Weekly News Roundup
1. Subscript wants to rid the world of subscription revenue metric spreadsheets – Techcrunch
The American subscription intelligence startup Subscript, founded in December 2020, recently brought in $3.75 million in seed funding. Their target-customer is subscription-based SaaS companies for which they develop APIs that grab data from CRMs, general ledgers and billing products and organize it so the data is not only easy to find, but provide up-to-date subscription revenue metrics.
“Subscript is working with 21 customers right now, including Circle and Flipcause, and is tracking over $100 million of customers’ revenue.”
2. Apple’s Services added 165 million paying subscribers in last 12 months – Apple Insider
Across iCloud, music, and Apple TV+ video, Apple says that it has added an all-time record number of new subscribers, bringing the total number of subscriptions to 785 million.
“We set December quarter records in every geographic segment,” said Maestri, “and then as I mentioned earlier, an all-time record for iCloud, for music, for video, for advertising [and] payment services. So we’ve done… better than we were expecting at the beginning of the quarter.”
3. How dictionaries are adapting to the digital world with subscriptions – Smart Company
Definitions and synonyms are half a second away on the Internet. Some of them are free (for the end-user, but not for e.g. Google) while others require a subscription. Nick Cherrier at Fast Company In the future, predicts that in coming years, dictionary publishers will work in partnership with big digital companies, bundling access to their premium volumes with apps or hardware subscriptions
“It all comes down to marketing. Individuals aren’t the target market; institutions such as libraries and schools are. When you look at it from a business-to-business, rather than a business-to-consumer angle, it all makes sense. By placing a high anchor price for individual plans (albeit with very few takers), publishers are able to better monetise their core segments.”
4. TikTok tests paid subscription model – Subscribed
Short video app TikTok is testing a paid subscription model that enables content curators to charge people for viewing their works. The functionality is in the trial phase and is “only applicable to certain markets”.
“The moves indicate intense competition among social media platforms as they fight fervently for user attention and time span. Following the success of TikTok, several technology powerhouses are trying to elbow their way into the short video arena. In 2020, Facebook launched Instagram Reels. Last year, Snap introduced a similar feature called Spotlight, while You-Tube unveiled its version named Shorts.”
5. 7-Eleven introduces subscription delivery service in the U.S – Retaildive
With the new 7Now Gold Pass subscription delivery service, subscribers can spend $5.95 per month to access over 3,000 items including hot food, drinks, household items and groceries for delivery. Customers can expect orders in about 30 minutes and will be able to track their delivery in real time through the company’s app.
“Whether you’re a grocery retailer or a convenience store retailer, you have to be putting some level of testing dollars or R&D efforts towards figuring out how instant delivery can be done in your business”
Weekly Analysis Roundup
1. “Cars, clothes, carrots … why buy them when you can subscribe?” – The Guardian
Pay-monthly models are catching on across a wide range of businesses – including food, solar panels and even home insulation, writes The Guardian.
“In fact, the subscription economy is on the march through almost every aspect of daily life – from long-established businesses such as pay-per-view TV and car rental to energy, food and even clothing. If you can use it, you can rent it.”
2. What is a Netflix subscription really worth? Wall Street may have a new answer – CNBC
Slowing subscriber growth has hammered the stock this month, but a slower-growing Netflix would be more profitable, analysts say, but that doesn’t guarantee it will be more valuable, writes CNBC.
“If you think there are only 300 million potential streaming subscribers in the world, you should cut spending, raise prices and capitalize on the network you have,” LightShed Partners media analyst Rich Greenfield said. “But there are huge pockets of growth out there over the next five years.”
3. Why the “Stay At Home” Stocks Are Here to Stay: Netflix, Peloton, Zoom & Docusign – Subscribed
The durability of pandemic winners such as Netflix, Peloton and Zoom has been questioned recently. But Zuora’s Tien Tzuo argues that with their dramatically expanded subscriber base, subscription companies have lots of levers at their disposal. In fact, what we’re seeing now is a new focus on growing the value of those cohorts, he writes.
“First, they can raise their prices. Take Netflix. Today they’ve become synonymous with television for over 220 million households. Sure, you might sign up with Disney and Hulu as well, but you’re not giving up Netflix. They have built an incredibly loyal audience; their churn rate is half the size of their competitors.”
