The end of Subscription Base Model is near or Maybe not?

Question

Most of the startups are going with Subscription Base Model
Businesses benefit because they are assured a predictable and constant revenue stream.
Consumers may find subscriptions convenient if they believe that they will buy a product on a regular basis and that they might save money.

But it is definitely a challenge for the customers as they go on subscribing to many services over the period times.
The subscription Model is growing & Businesses, as well as consumers, are accepting this model in some Industries. But it is declining & shrinking in some industries like software for small businesses.

COVID-19 pandemic has led to enormous losses, businesses going belly up, Enterprises have been busy offering competitive pricing.

The subscription Base Model is growing right now but do you also think that this will come to an end soon?

Fabian Maume · Accepted Answer

I don't think that the end is near. :) 
If your product deliver value on a regular basis, the subscription base model will stay. If you product provide value in batch (for example some online training) some more transactional model might emerge.

Michael Davies · Answer

I think the subscription model will eventually evolve; Rather than monthly or annual fees, you'll see it become more personalised based on your usage. Eventually you'll be charged by hour or by click or by view.

Answer

Patreon paved territory for a new kind of product altogether that is enabled by subscriptions as a payment model.  Subscriptions help people achieve meaning by directly connecting their income to the really important things in that they love. This connection is the new product, and the old product (the stuff subscribers actually get) is just a component of this connection. Companies like Substack, Patreon, my company at https://www.producthunt.com/posts/withfriends in an earlier sense, are scratching the surface of what's possible here and I believe in no way is it going to decline.  That's because in the old world, you can only drink so many beers at your favorite music venues and then you're done paying when you're full.  But in the new world, you can subscribe to as many of your favorite music venues as you want to, which has a much higher ceiling.

Charles Alexander · Answer

NASDAQ: NFLX 497.98 USD

musa usman · Answer

This is a wonderful question. I believe subscription model will continue to grow as long as price remain fair and affordabele. Many end users are inerested in great service at lower cost. if the founder can hack this? The business will maintain momentum

Abdallah Absi · Answer

What does the alternative look like? Going back to buying software for $$$$?

Larry Bieza · Answer

@fabian_maume I agree.  I would go further to say that on the consumer side, content providers in niche verticals delivering unique content will have success on platforms such as substack.

Simon Blok · Answer

I think it depends on the product or service. Thinking about extra features for my recently launched product, https://www.producthunt.com/posts/mockmagic. Playing with the idea to make some functions available with a transactional payment. But it’s a risk, no steady income guaranteed.

Doron Segal · Answer

@fabian_maume totally agree with you, subscription is just growing and will grow in more and more verticals that we're one time payment before.

João Gonçalves · Answer

@charlesalexnder market cap would be a better metric, share price alone doesn't mean much ;)

NATALIE NELMS · Answer

@djkgamc that is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo coollllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tyson Caly · Answer

We just switched our wine commerce platform from monthly SaaS fees to a completely tiered transactional based approach. We only succeed when our clients do. I think this approach is healthy and allows each side to grow together. It encourages us to build features focused on making sales as effortless as possible, and doesn't impose an ongoing monthly fee for businesses. Spend that money instead on marketing, promotion, etc.

John Smith · Answer

@abdabsi For some software like MS office it is still cheaper than the subscription ;)

Sune B. Thorsen · Answer

Subscriptions will most likely continue to work just fine for most B2B SaaS, as long as they're priced correctly (read; according to their target audience).

B2C subscriptions, on the other hand, can be a hard sell unless the consumer is in some way closely connected with you / your product - or you're delivering something nobody else is (which won't be the case for most companies since there are typically competitors too).

I still think we're going to see more and more subscriptions in both the B2B and B2C space though.

Larry Bieza · Answer

@michaeldavies2 All these years still waiting for microcash to pay for specific content......

The end of Subscription Base Model is near or Maybe not?

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