Excerpts from an article originally published in The Australian by Richard Ferguson, @RichAFerguson

A Porsche at your door? A yacht whenever you want? These are just some of the possibilities opening up for customers as Australia begins to embrace the “subscription economy”.

Some analysts expect Australia’s subscription market to grow as much as $2.62 billion in the next five years and this growing space already far exceeds newspapers and Netflix.

Australian subscribers can now get everything from socks to high-end whiskies delivered regularly to their door, and some types of luxury travel are available for a monthly fee.

“Subscriptions offer freedom,” says Zuora vice-president Iman Ghodosi, whose firm makes software to manage subscription businesses. “You can turn them on or off, up or down.”

Mr. Ghodosi said the company now saw interest in markets from transport to healthcare to retail.

“A decade ago, we all had thousands of CDs, then an iPod; now everyone has a Spotify ­account,” he said. “The next generation especially doesn’t want to own things like cars, so subscriptions work best for them.”

Porsche Passport is a service in Atlanta, Georgia, which allows customers to jump from Porsche to Porsche, depending on their particular mood, for a flat rate of $US2000 a month. Volvo offers subscription services to its high-end cars from $US600 a month. There are no plans quite yet to bring these services to Australia.

“Once the trial in America is concluded, we will look at ­expanding into other markets,” a Porsche spokesman said.

Read the full article here.

Learn more about how the Subscription Economy is shaking up industries around the globe.