Från produkt till prenumerationstjänst
The use of subscription services directed towards customers has become a common phenomenon in a vast number of different industries. We have noticed a clear trend of new businesses emerging solely offering subscriptions, and existing companies altering sales of their products to become parts of subscriptions. But research has not caught up with this trend yet, especially regarding why it occurs and how it affects existing businesses internally. The purpose of this study is to examine the driving forces for change and examine how existing businesses have to change parts of their business models to offer subscription services. The premise of this study has been Vargo & Luschs (2004) Service Dominant Logic with their foundational premises and Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder et. al. (2005). To meet the objective, we conducted six in-depth interviews with companies in three different industries: the Software industry, News/Magazine industry and finally the Automotive industry. The main result that emerged was that the reason for the adoption of subscription services is a combination of external influences from the environment in accordance with the Service Dominant Logic approach and a combination of internal forces that varied depending on the corporate context. The study also found that subscription services alter all parts of the business model in some shape or form. The biggest changes occurred, however, in the areas of value propositions and customer relationships.