Subscription 48#
The customer pays a regular fee, typically on a monthly or an annual basis, in order to gain access to a product or service. While customers mostly benefit from lower usage costs and general service availability, the company generates a more steady income stream.
Examples: Iconic Cases
How they do it: Apple Music, which allows the customer to stream an unlimited amount of music for a fixed fee evrey month is based on a subscription model.
Learn more about Apple iPod/iTunes →
How they do it: Users gain access to all songs on Spotify’s platform for a flatrate, monthly fee of approximately $10 per month. This enables users to access the vast library at any time and without any limits.
Learn more about Spotify →
How they do it: Hilti’s ”Fleet Management” allows customers to subscribe to a fixed-term contract with monthly payments to get a defined amount of its latest tools. This contract includes the exchange of tools for the newest models as well as service and maitenance. The customer avoids a upfront investment and has an easy way to budget the tool costs going forward.
Learn more about Hilti →
How they do it: Microsoft used to sell their Microsoft Office programs for a one-time fee. New versions of the software had to be purchased again. However, they introduced Office365, allowing users to subscribe for a monthly or annual fee and always get the latest version of the Office software on their device. This also allows Microsoft to eliminate product CDs but can distribute its software via downloads from its website.
Learn more about Microsoft →
How they do it: Dollar Shave Club sells subscriptions for their razorblades. Through this, the product is characterized as a consumable and offers the customer a simplification as he doesn’t have to reorder the product every time he needs it.
Learn more about Dollar Shave Club →
Below, the top industries for the pattern "Subscription" are displayed, in order to get insights into how this pattern is applied across different industries. We've collected data from 5 firms using this pattern.
Top Industries
36% of firms using pattern
21% of firms using pattern
14% of firms using pattern
All Industries
Below, the pattern "Subscription" is analyzed based on co-occurrence, in order to get insights into how this business model pattern is applied in combination with other patterns within the firms we studied.
Top Co-Occurrences
10 pattern co-occurrences
8 pattern co-occurrences
7 pattern co-occurrences