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{{Original research|date=June 2020}}
{{redirect|Subscription|the subscription process for shares etc.|Subscription (finance)|its use in religion|Confessional subscription}}
The '''subscription business model''' is a [[business model]] in which a [[customer]] must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a [[Product (business)|product]] or [[Service (business)|service]]. The model [[Publication by subscription|was pioneered]] by publishers of [[book]]s and [[periodical]]s in the 17th century
Subscriptions can be a more convenient, hassle-free transaction for consumers.<ref name=":2" /> However, due to inertia among some consumers, they may inadvertently pay for subscriptions that they no longer value because they do not realize that they are subscribed.<ref name=":2" />
==Subscriptions==
Rather than selling products individually, a subscription offers periodic (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, semi-annual, yearly/annual, or seasonal) use or access to a product or [[Service (economics)|service]], or, in the case of performance-oriented organizations such as [[List of opera companies|opera companies]], tickets to the entire run of some set number of (e.g., five to fifteen) scheduled performances for a whole season. Thus, a one-time sale of a product can become a recurring sale and build [[brand loyalty]].<ref name=":1" />
Industries that use this model include [[mail order]] [[book sales club]]s and [[music]] sales clubs, private [[web mail]] providers, [[cable television]], [[satellite television]] providers with [[pay television]] channels, providers with digital catalogs with downloadable music or eBooks, audiobooks, [[satellite radio]], [[Telephone company|telephone companies]], [[mobile network operator]]s, internet providers, [[software publisher]]s, [[website]]s (e.g., [[blogging]] websites), business solutions providers, financial firms, [[health club]]s, lawn mowing and snowplowing services, [[pharmaceutical]]s, renting an apartment, property taxes, as well as the traditional newspapers, magazines, and [[academic journal]]s.
Renewal of a subscription may be periodic and activated automatically so that the cost of a new period is automatically paid for by a pre-authorized charge to a [[credit card]] or a checking account. A common variation of the model in online games and on websites is the ''[[freemium]]'' model, in which the first tier of content is free. Still, access to premium features (for example, game power-ups or article archives) is limited to paying subscribers.<ref>{{Citation | year=2023 | title=What is the SaaS Subscription Revenue Model? | url=https://whop.com/blog/saas-subscription-revenue/ | access-date=10 November 2023}}</ref>
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===Types and examples===
There are different categories of subscriptions:
*A
** Periodicals, such as a newspaper or magazine, have several types of
*** [[Magazine#Paid circulation|Paid circulation]]
*** [[Magazine#Non-paid circulation|Non-paid circulation]]
*** [[Magazine#Controlled circulation|Controlled circulation]]
** [[Subscription box]]es contain a variety of consumables
*** [[Community-supported agriculture]]
*** [[Meal delivery service]]
*** [[Meal kit]] delivery service
*A
** [[Software as a service]]
*A [[wikt:pay-as-you-go|pay-as-you-go]]
** For example, a company's subscription to a rail pass may not be individualized but might permit all firm employees to use the service.
*A
*An online
===Publishing===
In publishing, the
== Academic journals ==
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Consumers may find subscriptions convenient if they believe they will buy a product regularly and might save money. The customer saves time for repeated delivery of the product or service.<ref name=":1" />
Subscriptions which exist to support clubs and organizations call their subscribers "members" and they are given access to a group with similar interests.
Subscription pricing can make it easier to pay for expensive items since they can often be paid for over time and thus can make the product seem more affordable. On the other hand, most newspaper and magazine-type subscriptions are paid upfront, which may prevent some customers from subscribing. Fixed prices may be an advantage for consumers who frequently use those services. However, it could disadvantage a customer who plans to use the service frequently but later does not. The commitment to paying for a package may have been more expensive than a single purchase. In addition, subscription models increase the possibility of [[vendor lock-in]], which can have fatally business-critical implications for a customer if its business depends on the availability of software: For example, without an online connection to a licensing server to verify the licensing status every once in a while, a software under a subscription-model would typically stop functioning or fall back to the functionality of a freemium version, thereby making it impossible (to continue) to use the software in remote places or particularly secure environments without internet access, after the vendor has stopped supporting the version or software, or even has gone out of business leaving the customer without a chance to renew the subscription and access his data or designs maintained with the software (in some businesses it is important to have full access even to old files for decades). Also, consumers may find repeated payments to be onerous.<ref name=":1" />
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