The Importance of Subscriber Freedom
In today’s world, customers want (and expect) to have the freedom to consume on their terms
The Subscription Economy is being driven by the modern consumer's ever-changing needs and preferences. Modern consumers' expectations go beyond just a great product. This has pushed companies of all kinds to invent new services that offer consumers ongoing value. Consumers are also rejecting the traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach. Instead, they are embracing services that offer them choice, flexibility and treat them as the unique individuals that they are.
This is precisely why “Amazonification” and “Uberification” have become accepted terms in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector. Companies that don't adopt an Amazon or Uber-like philosophy are at high risk of being left in the dust.
“Modern customers are in a perpetual state of ‘evaluation’. And their expectations are at an all-time high, as is their propensity to walk away from providers that fail to give them what they want. These customer digital wanderings are having a profound effect on company growth.”
– Accenture, “Service is the New Sales” 2014
66%
66% of consumers switched at least one of their providers due to poor service in 2014
$6.2T
These consumer service switches are estimated to be worth a staggering $6.2 trillion
Learn how top D2C brands like T-Mobile, Uber, Amazon and Apple are flexing to meet subscriber-needs in our latest e-book for D2C subscription businesses
Your Business Needs The Freedom To Experiment
Succeeding in this new world means having the business flexibility to try new things and adapt quickly as subscriber needs or market conditions change
Businesses that fail to adapt quickly to new consumer demands risk losing major market share. But in order to deliver subscriber freedom, businesses need freedom too. The freedom to experiment simply means having the ability to test out new strategies as subscribers’ wants and needs change over time. Operationally speaking, this includes things like launching new services, creating new pricing models, or handling new payment methods.
“I can't think of one successful media company that started with a price point and has kept that same price point a year later. Whether it's a startup or a traditional D2C company transitioning into the digital world, there's a 99.9% chance they'll need to continually evolve their pricing.”
– Craig Barberich, Global Head of Media Solutions at Zuora
What do we really mean by ‘business freedom’?
For D2C companies, it means the ability to execute on 4 key imperatives. Read our e-book learn more.
The Best D2C Companies Never Stop Iterating
These four leaders will tell you their stories firsthand
Meeting the modern consumer’s expectations requires a foundational and operational change in the way you run your subscription business. Your entire business from acquisition to service delivery to renewals and up-sells must be centered around your subscribers. This focus on subscriber relationships and the strategies to develop, monetize and maintain these relationships is critical to the success of any D2C subscription brand.
4 Imperatives For D2C Subscription Businesses
D2C businesses are always competing for more market share; master these 4 things to grow your subscriber base and achieve your true market potential
At Zuora, we work with over 600 subscription companies across industries, company sizes and geographies. What we’ve learned is that D2C companies all face similar challenges when it comes to subscriber acquisition, growth and retention. But most importantly, the winners excel at the following 4 strategies.
Test and iterate with pricing, offers & promotions
Leverage subscription data & subscriber insights
Tame the complexity of electronic global payments
Build a seamless & scalable customer experience
We wrote this e-book to give you an in-depth understanding of these 4 strategies with some compelling industry examples. Check it out!
The takeaway: all D2C companies have a lot in common
Whether your D2C service is in membership, publishing or OTT video, the core business imperatives are the same.
Luckily, we wrote a comprehensive e-book to help you understand them all.
read it now
Modern Technology Makes All The Difference
In the world of D2C subscriptions, most strategic challenges are caused by fragmented or legacy systems running behind the scenes
Subscriptions create ongoing and dynamic customer relationships. To be successful with the 4 strategies above, you need a modern subscriber-centric ecosystem that goes far beyond the capabilities of existing ERP and CRM systems. With Zuora, you can power your entire business with a dynamic Subscription Relationship Management hub built to flex and scale as quickly as your subscribers and your market.
Here are just a few of our happy D2C customers:
