Re:From Durable to Perishable – the path to sustainable reve...
by seltzered_ on Sunday November 10, 2019 @01:42PM
(#21499436)
“Wouldn't it be nice if you could lock in a customer to recurring purchases of just your brand? Enter subscriptions.“ Yes, reminds me of things like dollarshaveclub, Harry’s, quip.
The unexplored dimension in this space (particularly in hardware) is whether a migration to a subscription model can improve material re-use (aka reverse logistics, cradle-to-cradle, etc.). For example, I’m afraid of giving up my years old durable phone/laptop (now on their second batteries but working fine) and support right to repair, but may consider leasing such objects if there was transparency in knowing they would be effectively refurbished and/or recycled to a point where it actually made sense.
Fairphone has supposedly been exploring a hybrid of this space as of last year: https://www.fairphone.com/en/2018/01/08/from-ownership-to-se...
Re:From Durable to Perishable – the path to sustainable reve...
by nitishagar on Sunday November 10, 2019 @01:34PM
(#21499379)
Couldn't agree more. +1 on the Subscribe & Save model which Amazon is heavily pushing for.
For example, toothpicks are perishable (or maybe more accurately consumable), but there are a lot of toothpick brands to choose from. Wouldn't it be nice if you could lock in a customer to recurring purchases of just your brand? Enter subscriptions. You see it happening all the time, everywhere.
On Amazon "subscribe and save" to any household perishable good. Microsoft replacing its corporate HUP program (which let you buy full office for $10) with a bogus replacement that just lets you get discounted subscriptions to 365. And of course, the most egregious offender, Adobe Creative Cloud.
Durable products, be they physical or software, are great for consumers but bad for companies. Hence, companies are moving away from them.