For two decades, more and more 'tangible' products are also offered as a subscription. Physical products take the form of a service. This applies to both durable consumer goods (such as washing machines, bicycles or cars) and consumables (such as diapers, razors or food).
Two well-known examples of successful companies that sell tangible products 'as-a-service'.
Swapfiets does not only provide a bike but also the indonesia telegram data possibility to cycle on a 'always working bike' for a fixed monthly fee. The idea behind this is that consumers do not necessarily need to own an (expensive) bike, but are mainly looking for hassle-free mobility.
HelloFresh relieves the consumer who wants a healthy, tasty meal, but does not have the time or desire to search for recipes and do the shopping. The meal boxes are offered in subscription form, which can be varied flexibly.
HelloFresh
Customer attraction
The subscription model is attractive for a variety of reasons. In 2018, ING (pdf) investigated what drives European consumers to take out a subscription. For durable consumer goods, it turned out that financial motives played a role: avoiding high purchase costs and a lower risk of repair costs. For consumables, price played a less important role and convenience was mentioned in particular. Never being 'without' something and products automatically delivered to your home.
People don't want a drill. They want a hole in the wall.
It is important to realize that consumers are not always looking for possession, but rather for solving their problem . Harvard professor Theodore Levitt once put it succinctly: “People don’t want a drill. They want a hole in the wall.” One might wonder whether “a hole in the wall” is really what people want: after all, the end goal is more likely to be “a nice painting on the wall.” But Levitt’s thought is clear and correct.
