lots of changes.   With these benefits, it’s no wonder that retail pharmacies are switching to or at least investigating what subscription models have to offer them.   The best part? These benefits are only the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more.  The Full Picture: Everything Subscriptions Can Bring a Business  Everyone loves a bonus, even if it’s just something little.   But a subscription model brings a retail pharmacy so much more, in the same solution.   Automated Pharmaceutical Inventory Management: The right solution takes care of inventory automatically - tracking, ordering, and replenishment is optimized so that wastage is minimized, expenses cut, and orders are on time.  End-to-End Workflow Automation: The pharmacy is busy enough without time being wasted on repetitive tasks like prescription processing, prepping for prescription filling each day, and billing and insurance documents. This cuts down on errors and frees up the pharmacists' time to focus on important things like patient care and customer service.   Billing: The bane of every business’s existence can finally be eliminated. Subscription management software consolidates everything involved in a billing plan including invoicing, claim submission, reconciliation with insurance providers, and payments.  Financials: Everything from reconciliation to reporting and analytics gives accurate financial processes, metrics, revenue trends, and future-focused strategies including cost-savings and how to beat out competition.  Patient Experience: The right solution gives a retail pharmacy a reliable automated (and personalized) set of communication features. Everything from emails, SMS notifications, and even in-app messaging can keep patients informed about their medication schedules, any appointments, changes, and even health tips.    Compliance: It keeps track of current compliance issues, and tracks changes.   Scalability: It makes the customer base completely scalable without any additional resources. Retail pharmacies are free to expand their base as much as they want and still keep everything doable.   Subscriptions: A Prescription for a Better Pharmacy Experience Retail pharmacies need to be able to run in optimal conditions because there’s too much riding on it.   When stakes are high, it’s important to use a model that brings benefits that solve the problems faced by the pharmacy industry. And their patients.   As time, the revolution will continue and more pharmacy companies will position themselves at the forefront of healthcare evolution.   Tempted by a subscription model? Why not reach out - we’re hear to listen to your needs and concerns.  

The Economic Impact of Subscription Models in Pharmacies In response to financial challenges such as rising costs, unpredictable revenue, reimbursement issues, competition, and regulatory complexities, pharmacies are increasingly adopting subscription models. This strategic shift from traditional prescription-based transactions to recurring service offerings transforms customer engagement and unlocks significant economic benefits. Subscription models provide a reliable revenue stream, enhance customer loyalty through personalized care, and improve communication, leading to better treatment adherence. Additionally, they optimize operations by streamlining inventory management and supply chain logistics. Success stories from CVS and GoodRx illustrate the substantial growth and stability these models can offer, making them a crucial innovation for the evolving pharmaceutical landscape. In this article: The Financial Hurdles Retail Pharmacies Face The Subscription Model in Retail Pharmacy One Solution for the Subscription End-to-End Case Study: CVS Pharmacy’s Success with Subscription Loyalty Programs Case Study: Good Rx Builds an App for Subscription Discounts In the ever-evolving landscape of the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacies are embracing innovative business models to drive revenue growth, foster customer loyalty, and optimize operational efficiency. One such transformative approach gaining momentum is the integration of subscription models—a strategic shift from traditional prescription-based transactions to recurring service offerings. This paradigm shift not only revolutionizes how pharmacies engage with their customers but also unlocks a multitude of economic benefits that ripple across the entire healthcare ecosystem.  As things currently are, what are the biggest financial challenges that retail pharmacies face? The Financial Hurdles Retail Pharmacies Face  Anyone involved with a retail pharmacy knows it’s not easy to stay competitive. Some challenges can threaten your economic stability, as well as your growth and profitability.   Do any of these sound familiar?   Increasing costs of medicine and supplies: Costs have been escalating especially since the beginning of the pandemic. These costs are caused by fluctuations in drug prices, bigger demand for niche and trending medications, and disruptions in the supply chain. All these strain your budgets and kill your profit margins.    One-off purchases: Much of the revenue that comes from selling medication (and supporting supplies) isn’t reliable because although there are prescriptions that are ongoing, many prescriptions aren’t. They’re one-off, which means financial projections are difficult because they aren’t predictable.   Reimbursement problems: Chasing late payments from customers, third-party payers, government agencies, and insurance companies, can be a time-consuming (and never-ending) nightmare for retail pharmacies. It’s less money in your account, but it’s also a hurdle to you paying your suppliers on time. You might be forced to find money or cut back on operations just to stay afloat.   Competition: Larger online pharmacies and retail giants have better brand recognition and reach, as well as crucial leverage in negotiating drug prices. They also have the money to offer better pricing and options like direct-to-door delivery.   Regulatory Compliance: Retail pharmacies have to operate in complex regulatory framework, and there’s no room for error. Ensuring you follow compliance requirements, and quality standards is expensive and time-consuming. On top, you have to keep your licenses current and protect customer data. And if you fall out of compliance, you have to pay expensive fines.   All of these are a lot to handle.   Which is why retail pharmacies need to find solutions to these problems, and revenue streams. So what possibilities are out there to turn things around?   The good news is that there is one solution that can consolidate everything: the subscription model.   The Subscription Model in Retail Pharmacy   Over the last few years, some retail pharmacies have given the subscription model a chance.   It’s no wonder because it offers customers a healthcare experience that’s reliable, personal, and convenient.   The subscription model can look different in how it’s used. A pharmacy subscription could involve patients signing up for anything from weekly or monthly medication deliveries to supplementary or preventative wellness packages, and education and management programs that are tailored to individual needs.    Let’s have a look at some of the benefits that subscriptions can bring - to both the customer and the retail pharmacy.   A new, more reliable revenue stream Subscriptions generate a revenue stream way beyond any one-time medication purchases.   And subscriptions don’t have to just be tied to the medications themselves. Any products or services that a retail pharmacy offers can be available on subscription as well, so you’re not just tied to the medication needs of customers.   Subscription plans for medications, wellness products, or personalized health services, will secure a predictable, stable income flow.   They also boost customer lifetime value, because they continually address multiple health needs of customers in a reliable way.   That’s long-term value for everyone involved.   Boosted customer loyalty and engagement Close, long-term relationships with customers is the dream.   And a subscription-based approach gives the perfect opportunity to build a strong relationship with trust, reliability, and convenience with each customer by using personalization to tailor the experience.   Personalization helps your retail pharmacy meet your customers’ individual needs, behavior, lifestyle, and preferences. Specifically, they enable:   Customised medication management that’s based on treatment goals, complications, health conditions. Medication schedules provide clear dosage instructions and tracking, and reminders so that it’s easier for customers to adhere to their treatment.   Evolving wellness program that meets their treatment and preventative needs. It can target specific health concerns, lifestyle, and circumstances, bringing in nutrition plans, fitness recommendations, and personal consultations.   Individual services (on top of the products) can be delivered, including chronic disease/challenge monitoring and management, inoculation schedules, and therapy management.   Targeted health education will empower customers to understand why the treatment is what it is, and where they’re heading. This can include anything from apps, to classes, consultations, leaflets, videos, and other resources.   Better customer communication   Retail pharmacies need communication with customers (as well as doctors and other healthcare providers) to be absolutely clear. When it comes to health, there’s no room for error.   Things like relevant health updates, relevant promotional offers, personal messages, and reminders about the services available empower customers to know more about their health journey, what’s available and what should be done.   The more they know, the more they will comply with what they need to do. And when they know they can trust you, why would they go anywhere else?  Cut costs and optimize operations  Subscription models give the retail pharmacy a much better idea of their pharmaceutical needs, which gives more leverage for price negotiation, cuts waste, and boosts the advantage in prepping for upcoming shortages.   They can also give massive cost savings by streamlining inventory management, optimizing any supply chain logistics (even with multiple suppliers) and drastically cutting repetitive admin.   Subscriptions also give information about customer behavior and needs that can help more accurately forecast future demand. That helps cut waste too. And those savings can be passed on to customers.   While there are plenty of benefits, there’s no doubt there’s a lot of work involved. So how does a subscription model not further drain your resources?  One solution for the subscription end-to-end   The answer is remarkably simple - by not doing the lion’s share of the work yourself.   Bringing in the right software solution will handle the process for you, freeing up your time and people to focus on higher value activities.   What does it do?   Streamlines your operations and cut costs   Subscription management software handles these tasks with ease:   Creating flexible pricing models and tiers to maximize customer attraction and meet needs. These have the ability to change once conditions change, and get as specific as possible, down to individualised circumstances.   Identifying and creating add-on and cross-selling opportunities that compliment your customers’ care needs.   Ensuring that all contract term information flows freely between procurement, sales, marketing and invoicing departments.   Correct invoicing and streamlined payment processes thanks to automated billing cycles, payment reminders, customizable billing schedules, and hassle-free payment transactions that meet customer preferences.   Reconciliation of payments back to the books, boosting compliance.    Real-time financial analysis and reporting which enable the best strategies and decisions for future-focused growth.   Optimized inventory levels thanks to real-time monitoring. Optional integration with suppliers helps keep accurate stock levels in check. Analysis creates reliable forecast demand patterns. The cuts the incidence of stockouts and excess inventory costs.   Boost customer loyalty and lifetime value (CLV)  A subscription management solutions’ solid personalization experience involves:   Facilitating tailored medication management by coordinating information flow from healthcare providers  Delivering targeted health education that helps with adherence rates and improves the health of your customers.   Suggestions for complementary care, lifestyle products, etc. Suggestions for not only treatment, but preventative care.   Personalized targeted marketing, tailored promotions, and interpersonal communication with customers.   Boost revenue and compliance  You can get a comprehensive approach that:   Drives recurring sales and reduces customer churn thanks to accurate and holistic personalized experiences (as well as loyalty schemes) that keep them on board.   Identifies and offers customers add-ons, further driving satisfaction and revenue.   Data protection that protects your customers’ sensitive information.   Financial compliance including accurate records, constant redness for audits, tracking regulatory changes.    Cut risk and avoids expensive fines, lawsuits and reputational damage.    Streamlined supply procurement (including leveraging real-time data for price negotiation) and optimized inventory management.   The reliable revenue stream beyond the one-off purchase leading to better financial predictability.   Instant scalability no matter how fast your customer base grows.   It’s all automated. That’s a lot more free time for you. No more struggling to keep up. No more subscriptions or invoices falling through the cracks.   It can all be yours  The retail pharmacy landscape keeps evolving and your competitors know this.   That’s why it’s so important to not only adapt, but take advantage of everything you can gain by changing. The great news is that subscriptions, which help bring in more stable revenue for you and boost your customer loyalty, isn’t a drain on your time and resources.   In fact, with the right software, it frees it up.   Take this opportunity to innovate. Differentiate your brand and please your customers.   It all starts with a 15-20 minute chat to tell us about your circumstances and what you want the future of your retail pharmacy to look like.   Case Study: CVS Pharmacy's Success with Subscription Loyalty Programs  In 2019, CVS added a subscription program called ExtraCare Plus to its existing ExtraCare loyalty scheme.  Both have helped the retail pharmacy meet their customers’ needs in a far more personalized manner.   Here’s the current difference between the two:   ExtraCare  Discounted prices  Tailored deals offered through email, text, and app notifications   2% given back in the form of CVS store credit.   $3 birthday reward + $50 in regular rewards   Credits for filling prescriptions, getting vaccinations, adding pets to the plan, and joining the prescription management scheme.   ExtraCare Plus Free shipping  Free same-day delivery of prescriptions and other CVS products over $10   20% discount for CVS own-brand  $10/month bonus reward   Pharmacy helpline 24/7  + all ExtraCare perks  Both ExtraCare and ExtraCare Plus offer a fully personalized customer experience from the time they register. They are free to upgrade to the ExtraCare subscription whenever they want for $5/month or $48/annually.   Throughout the schemes, customers receive large cumulative discounts, text updates before deliveries, recommendations, automated prescription refills, and desired substitutions.   Thanks to the streamlining of these tiers, memberships are easy to understand and navigate, which is essential in healthcare.   The scheme is extremely popular. They now have an incredible 80 million members from 1 out of every four households in the US.   Those are the types of numbers that speak to the need for retail pharmacy subscriptions.   Case Study: Good Rx Builds an App for Subscription Discounts  The retail prescription discount company Good Rx offers both a free model (which provides a database price comparison search) and free coupons for prescription medicines.   But the subscription Good Rx Gold model offers a lot more.   For $9.99/month or $89 annually ($19.99/$179.99 for the family plan), customers are entitled to these benefits:   Up to 90% prescription price savings  Track and manage prescriptions   Free home delivery   Dedicated support team  Rewards program  Additional members  Pet prescription discounts  Good RX Care telehealth visits from only $19  According to their website, Good Rx saves individual plan members an average of $3,961 annually, and families an average of $5,177.   The subscriptions are extremely popular. having grown from 1 million subscribers in 2021 to over 25 million by the end of 2023.   They’ve partnered with other businesses as well- for example, large retailers like grocers Publix and Kroger have offered the scheme across their pharmacy locations.   According to their financial report for 2023, Good Rx has earned $760.3M adjusted revenue, with a 28.6% adjusted EBITDA margin of $217.4 million and $138.3 million net cash.   No bad for a discount pharmacy app.  

The Damaging Effect of Silos on Subscription Businesses Revenue recognition can put your subscription business at risk of multiple problems related to revenue leakage, unreliable numbers, compliance, and churn. Fortunately, there is a solution that can consolidate all the recognized revenue processes, and streamline them into a simple solution that's accurate and saves your business untold hours and money. Recognized revenue is not for the faint-hearted.   In fact, it can be a critical concern for businesses because it doesn’t have a margin for error. But most SaaS businesses suffer from silos blocking the information that’s necessary for accurate and reliable revenue recognition.   That puts a huge amount of pressure on a financial team and their company. It’s pressure that no one needs.   What makes the silo situation even more dangerous is that they cause chaos for the entire revenue recognition process, with extra general damage on top.   Here’s what you could specifically be at risk for: Revenue Leakage Leakage describes the unnoticed or mistaken loss of revenue that snowballs into a real problem over time. It’s shockingly common in a siloed environment because you need reliable information to spot leakage. Crucial data related to customer usage, pricing and terms, and billing can be isolated in different departments including sales, customer service, maintenance, finance, etc. When accurate data doesn’t freely flow, there will be errors in billing. Things will slide between the cracks. Upgrades might get unnoticed. Customers will be undercharged or not charged at all.   Invoice Mistakes When teams operate independently, mistakes in billing are going to happen inconsistencies and errors in the billing information. This can lead to frequent invoicing errors, which doesn’t just hurt customer relationships and cause churn. Mistakes demand additional resources and higher operational costs.  With recognizing and reporting revenue, errors in calculations mean errors in allocation. This complicates the revenue recognition process further because there’s no accurate view of your company’s finances.  Unreliable Numbers and Bad Forecasting Reliable numbers are the foundation of a company’s health because they’re essential for reports and forecasting. But the unreliable data that silos cause throws off recognised revenue.   And the knock-on effect of that is you don’t have the insights from recognised revenue to feed into reporting and forecasting. You don’t have an accurate picture of trends, product and service popularity, profitability, etc. That makes it hard for stakeholders and decision-makers to develop effective strategies and make informed decisions. In the long run, this can hinder growth and profitability.  Regulatory Compliance Issues All financial reporting (including revenue recognition) is under regulation (with standards varying depending on where you operate). Audits need accurate financial numbers. So do tax liabilities.   Running against non-compliance with standards puts you in the firing line for hefty fines, penalties, and even legal action. You’ll also set alarm bells ringing for stakeholders and investors. The financial health of the company is at risk.   Scalability Is No Longer Possible Subscription companies can experience only experience so much before they hit that point where they can’t physically scale anymore. Because the more customers you acquire, the most revenue has to be recognised.   Companies that can’t keep up with thousands of customers, are not going to be able to keep up with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. That’s a heartbreaking place to be in.   Employee stress, burnout and turnover This is actually one of the most expensive impacts. Workers feel significant stress thanks to increased workload and communication breakdowns. Efforts can be duplicated. Things are wrong.   No one can work in these conditions without being unhappy with working conditions. Next step is stress and burnout. After that, they quit. Whether employees are signed off from stress, or you’re spending a fortune to replace them with someone who will come in and face the exact same problems. Customer Churn There are so many scenarios that happen to customers, leading them to leave you asap. One of the most common is when sales signs up a customer for a specific package, but the finance department isn't updated right away. This usually leads to an incorrect bill, which a new customer does not want to see.   It’s also a long-term churn creator too. When recognized revenue numbers are slow or wrong, marketing and development will never have good customer data about what they like, don’t like, what they’ll add on, and what they want as a one-time sale. Both teams won’t be able to offer customers what they want, so they leave for a company that can.  When you allow silos to persist in your revenue recognition process, you’re leaving money on the table. There’s no way of getting around that.   But all this can change with one decision. The Easy Solution to All Your Problems: Consolidation Tearing down your silos will send a positive ripple effect throughout your entire company starting with your recognized revenue.   But it also positions your SaaS business for greater scalability and profitability.  Implementing an automated subscription management system is the only practical solution.   The right system will streamline billing processes, automate revenue recognition, and provide real-time visibility into your financial data. Here's how: It creates real-time data flow between teams. Not only does it make the information accessible, but it automatically pushes the data between teams so it’s there before they realize they need it. No more errors, delays, revenue leakage or thousands of wasted hours of manual work.   It gives reliable numbers for better reporting and analysis. When revenue data is consolidated (and free from the errors related to manual entry), it’s easy to get comprehensive reports that give the insights and recommendations needed for good decision-making.   It ensures compliance with revenue recognition standards. You’ll feel more assured knowing that an automated system adheres to accounting standards, preps for audits, and remains tax compliant too. In other words, all the problems that are caused by silos in revenue recognition – the costs, the leakage, the churn, the penalties, the staff turnover – they're all gone.   With the flick of a proverbial switch.   Give your company and your teams the tools that it needs not only to succeed, but to get a massive edge over your competitors.   Stop leaving money on the table and start realizing the full revenue potential of your business.