Amazon has today announced that it is expanding its subscription business while allowing other digital subscription providers access to over 300+ million registered users. The American e-commerce giant has introduced a new type of subscription platform to enable businesses to sell their plans on its website.
Called Subscribe with Amazon, this service is being targetted at the current generation who holds numerous subscription plans — to a wide range of digital services. It is a self-service enrollment platform and provides you with a simple way to subscribe and manage the subscriptions. This can include any kind of service, ranging from news websites, TV streaming (Netflix) or other learning and lifestyle content. It means it coallates all different categories of subscriptions under a single, composed roof.
Talking about the launch, Lovina McMurchy, general manager of Subscribe with Amazon said,
Over the years, Amazon has gained extensive experience in the memberships and subscriptions space, innovating across programs like Prime and Kindle Unlimited. Today, we’re excited to extend our selection by offering subscription businesses a self-service way to make their subscriptions available to millions of Amazon customers.
As for the customers, this marketplace reaches out to them and acts as their savior in the digital age. We’re all aware of hassles it takes to remember the recharge date of each subscription plan, enter the card information each time and then repeat the said process every month, year or maybe twice a year.
But, Subscribe with Amazon now enables you to have knowledge of your subscription plans all in one central location. The platform acts like a portal where the different packs are available under different categories such as Dropbox, Kindle Unlimited, STEM Club, and news or magazines among others. You’ll also receive reminders, making it easy for you to instantly top-up the subscription plan you would want to continue.
As for the subscription providers, you’ll be required to adhere to some guidelines to become a part of the seller group. You should have a business address in the United States, a digital platform and customers need to pay a recurring fee for your service. If you fulfill the criterion then you’re eligible to sell your digital subscription on Amazon’s new marketplace offering.
Amazon will be providing each subscription provider with his/her own detailed information page, where they can manage the prices through the set of self-service tools provided to them. They’ll also be able to leverage Amazon’s APIs to receive the orders and updates from the Subscribe with Amazon service. The subscription providers have the following options to provide their plans:
The program allows subscription providers the ability to offer customers flexible pricing including introductory, monthly, and annual pricing options, as well as the opportunity to explore offering Prime exclusive deals.
Some of the most noticeable subscription providers have already signed up to sell their plans on Amazon’s marketplace. The services which have already been available on the marketplace during the testing period, which extends back to a year are magazine and news subscriptions, along with Amazon’s own kids reading app and STEM Club, to name a few.
The ‘Subscribe with Amazon’ is going public today and the company has got on board a handful of names. These include the likes of SlingTV, Disney Story Central, Dropbox, Texture, eMeals, Fitbit’s personal training platform, Creativebug, Headspace, LegalZoom, MileIQ, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, Consumer Reports, and Tawkify, among several others. There high probability that Amazon will not provide shelter to rival subscription services such as Netflix or Spotify.
