Subscription Economy

Description

Tien Tzuo:

"The way in which we buy and consume products is rapidly changing. The world we once knew -- where we owned physical products like CDs, DVDs, newspapers and even cars -- is rapidly coming to a close.

Instead of buying products upfront, more people are subscribing to services and renting consumable products. At Zuora, we have dubbed this phenomenon the Subscription Economy.

Subscriptions aren't just about magazines anymore: There are subscriptions for everything. WhipCar offers people an alternative to car rental and ownership, Girl Meets Dress lets you rent a dress for any occasion. The Larder Box is a monthly subscription service that delivers food and recipes straight to your door, and of course there are Boris Bikes where you subscribe to a bicycle service, ride it where you like, then return it, ready for the next person. You can even hire dogs: FlexPetz offers access to fully-trained dogs for a few hours or days, depending on what you want.

So how does it work? You pay a monthly subscription fee and get access to products on a per-usage basis. Businesses offer different subscription packages according to the frequency of use each customer wants, and provide updated versions of products as they become available." (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/13/end-of-ownership)