Subscription Economy News: Week of 08/31/20

Every week, we bring you the top stories and analyses from the global Subscription Economy.

Walmart Is Launching Its Subscription Service September 15, Stepping Up Competition With Amazon Prime

Excerpt from an article by Karen Robinson-Jacobs on Forbes

Walmart Tuesday set a September 15 launch date for its much-rumored membership service, Walmart+, a nearly $100 a year subscription plan similar to Amazon’s popular Prime service, with the potential to turn shoppers into loyal members who look to meet a number of needs within the Walmart ecosystem.

As part of Walmart+, priced at $98 a year or $12.95 a month (which would be $155.4 a year), consumers get unlimited delivery from stores without an additional fee, including the brand’s 2,700 stores that offer same day delivery, part of Walmart’s ubiquitous network of more than 4,700 stores.

As the nation’s largest retailer, with revenues of $524 billion for its last fiscal year, Walmart can use its scale to offer services few retailers can match in terms of getting a variety of goods to consumers’ doorsteps quickly.

Read the full piece on Forbes and hear what Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo has to say about the future of retail

Netflix makes some movies and shows free worldwide to non-subscribers

Excerpt from an article by Manish Singh on TechCrunch

Over the past year, Netflix has attempted to expand its appeal in part by making a title or two free to non-paying users in select markets. Now the American giant is extending this test to users across the globe — with a larger free catalog.

The on-demand video streaming service is currently offering select Netflix Original movies and TV shows, including “Stranger Things,” “Murder Mystery,” “Elite,” “Bird Box,” “When They See Us,” “The Two Popes,” “Our Planet” and “Grace and Frankie” to non-paying subscribers across all the nearly 200 nations and territories where it is operational.

Only first episodes of the shows are available for free viewing, though, after which Netflix prompts users to become subscribers.

“We’re looking at different marketing promotions to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience,” a Netflix spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement.

Read the full piece on TechCrunch and learn how Netflix is marking a critical turning point in the Subscription Economy

Facebook’s News Subscription Challenges Apple News+, Threatens Flipboard And Google’s Coming News Product

Excerpt from an article by John Koetsier on Forbes

Facebook is testing a feature to link your Facebook account to paid subscriptions at news organizations. The idea is that you can click on a link in your Facebook feed to a behind-the-paywall New York Times article and be able to read it without losing context in the Facebook app.

But it’s also a significant challenge to both Apple News+ and Flipboard, one of the first big news aggregators on mobile, and one that Steve Jobs famously loved. Plus, a pre-announced Google news product and a rumored CNN news aggregator.

“Facebook has built a new account linking tool that provides a better experience for people on Facebook when they see and access content from publishers they subscribe to,” says Facebook product marketing manager Stephen Largen. “We’re collaborating with publishers around the world to test this new product, which allows people to link their news subscription accounts on Facebook.”

Read the full piece on Forbes

For more Subscription Economy resources and events, head to www.subscribed.com and subscribe to Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo’s Subscribed Weekly newsletter, coming to your inbox every Saturday. 

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