Subscription Billing Models for Recurring Payments
Software as a Service or SaaS billing, is also called also called on-demand, hosted or subscription billing. This is changing the way companies and consumers buy software and other application programs. With SaaS billing, a business or consumer signs up to use a software or computer application online instead of installing it on a computer. SaaS billing offers recurring payments for software rather than requiring a one-time purchase for right to use the product.
There are many ways in which a company can structure subscription billing models. Today, most companies in the market use recurring billing in which the consumer agrees to monthly recurring payments. The recurring payments are made even if the customer does not use the service, locking in recurring payments for the vendor. Recurring payments are a great revenue model, if they are managed correctly. If recurring billing is not managed properly, revenue leakage can reduce the profit margins.
Recurring billing can also be combined with volume pricing. The greater the number of users the less the cost, per user. Another option SaaS billing merchants can use is to provide multiple choice of recurring payments packages whereby subscription billing can be “upgraded” depending upon set criteria and customer requirements.
SaaS vendors can also offer recurring payment models with subscription billing services bundled together. That is, subscription billing for a group of services costs much less than paying for the services individually. This gives the vendor several creative methods to up-sell / cross-sell products, target specific markets, and get more business from each customer.
Usage / transaction based subscription billing charges the customers based on the number of times the service is used or the duration for which the service is accessed. This type of recurring billing is more popular for online entertainment as compared to SaaS billing that is used regularly in business. But, ultimately, SaaS vendors will need to upgrade their billing services to meet consumer demand as entertainment subscription billing models move into the business world.
Usage based subscription billing is ideal for customers because there is little commitment on the vendor’s part. But, it is less attractive for vendors. SaaS billing based on usage will have designated peak and off-peak hours. The vendors need to find a way to encourage usage in off-peak hours to so that they can help pay for the increased bandwidth required during prime time.
SaaS billing companies can also charge a non recurring billing set up fee for services. However, this depends on the uniqueness of the product and the level of market competition. As SaaS billing becomes the norm, non recurring billing will be harder to justify to customers who will have a wide choice of vendors who charge nothing upfront.
With SaaS billing, the application is owned by the vendor, not the end-user. In many ways, this creates a better customer experience than outright purchase. The SaaS vendor can standardize on a single platform which makes upgrades and patches easier and decreases time-to-market for new features. The end-user knows that the vendor must maintain consumer satisfaction or risk losing customers’ recurring payments or usage-based subscription billing revenues.