2020 was a gamechanger for many industries – but perhaps not in the way one might think, particularly considering the effects of the global pandemic. In fact, for many ecommerce businesses, sales increased at such a rate that it was a struggle to keep up. Now, in 2021, as the coronavirus tide begins to turn, some business owners are wondering whether the pace will continue – or whether the dramatic upturn in online sales was simply a side-effect of ‘shelter in place’ orders?
Statistics say not. According to finance blog Finaria, the number of global e-commerce users is set to increase by 400 million in the next 12 months; a figure that will continue to grow another 10% year-on-year (reaching a massive 4.9 billion by 2025). How can businesses maximise on this growing trend?
At Billsby, we believe one surefire way to achieve sustainable growth is to consider subscription billing – and that there’s no better time to start than right now. If you don’t have a subscription option as part of your business model, here’s why you should formulate one, and fast…
Why to Start a Subscription Business in 2021, #1: Stability
One of the best things about a subscription business is the relative predictability it offers – which can be extremely useful not only from a security perspective (who doesn’t love predictable cashflow?) but also when it comes to managing supply and demand in a volatile post-Covid world.
If you can entice your base to enrol in some sort of recurring deal – whether that’s supply of a service for a particular time period, or an offer that requires you to provide goods on a certain day of the week/month/year – you’ll be able to weather any uncertainties 2021 may bring in a much smoother fashion.
Why to Start a Subscription Business in 2021, #2: Unlimited Upsells
A small point, but a valuable one: another fantastic bonus of subscription based business is that you’ve got a committed customer base built right in. This means that the chances for upselling are plentiful: whether you wish to reward loyal customers with money off an additional product, or entice them to upgrade their package altogether, you’ve got plenty of opportunities to increase the amount each customer spends with you.
Why to Start a Subscription Business in 2021, #3: Strive for Perfection
How many chances do we really get to get to know our customers – and tailor our offering so that’s absolutely perfect? Starting a Subscription business not only have a new opportunity at each interval – building on what has come before and tweaking any glitches – but also can use the huge volume of data about each customer, gleaned over the lifecycle of the subscription, to improve their services.
Better still, if you’re partnered with a smart platform like Billsby, there are elements to help you achieve perfection: such as our acclaimed Billsby Dashboard, which collates valuable insights into one place so you can check the health of your business, and the Billsby Value Score, which helps you to truly understand your customers.
We’re not saying that, if there are problems, the subscription services business will help you hang onto customers longer – you still need to get it right! But you do get an almost unprecedented opportunity to improve upon perfection and develop your offering in line with customer behaviour and market trends, should you wish to take advantage of it.
Looking for the perfect partner for your subscription billing needs? Billsby is here to help- the best subscription based services provider. We’ll take care of the hard stuff for you – from sorting global compliance to removing administrative and dev burdens – so that you can focus on growing and perfecting your business. Start your free trial today to learn more about what makes Billsby so special.