Subscription-based Product Management

I've been quiet about this for months, but it's time to share. After 8 years running pure ecommerce brands, we've completely pivoted our business model: every product we launch now has subscription component. Not because subscriptions are trendy. But because economics are undeniable. Here's what happened when we added a $27/month subscription option to a beauty brand selling a one-time $59 product (with proper funnel in place too): -Customer Acquisition Cost remained identical -Average first-order value increased by 14% -Customer Lifetime Value jumped by 40% -Retention rate at 49% after 6 months The difference between struggling and thriving in ecommerce often comes down to unit economics. When your LTV is 1.5X your CAC, you're barely surviving. When your LTV is 4X your CPA, you can outspend any competitor. Subscriptions change the entire psychology of your marketing. When you sell one-time product or have sh*t funnel with sh*t upsells you need to convince customers to buy again and again. When you sell subscriptions you only need to convince them once. Then inertia works in your favor. Most brands approach subscriptions completely wrong. They treat them as a minor addition to their business, not a fundamental shift in their model. Our approach: We design products specifically to create ongoing value. Every new product must answer: "Why would someone continue using this month after month?" The first 14 days are also critical. We've built a 9-touch onboarding process that drives initial product usage and builds habit formation. We've built systems that track customer usage patterns and send timely reminders when they should be seeing results or need to reorder. Each subscriber receives exclusive content tied to subscription journey - improving results and creating deeper brand connection. Before each renewal, customers receive a preview of what's coming next and how it builds on their current results. Results: Our retention rates are now 2.7X industry average, and our CAC payback period decreased from 62 days to 32 days. Successful DTC brands of the next decade won't be selling products. They'll be selling ongoing transformations, delivered through physical products. If you're still focused solely on one-time purchases, you're building a business model that's increasingly difficult to sustain. The shift isn't easy. But it's necessary. And not making shift is harder in the long run.

🚀 One Product, Many Ways to Sell: CPQ vs. Revenue Cloud Advanced (RCA) In the Salesforce world, selling both one-time and subscription-based products often turns into a catalog nightmare. If you’ve built or managed a CPQ catalog, you know the pain — duplicate SKUs, tangled pricing rules, and messy renewals. But with Revenue Cloud Advanced (RCA), there’s a smarter way. 💡 The Challenge with Traditional CPQ In Salesforce CPQ, when a single offering (say “Premium Analytics”) is sold as both a one-time license and a subscription: You’d need to create two separate products (e.g., Analytics - Perpetual and Analytics - Subscription). Each gets its own price book entries, discount schedules, and renewal rules. Every change means double the work — and double the risk of misalignment. This tight coupling between product and pricing model is a major operational drag, especially as offerings evolve. 🧩 The RCA Advantage: Product Selling Models Enter Revenue Cloud Advanced, which introduces Product Selling Models — a game-changer for how you structure your catalog. With RCA: You define one product (e.g., Analytics Suite). Attach multiple Selling Models — One-Time, Term Subscription, or Evergreen. Sales reps simply pick the selling model at quote time. 👉 No duplicate SKUs. 👉 No redundant rules. 👉 No rework when pricing changes. ⚙️ Example: Bringing It Together Business case: You sell a software license that can be purchased outright or subscribed to monthly. Approach Setup Maintenance Renewal Behavior CPQ (Classic) Create 2 products (One-time & Subscription) Update both products & rules Renewal logic tied to subscription SKU RCA Create 1 product with 2 selling models Maintain 1 source of truth Renewal driven by selling model Result: A leaner catalog, cleaner pricing logic, and faster time-to-market. If you’re new to RCA: Start clean — model your offerings once. Define selling models up front. Let RCA handle subscription and one-time logic dynamically. ⚖️ The Big Picture CPQ = Product defines the selling type. RCA = Selling model defines how the product is sold. That simple shift drives: ✅ SKU consolidation ✅ Faster pricing updates ✅ Seamless renewals ✅ Smarter analytics #Salesforce #RevenueCloud #CPQ #SalesforceRCA #DigitalTransformation #QuoteToCash #SalesOps #BusinessTransformation

Want to know how to build a real subscription business? Don't start with subscriptions. Seriously, this is one of the toughest lessons we've had to learn. Here's our detailed 5-point framework for building sustainable retention revenue: 1. Prove unit economics first Some brands rush to subscriptions to 'fix' bad unit economics. That's backward. What we focus on: - Target 1.5X ROAS minimum on first purchase - Test different offer structures (30-50% off based on margins) - Validate bundle economics before subscription plays - Build cash reserves for proper testing Why? You need runway to test retention strategies properly. 2. Wait for reviews to validate Your early customers tell you everything about retention potential. What to watch: - Post-purchase survey responses - Time between discovery and purchase - Common objections and concerns - Natural reorder patterns Key finding: Almost half our customers know us for a month+ before buying. Use this data. 3. Launch new products strategically The goal is to get 2-3 purchases in the first 4 weeks. Our approach: - Launch best/premium variants first - Time releases to maintain purchase momentum - Create urgency with limited availability - Use each launch to reactivate existing customers Real example: Our Black Friday strategy wasn't about one big discount. It was about driving multiple purchases through strategic launches. 4. Calculate product-specific LTV Different products have different retention patterns. Track everything: - Reorder windows - Flavor preferences - Cross-category purchase behavior - Channel-specific retention rates Don't assume all products deserve a subscription model. 5. Model subscription scenarios only after you have: - Proven reorder patterns - Clear flavor preferences - Strong retention signals - Cash flow for proper testing The results? We grew from 100% to 400% year over year by mastering steps 1-5 before pushing subscriptions. The reality is subscription revenue is earned, not forced. Focus on making a product people want to reorder before optimizing how they reorder. Your subscription model is only as good as your retention data.

2 years ago, this haircare brand was struggling with customer retention, LTV and were stuck at $120k/mo in rev. Today, they make $400k/mo. Here’s what changed: When we first started working together, the brand had two main products: 1. A one-time purchase cap with red light therapy for hair regrowth 2. A subscription-based stem cell solution applied with a special applicator Initially, they lacked basic email flows and were generating less than 10% of their revenue from email. We implemented foundational setups like welcome series, abandoned cart, and browse abandonment flows. But the real game-changer was this subscription retention strategy: We created a six-email flow sequence, sent 30 days apart. Month 1: Congratulatory email with a roadmap of future discounts (20% off at month 3, 30% off at month 6) ↓ Month 2: Progress update and reminder of upcoming discounts ↓ Month 3: 20% lifetime discount offer ↓ Months 4-5: Social proof and before/after results ↓ Month 6: 30% lifetime discount offer The results were insane: • Subscription flow became the top-performer outperforming even the welcome flow • LTV shot up by 30% • Churn rates dropped significantly This strategy has worked so well, we've rolled it out to other subscription-based clients. Even a well-known LinkedIn personality. As more brands pivot to subscription models (rising acquisition costs, anyone?), this becomes even more critical. Overall, our relationship with the founders has been exemplary. We started with bi-weekly calls and collaborative brainstorming. Now, it's largely hands-off. We send weekly updates, and they've given us 10/10 feedback scores across the board - copy, design, communication, and reporting. The key? Honesty and transparency. We share wins and challenges openly. Work together to find solutions. It's why they're one of our best clients. If you're running an ecom brand and want to chat about how we can help, my DMs are open.

Only 6% of app installs convert into paid subscriptions, and half of annual subscribers churn - and that’s for the *top 25%* of apps. If that reality hits a nerve, then you’ll want to know about “The Subscription Value Loop Framework”. There are so many opportunities for app developers and there’s never been a better time to take your app global. But there are a lot of challenges, especially marketplace saturation and subscriber churn. Finding subscribers, keeping them and making money out of them in a way that balances the right pricepoint with the cost of acquisition - these are all huge barriers to success. We asked Growth Adviser Phil Carter about how to overcome these, and his answer is called “The Subscription Value Loop Framework” which is a cyclical framework that creates a “compounding growth engine” where each stage reinforces the others: ➡️ Stage 1 Value creation: Developing a product that delivers long-term, meaningful benefits. ➡️ Stage 2 Value delivery: Acquiring users efficiently and helping them adopt the product quickly. ➡️ Stage 3 Value capture: Converting users into paying subscribers and maximizing Long Term Value (LTV). This Subscription Value Loop aligns every part of your consumer subscription business toward sustainable results. We’ve been saying that a focus on value and value-based pricing are key to success in a subscription environment and this is a really powerful methodology for getting that right. 

The world's best subscription brands all focus on one crucial KPI: Increasing first-order subscription take rate. Here's why this is important: Subscription customers typically show higher lifecycle engagement, greater customer lifetime value, and much higher repeat purchase rates than one-time purchasers. In fact, a report from McKinsey & Company found that subscription customers tend to average a 15–25% retention rate after one year, while OTP customers often fall well short of this. This disparity matters because relying on OTP customers means you must be profitable from the very first order—otherwise, you’re forced to depend on additional capital via debt or equity. In contrast, a subscription-heavy model may allow you to absorb a loss on order #1, provided your retention curve supports long-term LTV gains. The improved margin profiles in subscription businesses can significantly ease the challenges of scaling profitably. Richie Mashiko and I talked in detail about this on the latest episode of the Boring Ecom Podcast. With all this in mind, I'd recommend optimizing your PDP to convert at least 60% of new customer orders into subscriptions. This can be achieved through: - Strong price breaks - Free gifts on the first order - Rewards for staying subscribed - Exclusive access to content, merchandise, or new products The key is to design your subscription program around your customers' needs and desires. The brands that've mastered this are AG1, Seed Health, and Everyday Dose. Check out the chart below to understand more about what motivates customers to subscribe. Follow me for more tips on what I've learned as a retention marketer for some of the world's fastest-growing 8 & 9-figure brands!

Subscription-based pricing models are taking over, and for good reason. They offer flexibility, recurring revenue, and the ability to scale with customer needs. But integrating this model with your CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) system? That’s where the challenge begins. Years ago, when CPQ was primarily focused on one-time sales, the rules were simple. You configure the product, set the price, and generate a quote. But as the market shifts towards subscriptions, your CPQ system needs to do a lot more than just crunch numbers. Here’s where things get interesting. A subscription model isn’t just about a recurring charge—it’s about the relationship with the customer over time. Your CPQ needs to handle dynamic pricing, usage-based billing, renewals, and even upgrades or downgrades easily. And all of this must be done while ensuring the data flows smoothly across your CRM, billing, and ERP systems. But, initially, most traditional CPQ systems weren’t built with this level of complexity in mind. So, what’s the solution? It starts with rethinking how your CPQ handles configurations. Instead of focusing solely on the initial sale, your system needs to accommodate the entire customer lifecycle. This means integrating with subscription management tools, ensuring real-time data accuracy, and maintaining flexibility to adapt to customer changes. The intersection of CPQ and subscription-based pricing isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a strategic one. It requires a mindset shift from transactional sales to relationship-driven engagements. Is your CPQ ready for this evolution? #cpq #revops #pricing

Beyond the Product – Building a Subscription Community. A great product gets subscribers in the door, but a community keeps them around: Peer Support & Networking: Whether it’s a forum, private group, or regular live sessions, giving subscribers a place to interact adds value they can’t get elsewhere. Customers stick with subscriptions where they feel they belong. Shared Knowledge: A community lets your best customers share tips and excitement about your product. This peer-to-peer engagement increases usage and satisfaction – reducing the urge to cancel. Direct Feedback Loop: Engaged members will tell you what they love and what they need. Use that insight. Evolving your service based on community feedback makes subscribers feel heard and makes your product better. Events & Recognition: Host AMAs, webinars, or local meet-ups for subscribers. Spotlight member successes. When people form real relationships through your brand, your subscription becomes part of their identity, not just a monthly charge. Extra Sticky Factor: Community creates FOMO. If someone unsubscribes, they lose more than the product – they lose connections and status in the group. That psychological “cost” makes them think twice before leaving. Bottom line: The strongest subscriptions build a tribe, not just a customer list. If you haven’t started building a community around your offering, you’re missing a huge retention lever.