Blog & Media
Insights, musings, and strategies on the future of commerce & subscriptions
What metrics are important to a subscription business?  800 533 Scriberbase

What metrics are important to a subscription business? 

Yes, you have to measure some notable ones like LTV, CAC, Churn rate, MRR, payback period, etc. But, there are plenty of other metrics that a subscription business can track, depending on the model and…

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Is AI threatening the growth of Ed-Tech and subscription commerce in general? 480 135 Scriberbase

Is AI threatening the growth of Ed-Tech and subscription commerce in general?

It’s early, but the recent headlines around Chegg Inc. are scary. Chegg Inc. Inc’s stock has dropped ~40% this month as the company warns that Chat GPT threatens the growth of its homework-help services. Chegg’s revenue and profit forecasts…

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A happy customer is a loyal customer 700 300 Scriberbase

A happy customer is a loyal customer

Do not solely rely on CS software like Zendesk to manage your inbound customer service and ticketing. Relying on software and systems to manage your customer lifecycle is risky. While technology can help streamline processes, it can’t…

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Car ownership as we know it is done 800 450 Scriberbase

Car ownership as we know it is done

Why not access the car you need, when you need it, without the hassle and expense of owning one? This is where subscription car services begin to take over. Let’s take a look at the current state…

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The 3 C’s 460 385 Scriberbase

The 3 C’s

The 3 C’s: ✅ Content ✅ Coaching, ✅ Community. Oftentimes, the success of a brand lies in their ability to execute this strategy effectively. Let’s examine each one: ✦ CONTENT: Creating high-quality content is crucial…

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XaaS models are everywhere 800 450 Scriberbase

XaaS models are everywhere

XaaS models are everywhere (“x” as a service). The appeal of consistent, predictable recurring revenue is what makes this model so attractive to companies of all sizes. Here are some big categories, along with a…

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How did SAAS/CRM become what it is today? 700 300 Scriberbase

How did SAAS/CRM become what it is today?

It helps to understand a brief history of sales first. The concept of managing the customer relationship is as old as the idea of exchanging money for goods or services. Sales as a profession probably…

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Canadian Tire’s new subscription play 700 300 Scriberbase

Canadian Tire’s new subscription play

I have been getting questions about the viability of Canadian Tire Corporation’s new Triangle Select subscription program. This is a program where for $89/year, subscribers get access to exclusive offers and benefits, such as free shipping, discounts on…

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More “fee-4-VIP” loyalty models in the travel industry 800 449 Scriberbase

More “fee-4-VIP” loyalty models in the travel industry

The travel industry has historically been linked to free points programs. We are now seeing the beginnings of something very new for travel, namely the fall of these free programs in favor of “fee-4-VIP” loyalty…

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Content-as-a-service 800 341 Scriberbase

Content-as-a-service

A year ago, Axios launched its premium subscription – Axios Pro, for $600 – $1800/year. Axios has been hinting at plans to launch a subscription product since its inception in 2016. Why is the Axios move relevant for businesses?…

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Meta’s new subscription service 700 300 Scriberbase

Meta’s new subscription service

Meta’s new subscription service will pilot in Australia and New Zealand this week. This initial version includes:  A verified badge confirming the user’s authenticity.  More protection from impersonation with proactive account monitoring  Access to customer support…

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What does listening to vinyl have to do with building a brand? 665 443 Scriberbase

What does listening to vinyl have to do with building a brand?

The power of experience. Listening to digital music is convenient, but there’s nothing unique about it (sorry Spotify, it’s true). Anybody can listen to a song, in the same format, at the same time, without any…

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Lessons in retention and LTV 800 533 Scriberbase

Lessons in retention and LTV

A lot of subscription brands are fearful of giving more control to the consumer; specifically when it comes to their subscription plan. We’ve come across plenty of organizations who under-invest in customer support, live agent servicing, etc.,…

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The 3 types of subscription models 800 304 Scriberbase

The 3 types of subscription models

If your company is thinking about launching a subscription model, read on. Below is a description of the most common subscription models and some familiar company use cases. For b2c businesses, there are essentially 3 types of…

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What TikTok can tell us about the future of e-commerce 700 300 Scriberbase

What TikTok can tell us about the future of e-commerce

I’ve been thinking a lot about what TikTok can tell us about the future of e-commerce, and potentially the economy more broadly. While inflation and supply chain woes plague many businesses, a brief ‘08 financial crisis’ history…

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What’s the new SEPHORA subscription about, and will it work? 666 333 Scriberbase

What’s the new SEPHORA subscription about, and will it work?

Yup. They’ve nailed it. For ~$50/year, members gain access to unlimited same-day delivery. Moreover, beauty insiders get free shipping with no minimums required and can sign up for auto-replenishment of their favourite products on a…

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Is this the right move for Netflix? 800 449 Scriberbase

Is this the right move for Netflix?

Netflix stock price is up over 5% on the news that the company will introduce an ad-supported, lower-priced tier ($6.99/month). Importantly, Netflix has always had certain levers at its disposal to appease investors short-term, including raising prices…

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Retention is a major focus for subscription companies 800 450 Scriberbase

Retention is a major focus for subscription companies

Yet, historically, companies haven’t understood how to manage churn. For example, most don’t realize that there’s a key difference between voluntary and involuntary churn – the former being a customer service problem, and the latter being…

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Voice recognition and subscriptions 700 300 Scriberbase

Voice recognition and subscriptions

The subscription economy is poised to provide a fully automated shopping experience – where the majority of consumer goods get purchased by subscribing, selecting a frequency of delivery, and checking out using ‘voice recognition’. Yes, this means…

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‘Uber One’ highlights the evolution of paid loyalty 700 300 Scriberbase

‘Uber One’ highlights the evolution of paid loyalty

Uber’s membership program follows what we call, the Amazon Prime formula. Prime Formula = ANCHOR BENEFIT + 2 or more complementary benefits. In the case of Prime, the ‘anchor benefit’ is free shipping/ often same-day delivery. Complementary…

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An Amazon war story shows the importance of a cash nest egg 612 408 Scriberbase

An Amazon war story shows the importance of a cash nest egg

An Amazon war story helps provide executives with hints as to how best to navigate today’s economic environment. The dot-com bubble burst of 2000, and Amazon’s strategy to stock and hoard cash, is indicative of what today’s eCommerce businesses…

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Can any product business move to subscription? 700 300 Scriberbase

Can any product business move to subscription?

Recently, I’ve been asked about whether any product business can move to a subscription model … Short answer: No. Finding the right subscription category fit is a good first step in assessing whether or not a business…

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E2 #124: Vinyl Me, Please 700 300 Scriberbase

E2 #124: Vinyl Me, Please

Max Fiedler is the co-founder and former CEO of record-of-the-month club Vynil Me, Please (VMP). Since launching in 2013, Matt successfully took the business from a passion project to a globally recognized brand in more…

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How to get buyers to make repeat purchases 700 300 Scriberbase

How to get buyers to make repeat purchases

Shopping, in the traditional sense, involves a buyer and a seller. A potential buyer learns about a product, usually from exposure to branded marketing, and if it’s compelling enough to buy, they do so via…

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The importance of data and personalization 700 300 Scriberbase

The importance of data and personalization

Here are some insights on the importance of data and personalization when scaling a subscription model. The success of companies such as Stitch Fix, a company that built their business around data and personalization, reveals an…

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Where do big subscription businesses fail 800 450 Scriberbase

Where do big subscription businesses fail

When CBS Records formed a new direct-mail division of Columbia—the Columbia Record Club, in 1955—the new subscription club turned the industry upside down. Columbia began as an experiment in selling music through the mail. To attract attention…

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The power of influencer marketing 700 300 Scriberbase

The power of influencer marketing

The power of influencer marketing on the web cannot be over-stated. Data from MuseFind, an influencer marketing platform, shows 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement. Influencer clout continues…

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The importance of brand reputation 800 450 Scriberbase

The importance of brand reputation

Holding the so-called ‘FAANG’ stocks can leave you pretty sweaty these days. The exclusive class of world-dominating tech companies whose market cap back in March 2019, was ~$3 trillion, has seen better days. While P/E…

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What does the future hold for eCommerce? 800 377 Scriberbase

What does the future hold for eCommerce?

After a decade of growth, eCommerce is facing headwinds. But, history gives us a good sense of what lies ahead. Looking back, the barriers that historically made entering the e-commerce space costly—such as expensive traditional marketing and…

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The future of loyalty is already here 600 347 Scriberbase

The future of loyalty is already here

The success of Amazon Prime has prompted established brands to rethink their loyalty programs. While free points-based programs were once ubiquitous, long redemption times, poor understanding of benefits, and anemic usage means the death of points programs.…

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