Can your business offer a subscription?
More and more, subscriptions are becoming a common way to pay for products and services. Generally tech enabled; streaming service subscriptions, subscription services for basic goods like razors and toothbrushes, free shipping subscription clubs, newsletter and podcast subscriptions, monthly clothing subscriptions, gaming and e-sports subscriptions, creator subscriptions, food of the month subscriptions, coffee of the month subscriptions, wine of the month subscriptions, Amazon Web Services, reoccurring donations, subscriptions, subscriptions, subscriptions. There’s a lot of subscriptions, and there’s a reason for it! Subscriptions are a fantastic way to keep customers engaged with your business and offer them the flexibility of being able to cancel their membership at any time.
It may be hard to remember, but the primary way of making money on Apple’s App Store, a $64 billion business, used to be selling access to an app as a one time purchase. It was only in 2011, when Apple started offering subscriptions for apps on the App Store, four years after the iPhone was announced. Back in the early days of the App Store, developers would usually sell their apps for 99 cents, or more if the app was a professional grade app or premium service. This was great at the time, as it was a new way for software developers to monetize their work, and a brand new way for consumers to find and buy apps for their cellphones. As smartphone adoption became the mainstream, app stores became common and subscriptions became standard, Apple’s App Store and others like it became platforms that enabled whole new industries that created billion and trillion dollar companies.
If you sell an expensive product or service, can you turn that price tag into smaller monthly payments? Photoshop used to be an extremely cost prohibitive software for people to use, or let alone buy to see if they like graphic design. Because of this, graphic design was much more expensive and difficult to find people with experience. As more people started using computers, and Adobe introduced a new monthly subscription plan, more people are now able to download creative software, and figure out if that’s a skill that they’d like to learn.
Software isn’t the only business that is going to a subscription model. Panera Bread, known for bread bowls, bagels and baked goods is now offering customers a coffee subscription plan. For the cost of a couple cups of coffee a month, subscribers can get unlimited coffee. This keeps those customers coming back for their coffee in the morning, where they now may now buy a breakfast sandwich. That customer may now go to Panera for lunch now too, because of the free coffee refill. Subscriptions can be any part of your business that keeps your customers engaged with your business.
Most website platforms that offer commerce tools also offer a subscription plan for businesses to create. You can get creative with what you offer, like a surprise of the month club, or use a subscription to collaborate with a local nonprofit, like a book of the month club for a local coffee shop. If you’re a yoga studio, can you offer a subscription to unlimited classes, or virtual classes? If your business has an expertise, then maybe you can create a paid newsletter for information and advice on your domain. What will your subscription be?
Customer reviews are worth offering a discount
Positive customer feed show that the people who purchase from your business care enough to share their experience in a review that can be seen by others who may be potential customers. If you’re lucky enough to get a large amount of positive reviews, then that shows a lot of credibility to people when making purchase decisions, which can result in better sales and traffic to your website, store or socials. Reviews are a simple thing that can be invested into, if you have a base of happy customers or sell a product that people like. You can offer a percentage off, a coupon code, free shipping, or whatever else is relevant to your business as an incentive to get customer reviews. The small investment of a one-time discount code can pay long term dividends if the review is positive, as it will stay on your social media or webstore indefinitely.
If you’re selling on a platform like Etsy, Ebay or Poshmark, reviews is a built in product, and an indicator to that platforms algorithm of where to place your product listings in search. Because of this, you also have a direct financial incentive to get more positive reviews for your product listings, as more positive listings means that your listings show up higher in search results, making sales more likely. Once a potential customer gets to your product listing, having a lot of positive reviews is an indicator that you sell a quality item, worth a customer spending money on. Two identical listings, one with reviews and one without, a potential customer is more likely to purchase from the listing that has the social proof of a review.
Reviews work so well that even average reviews are more powerful than a product listing with no reviews. According to Qualtrics, “93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product.” People read reviews, and products that have reviews make potential customers feel more familiar with what they may potentially purchase. Having no reviews gives a potential customer no feedback about what they want to buy, and gives them nothing to expect from the purchase. Investing in reviews is an investment in a potential customer’s experience with your product’s listing, similar to in store merchandising.
It is also important to be responsive to your reviews. Thank positive reviewers, and help resolve negative reviews. You don’t have to respond to everything (though that will be a big boost to customer engagement), but try to give thanks to positive feedback and stay on top of any problems that arise. According to GatherUp, “Businesses that don't reply to any reviews earn 9% less revenue than average. Businesses that reply to their reviews at least 25% of the time average 35% more revenue.” Continuing, “75% of businesses don't respond to any of their reviews.” This means that by just responding to the most immediate reviews, you’ll be more responsive than 75% of businesses online.
Customer reviews can be repurposed to be social media posts as well. You can anonymize the quote, or ask customers if they’re fine with you sharing their review. Quotes can be made into graphics, and these graphics can be posted onto social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Be creative with your reviews, and show off the best of what people say.
Reviews are important for businesses, brands and organizations. Businesses tell potential customers what to expect when they spend with you, and help businesses build credibility in their location and industry. Reviews are important for all businesses, but are critical for online only businesses. Directly ask your customers and following via social media or a sign at your cash register. Offer a discount or deal for people who review your business. Your investment doesn’t have to be a large amount of money, but the return you should see will be multiples of that amount. Reviews give life to your business, it’s almost like a potential customer walking into your business on it’s best day, just by reading. Who are your best customers?
Square Card Reader enables simple card transactions for entrepreneurs
Credit and debit card processing can be a daunting task to setup, until you find a solution like Square’s Card Reader. You may already be aware of Square’s headphone jack reader, the small white square that fits into a smartphone’s 3.5mm headphone jack. As smartphone companies updated their phones to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone back, and as card issuers introduced chip cards, Square has also introduced a brand new chip card + contactless payment reader. Still reasonably priced, Square can now get you ready to accept chip cards, contactless payments (like Apple Pay), and regular swipe cards—within a few hours.
Square charges a small fee per transaction, with no monthly retainer fees. For businesses with under $250,000 a year in transactions, each transaction with the card reader costs 2.6% + 10 cents. That means a transaction of $10 would cost you $0.36 to process with Square. You can carry your reader around with you wherever you go, and if you sell a service, then you can effectively pitch what you sell anywhere you get cell service. If your business scales above that $250,000 threshold, Square will negotiate an individual rate for your business.
The contactless and chip payment Square Reader costs $49.00, shipped free from Square or available in-store at retailers like Target and Walmart. The swipe Square Reader (the headphone jack reader) is free for your first reader, and $10 for a replacement. The contactless and chip reader comes with a headphone jack reader for free.
Square Reader connects to your phone or tablet with Bluetooth, and is seamless to connect. Once you create your Square account, download the Square app, and connect your reader simply through the Settings menu. As long as your smartphone has Bluetooth on, the Square app will automatically detect the reader, and begin pairing if the reader is in paring mode. Square’s website has an easy guide to help you get started.
Square also has an invoices product which lets you create and send invoices to customers, with the same account as the one you use with your Square Reader. Square Invoices gives your business the ability to sell products and services when you aren’t physically with your customer, like at a farmer’s market or art fair. Invoices are great for billing hours for a service that you provide, or a large wholesale order for a B2B client. Since Invoices is a part of the broader Square platform, all of your transactions will appear on a general transactions report, showing you how much business you get from each channel that you operate in.