the.com/subscription services
renting convenience forever so you never have to decide to buy anything twice.
means a business model where you pay recurring fees for ongoing access instead of one-time ownership.
from traced back to 17th-century periodicals and book clubs, but supercharged by software companies in the 2000s who realized recurring revenue beats a single sale every time.
average personpays for 12 subscriptions, tracks maybe 4
cancellation designengineered to be harder than signing up
netflix originstarted as dvd-by-mail, pivoted in 2007
industry termunused subscriptions called ghost subs internally
for instance
netflix — pioneered streaming subscriptions, 260 million subscribers by 2024
amazon prime — 200 million members paying for shipping speed
adobe creative cloud — killed one-time software purchases entirely in 2013
gym memberships — planet fitness profits from members who never show up