Subscriptions & Weird Cat Ladies

by Megan Golden, Marketing

 

I would not peg myself as a cat person, per say. Maybe it’s that I'm afraid I’d wake up one day and be 45, single, with nothing to my name but a wardrobe of sweatpants, a rainbow of fabric headbands, and 15 cats in my tiny 600sq ft apartment while known to all the local youths as the Weird Cat Lady. Obviously, the cat being the impetus.

But there's good news for all those Weird Cat Ladies (WCL) out there -- Boxiecat.

Boxiecat has introduced a subscription service that makes owning a cat (or 15) a lot easier: now, instead of going to a store and lugging home a 10lb bag of litter, Boxiecat will deliver kitty litter to your door.  

It’s an exceptionally simple and yet clever solution for “busy cat owners” (aka, WCLs). Cat owners are likely to be repeat customers (everyone needs litter), especially when the alternative is venturing out in public in my hypothetical sweatpants and fabric headband with a shopping cart stacked high with kitty litter -- I mean the visual is offensive alone.

With Boxiecat, you “Set your home cat litter delivery schedule and relax [in your sweats] because you'll never have to shop for litter again [thank god]. Stop lugging heavy bags home from the store and save time with Boxiecat.”

Delivered via USPS, the litter is $20 a shipment and you can cancel anytime. It’s also green (saving driving time to the store and coming in Cradle to Cradle certified shipping boxes) so at least you’ll be an environmentally-friendly WCL. 

Unfortunately, Boxiecat does not take away your old litter, discipline Cat Damon for doing unspeakable things to your couch or provide a WCL Anonymous hotline. But the added convenience and flexible shipping schedules makes this a rather inventive and practical subscription solution to a formerly singular-transaction-focused problem.

K-Cup Coffee As Subscription Service

Chris Holt, Marketing

 

In college, I lived with a friend who was a coffee addict. The guy simply couldn’t function unless he had his morning cup ‘o joe, and then needed another pickup by early afternoon. He was very specific and brand loyal too: he’d always journey to the same coffee shop by the campus library. He wouldn’t tolerate any of that mass brewed cafeteria stuff. When he moved out to the real world, he was an early adopter of K-Cup single-serving coffee.

Well, it seems that coffee addicts like my former roommate, or at least connoisseurs, have been noticed by retailers. Online megastore Amazon has a “Subscribe and Save” program for buyers who commit to repeat purchases on k-cup consumption. Participants can reap big benefits too, like discounts of up to 15% on select items.

My roommate was useless if he didn’t get his specific cup of coffee, and would grow irate if the barista messed his order. Thankfully, Amazon’s program is a bit more forgiving than he was. You can indicate if you want to skip deliveries online or change the frequency of the shipments. Of course, if you require a steady diet of K-Cup consumption and can find your specific brand available through Amazon’s subscription service, then there’s very little downside to participating.

But K-Cup subscription services to coffee addicts is likely only the beginning. More and more goods are going from single transactions to subscribed, continuous relationships. Target, the discount retail giant, revealed “last month that it's exploring a subscription service to provide shoppers with discounts on regularly purchased merchandise,” explains DailyFinance.com. So if you’re regularly buying things like toilet paper, milk, or cereal you may be rewarded with a service of your specific need. Me? I’m looking forward to a subscription service that delivers Cocoa Puffs to my front door.

 

Washington Post Misses Link Between Sharing, Subscriptions, and Services

Tien Tzuo, CEO

 

The Washington Post’s Lifestyle section published a piece on Sunday highlighting many subscription-based companies that have challenged the conventional single-transaction business model. While the Post’s analysis is mainly on retail-products-as-services like Zipcar, Rent our Boxes, Netflix, and Tie Society, the simple fact that subscription businesses have penetrated into the lifestyle section of newspapers speak to the growth of the subscription economy these past few years.

Personally, I prefer the term “Subscription Economy” to the Washington Post’s use of “sharing economy” as “Subscription Economy” encapsulates products and services that aren’t merely tangible objects to be shared. Dell, The New York Times, Billmyparents, and Pearson’s move to subscription monetization isn’t simply about “sharing,” it’s about having a stronger relationship with the customer that (hopefully) will be longer lasting and deeper.

But The Washington Post poses an interesting question: is the move to subscriptions partly generational, as each generation approaches ownership differently? Is the younger generation simply more okay with sharing their toys, cars, movies and ties? Or are we simply too impatient/cheap to put up with inefficient models of consumerism? Why bother owning a car that is idle for the majority of the time? Why invest in a tie you’ll wear only twice? And, if you know you’ll use a service continually, why not invest in a monthly payment system?

Babysitting as a Service…The Importance of Trust in Subscription Success

by Megan Golden, Interactive Marketing

Are you a busy Bay Area parent? Do you and your hubby work late nights? Or do you just need a night to get out, away from your rugrats? Well then Wondersitter.com might just be what you need.

For all those Bay Area parents working Silicon Valley hours, subscriptions have come to the rescue, saving marriages one babysitter at a time. Since I’ll be checking No Dependents on my taxes this year, clearly I haven’t been in the market. However, I can confidently say this is the first subscription-based babysitting service I’ve seen. But the idea behind it is ages old: parents want a reliable, responsible babysitter who will reward their loyalty.

At the root of Wondersitter, lies its “Wonderdollars” program. Wonderdollars are purchased by parents in order to get discounts on booking fees, rewarding parents who frequently book. You can also sign up for a $99 a month subscription for daily day care.  And perhaps best of all, if the babysitter is late, doesn’t clean up, or otherwise fails to meet the customer’s expectations—the booking fee is waived. And this really seals the deal for me, as a someday-in-the-far-off-future Mother, that the company really does stand behind the sitters they send to your home to care for your children.

That’s ultimately the tipping point with service-as-subscription models. In order to subscribe, you need to trust the service to provide quality care every time. No one wants an experience like The Simpsons’ in the infamous first season episode-- you know, the one where a babysitter service sends a sitter who promptly tries to rob the place? So it looks like if Wondersitter’s employees rob your home, you’ll at least have your booking fee waived. Which is highly appreciated.

All jokes aside, Wondersitter is simply taking the service-as-subscription model and tying it to a business that, like massages and car rentals—is all about reputation. As Wondersitter continues to build its sitters’ reputation --  and I hope it does, so that my someday-in-the-far-off-future babies can take advantage of this -- the company’s reward programs will ultimately make it an attractive alternative to simple word-of-mouth recruitment.

Sending All My Love (And Subscriptions) To You

by Megan Golden, Marketing

 

Each year, Valentine’s Day rolls around and leaves millions of baffled sweethearts wandering the malls, candy stores and flower shops looking to somehow say “I love you” beyond the usual box of chocolates. Yet, despite all our searching, we all inevitably leave with that same old sad box of chocolates that we bought last year. And the year before that. And...well, you get the picture.

 

But there’s good news for all you cupids out there: If this year’s holiday shopping season was any indicator, the new Subscription Economy may earn you more brownie points than a fancy dinner and champagne... and best of all, keep giving all year long. Of course, we were all glad to see some improvements in the holiday shopping season this year.

 

According to market research firm ComScore, between November 1, 2011, and December 26, 2011, consumers spent $35.3 billion online, 15 percent more than consumer spent online in the same time period in 2010. But the coolest stats came in Brit Morin’s TechCrunch piece, (“Need A Last Minute Gift? There’s A Subscription For That”) which pointed out that some of the best gifts out there were the result of the shift to the Subscription Economy.

 

As Brit noted, subscriptions aren’t just about magazines anymore—and there not even about music services like Spotify and Pandora (although those are great gifts to give). There are subscriptions for everything under the sun—from Bacon of the Month (the name says it all) to Kiwi Crate (monthly craft kits for kids) to Tattly, which sends you and your loved ones monthly high-quality, non-permanent tattoos (different kinds of crafts for kids!).

 

As you can see, with subscriptions as gifts, the possibilities are endless. So, with that in mind, here are a few great gifts to consider this Valentine’s Day:

 

• Peanut Butter and Jelly of the Month—a perfect combination, just like you and your sweetheart (aawww).

• Book of the Month Club for Kids—proving the power of the Subscription Economy to handle personalization like never before, this isn’t your mother’s book of the month club. You can actually select each and every book by yourself, avoiding mismatched books while giving your littlest loves the gift of reading. Oh, and this club sends books with lollipops—bet your club didn’t do that!

• World of Warcraft—Guys love it. After all, nothing says love like a good game with swords, spells, and elves. In the new economy, even role-playing can be gifted.

• BustedTees Shirt of the Month Club—Fun shirts that will keep the laughs coming all year.

• Gardner of the Month Club—Keep love blooming all year long.

• And yes, don’t worry, there’s always wine. And more wine. And of course there are LOTS of choices for wine by subscription, including: New York Times Wine Club, Wine of the Month Club and the Amazing Wine Club just to name a few!

 

Have a great Valentine’s Day! Let us know what you bought us...

An Espresso Shot for the Subscription Economy

by Jeff Yoshimura, VP of Marketing

 

Just in case there weren’t enough Starbucks cafes near you, Starbucks has gone one better. To continue to serve the make-at-home crowd, Starbucks just introduced automatic delivery of its coffees and teas by subscription.

 

The Zuora team went crazy when we saw this! When we started Zuora in 2008, we had all these ideas of how we thought the Subscription Economy would grow in traditional product categories. Our CEO Tien would say, “I think you’ll one day see Starbucks by subscription. Why not?”

 

It wasn’t an accident that Tien chose Starbucks. Subscriptions are the obvious next step for a company that is masterful at retaining customers. It’s the idea that you are giving the customer MORE, and that the relationship shouldn’t end with the swipe of a credit card.

 

Starbucks laid this groundwork with its Gold program, offering loyal customers 10% off every purchase, free Wi-Fi use, free beverages on their birthday, exclusive discounts, and more.  Rather than continuing to chase customers, they wanted to solidify recurring customer activity. And the benefit of the long term engaged customer pays off in increased revenues and profits.

 

This is precisely what Zuora means when we talk about the shift from the “Buy Here” button of the 20^th century to “Subscribe Now” button in the 21^st century. It’s not just about mail order. It’s about providing customers what they want, where they want it and how they want it, which each customer may view as unique to them. Quoting the Starbucks email campaign:

 

Want to be sure you always have your favorite coffee on hand? Simply subscribe online to have your coffee or tea sent to you automatically, as often as you like. You can easily modify your order, rearrange your shipments or pause when you go on vacation. We're flexible for you.

 

Start your subscription now. 

 

What does this mean for other companies as well? Who else is amazing with customers? Who will be next to shift to the Subscription Economy? What other retailers? Maybe clothing companies? Who knows? And, again, why not?Whoever is that next big brand to make the shift, the Starbucks example itself should serve as a warning to companies who think the Subscription Economy is only about digital goods. As we’ve seen over and over, it’s about a fundamental change in the way you serve your customers. If you want to sit and think about that any longer, companies like Starbucks will come eat your lunch and have a tall half-skinny half-1 percent extra hot split quad shot (two shots decaf, two shots regular) latte with whip while they’re at it.