Life-as-a-Service? Subscription Boom Faces a Big Test
More consumer protection is needed in world where everything seems to come with a monthly payment plan.
“You wanna charge me HOW MUCH for using this mouse??”
Photographer: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
The subscription economy clearly got out of hand during the pandemic. The popularity of software and streaming as-a-service gave way to monthly payment plans for everything from toothbrushes to printer cartridges. Iced tea, lipstick and avocado subscriptions felt like a model jumping the shark.
The hype has thankfully faded somewhat, as cost-conscious consumers ditch their Peloton Interactive Inc. bikes, swipe left on Match Group Inc.’s Tinder and close the lid on meal-kit boxes. Subscription-focused companies have underperformed the wider stock market, as the chart below shows; some have even dropped the model. When Logitech International SA’s boss recently floated the notion of a subscription mouse — a software-enabled computer peripheral that would be continually updated — an instant online backlash prompted a statement from the company that it had “no plans” to introduce such a product.