{"blogPosts":[{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-09-30","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-sep-26","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the September edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Product options\n\nWe added product options so you can sell variants of the same product.\nYou define each option on the product, then set one value for that option on each pricing plan.\nFor example, a product option named `Region` can be `US` on one pricing plan and `Europe` on another.\nYou can also replace option values on an individual order item.\nFor more information, see [Product options](/docs/glossary.md#product-options) and [Create a product](/docs/settings/products-and-pricing.md#create-a-product).\n\n### Archive and restore pricing plans\n\nYou can now archive a pricing plan that is no longer offered for new sales.\nExisting orders that use the plan continue to bill.\nYou can restore an archived plan later.\nFor more information, see [Archive a pricing plan](/docs/settings/products-and-pricing.md#archive-a-pricing-plan).\n\n### AML audit reports\n\nWe added Anti-Money Laundering (AML) audit reports.\nYou can search by person ID to review screening history, linked customers, and related transactions.\nWhen you have permission to view AML checks, you can open an AML check from the screening history.\nYou can export the report as a PDF, CSV, or JSON file.\nThe report is available when the AML audit report feature is enabled for your organization and you have the `GetAmlAuditReport` permission.\nFor more information, see [View AML audit reports](/docs/reports/aml-reports.md#view-aml-audit-reports).\n\n### Identity document checks\n\nIdentity document verification now checks for a document number and for the country and region that issued the document.\nFor more information, see [Identity document checks](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc.md#identity-document-checks).\n\n### Minimum payout amount per transaction\n\nYou can now set a minimum amount per transaction on a gateway account.\nYou can use that minimum on its own, or with the existing maximum amount per transaction or maximum amount per rolling 24-hour period.\nThese limits apply to automatic payout allocation only.\nManual allocations are not capped.\nFor more information, see [Set payout limits](/docs/settings/manage-payment-gateways.md#set-payout-limits).\n\n### Permission editor\n\nWe added a permission editor for users, roles, and API keys.\nYou can search for a permission, apply a preset, or select permissions by resource.\nFor more information, see [Add a new user](/docs/settings/users.md#add-a-new-user), [Create roles](/docs/settings/users.md#create-roles), and [Create an API key](/docs/dev-docs/api-keys.md#create-an-api-key).\n\n### Removed the user MFA status API\n\nWe removed the Retrieve user MFA status API operation (`GET /users/{id}/mfa`).\nTo set up or turn off multi-factor authentication (MFA), use your profile page.\nFor more information, see [Configure your user profile](/docs/settings/users.md#configure-your-user-profile).\n\n### Subscription renewal reminder webhooks\n\nWe added subscription renewal reminders that can be sent 30 days, 7 days, and 1 day before an order that contains subscription items renews.\nFor more information, see [Subscription renewal reminder, 30 days before renewal](/catalog/all/orders/subscription-renewal-reminder-30-days), [Subscription renewal reminder, 7 days before renewal](/catalog/all/orders/subscription-renewal-reminder-7-days), and [Subscription renewal reminder, 1 day before renewal](/catalog/all/orders/subscription-renewal-reminder-1-day).\n\n### Update transaction results\n\nYou can now set the result of one or more sales transactions to **Abandoned**, **Approved**, **Canceled**, or **Declined**.\nA transaction that already has the selected result does not change.\nFor more information, see [Update one or more transaction results](/docs/data-tables/manage-payments.md#update-one-or-more-transaction-results).\n\n### Fit a data table column to its content\n\nYou can now fit a data table column to its content.\nPress the divider on the right of the column twice.\nThe column expands or shrinks to fit the widest cell in that column.\nFor more information, see [Adjust table column width](/docs/data-tables/customize-tables.md#adjust-table-column-width).\n\n### Recurring interval and service period anchor\n\nWhen you change order items, the recurring interval and service period anchor come from the new plans.\nFor more information, see [Service period anchor, billing timing, and invoice time shift](/docs/dev-docs/subscriptions.md#service-period-anchor-billing-timing-and-invoice-time-shift).\n\n## Docs\n\n### Standard Webhooks signatures\n\nEach webhook includes a Standard Webhooks `v1a` signature.\nVerify the signature with the public key for the environment that sent the webhook.\nYou do not need to fetch or cache signing keys.\nFor more information, see [Standard Webhooks signature](/docs/dev-docs/webhooks-configuration.md#standard-webhooks-signature).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Unlimit payment gateway](/gateways/unlimit).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that's not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-08-01","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-aug-26","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the August edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Compliance screening reports\n\nWe added the ability to screen customers, employees, and potential employees for compliance.\nThe reports run Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks and summarize the results in a downloadable PDF report.\nFor more information, see [Compliance screening reports](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-compliance.md#compliance-screening-reports).\n\n### View available credit balance on the customer page\n\nYou can now view a customer's unallocated credit memo amounts on the customer details page.\nAmounts are grouped by currency, and you can open related credit memos from each balance.\nFor more information, see [View available credit balance](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-information.md#view-available-credit-balance).\n\n### Set an expiration time for KYC document requests\n\nWhen you request KYC documents from a customer, you can now set a **Request valid until** date and time.\nWhen the field is empty, the request expires one hour after creation.\nFor more information, see [Request KYC documents](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-compliance.md#request-kyc-documents).\n\n### Include a selfie when uploading identity proof on behalf of a customer\n\nWhen you upload KYC documents on behalf of a customer, you can now include a selfie with an identity proof document.\nCustomers could already submit a selfie through the KYC document gatherer, or when you request documents using the **Request selfie** option.\nThis update adds the same capability to the **Upload documents** flow.\nSupported document subtypes are **Passport**, **ID card**, and **Driver license**.\nFor more information, see [Upload KYC documents](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-compliance.md#upload-kyc-documents).\n\n### Payout limits on gateway accounts\n\nYou can now set payout limits on gateway account details to cap automatic payout allocation.\nSet a maximum amount per transaction, a maximum amount per rolling 24-hour period, or both.\nManual allocations are not capped.\nFor more information, see [Set payout limits](/docs/settings/manage-payment-gateways.md#set-payout-limits).\n\n### Pause gateway accounts during connectivity outages\n\nRebilly now monitors recent `sale` and `authorize` transactions on each gateway account for `timeout` and `conn-error` results.\nWhen those results indicate a connectivity outage, the gateway account is flagged for temporary downtime and transactions route to the next suitable gateway.\nThis protection is always on and does not require configuration.\nFor more information, see [Pause gateway accounts during connectivity outages](/docs/settings/manage-payment-gateways.md#pause-gateway-accounts-during-connectivity-outages).\n\n### Allocation summaries in payout request batches\n\nPayout request batches now display allocation summaries for each payout request on every tab except **Pending** and **Ready**.\nEach row displays the allocated amount and an allocation status badge.\nWhen allocations have different statuses, the badge shows **Mixed** with a tooltip that lists the status counts.\nFor more information, see [View batches](/docs/data-tables/manage-payout-requests.md#view-batches).\n\n### FramePay `element.invalidate()` method\n\nThe FramePay library now includes an `element.invalidate()` method that marks a payment card field as visually invalid.\nUse this method when a payment is declined because the CVV or expiration date is incorrect.\nFor more information, see [`element.invalidate()`](/docs/dev-docs/element.md#elementinvalidate).\n\n### Apple Pay `ready` event\n\nThe FramePay library now emits a `ready` event when Apple Pay is available on the device and the Apple Pay button is displayed.\nListen for this event to confirm that Apple Pay is available before you show dependent UI.\nFor more information, see [Events](/docs/dev-docs/events.md#ready).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-07-01","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jul-26","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the July edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Convert ended trial-only subscriptions to recurring subscriptions without restarting the trial\n\nYou can now convert trial-only subscriptions that have ended to recurring subscriptions without restarting the trial.\nUse this feature when a customer's trial has ended, but they still want to subscribe, and you want to start recurring billing without giving them another trial period.\nFor more information, see [Convert an ended trial-only subscription to recurring](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#convert-an-ended-trial-only-subscription-to-recurring).\n\n### Set permissions when creating and editing API keys\n\nWhen creating or editing an API key, you can choose full access or limited access to specific API operations.\nFor more information, see [Create an API key](/docs/dev-docs/api-keys.md#create-an-api-key).\n\n### Export user data\n\nYou can now export user data to a CSV file.\nUse this feature to download user details from your organization, including only the columns you select.\nFor more information, see [Export user data](/docs/settings/users.md#export-user-data).\n\n### Create payout requests in the ready status\n\nYou can now create payout requests in the `ready` status.\nFor more information, see [Edit payout request settings](/docs/settings/organizations-and-websites.md#edit-payout-request-settings).\n\n### Payout request batch management\n\nWe added payout request batch management actions.\nYou can add payout requests to an existing batch, remove payout requests from a batch, delete a batch, and unblock payout requests in a batch.\nFor more information, see [Manage batches](/docs/data-tables/manage-payout-requests.md#manage-batches).\n\n### Improved search functionality\n\nWe improved the search functionality in the Rebilly UI.\nYou can now use the search to find and navigate to pages, data tables, and events in the rules engine, and to search for records such as customers, invoices, orders, and transactions.\nFor more information, see [Search in Rebilly](/docs/tutorials/search.md).\n\n## Docs\n\n### Customer-initiated and merchant-initiated transactions\n\nWe added a topic that describes Customer-initiated and Merchant-initiated Transactions (CIT and MIT).\nUse this topic to understand the difference between CIT and MIT in relation to checkout, stored payment cards, recurring billing, and when CVV is required.\nFor more information, see [Customer-initiated and merchant-initiated transactions](/docs/dev-docs/customer-initiated-and-merchant-initiated-transactions.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [PayGlocal payment gateway](/gateways/payglocal).\n- Added support for the [PIX](/payment-methods/pix) payment method for the [Stripe payment gateway](/gateways/stripe).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that's not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-06-01","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jun-26","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the June edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Set the initial state for payout requests\n\nWe added the ability to set the initial state for payout requests.\nIf the initial state is set to `pending`, you can also define the length of the pending state and the time of day when the payout request transitions to the `ready` state.\nFor more information, see [Edit payout request settings](/docs/settings/organizations-and-websites.md#edit-payout-request-settings).\n\n### Filter payout requests in batches\n\nYou can now apply filters to payout requests that are in a batch.\nThis is useful when you want to view batched payouts based on specific criteria.\nFor example, you can view all payout requests that are in a specific currency, associated with a specific customer, and more.\nFor more information, see [Filter payout requests in batches](/docs/data-tables/manage-payout-requests.md#filter-payout-requests-in-a-batch).\n\n### Retain and continue trial option for subscriptions\n\nWhen modifying a subscription that is in a trial period, you can now choose to keep the current renewal time and continue the trial after the changes are applied.\nFor more information, see [Modify subscription items or settings](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#modify-subscription-items-or-settings).\n\n## Docs updates\n\n### MCP server connector\n\nWe added a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server connector to [Rebilly docs](/docs).\n\nUse the connector to link AI coding tools such as Cursor, Claude, or VS Code to Rebilly docs.\nWhen your team builds or maintains a Rebilly integration, the AI assistant can search official guides and API reference content in context.\nThis reduces manual doc lookup, helps developers use the correct endpoints and request fields, and speeds up payment, billing, and KYC integrations.\n\nTo connect your AI tool to Rebilly docs:\n\n1. Open any docs page at [rebilly.com](https://www.rebilly.com/docs).\n1. In the top right of the page, to the right of **Copy**, press **V**, then select an option.\n\n### Content security policy guide\n\nWe added guidance on how to configure Content Security Policy (CSP) when you embed Rebilly payment forms on your website.\n\nIf your website uses CSP, and you are missing Rebilly domains, it can block 3D Secure and other payment approval flows.\nCustomers may see a blank modal after they confirm payment, even though checkout appeared to work.\nThe guide lists the domains to add to your `frame-src`, `script-src`, and `connect-src` directives so embedded forms load and complete authentication correctly.\n\nThis is not required for hosted payment forms.\nFor more information, see [Content security policy](/docs/dev-docs/set-up-environment.md#configure-content-security-policy).\n\n### KYC document rejection reasons\n\nWe updated the documentation to describe the reasons why KYC document checks may be rejected.\nFor more information, see [KYC document rejection reasons](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc.md#kyc-document-rejection-reasons).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [IMerchant payment gateway](/gateways/imerchant).\n- Added support for the [ACH](/payment-methods/ach) payment method for the [Isx payment gateway](/gateways/isx).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-05-27","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-may-26","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the May edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Download a transaction in PDF format\n\nWe added the ability to download a transaction in PDF format.\n\nDownload a PDF for a single payment when you need a printable or attachable record for reconciliation, chargebacks, or customer conversations.\nFor more information, see [Download a transaction](/docs/data-tables/manage-payments.md#download-a-transaction) and the [Get a transaction](/docs/dev-docs/api/transactions/gettransaction) API operation.\n\n### Added documentation for the AML check lifecycle\n\nWe added documentation for the AML check lifecycle.\nFor more information, see [AML check lifecycle](/docs/kyc-and-aml/aml.md#aml-check-lifecycle).\n\n## Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-04-27","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-apr-26","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the April edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Apply subscription and invoice changes immediately\n\nYou can now apply subscription and invoice changes immediately using the new 'Now' effective date option.\nUse this option to apply changes to a subscription or invoice immediately, without waiting for the next billing cycle.\nFor more information, see [Modify subscription items or settings](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#modify-subscription-items-or-settings) and [Issue an interim invoice](/docs/data-tables/manage-invoices.md#issue-an-interim-invoice).\n\n### Download a credit memo in PDF format\n\nYou can now download a credit memo in PDF format.\nFor more information, see [Download a credit memo](/docs/data-tables/manage-credit-memos.md#download-a-credit-memo).\n\n### Configure transaction email alias for payment gateways\n\nWe added the ability to configure a transaction email alias for payment gateways.\n\nFor example, to help manage GDPR compliance, you can use an alias email address instead in place of the customer's real email address.\nFor more information, see [Configure transaction email alias](/docs/settings/set-up-a-gateway.md#configure-transaction-email-alias).\n\n### Inherited AML matches report\n\nWe added the ability to view reports for inherited AML matches.\n\nInherited AML matches are produced by another AML source and linked to your customers in Rebilly.\nThe reports present inherited matches in one place so reviewers can assess risk and next steps.\nFor more information, see [View inherited matches reports](/docs/reports/aml-reports.md#view-inherited-matches-reports).\n\n### Refund credit memos\n\nWe added the ability to refund credit memos to customers.\n\nAfter you refund a credit memo, you can read the customer's credit balance with the [Get customer credit balance](/catalog/all/customers/getcustomercreditbalance) API operation.\nFor more information, see [Refund a credit memo](/docs/data-tables/manage-credit-memos.md#refund-a-credit-memo) and the Refund a credit memo API operation.\n\n### Allocate customer credit memos balance to an invoice\n\nWe added the ability to allocate the remaining balance of a credit memo to an invoice.\nFor more information, see [Allocate customer credit balance to an invoice](/catalog/all/invoices/postinvoiceallocatecreditbalance) API operation.\n\n### Localized custom amount buttons in deposit strategies\n\nYou can now apply localized text for the custom amount buttons in deposit strategies.\nFor more information, see [Deposit strategies](/docs/settings/deposit-strategies.md#create-a-deposit-amount-strategy) and the customAmount.buttonText API field.\n\n### Set default payout allocation order\n\nWe added the ability to set a default configuration for payout methods and their priority for automatic payout allocations.\n\nChoose which payout methods to use by default for automatic payouts at the organization level and drag to set priority.\nDuring batch payout auto-allocation, you can also override the default configuration by adding methods to the batch or changing the order.\nFor more information, see [Set default payout allocation order](/docs/settings/organizations-and-websites.md#set-default-payout-allocation-order).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Bitcoin](/payment-methods/bitcoin), [Ethereum](/payment-methods/ethereum), [Tether](/payment-methods/tether), and [Ripple](/payment-methods/ripple) payment methods for the [Txn payment gateway](/gateways/txn).\n- Added support for the [Bank Transfer](/payment-methods/bank-transfer) and [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment methods for the [OmniMatrix payment gateway](/gateways/omnimatrix).\n- Added support for the [Mollie](/payment-methods/mollie) payment method for the [Mollie](/gateways/mollie) payment gateway.\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [PayXpert payment gateway](/gateways/payxpert).\n- Added support for the [Apple Pay](/payment-methods/apple%20pay) and [Google Pay™](/payment-methods/google%20pay) payment methods for the [Paybilt payment gateway](/gateways/paybilt).\n- Added support for the [QuickPay](/payment-methods/quickpay) and [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment methods for the [QuickPay payment gateway](/gateways/quickpay).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) and [Viva](/payment-methods/viva) payment methods for the [Viva payment gateway](/gateways/viva).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Antom payment gateway](/gateways/antom).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [AsiaPay payment gateway](/gateways/asiapay).\n- Added support for the [Cryptocurrency](/payment-methods/cryptocurrency) payment method for the [Cryptomus payment gateway](/gateways/cryptomus).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Gate2way payment gateway](/gateways/gate2way).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Monolo payment gateway](/gateways/monolo).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Stripe payment gateway](/gateways/stripe).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) and [Samsung Pay](/payment-methods/samsung%20pay) payment methods for the [Worldpay payment gateway](/gateways/worldpay).\n- Added support for the [ACH](/payment-methods/ach) and [Klarna](/payment-methods/klarna) payment methods for the [SafeCharge payment gateway](/gateways/nuvei).\n- Added support for the [Online Bank Transfer](/payment-methods/online-bank-transfer) payment method for the [Awepay payment gateway](/gateways/awepay).\n- Added support for the [ACH](/payment-methods/ach) payment method for the Old Glory bank.\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports over 200 payment gateways and more than 170 payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-03-20","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-mar-26","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the March edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Manage notification emails on the customer details page\n\nYou can now manage notification emails directly from the customer details page.\nUse this feature to configure additional email addresses for notification delivery for a customer.\nFor more information, see [Manage notification emails](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-information.md#manage-notification-emails).\n\n## Updated the docs on AML check inheritance\n\nWe updated the docs to describe how AML check inheritance works.\nFor more information, see [AML check inheritance](/docs/kyc-and-aml/aml.md#aml-check-inheritance).\n\n## Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-02-27","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-feb-26","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the February edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Convert a trial-only subscription to a subscription with trial and recurring billing\n\nYou can now convert a trial-only subscription to a subscription with trial and recurring billing.\nUse this feature when a customer decides to change from a trial-only subscription to a subscription with trial and recurring billing after their trial period.\nFor more information, see [Convert a trial-only subscription to a subscription with trial and recurring billing](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#convert-a-trial-only-subscription-to-subscription-with-trial-and-recurring-billing).\n\n### 'Is photocopy' KYC validation check for identity documents\n\nRebilly added the 'Is photocopy' KYC validation check for identity documents.\nUse this feature to check if the identity document is a photocopy.\nFor more information, see [Identity document checks](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc.md#identity-document-checks).\n\n{% admonition type=\"info\" %}\nThis feature is available for the Rebilly KYC add-on only.\nTo activate KYC, [contact Rebilly](/support/).\n{% /admonition %}\n\n## Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2026","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2026-01-27","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2026.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jan-26","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2026\n\nHello, and welcome to the January edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Maximum order amount restriction for coupons\n\nYou can now set a maximum order amount restriction for coupons.\nThis restriction prevents a coupon from being applied to an order if the order amount exceeds the maximum order amount.\nFor more information, see [Create a coupon](/docs/settings/coupons-and-discounts.md#create-a-coupon).\n\n### AML volume report\n\nWe added the AML volume report.\nYou can now view the volume of AML checks for a given period and filter results by check type and status.\nUse this report to monitor trends and identify spikes in AML activity.\nFor more information, see [AML volume](/docs/reports/aml-reports.md#view-aml-volume-reports).\n\n### Added detail on identity document check verification levels\n\nWe added details on how each verification level works for identity document checks.\nFor more information, see [Identity document checks](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc.md#identity-document-checks).\n\n## Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-12-25","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2025.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-dec-25","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the December edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Link multiple customer accounts to the same person\n\nYou can now link multiple customer accounts to the same person when the individual has more than one account.\nFor more information, see [Manage customer information](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-information.md#add-a-customer).\n\n### Webhook for payout request fulfilled\n\nA webhook for the [Payout request fulfilled](/docs/dev-docs/api/transactions/payout-request-fulfilled) event is now available.\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Powertranz payment gateway](/gateways/powertranz).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-11-28","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2025.","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-nov-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the November edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Set a minimum base amount in deposit amount strategies\n\nYou can now define a minimum base amount in deposit amount strategies.\nThis feature works in conjunction with the “Set base amount to match customer’s last deposit” option.\nWhen enabled, if a customer’s last deposit is lower than your configured minimum, the minimum base amount value is used as the base amount instead.\nFor example, if a customer’s last deposit was $100 USD and the minimum base amount is $150 USD, $150 USD is used as the base amount.\n\nFor more information, see [Create a deposit amount strategy](/docs/settings/deposit-strategies.md#create-a-deposit-amount-strategy).\n\n### Set minimum age requirements for identity proof documents\n\nWe added the ability to configure minimum age requirements for identity proof documents.\nYou can set a default minimum age that applies globally, and create location-specific overrides for countries or states that require different age requirements.\n\nFor more information, see [Configure minimum age requirements for identity proof documents](/docs/settings/kyc.md#configure-minimum-age-requirements).\n\n### Deferred revenue report\n\nWe added the deferred revenue report.\nThis report shows the deferred revenue for a given period.\nFor more information, see [Deferred revenue](/docs/data-tables/revenue-recognition.md#deferred-revenue), and the [Retrieve a deferred revenue report](/catalog/all/reports/getdeferredrevenuereport) API operation.\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Cryptocurrency](/payment-methods/cryptocurrency), [Bitcoin](/payment-methods/bitcoin), [Ethereum](/payment-methods/ethereum), [Ripple](/payment-methods/ripple), and [Tether](/payment-methods/tether) payment methods for the [Naewe payment gateway](/gateways/naewe).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Splitit payment gateway](/gateways/splitit).\n- Added support for the [Payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Paybilt payment gateway](/gateways/paybilt).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly meetup - Costa Rica 2025","date":"2025-11-07","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly goes to Costa Rica, 2025","categories":[{"id":"working-at-rebilly","label":"Working at Rebilly"}],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/costa-rica-2025","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly meetup - Costa Rica 2025\n\nHey there!\nWelcome to this special edition of the Rebilly blog.\nThis year we went on our company meetup to Costa Rica, and what an incredible experience it was! 😊 We're excited to tell you all about it.\n\nOur team is spread across more than 20 countries, so in-person gatherings are rare.\nThat’s why our annual company meetup is especially meaningful.\nIt takes careful planning and coordination to bring everyone together, but the experience is always well worth it.\n\n¡Chao, Costa Rica! ¡Nos vemos!\nPura vida.\n\n## Hike through the rainforest\n\n![Hike 1](./images/costa-rica/hike1.jpg)\n\n![Hike](./images/costa-rica/hike.jpeg)\n\n![Hike 2](./images/costa-rica/hike2.jpg)\n\n![Hike 3](./images/costa-rica/hike3.jpg)\n\n## Explore the coast by boat\n\n![Boat trip](./images/costa-rica/boat1.jpg)\n\n![Boat trip](./images/costa-rica/dive2.jpeg)\n\n## Zip-lining through the trees\n\n![Zip lining](./images/costa-rica/zip.jpg)\n\n## Horse riding through the countryside\n\n![Horse riding 2](./images/costa-rica/horse-ride-2.jpg)\n\n## Make friends ☺️\n\n![Cow](./images/costa-rica/cow.jpg)\n\n![Bird](./images/costa-rica/breakfast-bird.jpg)\n\n![Lizard](./images/costa-rica/liz2.jpg)\n\n## We are hiring!\n\nIf you'd like to join us, see the [Careers](/careers) page.\n\n### Working at Rebilly\n\nRebilly is a Teal Organization.\nIn a very tiny nutshell, this means that as an organization, we value self-management, self-organization, and the wholeness of the individuals that make up our team.\nThis means that you should be your whole-self at work, and do the work that inspires you.\nWe are also a remote company, you choose where you want to work, or live.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-10-01","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-oct-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the October edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Set a preselected deposit amount\n\nYou can now set a preselected deposit amount using deposit amount strategies.\nFor more information, see [Create a deposit amount strategy](/docs/settings/deposit-strategies.md#create-a-deposit-amount-strategy).\n\n### Hide the base deposit amount\n\nUse this feature to hide the base amount from the customer using deposit amount strategies.\nFor more information, see [Create a deposit amount strategy](/docs/settings/deposit-strategies.md#create-a-deposit-amount-strategy).\n\n### View order MRR\n\nWe added the ability to view the MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) of an order.\nFor more information, see [Order MRR](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#view-monthly-recurring-revenue-mrr-of-an-order).\n\n### Customer velocity risk factor check\n\nYou can now check the velocity of a customer.\nFor more information, see [Velocity checks](/docs/automations/risk-scoring.md#velocity-checks) and [Risk factors](/docs/automations/risk-scoring.md#risk-factors).\n\n### Trigger an invalid CVV error in sandbox environment\n\nYou can now trigger an invalid CVV error in sandbox environment when using the `TestProcessor` payment gateway by using `000` or `0000` as the CVV number.\nFor more information, see [Test transactions](/docs/tutorials/test-transactions.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Aera payment method](/payment-methods/aera) for the [Aera payment gateway](/gateways/aera).\n- Added support for the [MuchBetterVoucher payment method](/payment-methods/muchbettervoucher) for the [MuchBetterGateway payment gateway](/gateways/muchbettergateway).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-09-30","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-sep-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the September edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Journal summary reports\n\nWe added the journal summary report.\nUse this report to view revenue summary data across journal accounts over specific time periods.\nYou can filter the report by journal account, aggregation field, and currency.\nFor more information, see [Journal summary](/docs/data-tables/revenue-recognition.md#journal-summary).\n\n### Send broadcast emails immediately\n\nYou can now send broadcast emails immediately.\nFor more information, see [Send broadcast emails immediately](/docs/automations/email-notifications.md#create-broadcast-messages).\n\n### Single and multiple deposit amount buttons\n\nWe added the option to configure deposit strategies to display either a single deposit amount button or multiple deposit amount buttons to the customer.\nFor more information, see [Deposit strategies](/docs/settings/deposit-strategies.md#create-a-deposit-amount-strategy).\n\n### Hide journal accounts with zero amounts\n\nWe added the option to hide journal accounts with zero amounts from journal summary reports.\nFor more information, see [View journal summary reports](/docs/reports/billing-reports.md#view-journal-summary-reports).\n\n### View invoice related journal records\n\nYou can now view journal records that are associated with specific invoices.\nFor more information, see [View invoice related journal records](/docs/settings/journal-account.md#view-invoice-related-journal-records).\n\n### Rebilly UI improvements\n\nWe made it easier to locate email delivery settings in the Rebilly UI by adding an option to the configuration section of the settings page.\nFor more information, see [Email delivery settings](/docs/settings/email-delivery-settings.md).\n\nWe also made it easier to locate payment and payout method configuration settings and hosted payment form settings in the Rebilly UI by adding options to the payment forms section of the settings page.\nFor more information, see [Payment method configuration](/docs/settings/payment-method-configuration.md), [Payout method configuration](/docs/settings/payout-method-configuration.md), and [Hosted payment forms](/docs/settings/hosted-payment-forms.md).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-08-30","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-aug-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the August edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Deactivate and activate custom fields\n\nYou can now deactivate and activate custom fields.\nFor more information, see [Deactivate custom fields](/docs/settings/custom-fields.md#deactivate-custom-fields).\n\n### Trial usage limit reached\n\nWe added the trial usage limit reached event, webhook, and property.\n\nA trial usage limit is a defined usage cap during the trial period of a subscription.\nWhen the reported usage reaches the configured trial limit, an event called 'trial-usage-limit-reached' is triggered.\nTo notify the customer or restrict access to the service, a webhook and email notification can be configured for this event.\nWhen the trial limit is reached, additional usage cannot be reported unless the trial ends.\nFor more information, see the [Trial usage limit reached API operation](/catalog/all/orders-(legacy)/trial-usage-limit-reached).\n\n### Total recognized and estimated revenue amounts in journal entries\n\nYou can now view the total recognized revenue amount and total estimated amount of all journal records in a journal entry.\nFor more information, see [View journal entries](/docs/settings/journal-account.md#view-journal-entries).\n\n### Apple Pay on non-Safari browsers\n\nWe added support for Apple Pay on non-Safari browsers using a QR code flow.\nFor information on how this works, see [Use Apple Pay in third-party browsers on Mac, Window devices, and other devices](https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iph67e89f7c8/ios).\n\nTo set up Apple Pay as a payment method using the Rebilly UI, see [Set up a payment gateway](/docs/settings/set-up-a-gateway#accept-multiple-payment-card-brands-and-digital-wallets).\nTo set up Apple Pay for use in embedded payment forms, see [Set up Apple Pay](/docs/dev-docs/digital-wallets.md#set-up-apple-pay).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [payment card](/payment-methods/payment-card) payment method for the [Loonio payment gateway](/gateways/loonio).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-07-30","status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jul-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the July edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Use encrypted CVVs for payment instruments\n\nWe added the ability to use encrypted CVVs for payment instruments with the FramePay JavaScript library.\n\nWhen this feature is active, your customers can speed up the payment process for future transactions by choosing to securely store their payment card CVVs.\n\nFor more information, see [Encrypted CVV](/docs/dev-docs/use-framepay-encrypted-cvv.md).\n\n### Export journal entries\n\nWe added the ability to export journal entries.\nYou can now export journal entries in CSV format, which you can then use for accounting or reporting purposes.\n\nFor more information, see [Export journal entries](/docs/settings/journal-account.md#export-journal-entries).\n\n### Use Amplitude Analytics with KYC document gatherer\n\nWe added the ability to use Amplitude Analytics to track customer behavior when using the KYC document gatherer.\n\nAmplitude Analytics is a digital analytics platform that helps businesses to understand and improve user behavior within their digital products.\n\nFor more information, see [KYC document gatherer](/docs/settings/kyc.md#configure-amplitude-analytics).\n\n### Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) reports\n\nWe added the Recurring Revenue (ARR) KPI title and report.\nYou can now view ARR reports in the Rebilly UI.\nFor more information, see [Annual recurring revenue](/docs/kpis/billing-kpis.md#annual-recurring-revenue).\n\nWe also added the Retrieve an ARR report API operation.\nFor more information, see [Retrieve an ARR report](/catalog/all/reports/getannualrecurringrevenuereport).\n\n### Copy AML check details\n\nWe added the ability to copy AML check details to the clipboard.\n\nFor more information, see [Copy AML check details](/docs/data-tables/manage-aml.md#copy-aml-check-details).\n\n### Placeholders button in webhook payloads\n\nWe added a placeholders button to webhook payloads in the Rebilly UI.\nYou can now use placeholders in webhook payloads to dynamically insert data from the event.\nFor example, you can insert the customer's email address or the subscription ID.\n\nFor more information, see [Webhook payloads](/docs/automations/webhooks.md#create-a-webhook).\n\n### Share a segment\n\nWe added the ability to share a data table segment.\nYou can now share a segment with other users in your organization.\n\nFor more information, see [Share a segment](/docs/settings/segments.md#share-a-segment).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-06-30","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jun-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the June edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Details page for data exports\n\nWe added a data export details page.\nUse this page to view the details of a data export, such as the status, exported fields, date range, filters applied, and recipients.\nFor more information, see [View data export details](/docs/automations/data-exports.md#view-data-export-details).\n\n### Delete webhooks\n\nWe added the option to delete webhooks in the Rebilly UI.\nFor more information, see [Delete a webhook](/docs/automations/webhooks.md#delete-a-webhook).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [BVNK](/payment-methods/bvnk) and [MuchBetter](/payment-methods/muchbetter) payment methods for the [MuchBetterGateway](/gateways/muchbettergateway) payment gateway.\n- Added support for the [Affirm](/payment-methods/affirm), [Afterpay](/payment-methods/afterpay), [Zip](/payment-methods/zip), and [Clearpay](/payment-methods/clearpay) payment methods for the [Adyen payment gateway](/gateways/adyen).\n- Added support for the [OXXO](/payment-methods/oxxo) payment method for the [Unlimit payment gateway](/gateways/unlimit).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-05-30","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-may-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the May edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## Feature spotlight\n\n### Dynamic currency conversion\n\nDynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) provides flexible currency management for transactions.\nUse DCC to allow customers to pay in their preferred currency or automatically convert the transaction amount to a different currency.\nThis feature delivers a transparent payment experience and supports currency conversion with configurable markup rates.\n\nDCC is available for all payment gateways that support currency conversion.\nFor more information, see [Dynamic currency conversion](/docs/settings/dynamic-currency-conversion.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [iDeal](/payment-methods/ideal), [Sofort](/payment-methods/sofort), and [SEPA](/payment-methods/sepa) payment methods for the [Stripe payment gateway](/gateways/stripe).\n- Added support for the [Ripple](/payment-methods/ripple) payment method for the [Monolo payment gateway](/gateways/monolo).\n- Added support for the [Voucher](/payment-methods/voucher) payment method for the [MuchBetterGateway payment gateway](/gateways/muchbettergateway).\n- Added support for the [iCashOne Voucher](/payment-methods/icashone%20voucher) payment method and the [iCashOne](/gateways/icashone) payment gateway.\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-04-30","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-apr-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the April 2025 edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## Feature spotlight\n\nThis section highlights some useful Rebilly features.\nThis month's edition focuses on how to use to Rebilly to manage risk.\n\n### Blocklists\n\nBlocklists are lists of customer attribute values that are blocked from buying from you, which helps prevent fraud and criminal activity.\nFor example, if a customer attempts to make a purchase from you with a credit card or fingerprint that is in a blocklist, the transaction is blocked and will not be processed.\nFor more information, see [Blocklists](/docs/automations/blocklists.md).\n\n### Allowlists\n\nUse allowlists to exclude specific customer attribute data from risk score checks, manual blocklists, and automated blocklists.\nFor example, if a customer whose name is in an allowlist attempts to make a purchase from you, the transaction is always allowed and will be processed.\nFor more information, see [Allowlists](/docs/automations/allowlists.md).\n\n### Risk scoring\n\nAssign a risk score to a transaction based on [Risk factors](/docs/automations/risk-scoring.md#risk-factors).\nRisk scoring helps you identify high-risk transactions and take appropriate action.\nFor example, you can automatically block a payment card if it is used in a transaction that exceeds a certain amount, or if a transaction has a high risk score.\nFor more information, see [Risk scoring](/docs/automations/risk-scoring.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Ripple payment method](/payment-methods/ripple) for the [BVNK payment gateway](/gateways/bvnk).\n- Added support for the [MonRem payment gateway](/gateways/monrem).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-03-31","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-mar-25","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the March 2025 edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### New email content editor in email notifications\n\nWe've updated the email content editor for email notifications.\nThe new editor includes syntax highlighting for HTML, improved placeholder insertion, the ability to undo placeholder insertion using Ctrl+Z, and enhanced content indentation for better readability.\n\nFor more information, see [Event-based email notifications](/docs/automations/email-notifications.md#event-based-email-notifications).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Online Bank Transfer payment method](/payment-methods/online-bank-transfer) for the [MuchBetterGateway payment gateway](/gateways/muchbettergateway).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-02-28","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-feb-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the February 2025 edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## Feature spotlight\n\nThis section highlights some useful Rebilly features.\nThis month's edition focuses on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).\n\n### Payments KPIs\n\nPayments KPIs help you track the performance of your payments.\nUse these KPIs to monitor the health of your payments, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to improve your payment processes.\n\nTo learn more, see [Payments KPIs](/docs/kpis/payments-kpis.md).\n\n### Billing KPIs\n\nBilling KPIs help you track the performance of your billing processes.\nUse these KPIs to monitor the health of your billing, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to improve your billing processes.\n\nTo learn more, see [Billing KPIs](/docs/kpis/billing-kpis).\n\n### KYC KPIs\n\nKYC KPIs help you track the performance of your Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.\nUse these KPIs to monitor the health of your KYC processes, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to improve your KYC processes.\n\nTo learn more, see [KYC KPIs](/docs/kpis/kyc-kpis).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [SWIFT Debit payment method](/payment-methods/swift-dbt) payouts for the [Ilixium payment gateway](/gateways/ilixium).\n- Added support for the [Triple000 payment gateway](/gateways/triple000).\n- Added support for the [voucher payment method](/payment-methods/voucher) for the [CashToCode gateway](/gateways/cashtocode).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2025","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2025-01-31","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2025","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jan-25","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2025\n\nHello, and welcome to the January 2025 edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## Feature spotlight\n\nThis section highlights some useful Rebilly features.\nThis month's edition focuses on payment gateway features.\n\n### Payment gateway routing\n\nPayment gateway routing, sometimes referred to as payment orchestration, is the process of dynamically routing transactions between payment gateways, based on real-time data and selected parameters.\nFor example, you can route transactions to different payment gateways based on the country of the customer, the currency of the transaction, the payment method, and many other factors.\n\nUse this powerful feature to optimize your payment processing by routing transactions to the most cost-effective payment gateway for each transaction.\n\nTo learn more, see the [payment gateway routing documentation](/docs/settings/gateway-routing.md).\n\n### Display payment methods based on the customer's location\n\nUse the Rebilly rules engine to configure automations that dynamically display payment methods based on the customer's location.\nFor example, you can display different payment methods to customers in different countries, or only display payment methods that are available in the customer's country.\n\nThis feature to create a personalized checkout experience for your customers and increase conversion rates.\n\nTo learn more, see [Display payment methods by location](/docs/settings/display-payment-methods-by-location.md).\n\n### Volume limits\n\nVolume limits define the maximum number of transactions a payment gateway account can process daily or monthly.\nWhen a volume limit is reached, the gateway account enters scheduled downtime until the frequency period resets.\nFor example, a daily limit of 100 transactions can be set for a payment gateway.\nOnce the limit is reached, Rebilly will automatically stop routing transactions to that gateway until the limit resets.\nUse volume limits to manage costs associated with payment gateway accounts and prevent overuse.\n\nTo learn more, see the [volume limits documentation](/docs/settings/manage-payment-gateways.md#set-volume-limits).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Tabby payment method](/payment-methods/tabby) for the [Tabby payment gateway](/gateways/tabby).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-12-31","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-dec-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the December 2024 edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\nWe are excited about the opportunities that await us in 2025 and look forward to sharing more innovations and updates with you.\nWishing you a joyful and prosperous New Year! 🎉\n\n## Docs\n\n### User interface guides\n\nWe added a new section to the docs that describes how to use the Rebilly User Interface (UI).\nThese guides provide step-by-step instructions on getting started with Rebilly, including basic integration that uses the Rebilly UI only, without any code, as well as instructions on how to create automations and more.\nFor more information, see [User interface guides](/docs/tutorials/tutorials/).\n\n### Meetup blog\n\nIn 2024, Rebilly went to Montenegro for our annual company meetup.\nWe had a blast!\nCheck out the [Montenegro 2024 blog post](/blog/montenegro-2024).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Pay.com payment gateway](/gateways/paycom).\n- Added support for the [Limepay payment gateway](/gateways/limepay).\n- Added support for the [Tabby payment gateway](/gateways/tabby).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly meetup - Montenegro 2024","date":"2024-12-17","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly goes to Montenegro, 2024","categories":[{"id":"working-at-rebilly","label":"Working at Rebilly"}],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/montenegro-2024","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly meetup - Montenegro 2024\n\nHi there!\nWelcome to this special edition of the Rebilly blog post.\nThis year we went on our company meetup to Montenegro.\nIt was a blast! 😊 &mdash; and we'd like to share some of the highlights with you.\n\n<div style=\"width: 100%; min-width: 400px; max-width: 800px;\"> <div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 56.25%; margin-bottom: 20px;\"> <iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; right: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\"  src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/jFbwouTogFw?si=f4l6a-HU2hcG83K4\" title=\"Rebilly 2024 Meetup\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen ></iframe> </div> </div>\n\nAs a remote company with colleagues based in more than 20 countries around the world, we don't often have the opportunity to hang out in person.\nSo, the yearly company meetup is a really big deal for us.\nIt takes a lot of planning and coordination, but it's always worth it.\n\nHere are some shots from our trip.\n\nDoviđenja, Montenegro!\n\n## We went on a boat trip\n\n![Boat trip picture](./images/boat-trip-4.jpg)\n\n![Boat trip back-flip](./images/boat-flip.jpg)\n\n![Boat trip picture 3](./images/boat-trip-views.jpg)\n\n## Met dolphins\n\n![Dolphins](./images/dolphins.jpg)\n\n## Cooked up a storm\n\n![Cooking](./images/cooking.jpg)\n\n## Went off-road\n\n![Off-road](./images/atv-3.jpg)\n\n## Enjoyed live music\n\n![Live music](./images/live-music.jpg)\n\n## Went on a hike\n\n![Hike](./images/hike1.jpg)\n\n![Hike 1](./images/hike2.jpg)\n\n## Partied in the streets\n\n![Party](./images/street-party.jpg)\n\n## Discovered some talent on karaoke night\n\n![Karaoke](./images/karaoke.jpg)\n\n## Marveled at beautiful views\n\n![View 1](./images/views5.jpg)\n\n![View 2](./images/views7.jpg)\n\n![View 3](./images/view4.jpg)\n\n## We are hiring!\n\nIf you'd like to join us, see the [Careers](/careers) page.\n\n### Working at Rebilly\n\nRebilly is a Teal Organization.\nIn a very tiny nutshell, this means that as an organization, we value self-management, self-organization, and the wholeness of the individuals that make up our team.\nThis means that you should be your whole-self at work, and do the work that inspires you.\nWe are also a remote company, you choose where you want to work, or live.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-11-30","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-nov-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the November edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## Docs\n\n### FramePay & Samsung Pay guide\n\nWe added a new guide that describes how to use FramePay to tokenize payment card data from Samsung Pay.\nFor more information, see [Set up Samsung Pay](/docs/dev-docs/setup-samsung-pay).\n\n### New test payment cards\n\nWe added new test payment cards and listed the countries that cards are from.\nUse these payment cards to test payment from different currencies in your sandbox environment.\nFor example, you can use these cards to test your [Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) configurations](/docs/settings/dynamic-currency-conversion).\nFor more information, see [Test payment cards, IBANs, and ACH details](/docs/tutorials/test-payment-cards).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [bitcoin](/payment-methods/bitcoin), [Ethereum](/payment-methods/ethereum), [Tether](/payment-methods/tether) payment methods for the [Monolo payment gateway](/gateways/monolo).\n- Added support for the [JetonCash](/payment-methods/jetoncash) payment method for the [Jeton payment gateway](/gateways/jeton).\n- Added support for the [gate2way payment gateway](/gateways/gate2way).\n- Added support for the [Monolo payment gateway](/gateways/monolo).\n- Added support for the [OmniMatrix payment gateway](/gateways/omnimatrix).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-10-31","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-oct-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the October edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Set up payment instrument link\n\nWe added the option to create a URL where customers can set up a new payment instrument.\nUse this feature when customers need to add a new payment instrument to their account themselves.\nFor more information, see [Set up payment instruments link](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-payments-and-billing.md#set-up-a-payment-instrument).\n\n### New event and webhook\n\nWe added the 'subscription quantity filled limit reached' [event](/catalog/all/rules/geteventcollection#rules/geteventcollection/t=response&c=200&path=eventtype) and [webhook](/catalog/all/orders-(legacy)/subscription-quantity-filled-limit-reached) to the Rebilly API.\nThis event and webhook is triggered when the quantity limit for a subscription is reached.\nUse this event to notify customers when they have reached the maximum quantity for their subscription, or to trigger other actions based on the quantity limit.\n\n## Docs changes\n\n### New developer docs landing page and content organization\n\nWe added a new, improved landing page to the developer docs that groups content and makes related content easier to find.\nWe also reorganized the content in this part of the website to make related information easier to locate in the left navigation.\nTo check it out, see [Developer docs](/docs/dev-docs/).\n\nIn Rebilly, we strive to create the best possible experience for our users.\nA huge part of that experience is our documentation.\nIt's really important to us that our docs are easy to read, comprehensive, and easy to use.\nIf you find something that you think we can improve, find something difficult to understand, or just want to send some kudos, we'd love to hear from you.\n\nTo give feedback:\n\n1. Go to any docs page.\n1. Scroll to the bottom of the page, in the **Was this helpful?** section, press ![Feedback icon](/blog/images/unhappy-face.svg), ![Feedback icon](/blog/images/neutral-face.svg), or ![Feedback icon](/blog/images/happy-face.svg).\n1. In the feedback box, enter your feedback, then press **Submit**.\n\n<!-- ## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [gate2way payment gateway](/gateways/gate2way). -->\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-09-30","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-sep-24","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the September edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Continue trials after the trial period ends\n\nWe added the option to continue trials after the trial period ends, and to ignore recurring settings for the order item.\nThis feature is useful for businesses that want to allow customers to continue using a product or service after the trial period ends.\nFor more information, see the [keepTrial](/docs/dev-docs/api/orders-(legacy)/postsubscriptionitemschange#orders-(legacy)/postsubscriptionitemschange/t=request&path=keeptrial) and [ignoreRecurring](/docs/dev-docs/api/orders-(legacy)/postsubscriptionitemschange#orders-(legacy)/postsubscriptionitemschange/t=request&path=ignorerecurring) fields in the [Subscription items change](/docs/dev-docs/api/orders-(legacy)/postsubscriptionitemschange) API operation.\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-08-31","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-aug-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the August edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Set global delinquency period\n\nYou can now set a global delinquency period for all orders from organization settings.\nA delinquency period is the length of time after which the subscription is canceled if an invoice is not paid.\nDelinquency periods can be applied to a subscription, or to an invoice.\nFor more information, see [Configure organization settings](/docs/settings/organizations-and-websites.md#configure-organization-settings).\n\n### Updated UI for recurring plans\n\nWe updated the recurring plan configuration settings to make them easier to use.\nFor more information, see the [Recurring](/docs/settings/products-and-pricing#recurring) option when configuring plans, and the [Modify subscription items or settings](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#modify-subscription-items-or-settings) when editing an existing plan.\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Cryptocurrency](/payment-methods/cryptocurrency) payment method for the [BVNK payment gateway](/gateways/bvnk).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-07-31","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jul-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the July edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New docs\n\n### Welcome to Rebilly\n\nWe added a new section to the docs called [Welcome to Rebilly](/docs/tutorials/welcome.md).\nThis section introduces you to payments related terms, processes, and Rebilly features.\n\nRead these docs if you are new to payments and want to learn the main concepts, and about what Rebilly can do for you.\n\n### Display payment methods by location\n\nWe added a guide on how to configure which payment methods are displayed to the customer at payment, based on their geographic location.\nFor more information, see [Display payment methods by location](/docs/settings/display-payment-methods-by-location.md).\n\n### Filter data table content by custom fields\n\nWe added a guide on how to filter data table content based on custom fields.\nFor more information, see [Filter data table content by custom fields](/docs/settings/custom-fields.md#filter-data-table-content-by-custom-fields).\n\n### Customize invoice appearance\n\nWe added information on how to customize invoice and quote appearance, such as changing the logo, or to update the company information that is displayed.\nFor more information, see [Customize invoice appearance](/docs/data-tables/manage-invoices.md#customize-invoice-appearance).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Poli payment method](/payment-methods/poli/) for the [Worldpay payment gateway](/gateways/worldpay).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-06-1","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jun-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the June edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### Manage payment instrument options\n\nWe added the ability to manage payment instrument options using the Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library.\nFor more information, see [manage payment instrument options](/docs/dev-docs/setup-rebilly-instruments-managing.md).\n\n### New KYC document gatherer User Interface (UI)\n\nWe added a new KYC document gatherer UI to help provide a better experience for your customers.\nThe new UI uses a modern design, and is optimized for the best user experience on both mobile and desktop devices.\nTo use the new UI, specify the version in the [KYC document gatherer settings](/docs/settings/kyc.md#choose-document-gatherer-ui).\n\nFor more information, see [KYC document gatherer](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc-document-gatherer.md).\n\n### New KYC document verification level\n\nWe added a new KYC document verification level called `basic`.\nUse this option for KYC requests that do not require a high level of verification.\nFor more information, see [KYC document verification levels](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc.md#document-verification-levels) and the [matchLevel API field](/docs/dev-docs/api/kyc-documents/postkycrequest#kyc-documents/postkycrequest/t=request&path=matchlevel).\n\n### New FramePay event\n\nWe added the `billing-address-changed` event to the FramePay JavaScript library.\nThis event provides access to a customer's billing address information before an authorized transaction.\nFor more information, see [billing-address-changed](/docs/dev-docs/events.md#billing-address-changed).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-05-30","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-may-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the May edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New developer 'Get started' guides\n\nThis month we added new developer 'get started' guides to help you get up and running with Rebilly.\n\nThese end-to-end guides are specifically designed for a developer audience.\nThey provide a comprehensive overview of how to integrate Rebilly into your website or checkout flow.\nThe guides include interactive, step-by-step instructions with detailed code samples and fully functional examples.\nTo try them out, see [Get started](/docs/dev-docs#get-started).\n\nWe value your feedback and encourage you to share your experiences and suggestions to help us improve our guides and better meet your needs.\nTo provide feedback on any Rebilly documentation, use the 'Was this helpful?' option at the bottom of the page.\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [PayU payment gateway](/gateways/payu).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Apr 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-04-28","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Apr 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-apr-24","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the April edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### New risk factors\n\nWe added new risk factors that help decrease the risk score of less risky transactions.\n\nAll transactions start the risk scoring process with a score of `0`.\nThis higher the score, the riskier the transaction.\nUse the new risk factors to decrease the risk score of transactions that are less risky.\n\nFor example, you may want to decrease the risk score for customers with a high lifetime value.\nTo do this, you can set the `Customer lifetime value` risk factor to `-5` if the value is between $`5000` and $`50,000`.\nIf the customer's lifetime value is greater than $`50,000`, you can set the risk factor to `-10`.\nThis will decrease the risk score of the transaction by the corresponding amount.\n\nFor more information, see [Risk factors](/docs/automations/risk-scoring.md#risk-factors) and the [Risk score API operations](https://www.rebilly.com/docs/dev-docs/api/risk-score/).\n\n### Transaction processed event\n\nWe added the [transaction processed](/docs/automations/tag-events.md#transaction-processed) event to the tag events for automated tagging.\nThis event is triggered when a transaction is processed and is used to tag processed transactions.\nFor more information, the [eventType](/docs/dev-docs/api/tags/posttagrule#tags/posttagrule/t=request&path=eventtype) field of the [Create tags rule](/docs/dev-docs/api/tags/posttagrule) API operation.\n\n### Abandon scheduled payments action\n\nWe added the abandon scheduled payments action.\nUse this action to abandon scheduled payments for orders that exceed the configured delinquency period.\nThe delinquency period is the length of time after which a subscription is canceled if it is not paid.\n\nFor more information, see [Abandon scheduled payments](/docs/automations/action-types.md#abandon-scheduled-payments).\n\n### Update cancellation time\n\nTo provide more flexibility when managing subscriptions, you can now update the cancellation time of subscriptions.\nFor more information, see [Change subscription cancellation time](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#change-subscription-cancellation-time).\n\n### Product UI updates\n\nWe updated the look and feel of the product UI to freshen up the user experience and to help make it more user-friendly.\nAnd, we also added dark mode 😎\n\n![Dark mode animation](/blog/images/gifs/dark-mode.gif)\n\n[Check out the new UI](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/login)!\n\n### Docs theme updates\n\nWe also updated the Rebilly docs website to make it more responsive, the search a little bit faster, and the API docs much slicker.\n[Check out the new docs theme](https://www.rebilly.com/docs/)!\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [BVNK payment gateway](/gateways/bvnk).\n- Added support for the [bitcoin](/payment-methods/bitcoin), [Ethereum](/payment-methods/ethereum), and [Tether](/payment-methods/tether) payment methods for the [BVNK payment gateway](/gateways/bvnk).\n- Added support for the [Unlimit payment gateway](/gateways/unlimit).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-03-29","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-mar-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the March edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### Simplified rule engine\n\nTo make it easier to create and manage automations, we have simplified the rule engine by moving all email notification-based automations from the rules engine to the notifications section of the Rebilly UI.\nFor more information, see [Notifications](/docs/automations/email-notifications.md).\n\nWe also documented all webhook and automated tagging events.\nFor more information, see [tag events](/docs/automations/tag-events.md) and [webhook events](/docs/automations/webhook-events.md).\n\n### Autopay on quote related subscriptions\n\nWe added the ability to set whether payment attempts for quote related subscriptions occur automatically.\nFor more information, see [Autopay](/docs/data-tables/manage-quotes.md#edit-a-quote) and the `autopay` field in the [Quotes](/docs/dev-docs/api/quotes/) API operations.\n\n## Docs\n\nWe added a guide that describes how to search for specific results using Rebilly collection APIs.\nFor more information, see [Search filters](/docs/dev-docs/search-filters.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [SPEI payment method](/payment-methods/spei/) for the [Safecharge payment gateway](/gateways/nuvei).\n- Added support for the [LaCore payment gateway](/gateways/lacore).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Feb 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-02-28","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Feb 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-feb-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the February edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### Delinquency period\n\nWe added the delinquent period setting and event.\nUse this feature to specify the length of time after which a subscription is canceled if it is not paid.\nFor information on how to set the delinquency period, see [Create an order](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-payments-and-billing.md#create-an-order).\n\nFor more information, see [Delinquency periods](/docs/data-tables/manage-delinquency-periods), [Create an order](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-payments-and-billing.md#create-an-order) and the [Order delinquency reached](/docs/automations/event-types.md#order-delinquency-reached) event.\n\n### Quote for subscription reactivation\n\nYou can now create quotes for subscription reactivation.\nUse this feature to allow the customer to preview the changes before accepting them, and to collect payment before reactivating the subscription.\nYou can also change items at the time of reactivation, this previously required two steps.\nFor more information, see [UI documentation on quotes](/docs/data-tables/manage-quotes.md) and [developer documentation on quotes](/docs/dev-docs/quotes.md).\n\n### Quotes for changes to items in orders\n\nYou can now create quotes for changes to items in orders.\nUse this feature to allow the customer to preview the changes before accepting them, and to collect payment before performing the changes.\nIf the customer accepts the quotation, the changes are applied to the subscription.\nFor more information, see [UI documentation on quotes](/docs/data-tables/manage-quotes.md) and [developer documentation on quotes](/docs/dev-docs/quotes.md).\n\n### Cancel payout requests\n\nYou can now cancel payout requests.\nUse this feature to cancel a payout request that has not yet been processed.\nFor more information, see [Hosted payout form API integration](/docs/dev-docs/hosted-payout-integration.md), the [Update a payout request](/docs/dev-docs/api/transactions/patchpayoutrequest) API operation, and the [Hosted payout form API integration guide](/docs/dev-docs/hosted-payout-integration.md#cancel-a-payout-request).\n\n## Docs\n\nWe added a guide that describes how to integrate a hosted payment form using the Rebilly API.\nFor more information, see [Hosted payout form API integration](/docs/dev-docs/hosted-payout-integration.md)\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Giropay payment method](/payment-methods/giropay/) for the [Worldpay payment gateway](/gateways/worldpay/).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Jan 2024","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2024-01-28","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Jan 2024","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jan-24","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2024\n\nHello, and welcome to the January edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\nHappy New Year!🎉\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### Face liveness verification\n\n{% admonition type=\"info\" %}\nThis feature is available for the Rebilly KYC add-on only.\nTo activate KYC, [contact Rebilly](/support/).\n{% /admonition %}\n\nWe added face liveness detection for the proof of identity document type.\n\nUse face liveness detection to help ensure that the customer's face is real when taking a \"selfie\".\nThis check detects if spoofs are presented to the camera, such as printed photos, digital photos and videos, 3D masks, and spoofs that bypass the camera, such as pre-recorded or deepfake videos.\nFace liveness detection uses a strict process.\nIn some cases, such as in an environment with poor lighting, customers may find this difficult to complete.\n\nFor more information, see [KYC documents](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc.md#facial-recognition-identity-verification).\n\n### Additional fields\n\nWe added the `paymentInstrument.additionalFields` property to the Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library.\nUse this property to configure forms that contain additional fields.\nFor more information, see [Additional fields](/docs/dev-docs/customize-layout-rebilly-instruments.md#additional-fields).\n\n## Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Dec 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-12-20","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Dec 2023","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-dec-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the December edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\nFrom everyone in Rebilly, we'd like to wish you all a warm and merry holiday season.😊\n\n![Rebilly holidays graphic](/blog/images/rebilly-holidays.png)\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### Payout improvements\n\nWe've improved payout configuration and automation options.\n\nUse the [ready to payout configuration settings](/docs/settings/set-up-a-gateway.md#optionally,-configure-how-the-gateway-manages-payout-requests) to specify how gateway accounts manage payout requests based on the following options:\n\n- Covered payout: Sets a gateway to process payouts if it previously processed a payment for the same, or a greater, amount.\n- Approved payments: Sets a gateway to process a payout if it previously processed a payment for the same amount.\n  The customer must also have a previously approved transaction in the same currency, on this gateway.\n- All payments: Sets a gateway to process payouts for any amount.\n\nWe also added the [Ready to payout requested event](/docs/automations/event-types.md#ready-to-payout-requested) and the [Adjust ready to payout action](/docs/automations/action-types.md#adjust-ready-to-payout).\nUse these to automate payouts.\n\n### Payout integration docs\n\nWe created a guide that describes how to integrate and embed a payout form into your website using the Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library.\nTo check it out, see [Payout form integration](/docs/dev-docs/rebilly-instruments-payout-integration/).\n\n### More KYC liveness session API operations\n\nWe added more KYC liveness session API operations.\nTo check them out, see [Create a KYC liveness session](https://all-rebilly.redoc.ly/tag/KYC-documents/operation/StorefrontPostKycLivenessSession), [Retrieve a KYC liveness session](https://all-rebilly.redoc.ly/tag/KYC-documents/operation/StorefrontGetKycLivenessSession), and [Finish KYC liveness session](https://all-rebilly.redoc.ly/tag/KYC-documents/operation/StorefrontPostKycLivenessSessionFinish).\n\n### Declined transaction reports\n\nYou can now view and analyze declined transaction reports based on gateway response messages.\nReports can be filtered by period of time and based on specific attributes.\nFor more information, see [View declined transaction reports](/docs/reports/payment-reports.md#view-declined-transaction-reports).\n\n### FramePay express methods\n\nWe added FramePay express methods to get shipping data using Google Pay™ and Apple Pay digital wallet.\nFor more information, see [Shipping configuration in express methods](/docs/dev-docs/shipping-configuration-in-express-methods.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added support for the [Boleto payment method](/payment-methods/boleto/) for the [Adyen payment gateway](/gateways/adyen).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2023","date":"2023-11-28","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Nov 2023","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-nov-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the November edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### Minimum and maximum amounts for deposit requests\n\nWe added the ability to specify minimum and maximum amounts for deposit requests.\nFor more information, see [Create a deposit amount strategy](/docs/settings/deposit-strategies.md#create-a-deposit-amount-strategy).\n\n### Usage notifications for metered billing plans\n\nWe added the following usage limit notifications for metered billing plans:\n\n- **Hard usage limits:** Inform customers that they have reached the usage limit of their metered billing plan, and must upgrade their plan to continue using the service.\n- **Soft usage limits:** Inform customers that they are approaching the hard usage limit of their metered billing plan, so that they can upgrade their plan before the hard limit is reached.\n\nFor more information, see [Configure metered billing usage limit notifications](/docs/automations/email-notifications.md#configure-metered-billing-usage-limit-notifications).\n\n### Usage limit reached webhooks for metered billing\n\nWe added webhooks for the [Soft usage limit reached](/catalog/all/orders-(legacy)/soft-usage-limit-reached), and [Hard usage limit reached](/catalog/all/orders-(legacy)/hard-usage-limit-reached) events.\nThese webhooks trigger when the soft or hard usage limit thresholds for an item with a metered billing plan are reached.\nFor information on how to set up webhooks using the Rebilly UI, see [Webhooks](/docs/automations/webhooks.md).\n\n### Improved filters\n\nWe improved the usability of filters in the Rebilly UI by adding an **Apply filter** button to all segments when more than one filter is selected.\nFor more information, see [Apply a filter to data table content](/docs/data-tables/customize-tables.md#apply-a-filter-to-data-table-content).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [CCAvenue payment method](/payment-methods/ccavenue/) for the [CCAvenue payment gateway](/gateways/ccavenue).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2023","date":"2023-10-25","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Oct 2023","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-oct-23","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the October edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### Start and stop AML checks\n\nWe added the ability to start and stop an AML review check.\nOnce a reviewer starts a review, the match is reserved and cannot be reviewed by another reviewer.\nThe hold will be released when the review is completed or paused.\nFor more information, see [Pause or start an AML check review](/docs/data-tables/manage-aml.md#pause-or-start-an-aml-check-review).\n\n### New coupon restrictions\n\nWe added the following new coupon restrictions:\n\n- **Restrict to exclusive application:** Restricts a coupon so that it cannot be used in combination with other coupons.\n  If more than one coupon is active, a coupon with this restriction is only applied if it provides a larger discount than the other coupons combined.\n- **Restrict to customer tags:** Restricts a coupon so that it can only be redeemed by customers with specific tags.\n  Depending on the configuration of this restriction, customers must have one or all of the specified tags to redeem a coupon.\n\n## Docs\n\nWe migrated the [Rebilly website](https://www.rebilly.com) to use the Redocly product named Revel.\nRebilly is in the very fortunate position of having a close working relationship with Redocly, this granted us early access to Revel.\nWe can't give much away about it yet, but it is awesome! 🚀\n\nThe following are some changes that you will notice as a user of the Rebilly website.\n\n### Dark mode\n\nBecause reading from a screen can be hard on the eyes, especially in low-light environments &mdash; we've added dark mode 🕶️.\n\nTo turn on dark mode:\n\n1. Go to any docs page.\n1. In the top right of the page, on the left of the search box, press ![Dark mode icon](/blog/images/dark-mode.svg). \\\n   To go back to light mode, press ![Light mode icon](/blog/images/light-mode.svg).\n\n### Feedback\n\nIn Rebilly, we strive to create the best possible experience for our users.\nA huge part of that experience is our documentation.\nIt's really important to us that our docs are easy to read, comprehensive, and easy to use.\nIf you find something that you think we can improve, find something difficult to understand, or just want to send some kudos, we'd love to hear from you.\n\nTo give feedback:\n\n1. Go to any docs page.\n1. Scroll to the bottom of the page, in the **Was this helpful?** section, press ![Feedback icon](/blog/images/unhappy-face.svg), ![Feedback icon](/blog/images/neutral-face.svg), or ![Feedback icon](/blog/images/happy-face.svg).\n1. In the feedback box, enter your feedback, then press **Submit**.\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [EasyPayDirect payment gateway](/gateways/easypaydirect).\n- Added support for the [PayRedeem payment gateway](/gateways/payredeem).\n- Added support for the [ACH payment method](/payment-methods/ach) for the [Buckaroo payment gateway](/gateways/buckaroo).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2023","date":"2023-09-29","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for Sept 2023","categories":[],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-sept-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the September edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\nWe recently went on our company meetup, to Tuscany, Italy!\n[Check out the highlights in this blog](/blog/tuscanny-2023.md).\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we added the following new features.\n\n### Refined intelligent retry functionality\n\nWe refined how intelligent retry works, it's now even smarter.\n\nIntelligent retry is a feature that automatically retries failed payments at times when there is a higher chance of approval.\nThis feature uses historical BIN approval rates to determine the best time to retry the payment within a specified period of time.\nFor more information, see [Schedule invoice retry](/docs/automations/action-types.md#schedule-invoice-retry).\n\n### Allowlists\n\nWe added the ability to exclude specific customer attribute data from risk score checks.\nUse this feature to prevent specific customer data from being added to a blocklist.\nFor more information, see [Allowlists](/docs/automations/allowlists.md).\n\n### Custom fields on gateway accounts\n\nWe added option to configure custom fields on gateway accounts.\nCustom fields extend a resource schema to include custom data that is not provided as a common field.\nFor more information see, [Set up a gateway](/docs/settings/set-up-a-gateway.md).\n\n### Approval URL redirects in hosted payment forms\n\nWe added the option to specify how approval URL redirects are managed in hosted payment forms.\nFor more information, see [Edit a hosted payment form](/docs/settings/hosted-payment-forms.md#edit-a-hosted-payment-form).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [EasyPayDirect payment gateway](/gateways/easypaydirect).\n- Added support for the [PayRedeem payment gateway](/gateways/payredeem).\n- Added support for the [ACH payment method](/payment-methods/ach) for the [Buckaroo payment gateway](/gateways/buckaroo).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly meetup - Tuscany 2023","date":"2023-09-21","hideDate":true,"status":"publish","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly goes to Tuscany, 2023","categories":[{"id":"working-at-rebilly","label":"Working at Rebilly"}],"headerImage":null,"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/tuscanny-2023","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Rebilly meetup - Tuscany 2023\n\nHi there!\nWelcome to this special edition Rebilly blog post.\nWe recently went on our company meetup, to Tuscany, Italy.\nIt was awesome 😊 &mdash; and we'd like to tell you all about it.\n\n<div style=\"width: 100%; min-width: 400px; max-width: 800px;\"> <div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 56.25%;\"> <iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; right: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\"  src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ujqr1OxA4Bo?si=cBLW9WqxT0CF2Se-&amp;start=1\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen ></iframe> </div> </div>\n\nAs a remote company with colleagues based in more than 20 countries around the world, we don't often have the opportunity to hang out in person.\nSo the yearly company meetup is a really big deal for us.\nIt takes a lot of planning and coordination, but it's always worth it.\n\nThis year we spent a week in Tuscany.\nWe enjoyed lots of great activities, spectacular sightseeing, delicious food, and of course, lots of fun.\nArrivederci, Tuscany!\n\nHere are some shots from our trip.\n\n## We stayed in a 1000-year-old castle\n\n![Castle](./images/castle1.jpeg)\n\n## Took an awesome trip to Florence\n\n![Florence scene](./images/florence-scene.jpg)\n\n![Florence group](./images/florence-group.jpg)\n\n![Florence group 2](./images/florence-group-2.jpg)\n\n![Florence group 3](./images/florence-group-3.jpeg)\n\n## Enjoyed tasty food\n\n![Food](./images/food.jpg)\n\n![Food 2](./images/food-2.jpeg)\n\n### Made our own pizza\n\n![Pizza over](./images/pizza-oven.jpeg)\n\n#### Official Rebilly pizza\n\n![Rebilly pizza](./images/rebilly-pizza.jpg)\n\n### Made our own pasta!\n\n![Pasta making](./images/making-pasta.jpg)\n\n## Enjoyed beer and olive oil tasting\n\n![Beer and olive oil tasting](./images/beer-and-olive-oil.jpeg)\n\n## Marveled at beautiful Tuscan vistas\n\n![Views](./images/view.jpg)\n\n![View 2](./images/view-2.jpg)\n\n![View 3](./images/view-3.jpeg)\n\n![View 5](./images/view-5.jpeg)\n\n![View 6](./images/view-6.jpeg)\n\n## Cycled through the countryside\n\n![Group cycling](./images/cycling-group.jpeg)\n\n![Cycling](./images/cycling.jpeg)\n\n## Connected with our inner artist\n\n![Painting](./images/art.jpg)\n\n## Enjoyed movie nights\n\n![Movie night](./images/movie-nights.jpeg)\n\n## Got sporty with a game of footie\n\n![Soccer](./images/soccer.jpg)\n\n## Raved in the Rave Cave\n\n![Rave cave](./images/rave-cave.jpeg)\n\n## Had a games night\n\n![Games night](./images/games-night.jpg)\n\n## We also did the aerial shot thing\n\n![Team photo](./images/rebilly-italy-23.jpeg)\n\n## We are hiring!\n\nIf you'd like to join us, see the [Careers](/careers) page.\n\n### Working at Rebilly\n\nRebilly is a Teal Organization.\nIn a very tiny nutshell, this means that as an organization, we value self-management, self-organization, and the wholeness of the individuals that make up our team.\nThis means that you should be your whole-self at work, and do the work that inspires you.\nWe are also a remote company, you choose where you want to work, or live.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-08-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-aug-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the August edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\n### AML check tags\n\nWe added the ability to tag AML checks.\nUse tags to organize and categorize AML checks by any criteria that you choose.\nFor example, you can tag AML checks that relate to a specific customer or location, and then filter AML checks by that criteria in the data tables section of Rebilly.\nFor more information, see [Tags](/docs/settings/tags.md).\n\n### QuickBooks Online integration UI improvements\n\nWe improved the UI for the QuickBooks Online integration so that it's easier to use.\nFor more information, see [QuickBooks Online integration](https://www.rebilly.com/docs/app-store/quickbooks-online-integration/).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [PSiGate payment gateway](/gateways/psigate).\n- Added support for the [Aircash payment gateway](/gateways/aircash).\n- Added support for the [Bancontact payment method](/payment-methods/bancontact) for the [Buckaroo payment gateway](/gateways/buckaroo). <!-- - Added support for the [bank transfer payment method](/payment-methods/bank-transfer) for the [OnRamp payment gateway](/gateways/onramp).-->\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-07-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-july-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the July edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## Feature spotlight\n\n### Invoice automations\n\nIn this monthly blog, we'd like to highlight one of our popular features.\nRebilly has incredibly powerful automation capability that can be triggered from just about any system event.\n\nHere are some common invoice automations:\n\n- [Send an invoice when it is issued](/docs/tutorials/automate-emailing-invoices.md#send-an-invoice-when-it-is-issued).\n- [Send an upcoming renewal notification](/docs/tutorials/automate-emailing-invoices.md#send-an-upcoming-renewal-notification).\n- [Send a paid invoice notification](/docs/tutorials/automate-emailing-invoices.md#send-a-paid-invoice-notification).\n- [Send a declined invoice notification](/docs/tutorials/automate-emailing-invoices#send-a-declined-payment-notification).\n- [Send a past due invoice notification](/docs/tutorials/automate-emailing-invoices.md#send-a-past-due-invoice-notification).\n\nFor a complete list of automations, and how to configure them, see [Automations](/docs/automations/automation.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [Buckaroo payment gateway](/gateways/buckaroo).\n- Added support for the [UPI payment method](/payment-methods/directa24card) and the [Netbanking payment methods](/payment-methods/netbanking) for the [Directa24 payment gateway](/gateways/directa24). <!-- - Added support for the [Orbtial payment gateway](/gateways/JPMOrbital).-->\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-06-29","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jun-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the June edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Improved balance transactions and fees functionality\n\nWe improved balance transactions and fees functionality.\nYou can now: [view balance transactions](/docs/data-tables/manage-payments.md#view-balance-transactions), [configure financial settings on gateway accounts](/docs/settings/manage-payment-gateways.md#configure-financial-settings), [configure settlement settings on fees](/docs/settings/fees.md#create-a-fee), and [delete fees](/docs/settings/fees.md#manage-fees).\n\nBalance transactions and fees are used for accounting purposes.\nOnce configured, each time a transaction is processed, a corresponding balance transaction is recorded to your accounts.\nFees help you to record costs associated with transactions.\nFor more information, see [Fees](/docs/settings/fees.md) and [Balance transactions](/docs/dev-docs/balance-transactions.md).\n\n### Variable deposit amounts\n\nThe Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library now supports variable, customer defined, deposit amounts.\nFor example, an NGO could use this feature in a payment form to allow a donor to specify the amount that they wish to donate.\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [PharosPayments payment gateway](/gateways/pharospayments).\n- Added support for the [MobilePay payment gateway](/gateways/mobilepay).\n- Added support for the [Directa24 Card](/payment-methods/directa24card), [Mercado Pago](/payment-methods/mercadopago), and [Tupay](/payment-methods/tupay) payment methods for the [Directa24 payment gateway](/gateways/directa24).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-05-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-may-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the May edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### AML confidence and priority settings\n\nWe added Anti-Money Laundering (AML) confidence and priority settings.\nAML checks are automated processes that scan customer information against Rebilly [AML sources](/docs/kyc-and-aml/aml.md#aml-lists) as each new customer or lead is added, or when their information is changed.\n\nUse priority settings to specify which AML hit is important, and must be added to the AML check record.\nUse confidence settings to specify the degree of confidence to assign an AML check when a matching country, mismatching country, or no country is detected.\nFor more information, see [AML settings](/docs/settings/aml.md) and the [AML API operations](/docs/dev-docs/api/aml/).\n\n### User Interface (UI) text updates\n\nWe've finished updating the text in the Rebilly product UI!\nTo check it out, [Sign in to Rebilly](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [VegaWallet payment gateway](/gateways/vegawallet).\n- Added ACH support for the [Directa24 payment gateway](/gateways/directa24).\n- Added support for the following payment methods for the [Adyen payment gateway](/gateways/adyen):\n  - [ach](/payment-methods/ach)\n  - [Alipay](/payment-methods/alipay)\n  - [Bancontact-mobile](/payment-methods/bancontact-mobile)\n  - [Blik](/payment-methods/blik)\n  - [EPS](/payment-methods/eps)\n  - [Giropay](/payment-methods/giropay)\n  - [iDEAL](/payment-methods/ideal)\n  - [KakaoPay](/payment-methods/kakaopay)\n  - [Klarna](/payment-methods/klarna)\n  - [OXXO](/payment-methods/oxxo)\n  - [Paysafecard](/payment-methods/paysafecard)\n  - [PIX](/payment-methods/pix)\n  - [Sofort](/payment-methods/sofort)\n  - [Trustly](/payment-methods/trustly)\n  - [TWINT](/payment-methods/twint)\n  - [UPI](/payment-methods/upi)\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-04-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-apr-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the April edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Improved settings configuration flow for application developers\n\nYou can now build and customize your own installation settings configuration form.\nWhen users install your application in Rebilly, the settings configuration form is displayed, and guides them through the configuration before the installation begins.\n\n### Quotes\n\nWe added the quotes feature and resource.\nYou can now provide quotes to prospective customers.\nA quote is a pricing estimate for requested goods or services and can help facilitate negotiation before creating an order.\n\nCustomers can approve or reject a quote.\nIf approved, a new order is created automatically based on the quote.\nA quote has an expiration date.\nYou can also recall or cancel an issued quote.\nFor more information, see [Create a quote](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-payments-and-billing.md#create-a-quote), [Manage quotes](/docs/data-tables/manage-quotes.md), and the [quotes API operations](/docs/dev-docs/api/quotes/).\n\n### User Interface (UI) text updates\n\nWe are still refining the text in the Rebilly product UI.\nWe strive to create the best possible experience when using our product, and the UI text is a huge part of this.\nTo check out our progress, [Sign in to Rebilly](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [USD-coin payment method](/payment-methods/usd-coin) for the [Orbital payment gateway](/gateways/orbital). <!-- - Added support for the [Chillstock payment gateway](/gateways/chillstock).- Added support for the [Online bank transfer payment method](/payment-methods/online-bank-transfer) for the [OnRamp payment gateway](/gateways/onramp).-->\n- Added support for the [Airwallex payment gateway](/gateways/airwallex).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-03-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"redirects":{"/blog-march/":{}},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-mar-23","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the March edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Tax identification numbers\n\nRebilly now supports tax ID numbers for organizations and customers, which are included on invoices.\nWhen an invoice is created, the organization and customer tax ID numbers may be provided.\nIf set, default tax ID numbers of the organization and customer are used on the invoice, but they can be updated for each invoice.\nFor more information, see [Tax ID numbers](/docs/settings/taxes.md#tax-id-numbers).\n\n### Improved logs search\n\nWe improved the search functionality for tax and webhook API logs, and also updated the UI so that it is more intuitive.\nFor more information, see [Manage logs](/docs/data-tables/manage-logs.md), and the [Tracking](/catalog/all/tracking) API operations.\n\n### Combined service credential API operations\n\nWe implemented combined service credential API operations and replaced credential hash endpoints.\nFor more information, see [Service credentials](/catalog/all/service-credentials) API operations.\n\n### User Interface (UI) text updates\n\nWe are refining the text in the Rebilly product UI.\nWe strive to create the best possible experience when using our product, and the UI text is a huge part of this.\nTo check out our progress, [Sign in to Rebilly](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [PayRetailers payment gateway](/gateways/payretailers).\n- Added support for the [Ezeebill payment gateway](/gateways/ezeebill).\n- Added support for the [POLi](/payment-methods/poli), [Giropay](/payment-methods/giropay), [iDEAL](/payment-methods/ideal), [Sofort](/payment-methods/sofort), and [SEPA](/payment-methods/sepa) payment methods for the [Safecharge payment gateway](/gateways/nuvei).\n- Added support for the [Bitcoin](/payment-methods/bitcoin), [Tether](/payment-methods/tether), [Ethereum](/payment-methods/ethereum), and [Litecoin](/payment-methods/litecoin) payment methods for the [Orbital payment gateway](/gateways/orbital).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-02-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"redirects":{"/blog-feb/":{}},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-feb-23","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the February edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Pending order abandonment\n\nWe added the ability to abandon pending orders and void related invoices.\nUse this feature to automatically abandon pending orders if a customer does not activate the order within a specific time frame.\nFor more information, see [Abandon a pending order](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#abandon-pending-orders).\nTo set this configuration using the Rebilly API, see [Configure automatic abandonment of pending orders](/docs/dev-docs/orders.md#configure-automatic-abandonment-of-pending-orders).\n\n#### Pending order reminders\n\nTo configure notifications that remind customers to activate their order, see [Create event-based email notifications](/docs/automations/email-notifications.md#create-event-based-email-notifications) and use the [order created](/docs/automations/email-notifications-events.md#order-created) event.\n\n### Automated tagging\n\nUse automated tagging to automatically apply tags to customers or KYC documents when specific events occur.\nFor example, to automatically tag customers who have activated a new subscription, or to untag customers who stop using the new subscription.\nFor more information, see [Automated tagging](/docs/automations/automated-tagging.md).\n\n### Payout requests\n\nUse payouts to enable customers to request payouts for payout amounts that they would like to receive.\nUsers or members of your organization can manage these requests, by assigning and allocating funds to be paid out to specified payment instruments.\nFor more information, see [Manage payout requests](/docs/data-tables/manage-payout-requests.md).\n\n### Revamped risk scoring\n\nWe've added a new purpose-built UI for managing transaction risk scoring and what to do when a risky transaction is encountered.\nAll transactions start the risk scoring process with a score of `0`.\nIf a check fails, the score is increased by the corresponding weight.\nFor example, if the `Has Fake Name` risk score adjustment weight is set to `5`, and the check fails, the transaction risk score increases by `5`.\n\nUse risk scoring to automatically manage the level of risk that is associated with each transaction, and to automate specific actions based on that level of risk.\nA common use case for risk scoring is to add a customer to a blocklist and to stop the transaction.\nFor more information, see [Risk scoring](/docs/automations/risk-scoring.md).\n\n### Deposit amount strategies\n\nYou can now create deposit amount strategies to define the amounts presented to the customer when they deposit funds, based on currency, customer segmentation (tags), or prior deposit behavior.\nFor more information, see [Deposit amount strategies](/docs/settings/deposit-strategies.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\n- Added support for the [EPS payment method](/payment-methods/eps) for the [Safecharge payment gateway](/gateways/nuvei).\n- Added support for the [Orbital payment gateway](/gateways/orbital).\n- Added support for the [Paramount Commerce payment gateway](/gateways/paramountcommerce).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2023","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-01-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2023","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-jan-23","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2023\n\nHello, and welcome to the January edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\nHappy new year to you!\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new feature.\n\n### Journals\n\nWe added journals.\nUse journal accounts, entries, and records to centralize and automatically track and recognize revenue.\nJournals also simplify integrations with accounting software such as QuickBooks Online.\nFor more information, see [Journals](/docs/settings/journal-account.md) and [Journal API operations](/catalog/all/journal/).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"What is payments orchestration?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2023-01-02","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"hideDate":true,"excerpt":"Advantages of using Rebilly as a payment orchestrator","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/payment-ochestration","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# What is payments orchestration?\n\n![Conductor image](images/orchestra-2.jpg)\n\nUse Rebilly to optimize and orchestrate your payments and related processes.\nWhen a merchant integrates Rebilly, they simplify and optimize their payments, compliance, data, and processes.\n\nRebilly provides a single technical structure for processing online payments and enables merchants to centrally manage gateways, services, and vendors within a single system.\nThis enables E-commerce platforms to work with a single API key and also enables increased scalability and compliance with reduced overhead.\n\nAllow your development teams to focus on core business processes and needs.\nFree them from setting up and managing individual payment gateways, processes, and services.\nImprove the consumer experience and the ROI on each transaction.\n\n## Advantages of using Rebilly as a payment orchestrator\n\n### PCI compliance and security\n\nAll businesses that accept card payments must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) standards.\nObtaining and maintaining PCI compliance is a complex and expensive process.\nBy using Rebilly you reduce security related expenses by offloading most of your PCI-DSS compliance burden.\n\nRebilly is a level 1 PCI-DSS service provider, data security is one of our highest priorities.\nWe go beyond industry standards to meet a high level of data security at every layer, from server hardening techniques and network segmentation to extensive data integrity logging, secure coding practices, and rigorous testing.\n\nRebilly is also SOC 2 compliant.\nThis means that we ensure sensitive data is managed securely within the context of SaaS and other cloud-based services.\n\nAdditionally, to make your system more secure, Rebilly provides the ability to [tokenize and vault](#tokenization-and-vaulting) cards and process them, along with secure SDKs in iframes to reveal and capture card data in the merchant website or app.\nRebilly enables you to isolate your system from managing or processing card data.\n\n### Payment integrations\n\nRather than building infrastructure to accommodate _x_ number of Payment Service Providers (PSP), _x_ number of payment gateways, _x_ number of payment methods for each payment gateway, tokenization, protocols for each integration, and adhering to PCI-DSS &mdash; when you integrate Rebilly you get all of this out-of-the-box.\nBuilding this kind of infrastructure is complex and expensive to implement, especially as you expand to new markets.\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), we'll add it for free!\nJust [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md).\n\n### Transaction routing\n\nPayment gateway routing is the process of dynamically routing transactions between payment gateways, based on real-time data and selected parameters.\nPayment routing helps you to minimize processing fees and maximize transaction approval rates.\n\nTransaction routing examples:\n\n- Payment card type: Some payment gateways provide better rates with certain banks based on pre-pay and debit cards, for example.\n- Transaction cost: Payment cards have different fee structures or rates that are negotiated as you move up in volume.\n  You can route these payments to optimize rates and costs.\n- Route based on approval rates.\n\nTransaction routing also improves the reliability of your payment system.\nFor example, if one payment gateway fails or is down, you can configure transactions to automatically route to another preferred payment gateway.\n\n### Scalability\n\nBy using Rebilly to manage payment integrations and PCI compliance and security, you can quickly scale and expand into new markets without the overheard of complex and expensive infrastructure and compliance burden.\n\nFor example, a US based merchant is expanding into the EU market and must adhere to the PSD2 laws and other requirements for each country.\nRather than creating new payment flows, infrastructure, and policies for this market &mdash; they can use Rebilly to simplify the process, reduce costs, and save time.\n\n### Fraud protection\n\nRebilly helps protect you from fraud by providing the following fraud protection:\n\n- Transaction risk scoring: Spots potential fraud before it happens.\n- Device fingerprinting: Helps ensure that devices that are used to complete payments are associated with the customer.\n- Managing blocklists: Stops known offenders from generating more transactions.\n- Recording disputes: Manages your chargeback ratios and automate canceling subscriptions and dispute handling.\n- Automating the dispute process: Saves time and reduce human error.\n- Managing evidence: Helps you win disputes.\n\nRebilly also provides a [Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money laundering (AML)](/docs/kyc-and-aml/index.md) add-on.\n\n### Centralized data\n\nRebilly provides a single technical structure for processing online payments and enables merchants to centrally manage gateways, services, and vendors within a single system.\nRebilly also provides customer and payment data management, billing and invoice management, automation, and comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities on Performance Indicators (KPIs), revenue, logs, and more.\n\n### Reconciliation and settlement\n\nReconciliation ensures the accuracy and validity of financial information by comparing transactions and activity to supporting documentation.\nThe process may also involve resolving any discrepancies that are discovered.\n\n### Tokenization and vaulting\n\nRebilly helps to keep your payment data secure and reduces processing costs by providing tokenized payments.\n\nTokenization is the process of replacing Payment Card Numbers (PANs) with unique and non-sensitive strings of numbers.\nA payment token is a short-lived unique string of numbers that represents a PAN.\n\nReduce risk and exposure by never seeing the sensitive details.\nUse Rebilly [Instruments](https://www.rebilly.com/docs/dev-docs/rebilly-instruments) and [FramePay](https://www.rebilly.com/docs/dev-docs/framepay/) forms to capture a token on the frontend and then submit it in an API call to make a payment.\n\nRebilly also supports storing and re-using third-party tokens.\nTokenized payments can produce higher approval rates and ensure less fraud.\n\nRebilly vaults cardholder data and supports the portability standard.\nRebilly is committed to making sure clients have full access to their data when they need it.\nThe safe, secure, free-flow of data makes it a better online experience for everyone.\n\n### 3D Secure (3DS)\n\n3DS is an additional security layer for online credit and debit card transactions. 3D stands for the three domains that interact using the protocol: the merchant or acquirer domain, the issuer domain, and the interoperability domain.\n\n3DS stops fraudsters from enrolling cards they do not own by adding another layer of authentication, kind of like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for payments.\nFor example, someone steals a payment card, enrolls it, and obtains an associated token. 3DS validates the card number when it's entered into a merchant's website or app, and completes checks to ensure that the payment card owner is who they say they are.\nIf it's not possible to do this discretely, a challenge process is used to direct the cardholder to the related bank or card internet banking account to authenticate.\nThe majority of the time it is completed discretely using device fingerprinting, patterns, IP address, and so on.\nFor more information, see [3D Secure](/docs/settings/3ds.md).\n\n## Find out more\n\nTo find out more about Rebilly features, see [Solutions](https://www.rebilly.com/solutions).\nIf you have any questions, [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/)!\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-12-21","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-dec-22","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2022\n\nHello, and welcome to the December edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\nThe weather outside might be frightful, but these new features are so delightful.😊\n\n![Christmas Rebilly image](./images/rebilly-holidays.png)\n\nYes, we like holiday songs here in Rebilly, and we would also like to wish you a warm and merry holiday season.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Customer AML checks\n\n{% admonition type=\"info\" %}\nThis feature is available for the Rebilly KYC add-on only.\nTo activate KYC, [contact Rebilly](/support/).\n{% /admonition %}\n\nCustomer AML checks are now fully integrated into the data table section of the Rebilly UI.\n\nUse Anti-Money Laundering (AML) data tables to view, accept, and reject customer AML checks.\nAML checks are automated tasks that help to ensure your customers and leads are not attempting to launder money through your company.\n\nAn AML check is an automated process that scans customer information against Rebilly AML lists as each new customer or lead is added, or when their information is changed.\nWhen customer information matches data in an AML list, a hit is returned.\nCompleted AML checks contain one or multiple AML hits, where each hit is a record returned from the check.\n\nFor more information, see [Manage AML](/docs/data-tables/manage-aml.md) and [AML API operations](/docs/dev-docs/api/aml/).\n\n### Refined credit memo allocations\n\nWe refined credit memo allocations as follows:\n\n- Added the ability to apply a credit memo to invoices on `POST /credit-memos`.\n- Added the ability to edit or delete credit memo invoice allocations on `PUT|PATCH /credit-memos/:creditMemoId`.\n- Added invoice allocations to the response of all `GET /credit-memos` endpoints.\n\nFor more information, see [Credit memo allocations](/docs/dev-docs/credit-memos.md#allocations).\n\n### KYC document upload functionality\n\n{% admonition type=\"info\" %}\nThis feature is available for the Rebilly KYC add-on only.\nTo activate KYC, [contact Rebilly](/support/).\n{% /admonition %}\n\nImproved the Know Your Customer (KYC) document upload functionality in the Rebilly UI.\nUse KYC data tables to view, edit, accept, and reject your customer's KYC documents.\n\nFor more information, see [Upload KYC documents](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-compliance.md#upload-kyc-documents) and [Manage KYC](/docs/data-tables/manage-kyc.md)\n\n## New docs\n\nThis month we added the following new docs.\n\n### Product training\n\nProduct training describes how to complete the most commonly used actions in the Rebilly product.\nUse this training to become a Rebilly power user!\n\nTo check it out, see [Product training](https://www.rebilly.com/docs/tutorials/product-training/).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added support for the [KakaoPay](/payment-methods/kakaopay), [Payco](/payment-methods/payco), and [Samsung Pay](/payment-methods/samsung%20pay) payment methods for the [Skrill payment gateway](/gateways/skrill).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-11-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-nov-22","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2022\n\nHello, and welcome to the November edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\nWe hope you enjoyed your holiday period (🦃) and are getting ready for your next holiday period (🎄).\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Rebilly Instruments update quantity\n\nWe updated the Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library to include a new quantity option.\nFor more information, see [RebillyInstruments.mount()](/docs/dev-docs/reference-rebilly-instruments.md#rebillyinstrumentsmount).\n\n## New docs\n\n## Transaction reconciliation\n\nWe created a new topic on how to manage transaction reconciliation.\nTransaction reconciliation ensures the accuracy and validity of financial information by comparing transactions and activity to supporting documentation.\nThe process may also involve resolving any discrepancies that are discovered.\nA good reconciliation process ensures that unauthorized changes have not occurred on transactions during processing.\nTo check it out, see [Transaction reconciliation](/docs/dev-docs/transaction-reconciliation.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added support for the [PIX payment method](/payment-methods/pix) for the [MuchBetterGateway payment gateway](/gateways/muchbettergateway).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-10-27","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-oct-22","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2022\n\nHello, and welcome to the October edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\n\n{% admonition type=\"warning\" name=\"Warning\" %}\nReader beware!\nThese new features are frighteningly good. 🎃\n{% /admonition %}\n\n![Halloween image](/blog/images/halloween.jpg)\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Metered billing\n\nMetered billing is a pricing model where the customer is charged based on their usage of a service or product.\n\nUse metered billing when product quantity is unknown to the customer at the moment of creating a subscription.\nMetered billing is based on reported [Usage records](/catalog/all/usage), and every reported usage updates the quantity of an upcoming invoice item for a specified subscription and plan.\n\n**Example:**\nAn internet service provider charges subscription customers based on their data usage each month.\nFor each GB of usage, the customer is charged $2.00.\nEach month, the minimum amount the customer can be charged regardless of usage is $20.\nThe maximum amount the customer can be charged is $200.\nIf a customer uses 15 GB of data in a month, they are charged $30.\n\nTo create a metered billing plan, see [Create a pricing plan](/docs/settings/products-and-pricing.md#create-a-pricing-plan).\n\n### Document subtypes and KYC\n\nDocument subtype is now included in the KYC scoring algorithm.\nUse KYC to automatically verify whether customer's a proof document is one of the permitted proof document subtypes, and update their KYC score accordingly.\nTo configure KYC document threshold and weight options, see [KYC settings](/docs/settings/kyc.md).\n\nFor a complete list of available document subtypes, see [subtypes](/docs/dev-docs/api/kyc-documents/postkycrequest/#!t=request&path=documents/subtypes).\n\n### Allocate amounts from credit memos to transactions\n\nYou can now allocate specified amounts from credit memos to credit and refund transactions.\nThis allocation reduces the `unusedAmount` of a credit memo.\nThis allows merchants to have a record of what invoice line items were refunded in the event of a partially refunded invoice.\nFor more information, see [Credit memos](/docs/dev-docs/credit-memos.md).\n\n### Credit memo support for the TaxJar integration\n\nWe added credit memo support to the TaxJar integration.\nWhen TaxJar credentials are configured, credit memo transactions are now automatically added to TaxJar.\nThis allows for more complete and accurate tax reporting.\nFor more information, see [Credit memos](/docs/dev-docs/credit-memos.md) and [TaxJar integration](/docs/app-store/tax-jar-integration.md).\n\n### Merchant configuration for the PayPal integration\n\nWe added a new merchant configuration for the PayPal mount function.\nThis allows merchants who are an approved PayPal partner to use their own credentials for onboarding new PayPal merchants.\nFor more information, see [PayPal callbacks](/docs/dev-docs/framepay-global-reference.md#paypal-callbacks).\n\n## New docs\n\nWe are still refining our API docs using the [Rebilly API description writing guide](https://github.com/Rebilly/api-definitions/blob/main/WRITING-STYLE.md).\nTo check out our progress, see [Rebilly API](/docs/dev-docs/api/).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added the following integrations:\n\n- Added support for the [Instant Payments](/payment-methods/instantpayments) and [Instant Banking](/payment-methods/instant%20banking) payment methods for the [Citadel payment gateway](/gateways/citadel).\n- Added support for the [Dropayment payment gateway](/gateways/dropayment).\n- Added support for the [PagoEffectivo payment method](/payment-methods/pagoeffectivo) for the [Paysafecard payment gateway](/gateways/paysafecard).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Working at Rebilly","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-10-07","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Working at Rebilly","categories":[{"id":"working-at-rebilly","label":"Working at Rebilly"}],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/working-at-rebilly","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Working at Rebilly\n\n<style>\n\n.card {\n  box-shadow: 0 4px 8px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);\n  max-width: 300px;\n  margin: auto;\n  text-align: center;\n  font-family: arial;\n}\n\n.title {\n  color: grey;\n  font-size: 18px;\n}\n\n</style>\n\nWork is a huge part of our lives.\nOn average, based on a 40-hour week, we spend 2,080 hours working each year.\nWork impacts our lives, our sense of self, and even our health.\n\nAs a company, Rebilly understands the importance of work-life balance, and also the importance of the wholeness of our colleagues.\nThat's why we employ the following principles and ways of working:\n\n- [Teal organization](https://reinventingorganizationswiki.com/en/): We value self-management, self-organization, and the wholeness of the individuals that make up our team.\n  Being one's whole-self at work, and doing what inspires is important.\n  We are also a remote company, you choose where you want to work, or live.\n\n- [Shape Up development methodology](https://basecamp.com/shapeup): We use Shape Up to manage our product development process.\n\n- [Request For Comments (RFC)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments) process: To facilitate transparent and open feature ideation, we use a docs-first approach.\n  This means that the feature, business case, and implementation is described in one document.\n  The review and contribution process is managed using a git workflow, where the document is open for all colleagues to comment on.\n  If three or more colleagues think it's a good idea, it's a contender for the next development cycle.\n\n- [Docs-like-code](https://www.docslikecode.com/): Transparency is a big part of everything in Rebilly.\n  All internal and external Rebilly documentation is created using a git workflow.\n  This means that all changes are open for all colleagues to see and comment on.\n\n- Unlimited vacation: We want our team to be whole and happy &mdash; rest is a necessary part of life.\n\n- Yearly company meetups: Our last one was in [Portugal](https://www.rebilly.com/blog/portugal-2022).\n\n## A day in the life\n\nIn this section, three Rebilly colleagues describe what a typical day looks like for them.\n\n---\n\n<div class=\"card\">\n\n![Picture of Cesar](./images/cesar.png)\n\n  <h1>Cesar</h1>\n  <p class=\"title\">Frontend Developer</p>\n  <p>UTC-5</p>\n</div>\n\nI usually wake up very early.\nThis is not by choice, but by the sounds and songs of my son, who is in fact an early riser.\nI eat breakfast with my wife and kid and by 8:30 I drive my son to school.\nI usually decide the day prior if I'm going to work from home or not, either way I usually start working at 9:00.\n\nI check my emails, followed by all the Slack messages, and usually end up checking/reviewing the pending PRs.\nThen, I go to my trusty list which I update every morning.\nThere is nothing better than crossing an item out of that list (and yes is on a notebook).\nThis process usually takes me around 30 minutes give or take, after that, I get ready to do some work.\n\nAt 13:00, I'm ready to take my lunch.\nIf I'm working from home I will have a very nice meal with my wife, sometimes at the table, and other times watching our favorite shows on TV.\nThis is usually followed by a nice cup of coffee, then back to work at 14:00.\n\nThroughout my day I listen to some math rock, which usually helps me to get \"in the zone\".\nI usually allocate 30 minutes to work on my skillset by reading blogs, doing some code problems, or just experimenting with small ideas.\n\nI finish my day at 17:00.\nI then go home to my family and we get ready for the next day.\nOnce the house is calmer, I take some time for my interests, gaming, playing drums, modeling, etc. After that, I spend the rest of the evening with my wife.\n\nWorking in Rebilly has been a tremendous influence on me.\nI've grown in many ways, both personally and professionally.\nThere are no walls in Rebilly, I started as a web designer with little knowledge (my main area of expertise at the time was on print) and I've filled many roles throughout my years here.\nI'm really happy with the work I'm doing, and I know that if I want to try something new, I'll have all the support to do so.\n\n---\n\n<div class=\"card\">\n\n![Picture of Dasha](./images/dasha.png)\n\n  <h1>Dasha</h1>\n  <p class=\"title\">Frontend Developer</p>\n  <p>UTC+2</p>\n</div>\n\nI've recently moved to a new country and city.\nThe move has made me change my routine a bit.\nI used to get up at about 10AM each day, worked from a remote work space, employed a babysitter to look after my son during work hours, and maintained a strict keto-diet.\n\nI now wake up muuuch earlier &mdash; at 6AM.\nI've found this amazing coffee house near my new home, and their croissants are absolutely incredible.\nSo much so that my keto-diet will need to wait for a while.\nMy son will go to big school soon, so I don't need a babysitter.\nI'm already imagining seeing him off on the school bus and then running for coffee!\n\nI'm working from home again, and I'm really enjoying it.\nI usually work from 8AM till 5PM, but I can always change the plan a bit to handle some red tape, or visit an interesting place near my new home.\n\nTo help me stay focused, I use a special playlist that contains only 3 tracks.\nOf course, my usual playlists are much more varied, but these 3 tracks help me to solve difficult tasks.\n\nAfter work, my family and I usually go for a walk, explore and investigate new places, or just chill on the beach.\n\nI really enjoy working at Rebilly for the knowledge, experience, and for the team.\nBut, at this hard time of moving home, I cannot not express how much I appreciate the freedom and support of Rebilly, it's priceless.\n\n---\n\n<div class=\"card\">\n\n![Picture of Sebastian](./images/sebastian.png)\n\n  <h1>Sebastian</h1>\n  <p class=\"title\">Backend Developer</p>\n  <p>UTC+1</p>\n</div>\n\nI start my day by making the breakfast and a coffee, fresh ground Arabica latte macchiato with extra espresso shot.\nThat gets me ready for my work day.\n\nI start work by catching up with Slack messages and reviewing pull requests.\nI check my calendar and kanban board for tasks that I planned for the day, or that have not been finished.\nThen I chat with my teammates.\nWe do a quick standup on Slack and decide what tasks we are going to work on next.\nI also check if anybody needs help with their assignments, and try to help as needed.\nAfter that I work on getting my tasks done.\n\nAround 14:00, I pick up my daughter from school and we usually do grocery shopping on the way back.\nWhen we come back I make lunch, it's usually something quick.\nI prefer Italian cuisine as it's healthy, easy, and fast to make.\nI appreciate being able to eat food that is freshly prepared at home.\n\nSometimes, when I am stuck or overwhelmed, I'll go for a short motorcycle ride or take my dog for a walk.\nI find that fresh air helps me to structure my thoughts on a problem that I am solving, and often &mdash; this is when a lot of great ideas are born.\n\nI often read technical articles and discuss ideas with my colleagues.\nPeople at Rebilly are helpful, knowledgeable and creative, and I find our discussions inspirational.\nI take English lessons twice a month to improve my communication skills.\nI also try to attend local meetups and conferences to learn new things, and to exchange ideas with fellow developers.\n\nI usually finish my working day around 17:00.\nIf I take a break during the day to take care of something urgent, I'll stay longer to make sure I complete all the tasks that I planned for the day.\nThere is a lot of freedom at Rebilly, but the job has to be done in the first place.\n\nSince I joined Rebilly, I feel like I have spread my wings.\nI've learned so many new things, both technically and personally, that help me to constantly grow to be a better programmer and person.\nI never get bored.\nI always find something interesting and get support from colleagues.\nAll this from my own home office, equipped and organized in the way that makes me feel comfortable and productive.\n\n---\n\n## We are hiring!\n\nIf you'd like to join us, see the [Careers](/careers/) page.\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-09-27","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/blog-sept-22","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2022\n\nHello, and welcome to the September edition of the Rebilly news, features, and updates blog.\nIt may be a chilly autumn outside, but we still have some hot new features for you.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### KYC documents in data tables\n\nThe KYC review process and the management of documents has been added to the 'Data tables' section of the Rebilly app.\nBased on customer feedback, we overhauled the review page to improve the process of reviewing documents.\nYou can now manage your KYC documents, review process, and monitor KYC KPIs in the same app.\nFor more information, see [Manage KYC](/docs/data-tables/manage-kyc.md).\n\n### Filter KYC documents\n\nYou can now use tags to organize, filter, and categorize KYC documents based on keywords.\nFor more information, see [Tags](/docs/settings/tags.md).\n\n### Integrations have moved to the App Store\n\nTo simplify the UI, we've moved all third-party apps from the 'Integrations' section to the Rebilly App Store.\nThe 'Integrations' section is no more!\nFor more information, see [App Store](/docs/app-store/app-store.md).\n\n## Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library add-ons and bump offers\n\nThe Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library has been expanded to include add-ons and bump offers.\nFor more information, see [set up an add-on with Rebilly Instruments](/docs/dev-docs/setup-rebilly-instruments-add-on.md) and [Set up a bump offer with Rebilly Instruments](/docs/dev-docs/setup-rebilly-instruments-bump-offer.md).\n\n## New docs\n\nOver the past month, using the [Rebilly API description writing guide](https://github.com/Rebilly/api-definitions/blob/main/WRITING-STYLE.md), we've been working though our API docs to provide more detailed and meaningful descriptions.\nWe strive to create the best possible experience when using our APIs, and docs are a huge part of this.\nTo check out our progress, see [Rebilly API](/docs/dev-docs/api/).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added the following integrations:\n\n- Added support for the [MuchBetterGateway payment gateway](/gateways/muchbettergateway).\n- Added support for the [Redsys payment gateway](/gateways/redsys).\n- Added support for the [SafetyPay payment method](/payment-methods/safetypay) for the [Paysafecard payment gateway](/gateways/paysafecard).\n- Added support for the [Boleto payment method](/payment-methods/boleto) for the [BlueSnap payment gateway](/gateways/bluesnap).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\nFor more release information, see [Release notes](/docs/release-notes.md).\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-08-16","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-aug-2022","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2022\n\nHi there!\nWelcome to the Rebilly blog post for August 2022.\nSummer is coming to a close and we're getting excited for cooler temperatures on the horizon.\nWhile the temperatures might still be warm, we've got some cool new features for you this month.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Revenue journal report\n\nUse the revenue journal reports to view recognized revenue and revenue audit data.\nThe revenue journal is a detailed revenue waterfall report, which describes revenue that is recognized at a certain month, aggregated by product ID, product accounting code, or plan ID.\nIt contains information on booked revenue, recognized revenue for the aggregation field in the booked period, and the remaining revenue up to the selected month.\nTo view revenue audit data in a revenue journal report, select a month.\n\nTo create revenue reports, see [Revenue journal](/docs/reports/billing-reports.md#view-revenue-journal-reports).\n\n### Coupons\n\nThe Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library now supports the use of coupons.\nFor more information, see [Coupons](/docs/dev-docs/customize-layout-rebilly-instruments.md#coupons).\nAdditionally, you can now display coupons on hosted payment forms.\nFor more information, see [Edit a hosted payment form](/docs/settings/hosted-payment-forms.md#edit-a-hosted-payment-form).\n\n### Custom domains\n\nRebilly now supports the use of custom domains in billing portals.\nInstead of using the default Rebilly domain: `portal.secure-payments.app`, you can use your own.\nTo view UI related documentation, see [Billing portals](/docs/settings/billing-portals.md).\nTo view related API documentation, see [Billing portal operations](/catalog/all/billing-portals/putbillingportal#!path=customDomain&t=request).\n\n### Access related notifications for enhanced security\n\nYou can now send access-related email notifications to predefined email addresses when certain events occur.\nFor more information, see [Organization email notifications](/docs/automations/email-notifications.md#create-organization-email-notifications).\n\n## New docs\n\nAs always, we are working hard on our docs &mdash; this last month was no exception.\nHere are some of the larger docs that we completed in August.\n\n### End-to-end FramePay integration guide\n\nThis topic describes how to implement FramePay in a checkout page and use it to tokenize payments, and also to use a server-side controller to complete a purchase transaction.\nFor more information, see [End-to-end FramePay integration guide](/docs/dev-docs/end-to-end-framepay-example/).\n\n### API descriptions writing guide\n\nThis topic provides guidance on how to write API documentation descriptions when contributing the Rebilly APIs.\nWe are currently reworking our API descriptions based on this guide.\nFor more information, see [Writing style](https://github.com/Rebilly/api-definitions/blob/main/WRITING-STYLE.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added the following integrations:\n\n- Added support for the [VenusPoint payment method](/payment-methods/venuspoint) for the [Directa24 payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/directa24).\n- Added support for the [ePay payment gateway](/gateways/epay).\n- Added support for the [Cleo payment gateway](/gateways/cleo).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways/), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly meetup - Portugal 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-08-15","author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"hideDate":true,"excerpt":"Rebilly goes to Portugal, 2022","categories":[{"id":"working-at-rebilly","label":"Working at Rebilly"}],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/portugal-2022","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly meetup - Portugal 2022\n\nHi there!\nWelcome to this special edition Rebilly blog post.\nWe recently went on our first company meetup, in Ericeira, Portugal &mdash; and we'd like to tell you all about it.\n\n<iframe width=\"800\" height=\"500\"  src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/2jQ_lgtNO7U?controls=0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen></iframe>\n\nWith colleagues based in more than 20 countries around the world, Rebilly is a truly remote company.\nWe don't often have the opportunity to hang out in person, so this retreat was big deal for us.\n\nPlanning for this, our first retreat, began back in 2020, but... then COVID-19 struck and our plans were put on hold for the time being.\nThat time being turned out to be two years!\nThis year, restrictions eased enough to allow us to travel safely.\n\nMeeting colleagues in person after working with them remotely for a long period was an amazing experience.\nWe got on like a house on fire and made some great memories together.\n\nWe enjoyed lots of great activities, spectacular sightseeing, delicious food, and we also worked on the company vision and strategy &mdash; exciting things are coming!\n\nHere are some shots from our trip.\n\n## Yes, they got our name wrong lols\n\n![Notice board](./images/notice-board.jpg)\n\n## Evening bonfires at the outdoor bar\n\n![Bonfire](./images/bonfire.jpg)\n\n## An awesome trip to Sintra\n\n![Sintra group](./images/sintra-group.jpg)\n\n![group shot in Sintra](./images/retreat-group-shot-sintra.jpg)\n\n## Tasty food\n\n![Dinner 2](./images/dinner-2.jpg)\n\n![group dinner in town](./images/retreat-team-dinner.jpg)\n\n## Free stuff!\n\n![Backdrop](./images/back-drop.jpg)\n\n## Spectacular views\n\n![Cliffs](./images/cliffs.jpg)\n\n![Cliffs 2](./images/cliffs-2.jpg)\n\n![Street](./images/street.jpg)\n\n![group shot on the cliffs](./images/retreat-group-shot-cliffs.jpg)\n\n## Beer games\n\n![games](./images/games.jpg)\n\n## Off-road biking\n\n![bikes](./images/bikes.jpg)\n\n![bikes 2](./images/bike-2.jpg)\n\n![bikes 3](./images/bike-3.jpg)\n\n## We are hiring!\n\nIf you'd like to join us, see the [Careers](/careers/) page.\n\n### Working at Rebilly\n\nRebilly is a Teal Organization.\nIn a very tiny nutshell, this means that as an organization, we value self-management, self-organization, and the wholeness of the individuals that make up our team.\nThis means that you should be your whole-self at work, and do the work that inspires you.\nWe are also a remote company, you choose where you want to work, or live.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-07-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-july-2022","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for July 2022\n\nHi there!\nWelcome to the Rebilly blog post for July 2022.\nIt has been a hot one, here are some hot features.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### Tax locations\n\nTax locations help you to comply with tax obligations.\nThis feature enables you to utilize our Tax Jar integration to calculate and collect taxes in multiple states.\nFor example, your company may be headquartered in New York, but you have a warehouse location in Georgia and are required to collect sales tax from customers in both states.\nThis feature enables you to configure both addresses in Rebilly and collect taxes in those states.\n\nThis feature is only available to US-based organizations.\nFor more information, see [Manage tax locations](/docs/settings/organizations-and-websites.md#manage-tax-locations).\n\n### Set a default payment instrument on an order\n\nDefault payment instruments can now be configured on subscriptions and used to automatically pay subscription renewals.\nThis allows customers to have multiple payment methods on file, that can be used for auto-payment on separate orders.\nFor example, a customer may have a large annual subscription that they wish to put on their MasterCard and a smaller monthly subscription that they want to put on their Visa.\nFor more information, see [Add a default payment instrument to an order that contains subscription items](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#add-a-default-payment-instrument-to-an-order).\n\n## New docs\n\nAs always, we are working hard on our docs &mdash; this last month was no exception.\nHere are some of the larger docs that we completed in July.\n\n### Developer onboarding\n\nWe added a detailed topic that describes all components of the Rebilly product and how they relate to each other.\nOur aim with this topic is to help our developer audience to quickly understand how Rebilly works and to aid with integration.\nFor more information, see [Concepts](/docs/dev-docs/concepts.md).\n\nWe also added a section to help new developers get started with Rebilly.\nFor more information, see [Get started](/docs/dev-docs#get-started).\n\n### QuickBooks Online integration guide\n\nThis topic describes how to set up and use the QuickBooks Online integration.\nUse this integration to synchronize data from your Rebilly account to your QuickBooks Online account.\nFor more information, see [QuickBooks Online integration](/docs/app-store/quickbooks-online-integration.md).\n\n### Klarna Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) set up guide\n\nDue to popular demand, we added a setup guide for Klarna Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL).\nThis guide describes how to use FramePay to tokenize payments made using Klarna.\nFor more information, see [Set up Klarna BNPL](/docs/dev-docs/setup-klarna-method.md).\n\n### Tags\n\nThis topic describes how to use tags in Rebilly.\nUse tags to organize and categorize customers or KYC documents based on keywords.\nFor more information, see [Tags](/docs/settings/tags.md).\n\n### Basic integration\n\nThis topic describes a basic means of integrating Rebilly into your application and is aimed at a non-developer audience.\nIt describes how to add a \"Buy now\" button to your web page and how to process payments using a Rebilly hosted payment form.\nFor more information, see [Basic integration](/docs/tutorials/basic-integration.md).\n\n### Subscription statuses\n\nThis topic describes the Rebilly subscription statuses and related terms.\nFor more information, see [Subscription statuses](/docs/dev-docs/subscriptions.md#subscription-status).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added the following integrations:\n\n- Added the support for the [NOWPayments payment gateway](/gateways/nowpayments).\n- Added dispute support for the [Adyen payment gateway](/gateways/adyen).\n- Added support for the [BankSEND payment gateway](/gateways/banksend) and [BankSEND payment method](/payment-methods/banksend).\n- Added support for the [Interac Online payment method](/payment-methods/interac-online) for the [Payper payment gateway](/gateways/payper).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways/), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-06-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-june-2022","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for June 2022\n\nHi there!\nWe are kicking off the start of summer with some hot new feature releases and integrations.\n\n## New features\n\nThis month, we added the following new features.\n\n### BxGy coupon restrictions\n\nBuy X get Y promotions incentivize new customers to buy and also reward existing customers.\nThis restriction type enables you to add discounted plans to an invoice when a certain quantity of other plans are purchased.\nFor example, if a customer buys two or more books, they get one free bookmark.\nFor more information, see [Coupons & discounts](/docs/settings/coupons-and-discounts.md) and the `restrictions` field of the [Create a coupon](/docs/dev-docs/api/coupons/postcoupon/#!t=request&path=restrictions) API operation.\n\n### Export organization data\n\nUse this feature to export your current organization's data in ZIP format.\nFor more information, see [Export organization data](/docs/settings/organizations-and-websites.md) and the [Organization data exports operations](/catalog/all/organization-data-exports).\n\n### Block gateway account on chargeback limit app\n\nThe Block gateway account on chargeback limit app temporarily deactivates a payment gateway account when the chargeback limit is reached.\nThis app subscribes to `transaction-processed` webhooks and calculates the total number of chargebacks and the total chargeback amount for each gateway account.\nIf the daily charge limit is reached, this app deactivates the payment gateway account until the end of the day.\nIf the monthly charge limit is reached, this app will deactivate the payment gateway account until the end of the month.\n\n### Credit memos\n\nA credit memo is a record which describes a certain amount that is owed to a customer, it is also a means of providing a customer with store credit.\nA common use case for using a credit memo is to provide a customer with store credit, rather than a refund, if the customer pays more than they owe or returns a product.\n\nA credit memo is similar to an invoice.\nIt includes items, taxes, and shipping, but its total is subtracted from the invoice amount.\nUnused credit memo amounts are automatically allocated to renewal invoices that have the autopay feature enabled.\n\nFor more information, see [Create a credit memo](/docs/data-tables/manage-credit-memos.md#create-a-credit-memo) and the [Credit memo resource documentation](/docs/dev-docs/credit-memos.md).\n\n## API additions\n\nThis month, we added the following additions to the Rebilly API:\n\n- Added the `upsertCustomer` API property.\n  Use this property to upsert a customer when creating a transaction.\n  For more information, see [the API reference documentation](/docs/dev-docs/api/transactions/posttransaction/#!t=request&path=upsertCustomer).\n- Added PaymentCard and BankAccount as additional `paymentInstruction` options.\n  Use these options to create a `paymentInstrument` when creating a transaction.\n  For more information, see the [API reference documentation](/docs/dev-docs/api/transactions/posttransaction/#!t=request&path=paymentInstruction).\n- Added an option to provide transaction amount `limit`.\n  For more information, see the [API reference documentation](/docs/dev-docs/api/transactions/posttransaction/#!t=request&path=limits).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added the following integrations:\n\n- Added support for the [Payper payment gateway](/gateways/payper).\n- Added 3DS support for the [BlueSnap payment gateway](/gateways/bluesnap).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways/), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-05-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-may-2022","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for May 2022\n\nHi there!\nWelcome to the Rebilly blog post for the month of May, 2022.\nThis blog describes Rebilly news and features from the past month.\n\n## Docs website changes\n\nYou may have noticed that the navigation bar looks different in the [Rebilly docs website](/docs/).\nWe've updated it, and our documentation to match the product user interface.\n\nOur aim is to make it easier to locate documentation and to create an association with the UI.\nFor example, to find out what customer interactions are available and how to perform them, do as you would in the UI &mdash; go to {% ui-icon type=\"data-tables\" displayText=\"true\" /%}.\n\nDeveloper docs now has its own top level section in the navigation bar.\nAnd, we also added a tutorials section.\nTutorials are a great way for new and old users to learn about all the features Rebilly has to offer.\n\nWe have been doing a ton of work on our docs over the past year.\nWe'll continue to improve readability and fill in the gaps on areas where documentation is needed.\nIn case you're not aware, we use a docs-as-code way of working and the awesome [Redocly](https://redocly.com/) documentation tool for all our documentation.\n\n## Revenue recognition reports\n\nTo help simplify your accounting and to generate financial reports, we've added new revenue recognition reports to KPIs.\n\nUse revenue recognition reports to manage the revenue status of your company and to understand how your business is evolving.\nRebilly financial reporting now includes revenue waterfall and Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) reports.\n\nFor more information on revenue recognition, see [Revenue recognition](/docs/data-tables/revenue-recognition.md).\n\n### Revenue waterfall\n\nThe revenue waterfall report describes revenue that is recognized up to a given month.\nIt contains information on booked revenue, recognized revenue for the months in the issued period, and the remaining revenue up to the selected month.\nTo create a revenue waterfall report, see [Revenue waterfall](/docs/reports/billing-reports.md#view-revenue-waterfall-reports).\n\n{% img src=\"./images/revenue-waterfall-report.jpg\" alt=\"Revenue waterfall report\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n### Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)\n\nThe MRR report displays information on the predictable recurring revenue for your business over a period of months.\nTo create a MRR report, see [MRR](/docs/kpis/billing-kpis.md#monthly-recurring-revenue).\n\n{% img src=\"./images/mrr-report.jpg\" alt=\"MRR report image\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added the following integrations:\n\n- Added support for the [Conekta OXXO](/payment-methods/conekta-oxxo) for the [Safecharge payment gateway](/gateways/nuvei).\n- Added support for the [Cashterminal payment gateway](/gateways/cashterminal) and the [Cash terminal payment method](/payment-methods/cashterminal).\n- Added support for the [P24 payment method](/payment-methods/p24) for the [Skrill payment gateway](/gateways/skrill).\n- Added support for the [Klarna payment gateway](/gateways/klarna).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways/), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-04-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-april-2022","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for April 2022\n\nThe days are getting longer, the sun is higher in the sky, and the Rebilly monthly blog post for the month of April has arrived.\n\n## KYC Updates\n\n- If you're using the KYC add-on, you'll notice that the acceptance rate for new KYC documents has improved dramatically (>20%).\n\n- We also made updates to our KYC docs.\n  Check out the [KYC KPIs](/docs/kpis/kyc-kpis.md) and [KYC and AML](/docs/kyc-and-aml/index.md).\n\n## New payment gateway integrations\n\nThis month, we added the following integrations:\n\n- Added support for the [Coinbase payment gateway](/gateways/coinbase/).\n- Added support for the [Pagadito payment gateway](/gateways/pagadito/) and [Pagadito payment method](/payment-methods/pagadito/).\n- Added payment card support for the [HiPay payment gateway](/gateways/hipay/).\n\n### Integration requests\n\nRebilly supports {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways and {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"methods\" /%} payment methods including ACH, PayPal, and Bitcoin.\nIf you would like to add a payment integration that’s not in [our list](/gateways/), complete the [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) process.\n\nIf you have any questions, please [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/support/).\nWe are happy to help!\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Payments news, updated features, and improvements-March 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-03-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for March 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-march-2022","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for March 2022\n\nTeam Rebilly is _March_-ing forward as we continue to _spring clean-out_ bugs, make room for exciting new developments, and improve upon our current features!\nRead on to find out about the latest March happenings.\n\n## New integrations\n\nWe continue to increase the number of payment methods and gateways we support.\nThis month we've added:\n\n- Support for the [PIX payment method](https://www.rebilly.com/payment-methods/pix) for the [Pagsmile payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/pagsmile).\n- Support for the [Bizum payment method](https://www.rebilly.com/payment-methods/bizum) for the [Redsys payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/redsys).\n- Added Apple Pay and Google Pay support for the [Adyen payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/adyen).\n- Added Apple Pay and Google Pay support for the [Stripe payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/stripe).\n- Support for the [PIX payment method](https://www.rebilly.com/payment-methods/pix) for the [Skrill payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/skrill).\n- Added support for the [FasterPay payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/fasterpay) and [payment method](https://www.rebilly.com/payment-methods/fasterpay).\n\n## New features and additions\n\nEvery month we aim to add capabilities to the Rebilly suite to make merchants and end-users' lives easier.\n\n- This month we added the option to edit the cancellation reason and description of a canceled subscription in the [Rebilly UI](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#change-cancellation-reason) and [Rebilly API](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#change-cancellation-reason).\n  This feature allows customer service agents to update the cancellation information in Rebilly, resulting in more accurate reporting for cancellations.\n  This data is powerful for optimizing marketing and product strategies.\n\n**Need a gateway integration** that’s not on [our list](/gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request.\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"New features and improvements-February 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-03-02","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for February 2022","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-february-2022","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for February 2022\n\nAs we inch closer to spring the Rebilly team is blooming with updates for February.\nHighlights include new integration support, additional KYC functionality, and updated billing and payment options!\nSee more of what has changed below:\n\n## New integrations\n\n- We added support for the [MercadoPago payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/mercadopago).\n- Added Apple Pay, Google Pay and iDEAL support for the [Worldpay payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/worldpay).\n\n## New features and additions\n\n- We made major updates to our Rebilly Instruments library:\n  - Added the [JWT property](/docs/dev-docs/example-rebilly-instruments-purchase-data.md#jwt-property) for the Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library.\n  - The Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library now displays the customer's existing payment instruments, when provided a JWT.\n  - Added [PayPal support](/docs/dev-docs/setup-rebilly-instruments-paypal.md).\n  - Added [ACH support](/docs/dev-docs/setup-rebilly-instruments-ach.md).\n  - Added the Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library to Rebilly hosted payment forms.\n- We upgraded our billing and payment support:\n  - Added the option to style Rebilly hosted payment forms.\n    For more information, see [Style a hosted payment form](/docs/settings/hosted-payment-forms.md#style-a-hosted-payment-form).\n  - Added FramePay support for automatic configuration for [payment cards](/docs/dev-docs/setup-payment-card-method.md), [Google Pay™](/docs/dev-docs), [Apple Pay](/docs/dev-docs/setup-apple-pay.md), [Plaid](/docs/dev-docs/setup-plaid-method.md).\n  - Added the option to pause and resume subscriptions.\n    For more information, see [Pause orders](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#pause-orders).\n  - Added the backup payment option.\n    If a payment instrument fails on a renewal invoice payment, the backup payment instrument is used.\n    For more information, see [Set up a backup payment instrument](/docs/data-tables/manage-customer-payments-and-billing.md#manage-a-customers-payment-instruments).\n- We upgraded the capabilities of our Rebilly risk product:\n  - Added the `faceProofRequired` parameter to the `PostKycRequest` endpoint.\n    Merchants can now verify a customer identity document against a photo (selfie) of a customer.\n    To learn more, see [Facial recognition identity verification](/docs/kyc-and-aml/kyc.md#facial-recognition-identity-verification).\n\n**Need a gateway integration** that’s not on [our list](../../gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request.\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"New features and improvements-January 2022","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-02-01","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for January 2022","categories":[],"id":146,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-2022-01","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for January 2022\n\nWe're already a month into 2022 and Team Rebilly has several new updates, including new integration support and updated payment methods!\nTake a peek at what has changed:\n\n## New integrations\n\n- We added support for ACH payments via the [BlueSnap payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/bluesnap).\n- We added support for the [MaxiCash payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/maxicash).\n- We added support for the [WesternUnion payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/westernunion).\n- We added [POLi](https://www.rebilly.com/payment-methods/poli) and [Rapyd](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/rapyd) checkout support for the [Skrill payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/skrill).\n\n## New features and additions\n\n- We added support for [Apple Pay](https://www.rebilly.com/payment-methods/apple%20pay).\n  For more information on how to set up, see [Set Up Apple Pay](/docs/dev-docs/setup-apple-pay.md)\n- We added \"Shipping rates\" as a replacement for \"Shipping zones\".\n  For more information, see [Shipping](/docs/settings/shipping.md).\n- We added the option to add detailed fee information to transactions.\n  [Use fees to reconcile transactions with applicable fees and discount rates](/docs/settings/fees.md).\n- We have made The Rebilly Instruments library accessible on a Content Delivery Network (CDN).\n  For more information, see [Integrate embedded payment forms](/docs/dev-docs/get-started-integrate-payments.md).\n- We added a new property to the Rebilly Instruments JavaScript library, which returns the version of the library.\n  For more information, see [RebillyInstruments.version](/docs/dev-docs/reference-rebilly-instruments.md#rebillyinstrumentsversion).\n\n**Need a gateway integration** that’s not on [our list](../../gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request.\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"New features and improvements-December 2021","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2022-01-04","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for December 2021","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-december-2021","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for December 2021\n\nGoodbye 2021, Hello 2022!\n\nAs we venture into a new year, Team Rebilly has been working hard on wrapping up loose ends and kickstarting exciting new ideas.\nBefore we completely leave 2021 in the dust, let's take a look at our new features and improvements from December:\n\n## New integrations\n\n- We added support for Apple Pay and Google Pay support via the [Checkout.com payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/checkoutcom).\n- We added the [Paysafecard payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/gpaysafe).\n- We added support for Apple Pay and Google Pay via [BlueSnap payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/bluesnap).\n- We expanded our support for the [Awepay payment gateway](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/awepay).\n\n## New features and additions\n\n- We added detailed tax information to invoice items.\n  Tax rate and amount is now displayed for each invoice item.\n- We added [Rebilly Instruments mount parameters for purchase data](/docs/dev-docs/example-rebilly-instruments-purchase-data.md).\n  Note: this product is still in Beta.\n- We expanded the Rebilly Instruments JS library options `theme` object.\n  You can now configure the look and feel of UI elements, beyond color and font.\n  For more information, see [RebillyInstruments.mount()](/docs/dev-docs/reference-rebilly-instruments.md#rebillyinstrumentsmount).\n- We added the `Decline Transaction` action to the rules engine for the `Transaction Process Requested` event.\n- We added additional support for PayPal Express Checkout integrations.\n  New PayPal payments gateways will support express checkout and can be hosted with FramePay.\n  For more information, see [Set up PayPal](/docs/dev-docs/setup-paypal-method.md).\n- We launched the Rebilly App Store.\n  The App Store enables merchants to create their own apps, and use them to access and update user data.\n\n**Need a gateway integration** that’s not on [our list](../../gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request.\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"New features and improvements-November 2021","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2021-11-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for November 2021","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-november-2021","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for November 2021\n\nAs November draws to a close, Team Rebilly is focused on the year ahead while giving thanks to our wonderful customers and collaborators for a great 2021 so far.\nBefore we dive deeper into the holiday season, let's reflect on what we've added and improved this last month:\n\n## New features and additions\n\n- The _Restrict to countries_ coupon restriction type has been added.\n  For more information, see [Coupons and discounts](/docs/settings/coupons-and-discounts.md).\n- We deprecated the `organization-id` header in favor of the `organizationId` parameter within the API URL.\n  If both are present, the URL parameter takes precedence.\n- We added the option to [set a custom domain](/docs/settings/organizations-and-websites.md#configure-a-custom-domain) for Rebilly billing portals.\n- The documentation side navigation has been reworked.\n  The [Developer docs section](/docs/dev-docs/) is now located within the Concepts & features section.\n- The `setup` transaction type was added to Rebilly Instruments.\n  It is now possible to [make a payment instrument available for future use](/docs/dev-docs/payment-instrument-setup-rebilly-instruments.md).\n- The [`RebillyInstruments.setup()` method](/docs/dev-docs/reference-rebilly-instruments.md#rebillyinstrumentssetup) was added to Rebilly Instruments.\n- The [RebillyInstruments.on('setup-completed')](/docs/dev-docs/reference-rebilly-instruments.md#rebillyinstrumentsonsetup-completed) listener was added to Rebilly Instruments.\n\n## New integrations\n\n- We expanded our integration with [Directa24](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/directa24) to add support for additional bank-transfer and voucher methods.\n- We added support for EPS via [WorldPay](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/worldpay).\n\n**Need a gateway integration** that’s not on [our list](../../gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request.\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"New features and improvements-October 2021","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2021-10-29","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for October 2021","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-october-2021","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for October 2021\n\nTeam Rebilly has been hard at work this month delivering all sorts of tricks and treats you can use to improve your customer experience!\nSo grab your pumpkin spice latte and get cozy while we fill you in on our spine-chillingly cool October updates and improvements.\n\n## New integrations\n\n- We expanded our [TaxJar integration](/docs/settings/taxes.md#taxjar) to allow merchants to connect their TaxJar account and take advantage of their AutoFile feature.\n\n- We expanded our offerings with [BlueSnap](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/bluesnap) by integrating chargeback reporting and an account updater feature.\n\n- We integrated with [Post Finance](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/postfinance) which offers comprehensive payment transactions for banks and financial service providers based in Switzerland or Liechtenstein.\n\n- We integrated with [Dimoco Direct](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/dimoco) which guarantees users a secure purchase via any mobile device in 37 countries.\n\n- We added support for iDeal, Sofort, EPS, and Giropay via [checkout.com](https://docs.checkout.com/).\n\n- We added support for payment cards via [SafeCharge](https://www.safecharge.com/docs/API/main/).\n\n_Need a gateway integration that’s not on [our list](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request._\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"New features and improvements-September 2021","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2021-10-01","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for September 2021","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-september-2021","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for September 2021\n\nIt's officially autumn, which means it's time for another update of new features and improvements!\nIn September, we added two new exciting integrations:\n\n## New integrations\n\n- We expanded our integration with [BlueSnap](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/bluesnap) to include support for their [Kount](https://kount.com/) fraud prevention solution.\n\n- We also integrated with [STPMexico](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/stpmexico), allowing for real-time operations to be carried out on a continuous schedule with the technological security and financial guarantees that Banco de Mexico requires from SPEI (Interbank Electronic Payment System) participants.\n  Our developers have been hard at work on several new features in September so stay tuned for more exciting updates in October!\n\n_Need a gateway integration that’s not on [our list](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request._\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"New features and improvements-August 2021","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2021-08-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly's new features, updates, and improvements for August 2021","categories":[],"id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":null,"slug":"/blog/new-features-and-improvements-august-2021","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly news, features, and updates for August 2021\n\nTeam Rebilly is constantly working hard to improve your user experience.\nIn the last month, we’ve added several new integrations and updated a few features.\nHere’s a further look at what has changed:\n\n## New integrations\n\n- We integrated with [PPRO](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/ppro) which can support merchants doing business in Czechia, Poland, and Germany, and adds three alternative payment methods: Blik, PayU, and Giropay.\n\n- We expanded our current integration with [CCAvenue](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/ccavenue) to add support for recurring payments.\n\n_Need a gateway integration that’s not on [our list](https://www.rebilly.com/gateways/)?\nFollow our [new integration request guide](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) and submit your request._\n\n## New features\n\nThis month we've added additional flexibility to our invoice functionality to better accommodate more real world scenarios, such as: upgrades, downgrades, pricing changes, and customized orders.\n\n[Edit an invoice](/docs/data-tables/manage-invoices.md#edit-an-invoice).\n\nManually add, update, or delete an item from an unpaid invoice.\n\n{% img src=\"./images/update-invoice-item.jpg\" alt=\"image of update invoice item\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n[Modify subscription items or settings](/docs/data-tables/manage-subscriptions.md#modify-subscription-items-or-settings)\n\nYou can now change the items on a subscription for any unpaid or upcoming invoice, including:\n\n1. Adding or removing items\n\n2. Changing the quantity of existing invoice items\n\n3. Editing the pricing plan for new or existing items\n\n{% img src=\"./images/change-items-edit-items-button.jpg\" alt=\"image of edit items button\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n_Have any questions on these or future updates?\n[Shoot us a message](https://www.rebilly.com/support/) and we’ll be happy to help!_\n\n---\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?\n[Sign up for a free trial](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) to see what you're missing.**\n"},{"title":"Alternative to Spreedly: What are the differences and which one is right for your business?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2020-12-08","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"Looking for alternatives to Spreedly? Stay informed and get the ultimate payment orchestration platform for your business.","categories":[],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/rebillyvspreedly.jpg","leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/spreedly-alternatives","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Alternative to Spreedly: What are the differences and which one is right for your business?\n\n[Spreedly](https://www.spreedly.com/) is a payment infrastructure that allows its customers to work with multiple payment gateways simultaneously.\nIf you have recurring billing needs Spreedly offers an integration with [Chargebee](https://www.chargebee.com/) but they do not provide that service themselves.\n\n[Rebilly](https://www.rebilly.com/) is an all-in-one solution for all your payment needs. **Rebilly’s ultimate payment orchestration platform helps you expand, secure, and globalize your payments by offering a comprehensive and truly agnostic payment orchestration platform.**\n\nBoth Rebilly and Spreedly offer over 120+ payment integrations as well as a payment collection feature that allows you to build your checkout flow.\nRebilly offers more payment methods and a fully-developed user interface for building the routing logic.\n\nIn addition, Rebilly offers gateway account routing logic, billing and invoicing, risk scoring, and several other features that Spreedly does not.\n\n_Here’s how they stack up:_\n\n{% table %}\n\n- **Features**\n- **Spreedly**\n- **Rebilly**\n\n---\n\n- Payment integrations\n- 120+\n- 120+\n\n---\n\n- Gateway account routing logic\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Intelligent payment routing\n- In beta\\*\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Payment methods\n- 16\n- 50+\n\n---\n\n- Payment collection\n- iFrame\n- FramePay\n\n---\n\n- Network tokenization\n- Yes\n- Coming soon\n\n---\n\n- Billing and invoice\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Risk scoring\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- `Blocklisting`\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Dynamic currency conversion\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Automatic chargeback tracking\n- No\n- Yes\\*\\*\n\n---\n\n- Lead source tracking\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Customer management system\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Reporting and analytics\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- `Webhooks`\n- No\n- Yes\n\n---\n\n- Travel connectors\n- Yes\n- No\n\n{% /table %}\n\n\\*_only supported for some transactions & only 3 levels available_\n\n_\\*\\*When available through the gateway_\n\n## How much does it cost?\n\nRight out of the gate, [Rebilly’s introductory pricing plans](https://www.rebilly.com/pricing/) kick off at $15/month, while [Spreedly’s starting plans](https://www.spreedly.com/pricing) begin at $200/month.\n\nRebilly is priced to fit your needs.\nIf you are a new and growing business, check out our [pricing page](https://www.rebilly.com/pricing/) to calculate your price and ROI now.\nIf you are an enterprise with large volumes, [contact us](https://www.rebilly.com/contact).\n\n---\n\n## Want to learn more about making the most of customer data?\n\nIn our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:\n"},{"title":"Accounting for Subscription Businesses: What You Need to Know","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-09-25","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"kristen-hicks","email":"kristen@austin-copywriter.com","name":"Kristen Hicks","summary":"[Kristen Hicks](https://austin-copywriter.com/) is an Austin-based freelance content marketing writer and lifelong learner with an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. She uses that curiosity, combined with her experience as a freelance business owner, to write about subjects valuable to entrepreneurs for Rebilly."},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/accounting_subscription.png","id":1899,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/accounting-101-for-subscription-businesses","timeToRead":"9 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Accounting for Subscription Businesses: What You Need to Know\n\nWhatever your reasons for starting a subscription business, a deep love of business accounting probably wasn’t high on the list.\nAnd yet, it’s a necessary part of running your business successfully.\nIn order to create a profitable business, and stay on the right side of the law, you need to cover all the accounting basics.\n\n## 7 steps to take for subscription business accounting\n\nIn the early stages of building your subscription business, there are seven important parts of getting your accounting set up.\n\n### Find a good accountant\n\nThe advice on this list is a good primer, but a lot of what you need to know will be specific to your business and location.\nBoth to get guidance particular to your needs as a business and for help when it comes time to file your taxes, you need to hire a skilled professional.\nThe best way to find a reputable accountant is to ask for referrals.\nThe recommendation of a friend or colleague who has direct experience with an accountant is the surest way to know they’re trustworthy and knowledgeable.\nIf you aren’t able to find someone based on asking around, research the accounting firms in your area.\nSee what you can learn about their specialties and experience on their website, and look for reviews from customers to get a feel for their reputation.\n\nIn your research, it’s important to understand the two main categories accountants fall into:\n\n- **Certified public accountants (CPA):** CPAs will cost more than unlicensed bookkeepers because they face a higher level of accountability.\n  CPA firms are liable to oversight from a state organization, which reduces your level of risk in hiring them.\n  If they make an error in the work they do for you, you have recourse.\n- **Unlicensed bookkeepers:** You can save money going with a bookkeeper, but you don’t have the same level of protection with them.\n  That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be good at their job, just that there’s not a neutral third-party to hold them accountable if they make an error, which could leave you stuck with bigger consequences.\n\n### Determine what type of entity your business will be\n\nThe IRS recognizes five different types of business structures.\nThe one you choose will influence what government compliance looks like for your business.\nDetermining which one makes the most sense for you depends on the particulars of your business, and is precisely the kind of question a good accountant will help you answer.\nYour options are:\n\n- **Sole proprietorship:** Under a sole proprietorship, the government treats you and your business as the same entity.\n  You report your business profits and expenses on your personal tax return.\n  Sole proprietorships are generally for one-person businesses, or occasionally businesses run by a married couple.\n- **Partnership:** This is similar to sole proprietorships in that you still report your business earnings and expenses on personal tax returns, but your share of both profits and liability in the company is split between two or more partners.\n- **C corporation:** Under this structure, your business becomes an independent entity from the owners for tax purposes.\n  The business is taxed based on shareholder dividends and corporate profits.\n  Personal assets and business debts are treated separately, and the business can have an unlimited number of shareholders.\n- **S corporation:** Owners of an s corp are treated as a separate entity from the business legally, but report their share of profits and expenses on personal tax returns.\n  With s corps, there’s a limit on the number of shareholders you can have.\n- **Limited liability Company (LLC):** An LLC is treated as a separate legal entity from its owner (or owners).\n  LLC owners can choose whether their business is taxed like a sole proprietorship or a corporation.\n\n### Set up a business bank account\n\nSetting up a business bank account helps you keep your personal and business expenses separate, which in turn makes it easier to keep track of your business costs and earnings.\nYou can set up a business bank account at most banks and credit unions.\nShop around to find out which banks in your area offer the best benefits and lowest fees for business accounts.\nOr if you want convenience, you can open a business account at the same institution where you do your personal banking.\n\n### Create a system for tracking income and expenses\n\nThis is one of the most important parts of business accounting.\nIt’s how you’ll keep track of how profitable your business is, and get the numbers you need for reporting your business earnings and expenses to the IRS.\nFigure out what system works best for you here.\nHow you do it is less important than making sure it’s something you stay on top of.\nYou can use spreadsheets if you’re old school and find that preferable, or you can invest in a good accounting software if you want an easier option.\nIn choosing an accounting software to use, some important considerations to make are:\n\n- **Your accountant’s recommendation:** If they have a strong preference for working within one, sticking with their preferred product will ensure your files and system are compatible with the way they work, making both your lives easier.\n- **Price:** You can find [free accounting software options](https://www.techradar.com/news/best-free-accounting-software) that may work while your business is still small.\n  For those with more complex needs, paid accounting products generally bill using a subscription model and have [pricing that starts](https://www.softwareadvice.com/accounting/#buyers-guide) at around $9 a month.\n- **Functionality:** You’ll need your software to provide different features based on your business needs.\n  If you have employees you’ll need payroll functionality.\n  And consider if you’ll need the ability to send customers invoices, or if billing will be automatic.\n- **Compatibility:** If you can link your accounting software up to any ecommerce or payment processing products you use (for Rebilly customers, [we have an API for that](/docs/dev-docs/api/)), you can automate some of the work of tracking income and expenses.\n  Check to see if the software you choose will work with your other products.\n\n### Track all business expenses\n\nNow that you have your system and software, make a point of logging all your expenses as you go.\nThat will be much easier than having to go back over them and catch up at the end of the year.\nRemember to include:\n\n- Employee salaries\n- Cost of paying any contractors and other professionals your hire\n- Business utilities (phone, internet, electricity, etc.)\n- Website expenses\n- Software expenses\n- Office supplies\n- Networking costs, including things like conferences and business lunches\n- Business travel costs, including mileage any time you drive for business\n- Educational costs, such as courses and training\n- Commercial real estate costs\n- Inventory costs\n- Shipping costs\n\nIf you’re ever unsure whether an expense counts, ask your accountant.\n\n### Set up nexus in all applicable states\n\nHaving an online subscription business means you can potentially reach customers in all 50 states, or even all around the world.\nThat means more profits, but it also means you have to deal with the complications of sales tax.\nStates each have their own laws around sales tax, and you have to figure out how to be in compliance for each.\nPart of that is [setting up nexus in every state that requires it](https://blog.taxjar.com/economic-nexus-laws/).\nThis is a confusing process, so most businesses will be best off hiring a company that specializes in setting up nexus for you.\nIf you chose a large accounting firm back in step one, they may offer this as a service, but most smaller ones don’t.\nIf your products are subject to sales tax in any states, use your ecommerce software to [set up sales tax](https://www.taxjar.com/guides/intro-to-sales-tax/#steps-to-sales-tax-compliance) collection through your website.\n\n### Choose between cash basis and accrual\n\nBusinesses have [two options](https://bench.co/blog/accounting/cash-vs-accrual-accounting/) for the way you report your accounting to the IRS.\nOn a cash basis, you only report money you’ve already received, and only deduct business payments you’ve actually paid out.\nIn other words, if customers owe you money they haven’t paid yet, that won’t count when you file.\nIf you owe a vendor on an invoice you haven’t paid yet, it doesn’t either.\nWith accrual basis, you report anything that’s owed on both sides.\nIf a customer is overdue paying you, but you’ve already issued an invoice, it gets counted.\nIf you owe a company money you haven’t paid yet, you can still deduct it.\nYour accountant can provide advice on which option makes the most sense for your business.\nMost small and medium businesses are better off using cash, because it’s a simpler process.\n\n### Analyze your earnings data when making business decisions\n\nWhere most of this list is about compliance, accounting is also an opportunity to understand your business better and make more profitable decisions as a result.\nThe expenses and income you track can become data that helps you analyze which products you sell are making you the most money, and which customers are the most valuable to your business.\nThis step is a lot easier if you have software that helps you [collect sales analytics](/product/reporting-automation/) and view it in a format that makes it easy to spot trends.\nPeriodically commit time to reviewing the accounting data you have to determine ways to make your business more profitable.\n\n## Accounting is key to business success\n\nEven if you do everything else in business right, if you bungle your accounting it can be your ruin.\nFind a good accountant and develop a system that helps you stay on top of it as you go.\nThat will ensure you stay within the law, can keep a close eye on how your business is performing, and can make better decisions as you go.\n\n**While you’re setting up the systems you need to track your profits, make sure you’re doing everything you can to grow it, too.**\n\nOur Retry Strategy guide will teach you how to use data like decline codes and card types to increase your customer lifetime value by a minimum of 43%, all in about five minutes.\nGet it for free below:\n"},{"title":"What to Do If You Have a Data Breach","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-08-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"kristen-hicks","email":"kristen@austin-copywriter.com","name":"Kristen Hicks","summary":"[Kristen Hicks](https://austin-copywriter.com/) is an Austin-based freelance content marketing writer and lifelong learner with an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. She uses that curiosity, combined with her experience as a freelance business owner, to write about subjects valuable to entrepreneurs for Rebilly."},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"minimizing-risk","label":"Minimizing Risk"},{"id":"security","label":"Security"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/data-breach-blog.png","id":1845,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/what-to-do-if-you-have-a-data-breach","timeToRead":"9 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# What to Do If You Have a Data Breach\n\nYou see it all the time—news stories about huge brands that are targeted in a data breach.\nAs a consumer, you likely feel anger or at least annoyance each time a big business admits that a hacker has accessed your account.\nBut as a small business owner, maybe you felt something else, that nagging fear in the back of your mind that it could be you next.\n\nSmall businesses are the victims of around [43% of data breaches](https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/dbir/).\nYikes!\n\nWhen it happens to you, it can feel like an insurmountable challenge.\nGetting hacked is bad, yes.\nBut it’s manageable—as long as you know how to respond.\n\n## First: assess the situation\n\nIf you need to freak out, set a timer and give yourself a few minutes to scream and wail and punch a pillow.\nGet it all out.\nThen take a deep breath and get down to business.\n\nThe first thing you need to do is figure out exactly what’s going on.\nBefore getting outside help, make sure you have the following information at hand:\n\n- What kind of attack was it?\n  Did an employee press the link in a phishing email and inadvertently load a virus to their device (and potentially others connected to it)?\n  Or did a hacker find a vulnerability in your CMS or SaaS product that allowed them to slip in and access your data?\n  Where the hack originated and whether it primarily affects a particular device or tech product will play a key role in determining the best way to handle it.\n- How many customer accounts were affected?\n- Can you identify the vulnerability that allowed the hack to happen and which devices are infected?\n\nIf you’re like most small business owners, you’ll be out of your depth figuring this out on your own.\n[Research cybersecurity experts](https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/questions-to-ask-when-hiring-security-consultants/) in your area that help small businesses and make some calls to find someone with the expertise to help you get answers.\nBefore making a hire, ask them about specific times they’ve handled something similar for a client and what the results were.\nHands-on experience is more important than flashy certifications.\n\nAlso check if they’re willing to help both with solving your current problem, and with setting you up with a stronger security foundation moving forward.\nEven better, will they train you and your team in the main cyber security skills you need?\n\n## Manage the current hack\n\nNow it’s time to treat the problem and minimize damage as much as possible.\n\n### Isolate any affected machines and apps\n\nIf the hack started with a virus loaded to a particular computer or device, figure out which machines are affected and take them offline to stop the risk of it spreading.\nIf an employee’s account was used to infiltrate the system, revoke their access to the rest of the system while you work on the fix.\n\nIf the issue is tied to a compromised cloud product you use, work with the vendor to learn the extent of the issue and next best steps to take.\nAt the very least, you’ll want to change your passwords with them, but you may also want to consider an alternative product with better security.\n\nAvoid taking your full network down if possible while you work on fixing the problem, as that would cause more disruption for your business.\nDisconnecting the main applications at fault and taking infected computers offline will help keep the rest of your system safe.\n\n### Talk to a lawyer\n\nYou may be a victim here, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have specific legal responsibilities.\nSet up a meeting with a lawyer who can keep you informed of any state laws that govern how you should handle a hack.\n\nThey’ll talk you through the steps to take to stay on the right side of the law as you manage the breach.\nFor example, in Connecticut, a business is required to offer a free year of credit monitoring after a hack, a step it would be easy to overlook without a lawyer’s help.\n\n### Alert affected customers\n\nThis part’s hard, but necessary.\nAdmitting what happened will lead to angry customers and may lose you the loyalty and trust of some.\nBut sitting on the information when your customers could be taking steps to protect themselves is much, much worse.\nIf it comes out later that you knew and said nothing, you’ll face far bigger consequences than being upfront to begin with.\nAnd in many cases, this step is a legal requirement.\n\nIn your notice to your customers, include:\n\n- A report of what happened, including the type of attack it was and when it occurred\n- Details on any personal information that may have been compromised, such as email, password, address, credit card number, driver’s license number, or social security number.\n- Information on what your company is doing to fix the problem and minimize risk to them.\n- Suggestions for what they can do next to further protect themselves, such as setting up credit monitoring or freezing their credit accounts.\n  Consider offering free credit monitoring to concerned customers as a courtesy.\n\nBefore you draft the notice, check with your lawyer to see if it meets the legal requirements for your state.\n\n### Contact the proper authorities\n\nIn some states, you’ll need to file a notice of breach with the state’s attorney general.\nCertain industries, such as health care and finance, have additional reporting requirements.\nThe [FTC also recommends](https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/data-breach-response-guide-business) calling your local police department (PD) to report the breach, or the local office of the FBI or secret service if your local PD is unfamiliar with how to handle a data breach.\n\n## Improve cyber security moving forward\n\nIf scrambling to get a data breach under control teaches you anything, it’s how much you never want to do it again.\nUse this as an opportunity to tighten your company’s security moving forward.\n\n### Create a cyber security plan\n\nIf you hired a cyber security expert to help you manage your data breach, they can be useful at this stage too.\nCreate a plan that encompasses:\n\n- Steps you can take now to improve your company’s cyber security\n- Actions you and your team should take on a regular basis moving forward\n- A strategy for handling a future hack\n\nEverything’s easier to handle when you have a plan.\nAttach specific steps to clear deadlines so they actually get done.\n\n### Lock down permissions\n\nAllowing multiple people backend access to your website and business applications is unavoidable in most businesses.\nBut to reduce risk, you can place limits on the level of access each person has based on their role.\n\nWebsite hosting companies generally allow you to control user permissions, as do many content management systems and applications.\nWherever possible, limit access to just those people who need it to do their jobs.\n\n### Set up [two-factor authentication](/docs/settings/users.md#configure-your-user-profile)\n\nMost people use the same password for multiple accounts, it’s human nature.\nBut it means if an employee’s password is revealed in another company’s data breach, a hacker could try to use it to access your internal systems.\n\nTwo-factor authentication provides an extra level of security by ensuring that anyone who accesses their account is who they say they are.\nYou can set it up for all internal employees (as well as customers), making it that much harder for outsiders to access any sensitive internal data.\n\n### Train your team\n\nEverything you do to protect your business can be negated in a moment by an employee error made out of ignorance.\nTo avoid future data breaches and [credit card fraud](/blog/how-businesses-can-avoid-credit-card-fraud/), your team needs some cyber security 101 training.\n\nSome good lessons to include are:\n\n- **Software and system update requirements:** These updates routinely provide security patches to vulnerabilities the vendor discovered.\n  Train your employees to always update their OS, CMS, applications, plugins, and software as soon as a new version becomes available.\n\n- **Strong password guidelines:** Common password options like “123456” and “password” won’t cut it.\n  Set requirements to ensure they pick strong passwords that are long and include a mix of character types.\n\n- **Fraud red flags to watch out for:** Ecommerce employees must be on the lookout for fraudulent purchases.\n  Train them in how to recognize them and respond when they occur.\n\n- **How to** [**recognize phishing:**](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams) If one person clicks on the link in a phishing email, it puts the whole business at risk.\n  Teach employees how to spot phishing emails so they go in the spam folder where they belong.\n\n### Consider [cyber insurance](https://fitsmallbusiness.com/cyber-liability-insurance/)\n\nHopefully, taking these steps will save you from ever having to deal with this nightmare again.\nBut hackers are smart and good at finding ways around the protections we put into place.\nCyber insurance won’t save you from the trouble of another hack, but it will ensure your business has the financial cushion you need to weather it.\n\n### Schedule regular security audits\n\nNothing you do to protect yourself from cyber attacks is permanent.\nThe techniques fraudsters use evolve, and you need to as well.\nAt least once a year, set up security audits.\nThis includes hiring cyber security experts to test your networks to find potential vulnerabilities hackers can exploit.\n\nIt could also involve examining the tech you use now to make sure it provides the best protection options for your business.\nConsider your CMS, plugins, web hosting platform, [payment platform](/solutions/payments/), and other business applications.\nDo they provide the top-of-the-line security your business needs?\n\nAnd it should include revisiting the cyber security plan you created to see if it still holds up.\n\nRegular security audits keep you from getting complaisant and help you stay on top of changing risks.\n\n## Protect your business and customers\n\nRunning a business is exhausting and, understandably, cyber security isn’t top of mind most days when you have a thousand other things on your to-do list.\nBut when a hack happens, everything else on that list goes out the window until you get it fixed.\n\nInstead of panicking, use this list to help you create a plan for moving forward.\nCall in experts for guidance.\nBite the bullet and show transparency to your customers.\nAnd get to work making sure it doesn’t happen again.\n\nAmong other potentially expensive mistakes to make as a business owner?\nLetting chargebacks run rampant.\nChargebacks — often caused by friendly fraud — can add up, but if you download our Reducing Chargebacks Guide, you’ll get our favorite actionable tips on how to minimize your losses (and prevent them in the future).\nDownload it below:\n"},{"title":"Influencer Marketing for Subscriptions: Best Practices & Improving ROI","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-08-22","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"lin-foo","email":"jielinfoo@gmail.com","name":"Lin Foo","summary":"[Lin Foo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/linfoo/) is a writer and content strategist, along with being a lover of food, yoga, Latin dance and travel."},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/blog/influencer-marketing-101-a-guide-for-subscription-businesses/feed/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/marketing_101_2.png","id":1830,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/influencer-marketing-for-subscriptions-best-practices-improving-roi","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Influencer Marketing for Subscriptions: Best Practices & Improving ROI\n\nIn our [previous guide to influencer marketing](/blog/influencer-marketing-101-a-guide-for-subscription-businesses/), we covered finding and choosing the right influencers for your industry and goals, how to contact them, and how much to expect to pay.\n\nToday’s post will continue and cover how to calculate and improve your ROI, along with three best practices to keep in mind as you create your campaign.\n\n## How do I calculate my influencer marketing ROI?\n\nWith any kind of marketing campaign, [it’s important to track your metrics and make decisions based off the data](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).\nWith influencer marketing in particular, it can be tricky to calculate your return on investment sometimes — but we’ve outlined a process you can follow below:\n\n- **Determine your campaign goals**: As with any marketing campaign, the first step is to clearly define your campaign goals.\n  Some examples of common influencer marketing goals include building brand awareness, increasing sales or reaching a new target audience.\n- **Define your campaign performance metrics**: The next step is to match [metrics](/blog/metrics-that-matter/) to your goals.\n  Metrics that are commonly used for influencer marketing campaigns include comments, brand mentions, engagement, audience reach, and impressions.\n- **Set goals and metrics for each influencer you work with**: The goals that you set for each influencer should be tied to your overall campaign goals.\n  For example, if your overall goal is to increase sales within a quarter, the goal for each influencer would be to generate a portion of your total expected sales by the end of the quarter.\n- **Measure and review the results**: You’ll need to monitor the results of your overall campaign, as well as the performance of each influencer you work with.\n  In doing so, you’ll be able to pick out top-performing influencers you can focus on building long-term relationships with.\n  If you’re working with a group of influencers for the first time, digital marketing consultant Shane Barker suggests testing things out with multiple short-term campaigns.\n  They [explains](https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/03/influencer-marketing-roi/): “If you commit to a long-term campaign with a fixed set of influencers, you could be setting yourself up for failure.”\n\n## Calculate ROI: case studies and insights\n\n### Test and experiment with different elements of your content\n\nWith influencer marketing campaigns, **we typically think about testing out collaborations with different influencers**. **Yet,** **it’s just as important to test out different elements of your content**—and [Bitsbox](https://aspireiq.docsend.com/view/qem8zkd) is a case in point.\n\nAfter working with multiple influencers, the Bitsbox team had sufficient content to run performance tests so as to assess which images work best on their ads.\nThey discovered that images which featured their box achieved higher engagement rates than the pictures without—and as such, requested that influencers include their box in future campaigns.\n\nMaking these seemingly minor improvements to their campaigns enabled Bitsbox to achieve significant results, garnering 7.5m impressions and ad content that outperformed their branded content by two times.\n\n### Maximize ROI by repurposing influencer-generated content (IGC)\n\nTake a leaf out of the books of the [YogaClub team](https://aspireiq.docsend.com/view/txis7vc) by repurposing your IGC.\nAs a subscription box that sent out yoga wear styled to each customer’s unique preferences, YogaClub needed to create a large volume of content that featured a wide-ranging variety of outfits.\n\nAnd while its influencer marketing collaborations had started out as an acquisition channel, the YogaClub team realized that **these collaborations were a scalable way for them to source images that could be used across their marketing channels**—from social media ads to their website and emails.\nIn fact, the team stopped creating content in-house altogether, as their IGC were more cost-effective compared to organising brand photo-shoots.\nThe content also resonated more with their audience as it appeared more authentic.\n\n## What are best practices I can implement?\n\n### Invest in long term campaigns carried out on a regular basis, rather than one-off efforts\n\nHaving successfully implemented influencer campaigns for both their personal brand and company, Eric Siu has a key insight to [share](https://www.singlegrain.com/digital-marketing-strategy/how-to-get-started-with-influencer-marketing/): “What I ended up learning is that when your influencers are posting sporadically, it doesn’t have a big impact. **But if you have a huge budget and do it consistently and frequently, you can really start a movement**.”\n\nIf you’re just starting out and don’t have a sizable budget to work with, there are ways to get around the problem.\nOne option is to negotiate bulk packages with your influencer, so that you can generate a series of content at a lower cost.\n\nThe second way is to schedule your influencer’s posts for the same day, as Siu explains: “I tried to have influencers post once a week, every week, on a specific day.\nWhen I had all the influencers do it on a Monday or Wednesday and stuck to that schedule, I noticed a much bigger impact.”\n\n### Create a follow up process\n\nWhat you do after a campaign has ended can be just as important as the work you put into launching it.\nBy having a follow up process in place, you’ll send across the message that your business is one that goes above and beyond to provide excellent customer support.\n\n**Think about the different areas that you can provide additional support after your campaign has been launched**.\nFor example, you might want to set aside time to review comments or questions addressed to your influencer on their social media channels, so that you can provide in-depth information about your [subscription service/product](/blog/how-to-start-a-digital-subscription-business-without-code/).\n\n### Build a long-term relationship with influencers\n\nIt takes trust and a personal connection to create influencer collaborations that thrive.\nAs such, it’s key that you invest time and effort in building a long-term relationship with your influencers.\n\n[According to](https://thriveglobal.com/stories/4-steps-to-creating-a-successful-influencer-marketing-campaign/) Dhar Mann, nurturing positive relationships requires paying attention to the small details.\nThey shares: “We constantly send them thoughtful gifts, fly them to our studio in Los Angeles, interact with them on all their social channels, take them on trips and do whatever it takes to build personal relationships.”\n\nKeep in mind that this isn’t just about providing tangible benefits—rather, **it’s about providing perks or opportunities that would create value for your influencers**.\nFor instance, beauty subscription service Ipsy fosters a connection with its influencers through giving them access to Ipsy’s beauty studio space, as well as mentoring, networking and publicity opportunities.\n\n## Ready to get started?\n\nDeveloping an influencer marketing strategy can seem daunting, particularly if you’re launching a campaign for the first time.\nBut by understanding the key concepts we’ve explained above, you’ll have a leg up on your competitors, and be better placed to implement a strategy that drives results for your business.\n\n**Looking for tips on how to collect your marketing data and use it to optimize your prices?** Check out our Price Optimization Guide for a list of experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nYou can download it now and get started today:\n"},{"title":"Influencer Marketing 101: A Guide for Subscription Businesses","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-08-20","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"lin-foo","email":"jielinfoo@gmail.com","name":"Lin Foo","summary":"[Lin Foo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/linfoo/) is a writer and content strategist, along with being a lover of food, yoga, Latin dance and travel."},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/blog/influencer-marketing-for-subscriptions-best-practices-improving-roi/feed/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/marketing_101_1-1.png","id":1816,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/influencer-marketing-101-a-guide-for-subscription-businesses","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Influencer Marketing 101: A Guide for Subscription Businesses\n\nWhen you mention influencer marketing, what immediately comes to mind are collaborations between established brands and celebrity influencers.\nTommy Hilfiger and Gigi Hadid.\nAway Luggage and supermodel Karlie Kloss.\nBeats by Dre’s numerous campaigns, which have featured just about every celebrity — from the Kardashians to James Harden.\n\nBut influencer marketing can be implemented across different levels and businesses—and **even for subscription businesses working with much smaller budgets, there are significant results to be reaped**.\n\nTake beauty subscription box LiveGlam as an [example](https://thriveglobal.com/stories/4-steps-to-creating-a-successful-influencer-marketing-campaign/).\nIn less than two years, CEO Dhar Mann took their business from $600 in starting capital to an eight-figure annual revenue.\nMann didn’t spend a single dollar on advertising, and instead focused on getting the word out about LiveGlam through collaborations with commission-based influencers.\n\nIf you’re looking to get started on influencer marketing, this article is for you.\nIn this first installment, we’ll dive into the key areas that businesses starting out on influencer marketing campaigns often find challenging.\nThere are:\n\n- Choosing the right influencers for your business\n- Contacting your influencers efficiently\n- Determining the rates you should pay an influencer\n\nStay tuned for our second installment, where we’ll discuss:\n\n- Calculating the ROI of your influencer marketing campaign\n- Best practices that subscription businesses can implement\n\n## How do I choose the right influencers for my business?\n\nThe following questions can help you assess if an influencer is a good fit for your business:\n\n- **What’s my target audience?** There are different segmentation approaches you can use to identify the key characteristics of your target audience.\n  The main approaches are abbreviated as GDPB—geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral segmentation.\n- **What is the main role of the influencer?** This refers to the main goal that you want your influencer to achieve for your campaign.\n  One example would be that your influencer needs to increase sales by 25 percent in the first three months of your collaboration.\n- **What is the role of the influencer in the campaign?** This refers to actionable steps that your influencer can take to achieve their main campaign goal.\n  If your goal was to have your influencer increase sales by 25 percent by the first quarter, you can then break this down into steps that your influencer can take, such as having to create three posts per week during this period.\n- **Which type of influencer is most suitable for my brand?** It’s important to keep in mind that bigger isn’t necessarily better.\n  As a _New York Times_ [article](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/11/business/media/nanoinfluencers-instagram-influencers.html) points out, a nano-influencer’s lack of fame can make them appear more approachable compared to macro- or micro-influencers.\n  Their recommendations also seem like genuine advice you’d hear from a friend.\n  Plus, these influencers charge lower rates too, which can be a better fit if you’re in the early stages of running your business and need to work on a small budget.\n- **What influencer marketing campaigns are your competitors implementing?** It pays to keep tabs on what your competitors are up to—such as the types of influencer marketing campaigns they are launching, the influencers they work with and the platforms that they use.\n  You can gather inspiration from their strategies, or draw comparisons to identify areas of improvement in your own strategy and campaigns.\n\n## How do I contact influencers efficiently?\n\nOnce you’ve identified influencers who are a good fit for your business, the next step is to get in touch with them.\nThis can often be tedious and time-consuming, so we’ve included a few tips you can use to **make your process more efficient**:\n\n### Use the right tools\n\nWhen contacting influencers, there are a few tasks that you’ll need to do repeatedly, like sourcing for influencers to work with, searching up their emails or setting up an introductory video call. **By using tools created specifically to perform these tasks, you’ll be able to speed things up**.\nThese tools can help:\n\n- Scheduling tools: [Calendly](https://calendly.com/), [ScheduleOnce](https://www.oncehub.com/scheduleonce)\n- Email finding tools: [Hunter.io](https://hunter.io/), [Find That Email](http://findthat.email/)\n- Platforms and tools for finding influencers: [HelloSociety](https://hellosociety.com/), [FameBit](https://famebit.com/), [AspireIQ](https://www.aspireiq.com/), [FollowerWonk](https://followerwonk.com/), [GroupHigh](https://www.grouphigh.com/), [Topsy](http://topsy.thisisthebrigade.com/), [Ninja Outreach](https://ninjaoutreach.com/), [Scrunch](https://www.scrunch.com/)\n\n### Make it easy for the influencer to follow up\n\nIt’s no secret that influencers are busy people, and they’re likely to receive many emails on a daily basis.\nTo increase your chances of getting a positive response, you need to **make it easy and effortless for them to follow up**.\nThat means:\n\n- **Adopting email best practices**: Emailing best practices are simple and effective, yet are often overlooked.\n  These include: using impactful subject lines, keeping your emails brief, avoiding mass pitches, using your recipient’s first name and mentioning something specific about your influencer or their company in your email.\n- **Ensuring that all details are included in the email**: Having collaborated with the likes of Neil Patel and Noah Kagan, Eric Siu, founder of digital marketing agency Single Grain [offers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3aKypunLnM&feature=youtu.be) a tip: “Give them a preview of what’s coming”.\n  For example, if you’re contacting an influencer for a podcast interview, it helps to send over a list of questions so they can get an idea of the flow of the interview.\n  If they’re going to create content for your brand, you should provide specific instructions, along with content samples they can refer to or images they can use.\n\n### Be honest\n\nBeing honest and direct about your motivations and purpose will help minimize instances of second-guessing or back-and-forth communication, thereby saving time for both you and your influencer. **You should clearly state your offer, expected outcome and the amount of work that the influencer needs to do**.\n\n## How much should I pay an influencer?\n\nYour first step is to **calculate your influencer marketing budget**.\nWriter Felicity Fromholz [shares](https://www.business2community.com/strategy/calculate-influencer-marketing-budget-01900601) a simple three-step process:\n\n### Step 1: Calculate the potential conversions\n\nLet’s say you’re running a [subscription box business](/blog/subscription-box-retailing-an-overview/), and are considering working with an influencer with 100,000 unique monthly views (UMV).\n\nYou’re going to assume that 1 percent, or 1,000 of these visitors will see your brand collaboration post.\nOf these 1,000 visitors, the assumption is that 1 percent will convert.\nThat sums up to 10 visitors who might eventually purchase a subscription.\n\n### Step 2: Calculate your LTV and CAC\n\nTo calculate these two metrics, we’ll need to assume the following:\n\nCost: $45\n\nProfit margin: 35 percent\n\nAverage customer life cycle: 5 months\n\nTherefore, the LTV will be: $45 X 0.35 = $15.75 X 5 months = $78.75\n\nBased on the ideal [LTV:CAC ratio](https://www.patriotsoftware.com/accounting/training/blog/ltv-cac-ratio-metric/) of 3:1, the CAC will be: $78.75 / 3 = $26.25\n\n### Step 3: Calculate your budget\n\nTo calculate your budget, you’ll need to multiply the CAC by the number of people you think will convert: $26.25 x 10 = $262.50\n\n_(Want to learn more about how to boost your LTV with marketing?\n[Head here](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).)_\n\n## Other costs to watch out for\n\nWhile you’ve got the calculation sorted out, bear in mind that this is just a rough estimate.\nIt may not be reflective of the final cost you’ll pay your influencer, as there are **other elements that you’ll need to take into consideration**.\nThese include:\n\n### 1. Factors that affect the cost of influencer marketing\n\nEach of the factors below can affect the cost of influencer marketing, so you’ll need to tweak your rates accordingly, in order to meet the expectations of influencers you want to work with.\n\n- Social media platform\n- Following\n- Engagement\n- Your service or product\n- Campaign requirements\n- Project timeline\n- Costs of production for content creation\n\nFor example, a campaign that requires a higher level of involvement from your an influencer will incur higher rates.\nSimilarly, getting an influencer to market a complex subscription service will likely cost more than having them feature a beauty subscription box.\n\n### 2. Industry rates\n\nIt is helpful to have an idea of the rates that other influencers charge for their work, or fees that businesses or agencies typically pay for a campaign.\nThis can serve as a point of reference, and help you ascertain that the rates you want to offer are aligned with general expectations.\n\nHere’s what a few benchmark costs for the various social networks:\n\n**Instagram:**\n\n- Chelsea Naftelberg, former associate director of content and partnerships for social media agency Attention [estimates](https://digiday.com/marketing/what-influencer-marketing-costs/) her team’s influencer marketing costs based on the ‘$1,000 per 100,000 followers’ guideline.\n- Henry Langer, senior account manager for influencer search platform Hypr [thinks that](https://digiday.com/marketing/what-influencer-marketing-costs/) brands can charge $250 per post for Instagram influencers with less than 50K followers, and add about $1,000 per 100K followers per post.\n- [According to](https://later.com/blog/instagram-influencers-costs/) Instagram scheduling tool Later, a fashion micro-influencer with 80K followers charged $300 for a single Instagram post, and $500 for two posts.\n  A health and nutrition micro-influencer with 30K followers charged the following rates: $325 (per Instagram post), $250 per day (brand IG takeover) and $85 (5 IG stories).\n\n**YouTube:**\n\n- Langer [suggests](https://digiday.com/marketing/what-influencer-marketing-costs/) that YouTubers with over 50K subscribers can charge $2,000 per 100K subscribers.\n  That works out to a cost of $20 for every 1,000 subscribers.\n- Tony Tran, CEO of digital marketing startup Lumanu [recommends](https://buffer.com/resources/influencer-marketing-cost) paying about $0.05 to $0.10 per average video view.\n  This works out to a rate of about $50 to $100 for 1,000 video views.\n\n**Snapchat:**\n\nSnapchat influencer Cyrene Quiamco [shared](https://digiday.com/marketing/what-influencer-marketing-costs/) the following rates for a 24-hour campaign:\n\n- $500 for 1,000-5,000 views\n- $1,000-$3,000 for 5,000-10,000 views\n- $3,000-$5,000 for 10,000-20,000 views\n- $5,000-$10,000 for 30,000-50,000 views\n- $10,000-$30,000 for 50,000-100,000 views\n\n**Hopefully, you now have a good grasp on the key concepts you need to know to develop a successful influencer marketing strategy.** Stay tuned for part two, where we’ll discuss calculating the ROI of influencer marketing campaigns and the best practices you need to keep in mind.\n\n**In the meantime, make sure you’ve got all the other boxes checked for your subscription business with our Six-Month Success Checklist.** It covers marketing, along with other foundational concepts, for any new subscription business.\nDownload it today and set yourself up to win:\n"},{"title":"Design 101: Creating Visuals for Your Business","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-08-14","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/blog/how-to-design-visuals-for-your-business/design_for_subscription/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/design_for_subscription.png","id":1800,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/how-to-design-visuals-for-your-business","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Design 101: Creating Visuals for Your Business\n\nHumans are visual creatures.\nA team of neuroscientists at [MIT](http://news.mit.edu/2014/in-the-blink-of-an-eye-0116) discovered that the human brain can process entire images that have been caught by the eye for as little as 13 milliseconds.\nYou don’t need to be a neuroscientist to know that this is really, _really_ fast!\nSignificantly faster than what it takes the brain to process text.\n\nCreating [effective and engaging content](/blog/reduce-churn-with-content/) for your audience is hard in our easily-distracted, mobile phone driven world, but embracing the power of design and good visuals in your business can help you do it.\n\nNever been artistically inclined?\nDon’t have tons of extra time, or the budget to hire a designer?\nDon’t worry.\nCreating beautiful designs for your business without breaking a sweat (or your bank account) has never been easier, and we’re here to show you how.\n\n## Why is visual design important for your business?\n\nThe proof is in the research.\nAccording to [Hubspot](https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics):\n\n- Visual content is 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than any other type of content.\n- 20% of people will read a text on a page, but 80% of people will watch a video.\n- People can recall 65% of the visual content that they see almost three days later.\n\nYou want your audience to be left with a memorable, positive impression of your brand — and design can help you do that.\nSo, let’s get started on taking you from design newbie to design expert.\nNo Photoshop skills or graphic design certificate required!\n\n## Use cost-effective customizable templates and tools\n\n### Canva\n\n[**Canva**](https://www.canva.com/) is the not-so-secret, secret weapon of many business owners.\nIt’s an easy to use, one-stop-shop for nearly all of your design needs.\n\nThis free platform offers a variety of content template types, ranging from social media ads and banners to ebook covers and infographics.\nThe great thing about this website is that you don’t ever have to start at zero when creating your next marketing masterpiece.\nYou can simply drop your info into a pre-set design or use it as inspiration when customizing one to perfection.\n\nCanva can be very intuitive and easy to navigate, even for absolute beginners.\nThey also have a great [Getting Started Guide](https://www.canva.com/learn/canvas-quick-start-guide/) if you want more in-depth information.\n\n![Canva example](./images/designfromablanktemplate.jpg)\n\n### Animoto\n\n[**Animoto**](https://animoto.com/) is a comprehensive video creation tool that offers customizable templates and pre-cut footage.\nNo need to break out the old camcorder or hire an entire film production crew.\n\nSimilar to Canva, you can select a pre-designed template or start from scratch.\nThis tool gives you the option to drag and drop photos and video clips right into your project.\nYou can personalize your video by adjusting colors, fonts, and music.\n\nAnimoto is free to use, but they will add a watermark when you download your video to share.\nFor a watermark-free, higher definition video and additional features and stock footage, they have plans starting at [$33/month](https://animoto.com/pricing).\nWhich can truly be worth the cash if you’re creating engaging content like this:\n\n<iframe allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"375\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/BoJ2B5mF-1k?feature=oembed\" title=\"Square Video Template For Editorial\" width=\"500\"></iframe>\n\n### Giphy Gifmaker\n\n[**Giphy Gifmaker**](https://giphy.com/create/gifmaker) is here to deliver on all of your GIF needs.\nA GIF, or Graphic Interchange Format, is a very commonly used animated graphics file.\nYou’ve most likely seen them used on social media, blog posts, or various reply sections.\nGiphy not only has a vast library of audience favorite GIFs, it also gives you the opportunity to create your own.\nGiphy pre-made canvases to choose from, or you can easily create your own using images and videos you already have.\n\n![Example gif](./images/gifs/giphyrebilly.gif)\n\n### Pixlr\n\n[**Pixlr**](https://pixlr.com/) makes photo editing a breeze.\nDo you have an image you would like to use for your website or social media, but the lighting isn’t quite right or there is resizing that needs to be done?\nPixlr has you covered.\nPixlr can also run on any browser or operating system.\nUnlike many other online photo editing tools, this one is completely free.\n\n![Image of Pixlr software](./images/pixlrscreenshot.png)\n\n### Unsplash\n\n[**Unsplash**](https://unsplash.com/) is your trusty supplier of royalty-free stock photos.This website is where photographers can share high quality images that are free for commercial use.\nWith a growing library of over 800,000 photos, you’ll most likely find what you need.\nUse this as an additional resource when using the previously mentioned tools, and you’ll be in great shape.\n\n![Unsplash example images](./images/unsplashscreenshot.png)\n\n## Put the tools to use: design basics\n\nWhether you are creating Louvre-worthy still images or stylish video content, here are a few key tips to keep in mind across the board:\n\n### The psychology of color\n\nChoosing the right colors for your brand can be challenging.\nLucky for you, there’s a plethora of research on color theory and how color influences our behavior and decision-making.\nA good place to start is by picking a color or color palette based on your [brand personality](https://venngage.com/blog/brand-colors/#step-2).\nFor example, yellow is perceived as the happiest color in the color spectrum, while green is often associated with prosperity.\nIt’s also important to be aware of [the common misconceptions and cultural differences surrounding color](https://www.helpscout.com/blog/psychology-of-color/).\nThen, ask yourself, what is the emotional message you’re trying to convey with your brand or product?\n\n[![Color emotion guide image](./images/Color_Emotion_Guide-1024x897.png)](https://thelogocompany.net/blog/infographics/psychology-color-logo-design/)The Logo Company\n\n### Typography\n\nOne of the most important aspects in the design process is to ensure that any text you use is not only pleasing to the eye, but also easy to read.\nIf you’re working within Canva, they created [20 unique font combinations](https://www.canva.com/learn/canva-for-work-brand-fonts/) within their platform to make it easier for you to choose the best typeface for your brand.\nLike color, fonts can be very expressive.\nKnowing your brand personality will make this process easier as well as getting to know the personality traits of each font category:\n\n[![Font personalities image](./images/font-categories-personalities-1024x941.png)](https://venngage.com/blog/brand-fonts/)Venngage\n\n### Stay consistent\n\nStaying consistent with your designs will help your customers recognize your brand.\nRegular use of the same fonts and colors will make the visual experience of your brand feel more uniform and professional.\nThis is why your [main message and brand identity](https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34238/the-marketer-s-guide-to-developing-a-strong-brand-identity.aspx) is an important thing to lock down before you pick up a single electronic paintbrush tool.\n\n### Keep it simple\n\nPeople have short attention spans.\nNo one wants to spend extra time deciphering whether that F is actually a T on your graphic, or trying to make sense of cluttered text and images in a tiny 3 x 3 icon.\nThe less busy, the better.\n\nHere’s an example from our [The State of Subscription Business](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/) infographic:\n\n{% img src=\"./images/infographic_state_subscription_businesses_rebilly3.png\" alt=\"State if subscription business graphic\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\nThere are several elements that allow this part of the infographic to display a decent amount of information without looking too busy or crowded:\n\n- The contrast between light and dark colors make the text “pop”.\n- Alternating text boxes on each side of the timeline.\n- The lines help direct the eye and give a sense of movement.\n- Enough negative space between each element.\n\n### Have fun\n\nMaking art should be enjoyable and give you little to no gray hairs.\nDon’t be afraid to experiment and play around with these tools until you get the hang of it.\nIf you make a mistake, there’s always the “undo” button.\nThere is no singular blueprint for choosing the right design but as long as you keep your brand identity in the forefront of your mind, you’re ready to start creating!\n\nNow that you’ve got a handle on how to DIY your design, make sure the rest of your business boxes are checked.\nCheck out our Six-Month Success Checklist and get the tips and resources you need for your subscription business.\nDownload it today and set yourself up to win:\n"},{"title":"Sort Your Data and Stay organized With Our New Google Sheets Integration","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-08-13","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"rebilly","label":"Rebilly News & Updates"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/integration_google_sheets-1.png","id":1792,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/rebilly-google-sheets-integration","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Sort Your Data and Stay organized With Our New Google Sheets Integration\n\nWe’ve been hard at work on adding new integrations to Rebilly after [unveiling our new features](/blog/new-rebilly-features-dashboards-timelines-and-more/), and we’re proud to announce that we’ve completed the Google Sheets integration.\n\n{% img src=\"./images/google-sheet-screenshoot-connect-1024x591.jpg\" alt=\"google-sheet\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nThis integration lets you automatically export data to a spreadsheet when certain events are triggered.\nFor example, when a customer cancels their subscription, the integration can automatically update a spreadsheet of canceled customers with whatever data you choose, in whatever order you choose.\n\nWe’re a big believer in paying attention to your data and metrics (so that you can [improve the important ones over time](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/)).\nThe integration lets you export _any_ data field that’s collected during the subscription process to Google Sheets, and update those spreadsheets every time the event is triggered.\nEvents can be anything from “Invoice issued” to “Dispute created.”\n\n{% img src=\"./images/google-sheet-screnshoot-events-1024x658.jpg\" alt=\"google-sheet\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nYou can create as many spreadsheets as you want, and download them at any time.\n\n{% img src=\"./images/google-sheet-screenshoot-1-1024x955.jpg\" alt=\"google-sheet\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n**Ready to give it a go?** Head to the settings part of your dashboard, then “Integrations” to get started.\n\n**Not a Rebilly user?** [Sign up for a trial today](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you’re missing.\n"},{"title":"Subscription and Membership Businesses: A How-To Guide for Indie Artists","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-08-07","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"ellie-di-julio","email":"ellie.di.julio@gmail.com","name":"Ellie Di Julio","summary":"[Ellie Di Julio](https://elliedijulio.com/) is a freelance writer and editor who began entrepreneurial life as a personal coach and grew up to be an urban fantasy novelist. She splits her time between getting fellow writers unstuck and devising ways to entertain her toddler."},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/indie_artists.png","id":1742,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/subscription-and-membership-businesses-a-how-to-guide-for-indie-artists","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Subscription and Membership Businesses: A How-To Guide for Indie Artists\n\nEveryone you know is crowdfunding something.\nYour local co-op is adding a coffee shop.\nYour cousin wants to buy her first car.\nA dude in Nebraska got busted for faking crop circles in some farmer’s field and needs bail money.\n\nThat’s not you, though.\nYou’re an artist.\nYou create beautiful things out of nothing but time, talent, and tears, and while you’ve been happy doing it for free for a long time, you’re starting to wish it was your full-time gig.\n\n**In other words, you’re ready to get paid.**\n\nBut how do you do that?\n\nYou could go the one-shot crowdfunding route a la [Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/).\nThe trouble is, although it’s a fat payday, Future You is wondering where the next cash injection is coming from.\nThese campaigns are one and done.\nGreat for completing a standalone project, but less helpful for creating a sustainable business from your art.\n\nFortunately, there’s another option.\n\n[Subscription and membership businesses are on the rise](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/), particularly among independent artists such as yourself.\nThey allow you to generate reliable income from your work as your fans provide recurring support (read: money).\nYou win, they win.\n\nSounds good, doesn’t it?\nLet’s dive in and see how you can make this model work for you.\n\n## What’s a subscription-based business?\n\nEssentially, the subscription/membership model of business is a way for your audience to personally contribute to the work they love and the person that makes it.\nIt bypasses traditional gatekeepers like publishers and labels, establishing a direct pipeline from creator to fan.\nIn addition to putting power back in the hands of artists, it also typically rewards your audience with better art, faster.\n\n**What’s the difference between a “subscription” business and a “membership” business?** A membership business is a _type_ of subscription business.\nA “subscription” business involves getting paid on a recurring basis. “Membership businesses” is a catch-all term used for a certain type of subscription business — usually, those in which [content is delivered to members](/blog/how-to-start-a-digital-subscription-business-without-code/) that isn’t publicly available, or in which there’s some kind of a community/member-to-member interaction, or both.\nThroughout this post (and other posts that deal with creative businesses), we’ll be using them interchangeably.\n\n### How does it work?\n\nThere are [plenty of variations on the basic structure for this kind of business](/blog/how-to-start-a-digital-subscription-business-without-code/), but they all boil down to one simple concept: charge people money, on a regular basis, in return for something cool.\nThe price, the schedule, and the cool thing?\nThose are all up to you.\n\nWhen it comes to creative businesses and indie artists, the service most people are familiar with is [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/).\nThe upsides of Patreon are that it’s relatively easy to learn, has name recognition with a lot of customers, and has one platform through which you manage tiers/rewards/posting content.\n\nHowever, there are some downsides, too, which are why some creators use other alternatives for subscription/membership-style businesses.\nIf you’re somewhat tech-savvy and already have a website, you might consider this and weigh the pros and cons of each option.\nJust make sure you’ve got [a solid recurring billing system](/product/) on board.\nIt’s hard to get paid when you can’t, you know, get paid.\n\n### Ideal creator profile\n\n**You’re a perfect candidate to run a subscription business if you:**\n\n- have an established fanbase that’s engaged with you and your work\n- regularly produce and share your work\n- aren’t relying on income from donations to fully support you (yet)\n- are eager to increase interaction with your audience\n\nSince you’re still reading, I assume that person is you.\nCongratulations!\nYou’re in a great position to start getting paid on the regular for your art.\n\nEven if that doesn’t sound like you, keep reading.\nThis next part will help you focus on where you’re going, so you can tweak accordingly.\n\n### Perks and pitfalls\n\nSubscription businesses are ripe with benefits for independent artists, but they also have easily-overlooked traps, [some with spikes in the bottom](/blog/common-subscription-business-struggles-and-how-to-fix-them/). **Knowing what’s good and what to watch out for will greatly increase your success in acquiring — and keeping — subscribers.**\n\n**Perks:**\n\n- **Recurring revenue.** Unlike one-shot crowdfunding, subscriptions and memberships give you the peace of mind of knowing what you’re making each month.\n\n- **Community building**.\n  Your subscribers are your superfans; their investment creates a natural community where you can make deeper connections.\n  If you take the time to engage with them, it adds value to the subscription and to your work.\n- **Freedom to create**.\n  Knowing there’s regular money coming in gives you time and financing to produce the work you most want to make at your own pace rather than rushing unsatisfying pieces out the door to make a buck.\n\n**Pitfalls:**\n\n- **Going all in right away.** It’s tempting to put all your business eggs in the subscription basket, but that can be risky, especially if you have a slow start.\n  Diversify your baskets early on to ensure better coverage of your rear.\n- **Underestimating time required**.\n  If you offer rewards to your supporters, keep an eye on what it takes to fulfill them.\n  You don’t want to spend all your profit or time on things that aren’t creating more art.\n  That sort of defeats the purpose.\n- **Underselling yourself**.\n  Just because you’re new to charging for your art doesn’t mean you’re not worth the investment.\n  Set your prices a little higher than you’re comfortable with (but not so high you look like a snot).\n\n### Remember…\n\n- **You are your best promoter.** Your website and social media outlets feed your subscriber base, so be sure you have an engaged following to talk to about signing up.\n  (Want to learn more about what you need to set that up?\n  [Head to this post](/blog/bootstrap-subscription-business-with-these-apps-tools/).)\n- **Consistency beats quantity.** The most successful subscription businesses aren’t those with the most supporters but the ones with the most reliable delivery rates.\n- **Patience is a virtue**.\n  This model is designed for the long game.\n  Take your time and don’t rush to declare failure if you aren’t a millionaire by Christmas.\n\n## Dos and don’ts\n\nTalking about getting paid for your art can be deeply uncomfortable, but once you’re ready to take that leap of faith, it’s a must-have conversation. **You’re working hard at producing meaningful, beautiful things, and a subscription business could be the key to unlocking your next level of creative success.** So be excited!\n\nBut before you break out the multicolored pens and fancy planner, here’s a quick reminder of the dos and don’ts of choosing a subscription-based model:\n\n**Don’t:**\n\n- **Count your money before it arrives.** Remember that your supporters are humans, too.\n  Credit cards and pledges get declined all the time.\n  Plan for both shrink and growth in your accounting.\n- **Change up your rewards, focus, or tactics too soon.** Give the model time to work.\n  You’re building a business, not redecorating your apartment.\n- **Get so caught up filling rewards or doing admin that you can’t create.** The whole point of this model is to fund your art, so make sure it comes first.\n\n**Do:**\n\n- **Research.** Find out how other artists run successful subscription businesses.\n  [Amanda Palmer](https://www.patreon.com/amandapalmer) (musician/provocateur), [_Myths &amp; Legends_](https://www.mythpodcast.com/membership/) (podcast), [Vicki Tsai](https://www.patreon.com/vickisigh) (artist), [Seanan McGuire](https://www.patreon.com/seananmcguire) (writer), and [Issa Rae](https://www.patreon.com/issarae) (filmmaker) showcase the wide variety of creative work that can thrive on this model.\n  See what’s possible so you can figure out what best fits your needs.\n- **Find a trustworthy platform.** You need one that handles memberships, payment processing, and customer support all in one place.\n  That way, you can focus on your work and your people instead of juggling admin tasks all day.\n- **Offer exclusive content**.\n  If you want subscribers to get extra stuff, great!\n  Options include newsletters, posts, art prints, sneak peeks, bonus episodes, apparel, and ephemera just for insiders.\n- **Be consistent.** No matter what release schedule you’re working with, stick to it.\n- **Be cool.** Act like this is totally normal and you’re super chill about how much you’re growing as an artist and business owner.\n\n**Now get out there and start getting paid for what you’re great at.** The world is waiting.\n\nIf you’re ready to start your own subscription or membership business, but aren’t sure how to get going, check out our Six-Month Success Checklist.\nDownload it today and set yourself up to win:\n"},{"title":"Don’t Let Chargebacks Stress You Out — Here’s How","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-07-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"chargebacks","label":"Chargebacks"},{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/handle_chargebacks.png","id":1664,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/how-to-handle-chargebacks","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Don’t Let Chargebacks Stress You Out — Here’s How\n\nAs a subscription business owner, chargebacks are an unavoidable part of your day-to-day operations.\nThey cost millions in reversed charges and fees every year, not to mention time and effort wasted. **That’s why it’s critical to handle them effectively.**\n\n## What are chargebacks?\n\nThe dispute process was created to protect consumers from unauthorized transactions.\n(Think: stolen credit card).\nA chargeback occurs when a cardholder disputes a credit card transaction with their bank.\nThe sale is revoked, and the merchant loses the sale amount plus fees.\n\nTruth is, only [30% of chargebacks](https://chargebacks911.com/chargeback-stats) involve criminal fraud.\nMost losses come from friendly fraud, or chargeback, first party, or return fraud.\nIn friendly fraud, the cardholder authorizes the purchase, but disputes it later.\n\n**Credit card companies favor the consumer in disputes, so it’s up to the merchant (you) to challenge invalid chargebacks.** It’s your word against theirs to win the sale back.\n\nSo, how to handle chargebacks effectively when they occur, without harming your business _or_ your customer relationships?\nThere are two options, really: Fight or ignore them.\n\n### The costs of ignoring chargebacks\n\nIt’s tempting to ignore chargebacks, especially if they have not yet impacted your business financially, but the reality is that they will.\nYou need to do two things:\n\n1. Take steps to protect your company from absorbing 100% of chargeback costs 2.\n   Seek to recover as much of your money as possible.\n\n**Why?\nThe actual cost of every dollar of fraud — including chargebacks — rises to nearly** [**3.5 times**](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/) **the sales price in industries where companies sell digital goods or function online.**\n\n“Friendly” fraud costs business owners [nearly $12 billion dollars a year](https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2014/0311/Friendly-fraud-Yes-it-exists).\nFor the full cost of chargebacks, [see our infographic](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/).\n\nThe risk is not just financial.\nToo many chargebacks — usually [more than 1%](https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2014/0311/Friendly-fraud-Yes-it-exists) of charges — can lead to the termination of your merchant account.\n\n## What is the chargeback process?\n\n1. The cardholder disputes a credit card charge with their bank.\n2. The bank sends a chargeback request to the credit card company, and takes the disputed amount from you, as well as a nonrefundable chargeback fee.\n   A temporary credit is issued to the cardholder.\n3. The credit card company asks you for evidence that the charge was valid.\n4. You/your team gathers the evidence.\n5. You/your team send a response with the evidence to the credit card company.\n6. The credit card company reviews the evidence, a process which can take up to 120 days.\n7. The credit card company resolves the chargeback.\n\n**In the simplest outcome, you or the customer wins.** If the cardholder wins the chargeback, you’re out the sales price and fees.\nIf you win the chargeback, some or all of the disputed amount is returned to you.\nLearn more in this [in-depth look at the chargeback process](https://www.signifyd.com/resources/fraud-101/chargeback-process-in-depth/).\n\n**Ideally, you prevent chargebacks from happening in the first place.** Your subscription billing systems, information gathered from banks/credit card companies, and customer service should be leveraged to reduce risk, loss, and fraud.\nRead [How to reduce chargebacks](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/), and [How businesses can avoid credit card fraud](/blog/how-businesses-can-avoid-credit-card-fraud/) for more information.\n\nWhen all else fails, however, your first defense is understanding the chargeback reason.\nHow you handle the chargeback depends on the reason given.\n(If in your research you find that the chargeback reason is accurate, then you have to accept the chargeback.)\n\n**The four major credit card networks classify chargebacks across** [**151 reason codes**](https://chargeback.com/chargeback-reason-codes/)**, that fall into the following 8 categories:**\n\n### 1 – Fraudulent\n\nThe cardholder claims that they didn’t authorize the charge.\nThis is the most common reason, and can happen if the card was stolen.\n\nAlthough criminally fraudulent charges are uncontestable, it is worth investigating these chargebacks if you think that the customer is mistaken or not telling the truth.\nThey may have forgotten the purchase, or a household member may have charged it (a possibility for many reason codes).\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Date and time the order was fulfilled\n- Billing info the customer used\n- IP address and location used (digital goods)\n- Proof that the customer profile was activated/verified\n- Proof of access/downloaded goods\n- Proof that the same device and card were used in previous undisputed transactions\n- Shipping and tracking info\n- Documentation of a relationship between order recipient and cardholder\n\n### 2 – Unrecognized\n\nThe cardholder doesn’t recognize the merchant name or location on their credit card statement.\n\nThis issue crops up when the descriptor that appears on the cardholder statement doesn’t match the business name they recognize.\nIt can also happen if the merchant uses a payment gateway; the merchant descriptor will begin with the gateway name, such as PayPal or Stripe.\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Same as “Fraudulent”\n\n### 3 – Duplicate\n\nThe customer believes you charged them twice for the same product or service.\nThis can occur if you have different subscriptions at the same price point.\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Proof that the charges were for separate products and services\n- Communication with the customer stating the same\n\n### 4 – Subscription canceled\n\nThe customer believes you charged them for a subscription after it should have been canceled.\nSometimes, the customer expects a reminder before each recurring charge and didn’t receive one – or forgot that they committed to a paid subscription after a free trial period.\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Your subscription cancellation policy\n- Proof of when/where the customer was shown the policy\n- Any communications with the customer about their cancellation\n- Proof that the customer accessed the digital product after they canceled their subscription\n- Proof that the customer canceled their subscription after the last charge\n\n### 5 – Product not received\n\nThe customer believes they did not receive the goods or services purchased.\nThe goods or services may never have been received due to a shipping error or loss, or more perniciously, the customer may be trying to get the product for free (also known as digital shoplifting or stealing).\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Date and time the order was fulfilled\n- Billing info the customer used\n- Shipping and tracking info\n- Proof that the customer accessed the digital product\n\n### 6 – Product unacceptable\n\nThe customer believes the product received was damaged, defective, or not as described.\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Same as “Product not received”\n- Documentation or pictures that prove products were as described\n- Proof that the customer didn’t try to return the product or cancel the service first\n- Proof that you replaced the customer’s product or service\n\n### 7 – Credit not processed\n\nThe customer claims that the purchased product was returned or transaction canceled, but you have not yet refunded or credited them.\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Proof that a refund was issued before the chargeback was made\n- Explanation why the customer was not entitled to a refund\n- Refund and return policies, and an explanation of when/where the customer was shown it\n- Any written communications with the customer about the refund\n\n### 8 – General\n\nThe chargeback doesn’t fit into any of the other seven category types.\n\n**Potential evidence:**\n\n- Date/time the order was fulfilled, and details about products ordered\n- Billing info the customer used\n- Customer’s IP address and country\n- Documented communications with the customer\n- Shipping and tracking info\n- Proof of prior refunds or replacement shipments\n\n## How else can you help resolve a chargeback?\n\n### Contact the customer before contesting the chargeback\n\nTactful customer service can go a long way toward clearing up a dispute.\nReach out to the consumer to try to resolve the issue and/or obtain more information about the chargeback reason.\n\n**_Don’t_** **refund a purchase once a chargeback has been filed, as you run the risk of losing both refund and chargeback amount.** If the customer agrees that the charge was valid, advise them to contact their bank and drop the chargeback.\n\nYou should still submit evidence to the credit card company, including documentation that the customer agreed to drop the dispute.\n\n### Decide whether you’ll challenge it\n\n[RFi Group](https://www.rfigroup.com/global-retail-banker/news/friendly-fraud-%E2%80%93-friends-these-who-needs-fraudsters/) recommends that businesses set a threshold below which friendly fraud chargebacks are not contested, since the cost, time and effort of defending a chargeback can exceed the benefits.\n\n**Don’t ignore all chargebacks as a policy, however.** Chargebacks that can be fought within reason, should be.\nChargebacks also provide valuable information on your customer’s experience and vulnerabilities in your process.\n\n### Take the chargeback as a learning opportunity to prevent future ones\n\nLook for red flags among your most common chargeback reasons. **Is there a gap or confusion in your customer experience that is triggering unnecessary chargebacks?** For more on customer experience and how you can work to improve it, head to our [customer onboarding post](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/).\n\nThe ideal is always to handle chargebacks quickly and cost-effectively, preserving both your revenue and your reputation. **Now that you know how to respond to chargebacks, the next step is to work on reducing them in the first place — our guide can help:**\n"},{"title":"Improve Your Dunning Emails With These 6 Tips","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-07-17","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"jessica-malnik","email":"jessica@jessicamalnik.com","name":"Jessica Malnik","summary":"[Jessica Malnik](https://www.jessicamalnik.com) is a content strategist and copywriter for SaaS and productized service businesses. Her writing has appeared on The Next Web, Social Media Examiner, SEMrush, BigCommerce, CMX, Help Scout, and Convince and Convert, among many other places."},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/good_dunning_emails.png","id":1617,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/how-to-write-dunning-emails","timeToRead":"5 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Improve Your Dunning Emails With These 6 Tips\n\nMost companies treat dunning emails like written contracts.\nThis no-nonsense, corporate approach could be doing more damage than not sending any emails at all.\n\nIt’s important to note that dunning emails shouldn’t be your first line of defense.\nThe best way to proactively fight churn is with [a data-driven retry strategy like ours](/thank-you/retry-strategy/).\nDunning emails come in after that, as a failsafe.\n\nIn this post, we are sharing six tips for how you can write dunning emails to retain more customers (and revenue) and even improve customer experience.\n\n## What’s dunning?\n\nIn [our glossary article](/blog/subscription-payment-processing-glossary/), we define dunning as:\n\n“the process of methodically communicating with customers to ensure the collection of accounts receivable.\nIn other words, it’s the process of retrying unsuccessful payment transactions.\nThis can be done automatically or manually, and might involve a “dunning discount” (which a merchant grants a customer in exchange for the balance being paid off, instead of being left unpaid).”\n\nMost business owners think failed payments are intentional because customers don’t want to pay their bill.\nHowever, this is usually not the case.\nThere are dozens of [reasons why a card is declined](/blog/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries.md).\nMost failed payments are accidents, happening because of things like:\n\n- An expired debit or credit card\n- Got a new credit card, but forgot to update it on their account\n- Their credit card was lost or stolen\n- New billing address\n- Hit their credit card limit\n- Simply forgot (i.e. vacation, got busy, etc)\n\n## 6 tips for writing better dunning emails\n\n### Optimize the subject line and preview text\n\n{% img src=\"./images/dunning_image_1.jpg\" alt=\"Dunning example image\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n**Did you know the average person receives** [**121 emails per day?**](https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/05/shocking-truth-about-how-many-emails-sent/) Most people decide whether or not to open an email based on the subject line and preview text – i.e. the one line of text that shows up in your inbox.\n\nHere are a few tips on how you can make the most of that space:\n\n- Use a compelling subject line\n- Optimize preview text\n- Tell people what you want to do, such as the two examples above from Amazon and GoDaddy\n\n### Send these emails from a real person\n\nAre you more likely to respond to an email from “Bob at Company XYZ,” or “<billing@companyxyz.com>?”\n\nAccording to a study by Pinpointe Marketing, companies that send emails from a specific person – such as Bob at Company XYZ – see [email open rates that are 15% higher](https://www.pinpointe.com/blog/best-email-send-from-address-name-or-company) than ones sent from a generic address or worse, a “no-reply” email.\n\nWhen customers receive an email from a real person like Bob, it makes your brand seem more accessible and builds trust.\nBecause they know the email was sent from a real person, they will be more likely to reply to this email if they have a question.\n\n### Write with empathy\n\nReceiving an overdue payment notification email can be embarrassing, and that feeling isn’t helped when the email has a robotic or corporate-sounding tone.\n\nAs you may recall, the biggest reasons that dunning occurs are involuntary, like an expired credit card or a new billing address.\nThe more friendly and empathetic you can be in your email, the more likely the recipient will respond positively and stick around as a paying customer.\n\n### Remind customers of the benefits of your product or service\n\nIt is helpful to remind people of the benefits that they are receiving whenever you ask them to re-input their payment information to keep them from having second thoughts about renewing their subscription.\n\nUse the P.S. section at the bottom of an email to include a quick tip or key benefit such as:\n\n- Talking about a new feature\n- Including a link to a customer success story\n- Sharing a blog post with some quick tips\n\n### Make it easy for customers to get their account in good standing again\n\nWith any email, the clearer the call-to-action (CTA) is, the more likely someone will complete it.\nDunning emails are no exception.\n\nHere are some good rules-of-thumb:\n\n- Include a prominent CTA button to update their payment information\n- Provide short, how-to style instructions right within the email body\n- If for some reason, this process will take someone longer than a minute to complete, set the proper expectations within the email copy.\n\n### Follow up (and follow up again)\n\nIf you don’t hear back right away, send at least three follow up emails over the course of a month.\nThe first follow-up email should be a few days later.\n\nWith each follow-up email, you can change up your messaging to employ more urgency and FOMO (i.e. fear-of-missing-out) tactics.\n\nThe simplest way to do this is to add urgency in the subject line like this example from StrongVPN.\n\n{% img src=\"./images/dunning_image_2.jpg\" alt=\"Dunning image\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nHowever, a more creative and less abrasive approach would be to consider sending some of the follow-up emails from the founder or CEO’s email address.\nYou can even ask for feedback within these emails.\n\n## Conclusion\n\nWe often refer to churn as a hole in your business’ bucket that customers can leak out of.\nIf that’s true, then strong dunning emails catch those customers as they leak and put them back in the bucket.\nDunning emails are part of life in a recurring revenue business, and following our six tips will help you collect more revenue and reduce involuntary churn.\n\n**The best approach to churn is one that also attempts to plug the hole in the leaky bucket, before the customers have a chance to exit.** Want to learn how?\nDownload our free Retry Strategy guide and learn exactly how to use data like decline codes and card types to decrease churn and increase your customer lifetime value by a minimum of 43%.\n\nGet started today:\n"},{"title":"Digital Subscription Products That You Can Sell With Zero Coding","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-07-10","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/digital_subscription_illustrations.png","id":1613,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/how-to-start-a-digital-subscription-business-without-code","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Digital Subscription Products That You Can Sell With Zero Coding\n\nYou’ve seen the numbers and you know that [subscription businesses are on the rise](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/). **You want a piece of that action — but there’s a problem.**\n\nYou’re not a coder, and you don’t have the capital to pay a developer or the time to learn how to code, so a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business is out of the question for now.\nAnd a physical subscription business feels overwhelming — you might want to tackle it later, but right now, you want to start with something digital, to simplify logistics and fulfillment.\n\nNot to fear. **We have three examples of non-SaaS — or “XaaS,” if you will — digital subscriptions below.** They can help you brainstorm some ways to start your very own subscription business.\n\n“XaaS” is an emerging term which means “anything as a service.” It’s a play on SaaS, which refers to software being accessed online through a subscription basis.\nXaaS refers to the now extremely wide range of products accessed through an online subscription outside of software, some of which we’ll talk about today.\n\nRead on to learn more about these products, see examples, and get started:\n\n## Content\n\n“Content” is an extremely broad umbrella.\nIf you think about it, pretty much everything on the internet is content, right?\nBut for the purposes of this article, we’ll use it as a catch-all term to cover downloadable or streaming media (whether written, video, audio, etc.).\n\nThere’s a chance you already use one or more of these in your day to day life, like…\n\n- Audible (audiobooks)\n- Hulu and Netflix (TV shows and movies)\n- Xbox Game Pass\n\nBut there are also examples that aren’t household names, which can include subscriptions like:\n\n- Digital magazines\n- Paywalled newsletters\n- A wealth of examples from indie artists, including paywalled novellas, comics, podcasts, and more — found everywhere from Patreon to Gumroad to self-hosted sites\n\n**Generally, you’ll find subscription-based content falls into two categories:**\n\n- Entertainment — fictional content designed mostly to entertain\n- Instructional — content that’s designed to educate you about a specific topic or teach you how to do a specific thing\n\nSometimes, as with larger companies that have a huge library of content, these two intersect.\nYou can watch a documentary on Hulu, or catch up on your favorite sitcom; Audible has _Lord of the Rings_ right next to the latest books on physics.\n\nFor most smaller businesses, though, you’ll choose one of these two areas to focus on.\nThere’s no hard and fast answer about whether it’s better to focus on entertainment or instruction.\nInstructional content can be an easier sell (especially when it involves giving your money to a relatively unknown person), but there are multiple examples of independent artists creating a thriving business — as long as they’re willing to market it and can consistently create content.\n\n**You may want to go this route if:**\n\n- You have ideas for stories to tell and either have a backlog of content created, or know you can keep up with a steady release schedule\n- You have a set of knowledge that you can break down into lessons for other people to consume\n- You’re skilled in some kind of media creation (whether it’s writing, audio/video production, art, or a combination)\n\n**Example content-based subscriptions:**\n\n- Friends at the Table is an actual-play RPG podcast [whose Patreon campaign](https://www.patreon.com/friends_table/posts) is based entirely on behind-the-scenes and exclusive content (and is currently just shy of $20,000/month)\n- [Money Words Monthly](https://www.moneywordsmonthly.com/) is a monthly B2B subscription, which sends templates that business owners can use to create sales and marketing content\n- [Revry](https://revry.tv/), a streaming video platform for independent LGBTQ+ filmmakers\n- [The Great Courses Plus](https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/), which offers a monthly subscription for streaming access to a library of college-level courses on topics ranging from philosophy to economics\n\n## Teaching/mentorship\n\nA teaching or mentorship subscription is typically either a group coaching or teaching program (with, for example, X group calls a month for $Y), or an individual coaching/subscription (X 1:1 lessons a month for $Y).\n\nOften, these subscriptions are combined with content — videos, worksheets, or other content that helps reinforce the lessons and gives the subscribers something to do.\nSometimes, the group calls and/or 1:1 time is the main product being provided.\n\n**The biggest difference between this and a content-based subscription (even if it’s instructional content) is that there’s an element of interactivity and personal time, even in a group call.** If you have a question about something in the lesson, you can ask the teacher, instead of trying to figure it out on your own.\nBecause of that, there’s often an added element of accountability — so people in these kinds of subscription programs may be more likely to take action on what they learn.\n\n**You may want to go this route if:**\n\n- You have a strong unique selling proposition and the ability to write compelling content that conveys why _you_ are the person someone should pay to learn about this\n- You have an existing customer base and/or email list to market to (as selling teaching and mentorship with you to people who already know who you are is going to be much easier than cold-selling someone)\n- You have case studies, professional credentials, or other things that you can showcase as a reason that your expertise is worth paying for\n- You’re a skilled communicator who can convey information in an effective, actionable, and easily-digestible way\n\n**Example teaching/mentorship subscriptions:**\n\n- [Frontier Tutoring](https://www.frontiertutoring.com/tutoring/buddy-pass) has one and two hour-per-week subscription options\n- [The Mom Center](https://www.graemeseabrook.com/the-mom-center) is a group-coaching program for mothers in need of support\n- [Ama La Vida](https://alvcoaching.com/personal-coaching/memberships/) offers group life coaching memberships\n\n## Community\n\nUsually, a community-based subscription looks like a forum or chat channel, where you can ask questions, get input, and chat with other people.\nThe key difference between a community-focused subscription and a teaching/mentorship-focused subscription is that the customer is paying for interaction with and access to their peers, as opposed to interaction with a teacher or mentor.\n\nThese are typically organized around a hobby or interest — especially more niche hobbies or interests.\nThey’re often combined with content or a very light amount of teaching, to create a business that’s relatively “hands-off” to run, but can still provide a lot of value to the members.\nAnd in many cases, there’s a free version available, but paying a subscription fee gets the user access to premium areas and/or forum features (custom emoji, a badge for their avatar, etc.).\n\n**You may want to go this route if:**\n\n- You feel passionately about or have recognized a specific group of people whose problems would be solved by having access to their peers\n- You’re more interested in fostering interaction between other people than creating content, teaching, or mentoring people\n- You’re willing to be active in the community and start conversations as it grows, to make sure that people are getting the most out of it\n\n**Example community subscriptions:**\n\n- [\\#Workfrom](https://workfrom.co/pro) is a paid Slack community for people who work remotely (or want to), with over 3,000 members\n- [The Bullish Society](https://society.getbullish.com/) is a subscription-based community for feminist business owners with an online forum and in-person meetups for members\n- [The Puttytribe](https://theputtytribe.com/email-waitlist/) is an online community for people with multiple passions and projects\n\n**There are a few other ways you can go with digital subscriptions, but the majority of digital subscription businesses are one of these three models — or some combination of them.**\n\n[Pencil Kings](https://www.pencilkings.com/) is a great example of a hybrid model.\nIt’s an art community which combines instructional content (including both longer lessons on specific topics, and bite-sized daily pieces of content) with community forums of peers for feedback and accountability, and access to a success team of coaches.\n\n**The options for digital subscriptions are endless.** Now that you’ve seen these examples, hopefully you have some ideas of how you can create your own and join the subscription economy today.\n\n**Once you’ve decided which path you want to take, make sure that you’re set up for success.** If you’re looking to start a subscription business or want to make sure you’re on the right track, check out our Six-Month Success Checklist.\nDownload it today and set yourself up to win:\n"},{"title":"How to Choose Your Subscription Pricing Model","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-07-02","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/SaaS_pricing_mistakes.png","id":1606,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/how-to-choose-subscription-pricing","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# How to Choose Your Subscription Pricing Model\n\nPricing can make or break a subscription business.\nObviously, you can’t just pick a number out of a hat.\nYou need to make sure that you’re pricing in a way that allows for sustainable business growth, while also enticing customers, while _also_ not leaving any money on the table.\n\n**Where should you start and what do you need to consider to protect your bottom line?** Read on to find out:\n\n## Pricing vocabulary: plans, formulas, and more, oh my!\n\nBefore we dig in too deep on the subject of pricing itself, let’s lay some groundwork for subscription-specific price terminology.\nThere are a few different terms to know:\n\n- **Pricing formula,** which is the way in which the price for a subscription is calculated — flat rate, metered, stair-step, etc. ([You can read our comprehensive guide to pricing formulas here](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/).)\n- **Pricing plan,** which is the rate that the customer pays, and is created by using one or more pricing formulas to create the final price.\n  For example, you might pay a flat-rate per user each month, but also pay a metered rate based on how many widgets you use every month.\n  That’s two pricing _formulas_, added together under one pricing _plan_.\n  A subscription business might have more than one pricing plan, each with a different price and different features.\n  For example, seeing plans that are “bronze/silver/gold” or “good/better/best” is fairly common.\n\nNow that that’s done, let’s move on to one of the biggest components in pricing successfully…\n\n## Cost vs. value\n\nAt the highest level, there are two big factors that you need to take into account when pricing your subscriptions:\n\n1. The value your customer gets from using the product\n2. The cost involved for you in creating/selling the product\n\nObviously, you need to make sure that you’re covering your costs…at least, if you want to be in business for very long.\nAt the same time, you need to have some idea of how much your customers value your product, to make sure you aren’t leaving money on the table.\n\n**Think about it:**\n\n- If you price your product at $200/month because that’s what _you_ think it’s worth, but the average customer doesn’t, then you’re unlikely to have enough customers to sustain your business.\n- If you price at $20/month because that covers your costs with a decent profit margin, you could be leaving money on the table if your customers would be willing to pay more.\n\n**Figuring out your costs and overhead is usually the simpler part of this problem.** If you need some help getting started, here’s a few guides:\n\n- [How to Calculate Gross Margin and COGS for Your SaaS Business](https://www.lightercapital.com/blog/calculating-gross-margin-for-your-saas-business/)\n- [How to Measure Your Business’s Profitability](https://business.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-measure-your-businesss-profitability--cms-20674)\n- [How To Find Product Gross Margin](https://glew.io/tip/how-to-find-product-gross-margin/)\n\n**When it comes to trying to pin down a number for the value your customers get from your product, here’s a few tips:**\n\n- Talk to your customers (or would-be customers) about the impact it has on their life.\n  Listen to not just the specific words they use to convey that impact, but how far reaching the impact has had — is it lowering their stress levels at work?\n  Making it easy for them to get more work done?\n  Does it free up time to spend with their children?\n- For certain products (B2B, or some B2C products if they’re related to finances, etc.), you can actually calculate the ROI for your product, which is an easy way to put a number to the value.\n  If 90% of your clients save $3,000 over six months of using your product…well, there you go!\n- Look at industry norms and what your competitors charge (more on that in a minute).\n\nYou can also test your prices over time ([read more about that here](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/)) to make sure that you aren’t leaving money on the table.\n\n## Industry norms\n\nYou shouldn’t set your prices based solely on what others in the industry are doing — but you _do_ need to at least be aware of it.\nIf most of your competitors are charging $10/month, and you want to charge $50/month, you need to be ready to prove to would-be customers why your product is worth more.\n\n**On the flip side, if your competitors are charging $50/month and you’re charging $10/month, you might still need to reassure customers.** People may be suspicious of a lower-priced offering — thinking it’s too good to be true or that it means the product is lower quality.\nDepending on the industry you’re in, customers may be especially suspicious.\nFor example, if it’s a product that’s protecting their business, a lower price may make them feel like their data is less safe.\n\nAs you’ll probably notice, this ties back into the value question from the previous section. **First time business owners often think that the lower they price their products, the better — after all, who doesn’t want a good deal, right?**\n\nThe reality is, if a would-be customer considers your service or product high-value, and the pricing is drastically lower than expected (compared to that value), they’ll often interpret that disconnect as a sign that something is amiss.\nLogical?\nAbsolutely not, but it’s how our brains work.\n\n**Want to learn more about the psychology of pricing and how it can impact your sales?** Check out these resources:\n\n- [One-Time Sale vs. Subscription: What Makes Customers Buy?](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/)\n- [Setting value, not price](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/setting-value-not-price)\n- [Pricing Psychology guide from Nick Kolenda](https://www.nickkolenda.com/psychological-pricing-strategies/)\n- [5 Psychological Studies on Pricing That You Absolutely MUST Read](https://neilpatel.com/blog/5-psychological-studies/)\n- [The Psychology of Pricing](https://www.quicksprout.com/psychological-pricing/)\n\n## Ease of explanation\n\nMany subscription companies go with either a fixed fee ($11.99/month for an ad-free Hulu account) or flat rate ($9.99/user/month for Asana Premium).\nWhile these pricing formulas might not always be the most profitable, they _are_ among some of the easiest to explain to customers.\n\nHowever, if you have a pricing plan that combines several pricing formulas, you need to make sure that it’s as easy to understand as possible.\nYou can see an example of this in Intercom’s pricing, which we discussed in [a previous post](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/):\n\n{% img src=\"./images/pricing_plans_how_to_Price-1024x540.jpg\" alt=\"How we price diagram\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\nBy having pricing plans that involve multiple pricing formulas, Intercom is making the most from every plan and covering all of their costs in the process.\nAt the same time, they need to explain all of the factors that go into the pricing plan, in a way that people can understand quickly.\nThat way, there aren’t any nasty surprises when the customer receives their invoice.\n\n**If you’re planning on using pricing that involves multiple formulas, you can use the following techniques to make it as clear as possible:**\n\n- Have a pricing calculator on the landing page\n- Include visual aids (like the Intercom graphic)\n- Have several customer examples and their final price\n\n## Pricing plans: How many is too many?\n\nHow many pricing plans should you offer?\nHow many billing schedules?\nMore options is always better, right?\nNot necessarily.\nIn general, [companies tend to stick to 3-5 plans](https://neilpatel.com/blog/saasy-pricing-strategies/), with occasional outliers of only one pricing option. **Having less pricing options has an obvious upside: your customers are less likely to get overwhelmed with options or suffer from decision paralysis.**\n\nThe downside is equally obvious. **If customers want features that aren’t available on that plan, then you’ve either lost a customer or you’re leaving money on the table.** The customer may sign up for your one available option, but they would have paid you 25% more every month for the additional features they want.\n\n**Sometimes, companies take this path early on, and add more plans later.** Groove is a notable example of this — [they switched to one pricing plan and had a huge jump in conversions afterwards](https://www.groovehq.com/blog/pricing-that-worked).\nSeveral years later, they now offer three pricing options.\n\nOn the other hand, offering more plans can sometimes increase conversion, especially when there’s [a “decoy” plan](https://humanhow.com/en/the-decoy-effect-complete-guide/) (which is essentially created to make the other plans look better).\nThe sweet spot seems to be around three plans, and definitely no more than five.\n\n### Don’t forget: The limitations of your billing software\n\n**On a purely logistical note, when you’re creating a pricing strategy, make sure that you’re taking billing software into account.** Many entry-level subscription billing software tools only allow for flat rate monthly subscriptions, so if you want to charge per user, by volume, or use another pricing formula, you may not be able to.\nIf a certain pricing style makes the most sense for your business and customers, make sure that you’re looking for a subscription billing tool that fits the pricing plan and your business, instead of the other way around.\n\n**Now that you’ve got a solid foundation for building your pricing strategy, learn more about how to get the most from every sale.**\n\nIt’s time to stop leaving money on the table and start optimizing your pricing.\nOur experiment list makes it easy to begin today:\n"},{"title":"Upselling 101: How to Make More From Every Sale","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-06-26","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/upselling_options.png","id":1589,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/how-to-upsell-subscriptions-to-customers","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Upselling 101: How to Make More From Every Sale\n\n**Getting subscribers is good, but getting more from them is better.** When you’re running a subscription-based business, you need to have a strong upselling strategy.\n\nBut…how do you create an upselling process that isn’t obtrusive and still entices customers to buy those add-ons or premium options?\nHow do you maximize your return on the payment process?\n\n## Do I really need an upselling strategy?\n\nIf your current website is converting fairly well, you might be wondering if you even need to think about upsells.\nThe short answer?\nYes.\nWhy?\n\nOne key reason is cost. **It’s considerably more expensive to obtain a new customer than it is to retain an existing one.**\n\nIn fact, according to the [Pacific Crest SaaS Survey](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/2015-saas-survey-part-1/):\n\n- It’s **68% more expensive** to acquire $1 from a new customer than it is to upsell to an existing customer.\n- It’s **9 times more costly** to acquire new customers than it is to retain current customers.\n\nWhen you’ve already won someone’s business and loyalty, it’s easier to convince a current customer to buy more at an extra cost.\nIt’s been proven that [70-95%](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/2015-saas-survey-part-1/) of revenue comes from upsells and renewals.\n\nYou’ve built a strong trust between your customers and your business.\nThey know you provide great service.\nIn fact, it’s [60-70%](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/cross-selling) more likely you’ll sell to an existing customer than you are to sell to a potential prospect.\n\n**So, you’re convinced it’s time to add an upselling process into your business…where do you start?**\n\n### Upselling vs. cross-selling\n\nBefore we move on, let’s take a moment to separate upselling and cross-selling — two terms that refer to similar techniques and are often misused interchangeably.\n\n**Upselling** refers to selling a customer on an upgraded version of the product they’re buying.\nYou might get a customer to buy the newest version of the laptop they were looking at, instead of the older version (or version with less storage, RAM, etc.).\nIn a subscription context, this usually refers to selling a customer on a more expensive plan than the one they were originally looking at — moving them from bronze to silver, or from silver to gold.\n\n**Cross-selling** is when you sell a customer different (usually complementary) products in addition to the original product they’re buying.\nIn the previous example, cross-selling could look like selling a laptop bag or case to go with the new laptop.\nIn a subscription context, this can be selling a subscription to a different product, or additions to a current subscription like a one-time course.\n\nWe’re going to talk more about cross-selling in a future post, but in the meantime, here’s how you can make the most of upselling:\n\n### Add (and clearly show) value\n\n**First things first:** upselling works best when you are offering something of value to your customers.\nThey’re more likely to add something to their purchase (or membership) when they know specifically how it applies to their situation.\n\nIn other words, make sure that you’re offering upsells that make sense.\nYour customer will feel more understood (and will be more likely to convert) if the upsell speaks to them, their needs, and how the upsell adds value to their life.\n\nOn that note: make sure the value is _very_ clearly explained.\nFocus on the benefits to them — and how it can boost the effectiveness of the plan they’re already on.\n\n**One last note: when creating upsell packages, make sure to price accordingly.** Customers are unlikely to make huge monetary jumps from what they’re already spending on your product or service.\nUpsold products or services generally shouldn’t increase their purchase total by more than [25%.](https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/tips-for-upselling-a-lesson-from-mcdonalds/)\n\n### Understand your customer and time the upgrade accordingly\n\n**When selling add-ons and upgrades, timing is everything.** Because of this, you need to understand the behavioral data of your customers.\nIt’s important to know how your current customers are using your product or service, in order to target your upgrades.\n\nLook at customer data to see how many times they are logging in, how long they are spending on your website/app, and what tasks they’re doing when they log in.\nIt’s also easy to offer automatic upgrade options on milestones — like their year anniversary.\n\nTools like [FullStory](https://www.fullstory.com/) can help you analyze customer data and understand user behavior (both through the checkout flow and in your app, if you’re a SaaS company).\nAnd it’s easy to set up automated offers based on signup time in most email marketing tools.\n(If you want to learn more about using data in marketing, [we’ve written about that before](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/), as well as [using customer data to create a better experience](/blog/how-to-use-customer-data-to-provide-better-service).)\n\nDepending on [what your pricing formula is](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/), the way you time your upsell offers will vary a little bit.\n\nFor example:\n\n- If your pricing formula is based on seats (how many users are allowed on a plan at any given time), you can trigger an automated email to send to them when they reach their seat limit, letting them know they can upgrade to get more users.\n- If your pricing is based on volume, you can send a reminder email to people that are on the brink of hitting their limit, reminding them that they’re about to run out of (your product) for the month…unless they upgrade.\n- For volume-based plans, you can also test upselling to people who are consistent users — if someone has had four meals delivered per week for the last three months, you might suggest jumping to the six meal a week plan, for a reduced cost per-meal.\n- If your pricing formula uses a combination of factors, then you could set up automated triggers or campaigns for when someone is about to max out on more than one of the factors.\n  If your SaaS has a plan with three seats and ten widgets a month, and someone is at three seats and has used eight of their widgets for the month, it might be time for an upgrade email.\n\n### Automatic upsells: Self-service and checkout\n\n**Savvy customers will know when it’s time to upgrade.** And when they do, you’ll want to make the upgrade process as user-friendly as possible.\nBy building an “Upgrade Now” option into your customer portals, you allow customers to upgrade on their schedule.\n\nOnce it’s possible to customers to upgrade on their own, you can add in small reminders to encourage them to do so.\nA few examples:\n\n- A note in the footer of your customer emails that says something like, “Your account offers XYZ features — if you want ABC features, you can upgrade here”\n- An unobtrusive message on the user portal (or in the portal for updating payment methods, or on their subscription receipt…you get the idea) that says “Upgrade to the X plan for only $Y more,” with a link (or dropdown menu, etc.) providing more details on what they get by upgrading\n- If your subscription product is app-based, having icons for premium features that are greyed out, with a note that they can get access to the features by upgrading their plan\n\nThe key here is doing this without annoying your customer. **Never make it harder to finish the checkout process for the sake of upselling.**\n\n### As always: Listen to your customers\n\nListening to what your customers are saying about your product or service and engaging with them is never a bad idea, and that holds true here as well.\nIn addition to building stronger relationships, reviewing customer feedback can show you opportunities for upsells and other new products.\n\nFor example, if you consistently get feedback that customers love Product A, but wish that it came with Additional Feature B, that’s a natural item for you to upsell.\n\nWhen you put the customer’s needs first, you will always win.\nBy understanding your customers’ behaviors and listening to their needs, you’re in a better position to serve them — and have a more successful business doing so.\n\n**Now that you’ve tackled the upselling side of things, don’t neglect the other parts of your pricing strategy.** Our price optimization guide has a list of steps you can take right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nYou can download it now and get started today:\n"},{"title":"Three Ways to Use Customer Data in Your Subscription Business","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-06-20","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"jessica-malnik","email":"jessica@jessicamalnik.com","name":"Jessica Malnik","summary":"[Jessica Malnik](https://www.jessicamalnik.com) is a content strategist and copywriter for SaaS and productized service businesses. Her writing has appeared on The Next Web, Social Media Examiner, SEMrush, BigCommerce, CMX, Help Scout, and Convince and Convert, among many other places."},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/metrics_provide_better_service-1.png","id":1584,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/how-to-use-customer-data-to-provide-better-service","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Three Ways to Use Customer Data in Your Subscription Business\n\nRunning a business online means that you have access to unprecedented amounts of customer data.\nYou’re probably using some of it to learn more about your customers and who they are…but you can do so much more.\n\nRead on to find out how to make the most of the data you have, and use it to create a stronger business as a result:\n\n## Get a holistic view of your customers\n\nHaving access to a wealth of data can also mean it’s disorganized, spread out among dozens of sources, and hard to analyze.\nThis, in turn, can make it harder to actually _use_ that data (and teach your team how to, as well). **The key to adopting a data-driven mindset is to start early and make it easy.**\n\nThere are a few ways to do this:\n\n- Making sure you have Google Analytics (and Tag Manager) set up from the get-go, to start collecting data on who your customers are, where they’re finding you, and how they’re using your site ([this course can you get started](https://measureschool.com/products/google-analytics-course/))\n- Invest in an integrated CRM like Salesforce, Hubspot, or Zoho\n- Use a customer communication tool that works for every part of the buyer’s journey, from visitor to prospect to customer (like Intercom)\n\nThe idea is that anyone on your team should be able to see every interaction a customer has had with you.\nThis includes:\n\n- The details of their subscription plan and any changes to it (upgrading/downgrading)\n- How long they’ve been a customer\n- Support tickets they’ve submitted and when\n- Live chats,\n- Social media replies\n- …And so on\n\nOnce you and your team have all of your customer data in a centralized (and easy to access) source, you can start actually making use of it.\n\n**For example, let’s say you look at the data and notice that around 90 days, people tend to churn.** However, if they make it to 100 days, they tend to stick around for a year or more.\nBased on this, you could create a new plan to make sure customers are onboarded and actively using your product by three months in.\n\nYou might even notice that churn rates vary depending on the way the customers found you, or what industry they’re in — this is another reason to track your [leads by cohorts](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/), as we’ve previously discussed.\n\n## Invest in providing a great customer experience\n\nHave you ever called support and then spent several minutes answering automated questions, before waiting on hold for another ten minutes, and then when you do get an agent on the line, you have to answer the same questions you already did earlier?\n\n**Nobody likes phone trees, waiting on hold, or repeating themselves — especially not frustrated customers.** The good news is, it’s easy to fix.\n\nOne potential solution is to sync your support channels with your customer database and eliminate redundant questions.\nFor example, Zapier connects most of the major CRMs and support platforms, so that you can do things like [automatically sync Hubspot changes to Zendesk](https://zapier.com/apps/hubspot/integrations/zendesk/8332/update-zendesk-tickets-when-hubspot-properties-change).\n\n## Offer proactive and contextual support\n\n**The best way to support your customers is by resolving an issue before they have to contact you.** Keep an eye your product usage data and look for patterns in rage-clicks (as [Fullstory](https://www.fullstory.com/) puts it).\nOnce you have enough data, you can use it to improve the underlying issues.\nThis might look like revamping the user interface, creating a series of in-app messages, or recording how-to videos, but either way, it’ll make your customers’ lives easier.\n\n**Tools like** [**Intercom**](https://www.intercom.com/) **or** [**RightMessage**](https://rightmessage.com/) **also let you create automated messages that reach out to customers based on their actions on your site (or in your app).** Let’s say you notice a segment of customers that landed on the same support page three times in the last week.\nThat would be a great action to trigger an email offering a 1:1 call to walk them through how to make the most of that specific feature.\nOr, maybe you could send a case study of how someone else in their industry successfully used that feature.\n\n**The possibilities are limitless, as long as you’re focused on what the customer needs in this moment, and how you can help them get there.** Another way to do this is via contextual support — also possible using tools like Intercom.\nOne example: if a user who signed in for the first time is on a specific page for more than a set amount of time, you can create an automated message to ask them if they need help (or to give a pointer on a common sticking point with that feature).\nYou can incorporate automations like this into your [customer onboarding sequences](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) to make them more effective (and create happier, longer-lasting customers as a result).\n\n**You can find another data-mine in your on-site searches.** These are the terms that people search for on your site, whether on your blog, support page, product pages, or somewhere else.\n(For a quick tutorial on how to do that using Google Analytics, see [Content Marketing Analytics: 9 Ways to Use Data To Transform Your Strategy](https://neilpatel.com/blog/google-analytics-content-marketing/).\nYou can also read about how to do it with a WordPress plugin in [Find out what people are searching for on your WordPress site](https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/find-out-what-people-are-searching-for-on-your-wordpress-site/).)\n\nIf you’re seeing the same searches over and over again, it might be time to beef up your support documentation, by doing things like:\n\n- Adding new support articles\n- Changing the titles of support articles related to the recurring issue (people might not realize the article answers their question)\n- Adding supporting photos/videos/gifs to support articles you already have\n\nOnce you’ve done that, make sure that it’s easy for customers to access that information.\nThat might be a self-service customer service bot, or an easy-to-find (and search) knowledgebase, or both.\nOf course, you can use this same technique for oft-submitted support tickets, too.\nCreating more comprehensive support documentation is never a bad idea, and doing it based on what your customers need only makes it a better strategy.\n\nWith these tips, you can create longer-lasting relationships with customers, which in turn means you’re creating a longer-lasting subscription business. **Want to learn about more ways to improve your bottom line with data?** Download our free guide and learn exactly how to use data like decline codes and card types to increase your customer lifetime value by a minimum of 43%.\n"},{"title":"Avoid Credit Card Fraud With Our 8-Step Checklist","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-06-13","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"minimizing-risk","label":"Minimizing Risk"},{"id":"security","label":"Security"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/solopreneur_avoid_card_fraudes.png","id":1572,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/how-businesses-can-avoid-credit-card-fraud","timeToRead":"9 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Avoid Credit Card Fraud With Our 8-Step Checklist\n\n**Have $46,000 to spare?** That’s the average total of direct and indirect costs of SMB businesses trying to recover from [credit card fraud](https://startupnation.com/manage-your-business/avoid-credit-card-fraud/).\n\n## The scope of the problem\n\nTypically, the hackers and scammers who specialize in credit card fraud use one of two tactics:\n\n1. Focusing an attack one large company, as when Target suffered a data breach involving [70 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/business/target-breach-affected-70-million-customers.html) credit and debit cards.\n2. Striking at multiple ATMs and small businesses, affecting thousands of people, one card at a time.\n\nThat second tactic is where your business potentially becomes a victim.\n\nFor solopreneurs or small-to-medium-sized business (SMB) owners who don’t have the financial cushion of larger corporations, recovery from credit card fraud can be financially devastating.\nThe effects are long-ranging, from immediate recovery to trying to fix a damaged reputation.\n\n**Before we continue, it’s worth noting that not all fraud is criminal.** Some of it is [friendly fraud](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/), caused by buyer’s remorse or forgetfulness.\nYou can read more about [friendly fraud and disputes here](/docs/automations/disputes-and-fraud.md), and more about [how to prevent friendly fraud here](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/).\n\n**When it comes to fraud, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.** That prevention can take several forms, and experts aren’t 100% agreed on which ones are the best.\nFor example, EMV (chip) technology has, according to [Visa](https://losspreventionmedia.com/chip-technology-is-effective-in-preventing-credit-card-fraud/), dropped the dollar amount of credit card fraud by 76 percent.\nOn the other hand, some industry gurus think that chip technology simply shifted the problem from in-person transactions to card-not-present and new account transactions.\n\n**The one thing everyone is clear on is that as a business owner, you can’t rely on anyone else to protect you.** You need to have a fraud prevention plan in place, and actively take steps to protect your business.\nHere’s how you can get started:\n\n## Four ways to prevent credit card fraud…that anyone can do\n\nWhen you start looking into fraud prevention, it’s easy to get confused and overwhelmed immediately.\nThe good news is that you don’t have to know everything there is to know about fraud right now.\nThere are some simple things you can do to protect yourself immediately, starting with…\n\n### One: Know what modern fraud looks like\n\nMake sure that you’re up to date on both the hallmarks of fraud and what modern-day ecommerce scams look like, ranging from [affiliate fraud](https://esellercafe.com/5-types-of-fraudulent-schemes-that-can-occur-in-ecommerce-in-2019/) to [refund fraud and card testing](https://www.chargebackgurus.com/blog/the-5-types-of-e-commerce-fraud).\n\nAdditionally, be aware of [social engineering and what a social engineering attack looks like](https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/what-is-social-engineering), where someone might obtain credit card numbers through persuasion, or talk their way past security measures meant to prevent fraud. “Credit card fraud” isn’t as simple as someone using a stolen card any more — fraud prevention and security requires learning about, and planning for, for these other scenarios, too.\n\n### Two: Train your team\n\nYour team is your first line of defense against online fraud.\nIn addition to the realities of modern fraud that we’ve already discussed, your team members should be trained in:\n\n- Who to contact in the event of a fraudulent purchase getting through, and what information to provide to them\n- What [the potential red flags are](https://chargebacks911.com/fraud-red-flags/) for a fraudulent purchase and how to spot them\n- What specific decline codes mean (especially “Stolen Card”), and what your company does for each one (For more about how to lower decline rates, [head here](/blog/how-to-reduce-customer-credit-card-decline-rates/), and for more about transaction response codes, [head here](/blog/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries/).)\n- If applicable: how to use tech-related prevention tools like the ones we talk about in the second half of this post — blocklists, risk scoring, etc. — and what your company protocols are around each one\n\n### Three: Help customers to protect themselves\n\nCustomers may be leery about the information they share with you, so be selective in what you ask for.\nMany customers are also well-educated about the risks of divulging information to a caller and will not sign up for or purchase anything unless they initiate the transaction.\n\nMake sure your business model supports customers in protecting themselves.\nYou can do this by:\n\n- Tell your customers how you’ll contact them, and what information you’ll ask for (for example, having a note on your customer service page that says “Our email address is <example@example.com>, and when we contact you via email, we’ll never ask you to send your credit card number via email”)\n- Include a fraud-prevention note in your customer emails about [what phishing is and what it looks like](https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/what-is-phishing)\n- Encourage customers to create strong passwords for logins, if applicable for your business\n- Make good use of [dynamic descriptors](/docs/settings/set-up-a-gateway.md#configure-card-statement-descriptions) (the descriptions that show up on a billing statement), which can remind customers who charged them (so they’re less likely to file a dispute and know who to contact if they want a refund)\n\n### Four: Know what to do if fraud happens\n\nThere’s a wealth of material online to help customers report fraudulent businesses; make sure you know how to respond when your business is attacked by fraudulent customers.\nIn the world of brick-and-mortar employment, there’s the idea of an emergency response plan — the idea being that this plan is already created, discussed with employees, and is posted where anyone can see it.\nNow, in the event of an emergency, everyone knows what to do and can proceed in an orderly fashion, instead of panicking and trying to create an emergency plan on the spot.\n\n**As an online business owner, you need a fraud response plan, even if you hope to never use it.** For example, if you suspect a fraudulent transaction, you’ll want to alert:\n\n- Your credit card processor\n- The issuing bank\n- Legal authorities, if applicable (police and/or a lawyer), depending on the laws around online business in your locality\n\nYou can also familiarize yourself with the rules card issuers have in place for handling fraudulent transactions, and the penalties for not processing fraudulent transactions.\nFor example, if your payment gateway does not ask for the CVC code or zip code verification, your responsibility for credit card fraud increases.\n\n## Round two: Preventing (and fighting) fraud automatically with technology\n\nThe steps in the previous section can be done by anyone — regardless of what their subscription tech stack looks like.\nNo matter who your payment gateway, merchant account provider, or subscription billing management tool is, you can do the tasks above.\n\nThis next section has some more specific steps.\nDepending on the details of how your subscription business is set up, you might not be able to customize things like blocklists, or use risk-scoring.\nHowever, it’s still worth learning about more advanced fraud prevention tips.\nThat way, when you _are_ on a subscription billing tool that has the below capabilities (if you’re looking for one, [we have some ideas](/solutions/payments/)), you can take these additional steps to protect yourself.\n\n### Five: Set up risk scoring\n\nRecognize normal behavior patterns so that you can spot behaviors that are out of the ordinary.\nWhether you [collect customer data](/product/reporting-automation/) online or from in-person transactions, knowing your customers enables you to fine-tune your own [risk scoring](/solutions/payments/) and your processing company’s fraud filters.\n\nThe way risk scoring works is by assigning a number value (the score) to a transaction based on a number of parameters (more on that in a minute).\nIf the score is over a certain value (let’s say, 30), then the transaction is either automatically blocked or flagged for manual review by a team member.\n\nThe [basic risk scoring parameters we suggest](/docs/rebilly-faqs.md#how-can-i-fight-fraud-with-rebilly) include:\n\n- Transaction velocity (how many transactions from a single source you accept with a certain time period)\n- Whether the issuing bank country matches the customer’s geographic location (someone with an IP address from the United States is attempting a purchase with payment information based in Brazil)\n- Whether the billing address country matches the customer’s geographic location (someone with a billing address from the U.S. is attempting a purchase, but based on their IP, they’re in Brazil)\n\n### Six: Use blocklists\n\n**If you can, setting up blocklists is a great way to automate your fraud prevention.** Blocklists are exactly what they sound like — if a would-be customer matches an item on the blocklist, they’re permanently barred from buying.\nBlocks can also be temporary, by setting up a TTL (Time to live) when configuring the blocklist.\n\nBoth types of lists can be matched with any number of identifying factors, including but not limited to:\n\n- Device fingerprints\n- Credit card numbers\n- IP addresses\n\nWhether something goes on a blocklist depends on what attribute it is you want to block, and why.\nIf it’s a residential IP address (which changes frequently), you might want to do a 7-day block (which would mean putting the IP address on a blocklist with a TTL setup).\nOn the other hand, if you have a credit card number that you know is stolen, to the blocklist it goes.\nTo learn more about blocklists and how to use it to prevent chargebacks, [head here](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/).\n\n### Seven: Take advantage of 2FA\n\n2FA, or “two factor authentication,” relies on a second factor to verify a person’s identity.\nExample: a user logs in, enters their password, and is then sent a six-digit code via text message.\nThey enter in the code to prove their identity, making it harder for someone to steal a password and log in (since the thief would need access to both the password _and_ the phone to successfully log in).\n\nYou can make use of this in two ways:\n\n- Setting up 2FA for you and your team, making it harder for someone to hack your store.\n  (To read about how this works in Rebilly, [head here](/docs/settings/users.md#configure-your-user-profile).\n- Setting up 2FA for customers, using something like [Authy](https://authy.com/) or Google Authenticator.\n  That way, before customers can login and update payment or shipping information, there’s an extra step of identity verification.\n\n### Eight: Use 3D Secure\n\n3D Secure is an extra security step that you can take to shift your liability for certain chargebacks onto the issuing bank.\nYou can read more about how to set it up at the following providers:\n\n- [Verified by Visa](https://usa.visa.com/run-your-business/small-business-tools/payment-technology/verified-by-visa.html)\n- [Mastercard SecureCode](https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/merchants/safety-security/securecode.html)\n- [American Express SafeKey](https://network.americanexpress.com/globalnetwork/safekey/us/en/)\n\n**These steps don’t guarantee you won’t be a victim of fraud — but they can help prevent it.** For more tips on fraud prevention and strengthening your security, check out these other posts:\n\n- [Stop Losing Money to Chargebacks — Here’s How](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/)\n- [How to Automate Your PCI Compliance](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/)\n- [How to Avoid the Most Common Subscription Business Struggles](/blog/common-subscription-business-struggles-and-how-to-fix-them/)\n- [The Full Cost of Chargebacks (Infographic)](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/)\n- [Subscription Billing Challenges: Payment Processing](/blog/subscription-billing-challenges-payment-processing/)\n\n**Want more tips on how to sort true fraud from “friendly” fraud, and increase your CLV as a result?**\n\nOur Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes and card types to increase successful charges and your customer lifetime value—to the tune of 43% or more.\nGet it for free below:\n"},{"title":"How Millennials are Shaping the Future of Ecommerce","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-06-06","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/millenials_shape_future.png","id":1537,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/marketing-subscriptions-to-millennials","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How Millennials are Shaping the Future of Ecommerce\n\n_This is the third in a series of three posts on the future of payments.\nCheck out the other posts to see what the_[_near future looks like_](/blog/whats-trending-with-payments/) _and_ [_what subscription businesses will look like in 2030_](/blog/subscriptions-in-2030/)_._\n\nTo thrive as a subscription-based business, you need to understand the buying patterns of your consumers.\nThis is especially true for millennials — those people born between 1981-1996.\nThey’re now the largest generation in national history, representing [92 million U.S. consumers](https://www.drugstorenews.com/news/connecting-millennials-retail/).\n\n## Millennials in the marketplace\n\nAs a group, millennials have high disposable incomes and control more than [$600 billion](https://www.drugstorenews.com/news/connecting-millennials-retail/) in annual buying power.\nBy 2020, they’re are forecasted to spend [$1.4 trillion](http://business.time.com/2013/09/11/millennial-shoppers-big-on-browsing-not-splurging/) annually, accounting for 30% of total retail sales.\n\n**In particular, millennials are more likely than other generations to** [**consider subscription-based services**](https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2019/how-us-millennials-are-shaping-online-fmcg-shopping-trends.html)**.** Close to [33% of millennials](https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/ecommerce/how-millennials-are-shaping-the-future-of-retail/) report being members of at least one retail subscription service.\nThis means millennials (and their purchasing habits) can have a significant impact on the economy and on _your_ business, specifically.\n\nAs a group, millennials grew up just as personal computers were becoming ubiquitous and as technology was becoming more accessible.\nThey’re plugged in and use digital devices in most areas of their lives, including communication and purchasing. **When it comes to the buying experience, they are tech-savvy and expect convenience, personalization, and transparency.**\n\nIt won’t surprise anyone that millennials prefer to conduct business online.\nWith that said, in order to drive growth, businesses will have to work smarter and adapt their technology strategies to suit the needs of this generation.\n\n**Putting millennials at the center of your business today can help you succeed in tomorrow’s ecommerce space.** So, what can you do as a company to win and keep their business?\n\n## **Develop a convenient buying experience**\n\nMillennials expect a seamless, convenient, and hassle-free online purchasing experience.\nThey are quick to move on to the next retailer if the buying process is too complicated or time consuming.\n\nIn addition to a quick and easy checkout, shipment speed is also important.\nA slow delivery (or simply a lack of information on when a product will be delivered) can be a dealbreaker.\n\nMillennials make purchases on the go — to the tune of [40% of their purchases happening on a phone](https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2019/how-us-millennials-are-shaping-online-fmcg-shopping-trends.html).\nTheir payment trends are leaning heavily toward digital wallets, with [nearly half of millennials](https://www.businessinsider.com/nearly-half-of-millennials-have-used-a-mobile-wallet-2016-9) having used a mobile wallet.\n\nDigital wallets are even more convenient than a payment card, storing payment information securely on one’s device.\nSince most people around this age carry smartphones, their digital wallet is accessible at all times.\n\nThis is why a sophisticated, user-friendly mobile purchase experience is essential in today’s ecommerce environment.\nA seamless digital payment experience will win millennials over, time and time again.\n\n## **Offer personalized attention**\n\nMillennials want to be valued. **In return, they’ll be loyal customers.** To help them feel valued, businesses are taking a more personalized approach when creating customer experiences.\n\nOne easy way to get started is to offer loyalty campaigns.\nIn fact, [78%](https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/marketing-to-millennials-ecommerce/#millennials-are-interested-in-brands) of millennials will buy from a brand with a loyalty program over a brand without one.\n\nAlong the same lines, millennials respond to targeted offers, such as exclusive discounts and deals.\nPersonalized offers translate into a higher conversion rate and increased sales.\n\nThis can affect every part of your business, including marketing and advertising:\n\n- [Using targeting and segmentation in your email marketing](https://audienceops.com/email-list-segmentation/), to make sure that you’re sending out the most relevant communication and offers possible\n- Incorporating a [solid retargeting strategy](https://buffer.com/resources/retargeting) into your [PPC ad campaigns](/blog/how-to-use-pay-per-click-ads-for-subscriptions/), so that people are getting ads that match their specific wants and needs\n- Creating a [customer onboarding process](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) that meets new customers where they’re at and gives them the help they need to see the value in your product\n\n## **Create an exceptional brand experience**\n\nFor millennials, it’s all about the experience and sharing it in real-time with others through social channels.\nThey rarely shy away from promoting products and services they love.\nIn fact, [44% of millennials](https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/02/marketing-to-millennials) are willing to promote products or services through social media in exchange for rewards.\n\nMillennials trust other shoppers much more than brands, often looking for guidance in online reviews and social posts before making a purchasing decision.\nAnd, as the first generation to grow up on social media, it’s not uncommon for a millennial shopper to have thousands of followers who are watching and listening. **That’s why it’s critical to give your customers the best experience possible.**\n\n### Tell a story and make a social impact\n\nMillennials want to connect with brands.\nThey’re turned off by sales speak, but stories resonate with and drive them to buy.\n\nMillennials want to feel like they’re making a difference, so they buy from socially conscious and transparent businesses.\nIf your company can show that it has a higher purpose, one that isn’t just “making money,” it can foster trust and loyalty with millennials.\n\nAsk yourself, “Does my company have a purpose outside of making money?\nIs that purpose communicated on our website and other collateral?” If the answers are no, it’s time to figure out how you can change that.\n\n### Get active on social media\n\nTo reach and engage millennials on a group, you don’t just need an online presence — you need one on social media.\nThey’ll have a conversation about a brand on social media whether the brand is on the platform or not, both before and after the sale.\nIn fact, [59% of millennials use social to share their purchasing experiences, and 41% of them _only_ use social media to make these recommendations](https://neilpatel.com/blog/connecting-with-millennial-shoppers/).\n\n**It’s in a business’s best interest to be aware of what consumers are saying online about their brand as well as the competition’s brand.** This allows businesses to adjust their products, services, and business strategies to meet the market demand.\n\n### Read and respond to their feedback\n\nMillennials are always willing to share their thoughts, especially using social media or online reviews.\n\n[40% of millennials](https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/ecommerce/how-millennials-are-shaping-the-future-of-retail/) read both positive and negative feedback for nearly every product or service before deciding to purchase.\nBecause of this, businesses need to be actively engaged and address any complaints in a timely matter.\nTaking action quickly can save your reputation and possibly turn an irate consumer into an avid promoter of your brand.\n\nReading reviews, promptly responding, and improving whenever possible will take your business to the next level — and guarantee you long-term customers.\n\n**Now that you understand how millennials are shaping the future of ecommerce, learn what you need to do to plan for your business’s future.** If you’re looking to start a subscription business or want to make sure you’re on the right track, check out our Six-Month Success Checklist.\nDownload it today and set yourself up to win:\n"},{"title":"What Issues Will Subscription-Based Products Face in 2030?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/future_2030.png","id":1525,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/subscriptions-in-2030","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# What Issues Will Subscription-Based Products Face in 2030?\n\n_This is the second in a series of three posts on the future of payments.\nSee what the_ [_near future looks like_](/blog/whats-trending-with-payments/) _and come back next week, when we look at how millennials are impacting e-commerce._\n\nThe subscription industry has [greatly expanded](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/) over the last decade, bringing with it box services, cloud services, and streaming media.\n\nJust think back to 2009: Netflix was primarily a DVD distributor, AWS was still a burgeoning service and Blue Apron was still three years away from founding.\n\nLife comes at you fast, and in the future, it will be faster.\n\nWhat will the subscription industry look like in 2030?\nIt’s impossible to say for sure, but we have an idea:\n\n- Mobile focused\n- Digital payments\n- Niche strategies\n- New markets\n\n## Mobile first\n\nIn 1980, [analysts predicted](http://digital-stats.blogspot.com/2014/07/mckinsey-company-projected-that-there.html) that by the year 2000 the number of cell phone subscribers in the US would grow to 900,000.\nIt ended up being 109 million.\n\nBy 2012, the number of cell phone subscribers worldwide [climbed to 1 billion](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-number-of-smartphone-users-tops-1-billion/).\n\nWe’re in a mobile-heavy environment now, but the future will be mobile-centric.\n\nMobile technology has had such a dramatic impact on our lives that it’s contributing to all 17 of the United Nations [Sustainable Development Goals](https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs).\n\nIt’s been especially impactful on emerging markets:\n\n- Mobile banking is [reshaping the African economy](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2018/12/27/following-mobile-moneys-rise-in-africa-mobile-banking-is-now-booming/#5d236d99cf3d) and creating an environment of financial inclusion.\n  Google Pay is the [third most downloaded iOS app](https://www.similarweb.com/apps/top/apple/store-rank/in/all/top-free/iphone) in India.\n- Educational apps are improving lives and accessibility.\n  Subscription apps like [Bright’s English for Beginners](https://engbright.com/) (over 20 million downloads) are bridging the education divide.\n- Whatsapp has simplified international communication by making it easy for people to stay in touch without paying standard phone bill rates.\n\nThis is prime real estate for subscription businesses.\n\n### Example 1\n\n[Typeform](https://www.typeform.com/forms/) is a SaaS that creates stylish forms to better capture data.\nThey started as a web-based product intended for desktop use, but found they weren’t giving their users what they wanted.\n\nThe Typeform team started with customer habits and built a product with them at the center.\nBy doing so, they created the [Typeform LITE mobile app](https://www.typeform.com/blog/inside-story/typeform-lite-the-making-of-a-new-mobile-app/).\nAfter debuting it, signups went well – at times surpassing desktop use.\nInstead of having their customer base only able to use their product sometimes, they unlocked the option to access it all the time.\n\n**Then, there’s the rise of augmented reality.** Unlike virtual reality, AR is mobile-focused and there is no clunky headset that tether users to a machine.\nThe potential to provide subscription services is great – and with better customer engagement.\nIt’s niche technology, so it’s unknown exactly what the industry will look like, but the growth opportunities are significant.\n\n### Example 2\n\nMajor League Baseball has implemented in-stadium AR features as part of the wildly popular [At-Bat app](https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-to-use-augmented-reality-to-enhance-data-c258179374) (annual $19.99 subscription), allowing fans to see real-time data and statistics from their seat.\n\nAR is still relatively nascent, but the potential is great.\n\n### Key takeaways\n\n- At the very least, make sure you have a mobile-friendly site and checkout process.\n- Consider whether your product’s mobile presence could be improved by a responsive site or a dedicated app.\n\n## All digital payments\n\nWe’ve discussed some of the [ins and outs](/blog/whats-trending-with-payments/) of where digital payment technology is headed in the near future and how they’ll impact the subscription industry. **The end of the next decade, however, could be even more exciting.**\n\nMobile wallets are already here and should become even more ubiquitous in the future.\nSixty-four percent of consumers [plan to use a mobile wallet](https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/PDF-62/Accenture-Driving-the-Future-of-Payments-10-Mega-Trends.pdf#zoom=50) in 2020, a thirty-nine percent increase from today.\n\nIf you’re not already accepting them, you should put it on your to-do list today.\n\nThe most interesting development around digital payments will be blockchain, called the [5G of the payment industry](https://www.computerworld.com/article/3378063/how-blockchain-is-becoming-the-5g-of-the-payment-industry.html).\nBitcoin and various other cryptocurrencies have sparked a wave of innovation and investment in related FinTech startups.\n\nIt has [challenges](/blog/challenges-for-cryptocurrency-subscription-billing/), but the benefits to business and customer are significant:\n\n- Greatly reduces the potential of [identity theft](http://fortune.com/2018/04/20/blockchain-technology-identity-theft-data-privacy-protection/)\n- Simple [international transactions](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/03/12/how-blockchain-is-transforming-cross-border-payments/)\n- Lower [transaction fees](https://unhashed.com/cryptocurrency-terms-faq/bitcoin-transaction-fees-explained-complete-guide/)\n- Natural scarcity – only 21 million will ever be produced, which means it will maintain value\n\n### Example\n\nThe oldest magazine in China, _Technology Life_, announced in 2018 that it would [start accepting Bitcoin](https://cryptovest.com/news/oldest-chinese-magazine-now-accepts-bitcoin-subscription-payments/) starting in 2019 for an annual subscription.\nThe magazine is the first major media company to do so in the country.\n\n### **Key takeaways**\n\n- Make sure your payment gateway and/or subscription billing provider offers varied digital payment options.\n- Consider how (when?) you’d like to start accepting cryptocurrency.\n\n## A niche strategy\n\nThe last ten years have been a gold rush for subscription services with both booms and busts.\n\nThe Software as a Service (SaaS) business model [exploded](https://www.zdnet.com/article/gartner-predicts-saas-revenues-to-reach-85-billion-in-2019/), with revenues expected to top $85 billion in 2019.\n\nIt hasn’t all been roses, though.\nSubscription box services saw steady growth from 2010 to 2015 before [experiencing a decline](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/313813).\n\nGrowth has shifted from mainstream offerings to more niche options.\n\nIt’s not enough to have a meal box, you need to have a [keto meal box](https://www.health.com/food/best-keto-meal-delivery-services).\nMultiple options now exist so that creators to make content for very specific audiences, and get paid for it.\n\n### Example\n\nIf you want an engaged audience, you want nerds.\nLots of them.\n\nWarnerMedia, the entertainment division of the new confab created by the AT&amp;T-Time Warner merger, knows this.\nThere will be a streaming service that includes the new company’s various offerings like _Friends_ and _Seinfeld_, eventually.\n\nBefore that, however, “DC Universe” launched, servicing all your Batman fanboys and Wonder Woman fangirls.\nDespite having far less content than other providers, the highly focused audience it serves is [tuning in at great numbers](https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-streaming-shows-to-watch-this-week-titans-young-justice-2019-1#1-young-justice-outsiders-dc-universe-7).\n\n### Key takeaways\n\n- Don’t be afraid to target a niche market — if someone can run a successful business [investing in Magic the Gathering cards](https://www.patreon.com/AlphaInvestments), your product isn’t too specific.\n- Create a product built around a deep understanding of your customer that solves their very unique problem(s).\n\n## Emerging markets\n\nThe information age has made it easier than ever before to compete on a global level.\nIt’s brought challenges as well, but there has never been a time in human history where it’s more possible to reach foreign markets.\n\nThe habits and lives of consumers are changing.\nCity dwellers are increasing at a rate of [65 million a year](https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/Urbanization/Urban%20world/MGI_urban_world_mapping_economic_power_of_cities_full_report.ashx), and the majority of consumers will soon be urban.\n\nBy 2030, 75% of people will have both mobile and internet access.\nWages for the middle class in emerging markets like China are steadily rising.\n\n[Gen Zers will make up](https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/PDF-62/Accenture-Driving-the-Future-of-Payments-10-Mega-Trends.pdf#zoom=50) 40% of consumers by 2020 having never known a world without smartphones or social media.\n\nDeveloping localized products, content, and marketing plans is paramount to keeping up with competitors.\n\n### Example\n\nOnly five years after launching in non-English languages, 75 percent of Dropbox customers were found outside the United States.\nA [steady, thoughtful approach](https://www.reforge.com/blog/dropbox-international-growth-chenli-wang) allowed the storage provider to turn into an international power house.\n\nDropbox used a data-driven approach to decide where and when to expand.\nUsing their own algorithms, the company was able to decide where they could have the greatest impact.\nThey identified markets – like the Nordics – where they had some market penetration, but were still a relatively small player.\n\nThat was their sweet spot (mature markets, high digital usage) and where they started.\nIt wasn’t enough to simply expand.\nDropbox had to smartly expand.\n\n### Key takeaways\n\n- An emerging market may surprise you — consider split-testing one of your digital ad campaigns in an emerging market and test its performance against other markets.\n- Make sure your payment gateway and subscription billing provider accept multiple currencies.\n  If you’re successful in a new market, you may want to consider using [DCC](/solutions/payments/).\n\n**Before you plan for the future, of course, there’s the present.** If you’re looking to start a subscription business or want to make sure you’re on the right track, check out our Six-Month Success Checklist for the must-dos.\nDownload it today and set yourself up to win:\n"},{"title":"Get Ahead of the Curve on Payment Trends","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-23","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"payment-process","label":"Payment Process"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/trends_payment_industrie.png","id":1502,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/whats-trending-with-payments","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Get Ahead of the Curve on Payment Trends\n\n_This is the first of three posts we’re doing on the future of payments._ _Stay tuned for our next two entries on what payments in 2030 will look like and how younger generations are changing the face of ecommerce._\n\nAs younger generations start to hold more buying power, their influence is increasing – greatly.\n\nMillennials and Generation Z grew up with technology, [expect easy, quick and safe transactions](https://www.paymentssource.com/opinion/for-payments-generation-z-is-generation-e-wallet), and companies that fail to do so are inherently disadvantaged.\n\nGen Z, in particular, is driving money management innovation.\nNow in the workforce, their desire for more flexible options is likely to force more traditional institutions to transition to mobile payment options.\n\nIn fact, they could be the first generation to use digital payments almost exclusively.\n\n**What do these changes mean for the subscription industry?** Read on to find out.\n\n## How is technology affecting how we pay for things?\n\nIn the past, there was the debate between [cash versus a credit card](/blog/how-businesses-can-thrive-in-the-wake-of-cashless-cities-and-subscription-sites/).\nThe new debate isn’t even physical vs. digital, as much as it’s about what _kind_ of digital payment will be king.\nThe amount of people using mobile wallets is [growing rapidly](https://www.paymentscardsandmobile.com/mobile-wallet-global-usage-statistic/), and those numbers are only expected to go up.\n\nSome banks are preparing for the future by [partnering with peer-to-peer (P2P) apps](https://www.citigroup.com/citi/news/2017/170612a.htm), making it easy for their members to send tap-and-go payments.\nSubscription businesses should be aware of this and be prepared for the lines between P2P, C2B, and B2B payments to be blurred.\n\nSubscription providers _need_ to have a mobile payment option available on their site.\nApproximately [half of all web traffic is mobile](https://www.statista.com/statistics/277125/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices/), and increasing.\nIf there’s not an [app or mobile-optimized website](https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/20341/mobile-app-vs-website/), you’re not responding to your customer needs.\n\nA good mobile payment process includes:\n\n- Tokens for credit cards ([more on tokenization and security here](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/))\n- The ability to accept mobile wallets and have shopping carts that automatically detect them\n- Smart authentication\n\nThese features will become standard one day.\nBusinesses who hop on the bandwagon now are already prepared.\n\n## What do consumers want?\n\nEase and security are top-of-mind for consumers.\n\nThe public has come to expect mobile payment abilities, an intuitive user experience (UX), and fraud protection.\nMany customers won’t use a service that doesn’t live up to those standards.\n\nThanks to [open banking and APIs](https://thefinancialbrand.com/65975/open-banking-api-fintech-partnerships/), it’s possible for payment services to offer simple, pleasing transactions to consumers – complete with perks like instant rewards and balance alerts.\n\nAs these mobile payment technologies are created and improved, UX will be a top priority for subscription providers.\n\nAn easy to understand layout and [payment process](/product/orders/) will set you apart.\nA simplistic experience makes it easier for consumers to make the technology part of their daily lives.\n\n## What does the future look like?\n\nForget transactions that take days.\n\nFor consumers, real-time transactions are the speed of now and the future.\nSubscribers want what they’re paying for and they want it immediately.\n\nFor B2B payments, expect to see more transparency, information-rich transactions, and speedier access to funds.\nAs you’re starting to see today, more payment partnerships and digital invoicing options are allowing small business to get in on the move to digital payments.\n\nWhether you’re an individual or large business, it’s only going to become easier to accept payments.\nDigital payment tools allow everyone from solopreneurs to startups to Fortune 500 companies to accept mobile payments, send digital invoices, use a [pricing formula](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/) that suits their business, and more.\n\nThis lowers the barrier to entry for anyone looking to start a subscription service. **Have an idea?\nYou can start taking payments for it by the end of the week.**\n\n## How does this affect subscription services?\n\nPotentially significantly:\n\n- Better service for international customers\n- Increased security\n- Easier set up\n\nIf your product supports the largest digital wallet options (like Apple or Samsung), you’re providing easy options for a large portion of the world’s population.\nNo longer will there be fraud alerts because a card is used for a foreign transaction.\n\nAll that with one action.\nNew payment options bring added layers of security to smaller businesses that were unavailable previously.\n\nIt’s also easier for the business and the consumer to conduct a transaction.\nThe subscription industry is demonstrably a [growth industry](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/) and business owners will have more control than ever before over every step of their payment process, from customer signup to [automatic retries](/product/renewals/) and more.\n\n**If you’re starting a subscription business, you know the challenges that entails.** Want more tips on how to get your business up and running?\nDownload our free six-month checklist, complete with a resources guide, and see how you’re doing:\n"},{"title":"How Businesses Can Thrive In the Wake of Cashless Cities and Subscription Sites","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-15","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/casheless_cities.png","id":1457,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/how-businesses-can-thrive-in-the-wake-of-cashless-cities-and-subscription-sites","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# How Businesses Can Thrive In the Wake of Cashless Cities and Subscription Sites\n\nThe world is going urban, and that’s not changing anytime soon.\nThe UN projects [68% of the global population will be city dwellers by 2050](https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html), up from only 30% in 1950.\n\nPopulations are rapidly concentrating and smartphones adoption are commonplace.\nThat’s leading to expansive smart city initiatives globally, involving everything from public WiFi to [autonomous shuttles](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47668886) to cashless economies.\n\nCashless transactions are now ubiquitous and, especially in urban areas, are the new norm.\nIn the United Kingdom, two-thirds of transactions are now done electronically.\nThere are opportunities here for businesses to embrace this change and make changes that are wins for themselves and their customers.\n\n## Improve your customer service experience\n\nPhysical money comes with some significant downsides:\n\n- Cash handling errors\n- Longer time to complete transactions\n- Limited by cash-on-hand\n- Fewer customer insights\n\nThough the movement is still in its infancy, brick and mortar businesses are slowly moving towards only accepting credit or debit cards, or other cashless options like Apple Pay.\n\nA [study by Visa](https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/global/visa-everywhere/documents/visa-cashless-cities-report.pdf) found additional costs businesses and merchants run into when handling cash.\n\n- **Time:** Digital transactions make up 55% of payments, versus 45% in cash, check or money orders.\n  Despite this, the time spent processing both is approximately the same.\n- **Cost: Digital payments cost retailers 5 cents on the dollar, versus 7 cents for cash, because of the added labor costs.**\n\n- **Crime**: Businesses in cash-centric cities lost 4% of revenue due to fraud or theft.\n\n- **Lost Sales**: Consumers are less likely to make a purchase because their options are less flexible.\n  In cash-focused cities, this causes customers to forego a purchase every month, valued at $73 on average.\n\nOnce businesses begin accepting digital payments, the Visa survey discovered revenues increase an average of 17%.\n\nWhich begs the question, what options do you have for going cashless?\n\n## Cashless done easy\n\n**Contactless Payments**: Target now accepts [Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other contactless cards with transactions completed through their checkout terminals](https://www.retaildive.com/news/target-rolls-out-in-store-contactless-payments/546611/).\nThis form of payment is widely popular in Europe seen from the London buses to [Spain having more than 539,000 terminals](https://citiesofthefuture.eu/cities-should-consider-going-cashless/).\n\n**Payment Gateways**: Want to make it easier for customers to complete a purchase on your site?\n[Set up a payment gateway](/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway/) so customers can securely pay online through credit or debit.\n\n**QR Codes**: Digital payment setup can be as simple as providing a QR code so customers can scan the image using their phone.\nIn China, [an estimated 65% of the population pays with smartphones](http://www.xinhuanet.com/tech/2018-02/01/c_1122350822.htm).\nA [street vendor in China can buy a QR code for 50 cents from Alibaba](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201903/11/WS5c867770a3106c65c34edff0.html) that customers use to pay on the go just like other purchases they choose to make.\n\n## Leverage data from digital payments\n\nBusinesses also use [data mining](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/) to gauge their customers’ spending habits and transaction histories.\n\nAlibaba uses data mining to uncover customer insights central to business development.\nIn one instance, they’ve found young women who wear tight jeans will more likely need to replace the screen on their phones.\nThey now offer screen insurance in advance as a contextual offer.\n\nSubscription businesses – or potential ones – can use data to [optimize their pricing](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/), add additional products or decide if a subscription model is [right for them](/blog/pay-as-you-go-versus-subscription/).\n\n## Benefits for consumers to going cashless\n\nGoing cashless may not only benefit your business, but it can also help your customers.\nBeyond the saved time your customers enjoy completing a cashless transaction (an estimated 32 hours per year according to Visa), there’s also:\n\n- clear transaction histories customers can see for budgeting and expenses\n- more personalized customer service based on previous purchases\n- more data to build a clear credit profile if they’re looking to eventually obtain a loan or mortgage\n- accruing interest when maintaining funds in an account\n\nIn the case of paying in advance, businesses also reward their loyal customers.\nMany subscription services, like Spotify, provide instant savings to customers who pay for a full year of their services up-front.\n\n## Potential pitfalls of cash-free transactions\n\nOne issue that may arise going 100% cashless is discrimination.\nFor people who do not have a stable income, they may not necessarily have a bank account.\nAnd in turn, do not have any sort of credit card for digital transactions.\n\nCities like Philadelphia and San Francisco are responding to this issue by [exploring ordinances requiring retail stores to accept cash](https://www.fastcompany.com/90311876/heres-the-growing-list-of-cities-that-may-ban-cashless-retail-stores).\n\nIn the meantime, stores can still incentivize customers to join loyalty programs and subscribe for savings.\nWith the data that businesses can get from loyalty programs and subscriptions, upsells based on customer history are much easier.\n\n**Looking for tips on how to collect more data and use it to optimize your prices?** Check out our Price Optimization Guide for a list of experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nYou can download it now and get started today:\n"},{"title":"The Pros and Cons of Pay-as-You-Go and Subscription Models","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-13","author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"hideDate":true,"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/subscription_model.png","id":1450,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/pay-as-you-go-versus-subscription","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# The Pros and Cons of Pay-as-You-Go and Subscription Models\n\nTen years ago, the subscription model was rare.\nPay-as-you-go structures for products and services were one of the most popular ways to conduct business.\nNetflix was mailing DVDs and an actual, physical newspaper wasn’t seen as quaint.\n\n**But today, things have changed.**\n\nWith so many companies charging a subscription for their services, from streaming media to beauty boxes to dog food, shoppers are now much more familiar with the [subscription business model](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/).\n\nNew distribution models that didn’t exist ten (or even five) years ago are now common.\nConsumers are flocking to subscription-based products and services for:\n\n- Convenience\n- Reliability\n- Waste Reduction\n\nBut is a subscription model the right move for your company?\nBelow, we break down the pros and cons of the subscription model vs the more traditional pay-as-you-go model.\n\n## What’s the big difference between the subscription model and pay-as-you-go?\n\nWith a [subscription business](/blog/subscription-payment-processing-glossary/), customers pay a recurring fee on a consistent basis (monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, etc.) to receive a product or service regularly.\n\nPay-as-you-go models work differently because the customer pays a one-time cost for the product or service to get access to it.\nThen, if they need it again, they will pay again when they choose.\n\nWith a magazine subscription, a customer gets their favorite fashion or food magazine delivered to their house once a month.\nIf they were buying the same magazine based on the pay-as-you-go model, the customer would need to go to the grocery store or go online and buy just one issue of the magazine when they wanted to read it (and most likely at a higher cost).\n\nThere are even hybrid options, often seen with digital media.\nHollywood has been double dipping for years, for example. _Avengers: Endgame_ will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray a few months after the theatrical release, before getting a streaming debut on Disney+ a few months after that.\nRegardless, The Mouse wins.\nThe Mouse always wins.\n\n## The pros and cons of pay-as-you-go\n\nPay-as-you-go has several clear benefits.\nThere’s a very low barrier to entry for customers, and offers them more flexibility around the products they want and when they want them.\n\n**Pros**\n\n- Smaller barrier to entry\n- No commitment\n- Better cost-per-use\n\nA customer doesn’t need to commit to a prescribed plan and get charged on a monthly basis.\nThey just pay once for a product or service and then start using it.\nIt works well for products that are needed infrequently.\n\nConsumers don’t have to make a commitment up front and can budget accordingly.\nThink of the differences between viewing a movie on Netflix versus renting one from Redbox.\n\nBecause the customer is paying when they want the product, this model helps businesses manage their cost-per-use.\nIt also allows for better tracking of what sells and what doesn’t.\nInstead of going all in with a product suite, the true revenue generators are able to stand out.\n\nThis can allow for more granular metrics.\nWith pay-as-you-go, it’s easier to see which products have a significant ROI, vs. which ones are barely breaking even.\n\n**Cons**\n\n- More difficult to maintain customers\n- Difficult to predict revenue\n\nWith pay-as-you-go, when the customer makes a purchase, you’re profiting from the sale right then and there.\nIn order to continue making these profits, you’ll need to turn this person into a recurring customer.\nThat requires creating and releasing new products that give the customer a reason to come back.\n\nWithout an established, monthly relationship, keeping customers engaged becomes a challenge, and an opening for competitors.\n\nAnd, while there are more granular metrics on a product-by-product basis, it can be harder to predict revenue over time.\nCustomers buy the product on their schedule — not yours.\nBecause of this, revenue swings from quarter to quarter are not uncommon.\n\n## The pros and cons of the subscription model\n\nA subscription service is convenient and reliable.\nThere’s a constant relationship that creates a bond between customer and company.\nAt least, that’s how it works ideally.\n\n**Pros**\n\n- Regular engagement\n- Easier for consumers to budget\n- Easier for businesses to be forward looking\n\nCustomers sign up once, the product is delivered to them (whether digitally or physically), and they don’t have to remember to do anything else.\nWhen done well, subscriptions are simple and streamlined.\n\nCustomers are regularly reminded of the benefits from your products, and can also budget easier.\nThey know how much your product costs and when they’ll be charged.\nThere’s no guessing game.\nHappy users are engaged users are paying customers.\n\nFor companies, the subscription business makes it easier to predict revenue because of recurring purchases.\nYou can also better manage your inventory since you know what’s being sold each month.\n\nIt also means that when a customer signs up, they’re automatically a recurring customer.\nWith just one sign-up, your subscription-based business maximizes the lifetime value of every buyer.\n\nThis allows for companies to worry less about the present and think more long term.\nWithout the pressure of selling stock now, you can better predict the future and decide how you’ll approach it.\n\n**Cons**\n\n- Customer may be paying for too much\n- Easy to cancel\n- Consistently providing value to the customer\n\nCustomers may be getting more than what they need with their subscription, leading to waste.\nThis is most often seen in food boxes.\nConstant [customer listening and research](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) should lessen this, but it’s difficult to eradicate it.\n\nAlso, as easy as it is the sign up, it’s as easy to cancel.\nThough there is evidence that the hassle of switching services or canceling a subscription may favor the business, ultimately there is little stopping customers from [leaving you](/blog/common-subscription-business-struggles-and-how-to-fix-them/).\n\nIt’s important to keep your product [fresh and new](/blog/reduce-churn-with-content/).\nBlue Apron changes their recipes and brings in celebrity chefs.\nAdobe has constant updates of their Creative Suite.\nThe product rarely feels stale (literally for food delivery services).\n\n## Choose the right strategy for your business\n\nSo what’s right for you?\n\nUltimately, that’s for you to decide and there isn’t a one-size-fits all answer that applies to all businesses.\nIt’s worth noting that you may be able to combine the two models – “pay as you go” is similar in many ways to metered billing ([more on that, and other pricing formulas, here](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/)).\n\nHere are a few things to think about as you make this decision:\n\n- **Which one makes the most sense from a customer POV?** If you can’t explain to customers why your pricing model is convenient for them, they’re not likely to be customers for very long.\n  If you have existing customers, talk to them and see what they think.\n  If you’re still in the research stage, talk to would-be customers or the people that you think are your target market—both about your product in general and how you want to charge for it.\n- **Can you split-test pricing pages to see which one is more successful?** At one point, split-testing was difficult for the layperson to set up—but no longer.\n  There are a variety of [beginner-friendly tools](https://conversionxl.com/blog/ab-testing-tools/) (including [some WordPress-specific ones](https://bloggingwizard.com/wordpress-split-testing-plugins-tools/), if your site is built on WP).\n  They’ll help you create two different versions of a page, and then see which one converts to more customers (and more profit for you).\n  You can read more on A/B testing (and why testing two totally separate pricing pages against each other can teach you a lot) in [Why marketers A/B testing shouldn't be limited to small changes](https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/20569/Why-Marketers-A-B-Testing-Shouldn-t-Be-Limited-to-Small-Changes.aspx).\n- **What model moves you closer to creating a sustainable business?** Subscription-focused businesses might seem like the obvious choice here (and, assuming you can [avoid subscription fatigue](/blog/common-subscription-business-struggles-and-how-to-fix-them/), they can be great for creating recurring revenue).\n  But no matter what model you’re using, sustainability and customer retention should be the focus.\n  You might realize that the nature of your product makes it hard to retain long-term subscription customers.\n  If that’s the case, then pay-as-you-go (or recurring billing, focused on a specific period of time—monthly payments for three months, for example) can be a great alternative.\n\n**Remember: the core of a successful business is pivoting and experimentation.** Whatever you decide today, make sure to pay attention to [the critical metrics for your business](/blog/metrics-that-matter/) and be ready to [adjust your strategy](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/) accordingly.\n\n**No matter what pricing formula or business model you’re going with, we can help you make the most of it.**\n\nOur Price Optimization guide has a list of experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nDownload it for free and get started today:\n"},{"title":"Does My Subscription Business Need a Merchant Account?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-10","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"payment-process","label":"Payment Process"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/business_need_merchant_account.png","id":1444,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/does-my-subscription-business-need-a-merchant-account","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Does My Subscription Business Need a Merchant Account?\n\nAs we move to a cashless society, and especially when you are a subscription business owner, accepting credit cards is a no-brainer.\n(When was the last time you carried cash in your wallet, or somehow beamed it to Amazon for your latest audiobook, right?)\n\nTechnically, your business can process credit cards whether or not you have an associated merchant account…but do you want to?\nThere’s confusion around the payment back end, especially for startups and first-time business owners.\n\nSo, how do you know if you need a merchant account?\nTo make the best decision for your business, read on.\nYou’ll learn:\n\n1. What a merchant account is and how it works\n2. How a merchant account works\n3. The benefits of a merchant account\n4. Advantages of using a merchant account over a payment processor\n5. How to get approved for an account\n6. How to get your account set up\n\n## What is a merchant account?\n\n**A merchant account is a type of business bank account** that allows you to accept and process electronic payment card transactions in person, by phone, and online.\n\nA merchant account processes electronic payments by transferring funds between customers’ and merchants’ banks.\nEssentially, a merchant account fronts your business money before your customers pay off their credit card.\n\nDuring a sale, the merchant account works behind the scenes to withdraw funds from the customer’s bank and deposit them directly into the merchant’s checking account.\n\nFor in-person sales, “card present” transactions occur at the point of sale, connecting to the credit card company to ensure the transactions can go through.\nIn a “not present” transaction, this is completed online by a payment gateway that connects to the credit card company.\n\nFor online sales, merchant accounts are required if you want to use a [payment gateway](/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway/) to process transactions from your website.\nPayment gateways connect customers wanting to make a payment with a bank or merchant account provider that processes the transaction.\n\n## How does a merchant account work?\n\nHere’s how it works when a credit card transaction takes place:\n\n1. The customer submits card data\n2. The data is sent by the merchant’s [payment processing solution](/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway/) to the merchant’s account\n3. Then it is sent to the credit card network (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express) and the customer’s bank\n4. The customer’s bank approves or [declines the transaction](/blog/transaction-success-rate-definition-why-it-rarely-matters/) and sends a response back through the card network, to the merchant bank, and ultimately to the merchant’s processing solution to complete the sale.\n\n## What are the benefits of having a merchant account?\n\nAs a subscription business owner, having a merchant account lets you:\n\n- Manage your money and transactions better\n- Accept payments in a wide variety of currencies\n- Provide safe payment options for your customers\n- Protect your customers’ sensitive data\n- Protect you from fraudulent transactions and chargebacks\n- Stay competitive in the marketplace\n\n## What are the advantages of using a merchant account over a payment processor?\n\nA payment processor is a third-party company that handles transactions for a merchant such as [Authorize.Net](https://www.authorize.net/), [Paypal](https://www.paypal.com/us/home), or [Stripe](https://stripe.com/).\nWhen you choose a merchant account over a payment processor, you can benefit from the following advantages.\n\n- **Quicker access to your money.** When customers pay through a payment processor service such as Paypal, the payment arrives in your account, but not immediately in your bank account.\n  It stays there until you request a transfer, which can take up to seven days.\n  With a merchant account, funds sit in a merchant account before they are automatically deposited into your bank account.\n- **More cost effective**.\n  Payment processors charge higher transaction fees.\n  If your business has a high monthly transaction volume, a merchant account will be less costly.\n- **Convenient for your customers**.\n  Your customers stay on your website and are more likely to complete the transaction.\n  If they are re-routed to a payment processor website and the process isn’t seamless, you could lose the sale.\n- **Better service**.\n  A merchant account provides a higher level of customer service than a payment processor.\n\n## Will I get approved for a merchant account?\n\nTo increase your chances of being approved for a merchant account, **a good credit score is key**.\nYou will also need a business bank account and, in many cases, a business license.\n\n## How do you set one up?\n\nSigning up for a merchant account includes a completed application and approval by the service provider’s underwriting team.\nThe process takes time because the merchant account provider needs to assess the financial risk of fronting your business money.\n\n### Follow these steps to set up a merchant account\n\n1. Decide how you will accept credit card payments (online, in person)\n2. Research merchant accounts providers for:\n\n- Customer and technical support (customer service hours)\n- Sufficient experience (length in business)\n- Solid reputation (proven track record, check the Better Business Bureau)\n- Offer a full range of features (unique Merchant ID number, [PCI compliance](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/), fraud protection, online reporting capabilities)\n- Processing time (how quickly funds are deposited into your bank account)\n- Length of contract (how long you are required to stay with the provider)\n\n3. Review fees.\n\n- Account set up or application fees.\n  (Most merchant accounts have done away with these fees.)\n- Maintenance fees, usually billed monthly or annually.\n- Transaction fees.\n  Typically these fees include a flat fee assessed for each credit card payment and a fee that is a percentage of each amount of the transaction.\n- Monthly minimum fees.\n  If you fail to meet the monthly transaction minimum, you might be charged a fee.\n- PCI compliance fees.\n  These fees are charged to ensure that your account remains PCI compliant.\n- Statement fees.\n  You could be charged to receive your statement.\n- Early cancellation fees.\n  The average agreement lasts three to five years.\n- Chargeback fees.\n  Chargebacks are incurred when the processor has to reverse a charge and [can be costly](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/).\n\n4. Apply by supplying personal and business information.\n5. Review the Terms and Conditions.\n6. Install the software or connect the gateway to your portal to accept online credit card payments.\n\n**Now that you know how to get a merchant account, find out what you should look for in your subscription billing tool.** Download our Six Must Haves guide to get a list of the must-haves (and why they matter), plus a bonus three-page feature checklist.\nGet it for free below:\n"},{"title":"Are You Tracking These Key Subscription Metrics?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-08","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"metrics-and-kpis","label":"Metrics and KPIs"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/key_metrics_subscription.png","id":1432,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/key-metrics-every-subscription-business-should-be-tracking","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Are You Tracking These Key Subscription Metrics?\n\nOne of the biggest mistakes that a subscription business can make is measuring their KPIs in the same way as a business that relies on one-time sales.\nAt best, this doesn’t give you the full story, and at worst, this leads to flawed decisions.\n\nThe key difference is clear: subscription businesses are all about [recurring revenue](https://baremetrics.com/academy/recurring-vs-non-recurring-revenue).\nBecause of that, traditional ecommerce KPIs like average order value, cost of goods, or gross profit don’t work as well for getting insight or making decisions.\n\nSo what metrics _should_ you be tracking?\n\n**Six of the most important [KPIs for subscription businesses](/blog/metrics-that-matter/) include:**\n\n- Churn\n- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)\n- Monthly or Annual Recurring Revenue (MRR/ARR)\n- Gross Margin\n- Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)\n- Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)\n\nIn this post, we’ll talk about each KPI and how to calculate it, along with how to avoid some of the common subscription metric mistakes.\n\n## Customer churn (cancellations ÷ customers (x 100))\n\nOne of the most critical metrics is customer churn, or the number of customers who are canceling at any given time.\nThis is calculated for a specific period (whether monthly, quarterly, or annually), and is also sometimes called “subscription churn.” You can calculate your churn rate for a specific period by taking the number of cancellations and dividing it by the total number of customers, and then multiplying that by 100.\n\nIf you have 2,000 total customers in February, and 50 of them cancel that month, that means your monthly customer churn rate is 2.5%.\n(There’s also gross and net revenue churn, which you can [read more about here](https://blog.chartio.com/posts/the-only-three-churn-calculations-you-need-to-know).)\n\n**Churn is the most important metric to keep an eye on**.\nAs your churn increases, it becomes harder to grow and scale your business.\nThis means that your acquisition costs will get higher, as you have to not only find new customers, but replace all of the ones that canceled.\nReducing churn, whether it’s voluntary or [involuntary](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn/), is the #1 factor in the sustainability of your business.\n\n## Customer acquisition cost (Costs ÷ customers)\n\n**Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)** is the amount of money it costs to acquire a new customer.\nYou can calculate this by adding all of your sales and marketing expenses in a given period and dividing it by the number of new customers in that same time.\n\nAs a general rule of thumb, if you want to grow your business over the long haul, CAC needs to be less than what the customer is paying for your product or service.\n\nFor example, if you spent $1,000 on Facebook ads and got 250 customers, your CAC would be $4.\n(To learn more about [how to calculate CAC and how it applies to PPC ad campaigns, head here](/blog/how-to-use-pay-per-click-ads-for-subscriptions/).)\n\nWhen you [calculate acquisition costs based on each marketing channel](https://neilpatel.com/blog/customer-acquisition-cost/) (i.e., Google ads, email marketing, etc), you can better understand what’s converting well and prioritize accordingly.\n\n## Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) / Annual recurring revenue (ARR) (Revenue x customers)\n\nDepending on your business model, you’ll want to keep an eye on either MRR or ARR.\nYou can calculate this number by multiplying your monthly (or annual) revenue per customer, by the total number of paying customers.\n\nFor example, if you have 100 customers at $50/per month, then your MRR would be $5,000.\n(You can also look at new MRR and other segments of MRR – [learn more about that here](https://baremetrics.com/academy/saas-calculate-mrr).)\n\nJust like with CAC, you should segment MRR based on your different pricing plans and acquisition channels to get a more holistic view.\nBy combining CAC and MRR data, you’ll learn a lot about what is and isn’t working.\n\nFor example, it costs $20 to acquire a new customer from[Google Ads](http://ads.google.com/) (formerly Adwords).\nAll of them join your highest monthly plan at $500/per month, and they stick around for an average of 24 months.\nOn[Facebook Ads](https://www.facebook.com/business/ads), it only costs you $5 to acquire a new customer, but almost all of them join your lowest plan at $20/per month.\nThey only stick around for two months.\n\nIf you are going strictly based on acquisition costs, you might be tempted to throw all of your money into Facebook, which would quickly turn into a giant money pit due to high support costs and churn.\nHowever, a smarter decision would be to sink more of our budget into Google to attract customers that will likely pay more and stick around for longer.\nThis is why tracking where your customers are coming from and their CLTV (and tracking both of these things by lead cohorts) is so important — something [a good subscription billing tool should be able to help with](/product/reporting-automation/). _(For more on how to do that and incorporate it into your marketing strategy, [head here](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).)_\n\n## Gross margin (Expenses ÷ revenue)\n\nAnother metric to keep an eye on is gross margin, or total expenses and costs divided by net revenue.\nThis gives you gross margin calculated as a percentage of your revenue. **Gross margin is crucial for understanding how profitable your company is.**\n\nSubscription businesses that take venture capital funding, in particular, are vulnerable to “growing at all costs” where they end up growing themselves out of business.\nIf you pour more money into growth and have a skyrocketing burn rate, then one of two things will happen:\n\n1. You wind up needing to take another round of funding to cover your operating costs.\n2. You’re going to have to make drastic spending cuts.\n\nFor [SaaS companies in specific](https://baremetrics.com/academy/gross-margin), it’s suggested that you should aim for a gross margin of anywhere from 50-80%, depending on your product and how old your business is.\n\n## Average revenue per user (ARPU) (Total revenue ÷ total customers)\n\nAnother metric to keep an eye on is ARPU.\nYou can calculate this by dividing total revenue in a given time period by the number of customers.\n\nIf you made $100,000 and have 250 customers, your ARPU is $400.\nThis metric is important for calculating customer lifetime value.\nARPU is different from customer lifetime value in that it’s usually calculated for a specific period (often one month), whereas customer lifetime value includes the entire time that the user is a customer of your business.\n\n## Customer lifetime value (ARPU ÷ churn)\n\nThe last metric you should track is one of the most important ones for a subscription business.\n[Customer Lifetime Value](https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/lifetime-value/) (abbreviated as CLV, CLTV, or LTV) is the average amount of revenue that a customer generates, over their time with you as a customer.\n\nThere are several different ways to calculate CLV for a subscription business, and you can get [wildly different results with each one](https://blog.innertrends.com/customer-lifetime-value/).\nThe simplest way is as follows:\n\n- Take the average monthly revenue per user (let’s say $500/month)\n- Divide it by your monthly churn (5% churn means we’re dividing 500 by .05)\n- The result = CLV (in this case, $10,000)\n\nThis doesn’t account for customer acquisition cost or lots of other factors, including different groups of customers.\nFor example, if you have [different pricing tiers](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/), you’ll want to calculate an average CLV for each of them.\n[Here’s another take](https://www.profitwell.com/blog/how-to-calculate-ltv-for-saas-the-right-way) on calculating it for a SaaS business (which works for any subscription business), and here’s [yet another calculator](https://www.omnicalculator.com/finance/saas-ltv).\n\n**One thing to note: because it relies on knowing how long your customers stick around on average, calculating CLV can be difficult for new businesses.** You might not know your actual retention and churn rates for a while.\nIf you can’t get an accurate CLV, focus on improving the other metrics here (and collecting the data needed to get an accurate lifetime value metric in the future).\n\n## Some common mistakes to avoid\n\nIn addition to tracking the above metrics, you’ll want to avoid these common mistakes:\n\n### Obsess over industry benchmarks\n\nWhile[benchmarks can give you a rough ballpark](https://labs.openviewpartners.com/what-are-key-performance-indicators-6-saas-metrics-that-really-matter/#.XMrgi5NKiu4), it is much better to set your own metrics once you have a few quarters of data.\nThis is so you can take into account your acquisition costs, ARPU, churn, etc.\n\n### Focus on vanity metrics\n\nThis is pretty self-explanatory as a vanity metric is [any metric that can’t be tied to a monetary number](/blog/metrics-that-matter/).\nIt might look great in a presentation deck, but it doesn’t have any context to a larger business goal or objective.\nFor example, the number of Twitter or TikTok followers.\n\n### Ignore burn rate and gross margin\n\nWhen you understand your acquisition costs, it can be tempting to pour more money into the fire and grow super quickly.\nHowever, if you want to control your company’s destiny, you want to pay close attention to your burn rate and gross margin.\nOtherwise, you could find yourself scrambling for VC money at any costs, looking for a company to acquire you, or having to go through layoffs.\n\n**Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?**\n\nOur Retry Strategy guide will teach you how to use data like decline codes and card types to increase your customer lifetime value by a minimum of 43%, all in about five minutes.\nGet it for free below:\n"},{"title":"How to Reduce Customer Credit Card Decline Rates","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-06","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"},{"id":"declines","label":"Declines"},{"id":"minimizing-risk","label":"Minimizing Risk"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/decline_rates_blogpost.png","id":1419,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/how-to-reduce-customer-credit-card-decline-rates","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Reduce Customer Credit Card Decline Rates\n\nAccording to a survey from [CompareCards.com](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/budget-and-spending/2018/03/09/12-of-americans-had-a-credit-card-declined-in-2017/111101022/), **12 percent of all credit and debit card users in the US experience a card decline each year**.\nThe cost to the merchant was significant: 2.6 percent of all income orders and 3.1 percent of all orders over $100.\n\nEven worse, a third of customers who were declined blamed the merchant for the decline, regardless of who was actually at fault.\n\nYet many of those payment declines had no relation to the customer’s honesty, credit, or bank balance.\nFor example:\n\n- The card provider or the processing service might have experienced downtime or some other internal problem.\n- A customer may have made a purchase that was “out of character,” leading the provider to flag a legitimate purchase as fraudulent.\n- A hotel, car rental agency, or similar company may have issued a hold on a credit or debit card and may have mistakenly continued the hold even after payment.\n\nAny reason for a decline, whether a genuine case of overdraft or a processing glitch, causes embarrassment and frustration for the customer and a lost sale for you.\nAs a business owner, you have a dilemma:\n\n- You want to protect yourself from fraud and risk…\n- But you never want those prevention tools to be so sensitive that they lead to high decline rates and falsely flagged purchases.\n\nSo, what can you do to **control customer decline rates, create a smooth payment experience, and maximize your revenue?**\n\n## Widen your payment options\n\n### Customer preference: Debit cards\n\nThe [Federal Reserve Payments Study of 2016](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/other/2016-payments-study-20161222.pdf) shows that:\n\n- Credit cards and non-prepaid debit cards have each increased in use 8 percent per year since 2012.\n- The use of prepaid debit cards and checks has either stayed level or dropped.\n- Automatic Clearinghouse Payments (ACH) have become the payment method of choice for large transactions—even though ACH is used less often by consumers, the accumulated value is much higher.\n  As new rules allow for same-day processing, the use of ACH on mobile devices is expected to soar.\n\nThese figures are confirmed by another [recent survey](https://www.tsys.com/Assets/TSYS/downloads/rs_2016-us-consumer-payment-study.pdf), in which consumers indicated a preference for credit cards (40 percent), with debit cards a close second (35 percent), and cash and PayPal trailing at 11 percent each.\nDebit is preferred for lower cost transactions (such as gasoline or groceries) and credit for higher cost.\n\n### Merchant preference: Credit cards\n\nEvery card decline represents a transaction that stalled.\nAs a merchant, you might prefer debit card payments, because credit cards are more costly to process.\nHowever, the processing cost of a credit card is offset by the higher chance of a successful transaction.\nIn most studies, 9 percent of debit cards were declined at least once, versus 2 to 5 percent of credit cards.\n\n**One good sign for debit cards:** the chip enabling technology [dropped fraud rates](https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/debit-card-statistics-1276.php) 28 percent after the vast majority of providers transitioned to this form of card in 2016.\n\n### The solution\n\nThe more [payment methods](/docs/resources/rebilly-faqs#what-payment-methods-does-rebilly-accept) you offer—debit card, credit card, check, e-wallet, direct transfer, cash—the more likely the transaction will complete.\nHappy customers, happy merchant.\n\n## Change your online checkout process\n\nThe [decline rate](/blog/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries/) for e-commerce transaction is higher than for in-person transactions.\nUnfortunately, sometimes when a customer’s card is rejected by an e-commerce site, the customer simply switches to another merchant’s website and a different subscription.\n\n### The solution\n\nYou need a [consistent and less complicated checkout process](https://www.userzoom.com/blog/five-super-smooth-ecommerce-checkouts/), so that all payment options can be handled at the same checkout point.\nIf you want to look for features from a subscription management tool, [account updater](/solutions/payments/) and [smart retry](/product/renewals/) features are what you should be looking for.\nThey can help rescue a card quickly from a potential rejection.\n\n## Accept that some fraud isn’t fraud\n\nBanks and brands differ greatly in their decline rates.\nOne study showed that Chase Bank (12 percent) and American Express had the highest decline rate for debit cards, while US Bank (7.5 percent) and MasterCard had the highest decline rates for credit cards.\n\nBanks, brands, and processors are rarely completely open about the causes for a decline.\nFor example, the 05 code is a general “do not honor” response, usually prompted by the bank’s refusal to honor the card.\nHowever, the 05 code doesn’t explain _why_ the bank refused.\n\n[Other codes](/blog/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries/) pinpoint a problem at the bank or card processor level, or a problem with your own transaction software.\nHowever, these codes vary wildly from gateway to gateway. **Bottom line: you have little knowledge and even less control over whether a transaction is rejected because of fraud, or for some other reason entirely.**\n\nSo, what can you do to get as much information (and control) back in your hands about what declines are due to [chargebacks or fraud](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/), and what’s due to other reasons?\n\n### Payment authorization software\n\nMasterCard and Visa use 3-D Secure software that has three authentication protocols to reduce online and in person fraud.\nIt authenticates:\n\n- The bank that issued the credit or debit card\n- The bank and merchant that is receiving payment\n- The infrastructure that supports 3-D processing.\n\nYou can decide whether to require 3-D authorization. 3-D provides several advantages, including shifting liability for fraud from you to the bank and improving customer confidence.\n\nHowever, 3-D also has a few drawbacks.\nFor example, it requires yet another verification layer.\nIt may also insist on sending and receiving a confirmation code, when there’s a chance the customer doesn’t have access to the code.\n\n### Intelligent transaction routing software\n\nIntelligent transaction routing connects you to a network of banks, quickly routing the transaction to the bank most likely to accept it.\nThis software is able to evaluate the cause for the decline in real time and will quickly and automatically retry a card several times.\n\nIf, for example, the rejection was due to a problem with the processing network rather than outright fraud, multiple retries may allow the transaction to go through.\n\nHaving the right subscription billing tool can help with this.\nFor example, Rebilly helps [automate fraud prevention](/product/reporting-automation/) with risk-scoring, blocklists.\nYou can also hold declined transactions for manual review, which is a good practice regardless of specific subscription tools.\nIf the decline is for a reason you can control (such as “processor declined”), you can then accept the transaction.\n(Nationally, up to half of all transactions marked fraudulent are actually fine, so holding onto a declined transaction is a valid option.)\n\nMaking sure that your subscription software stack is the best it can be is one way to keep decline rates low. **But, no matter what tools you’re using, before you cancel a subscription, you should always do the following:**\n\n- Retry the transaction, perhaps at different times of the day or days of the week\n- Ask the customer to shift payment method (and make it easy to do that)\n- Send out an invoice explaining the problem\n\n---\n\n**Want more tips on how you can reduce your decline rates, while increasing your customer value?**\n\nOur Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes and card types to increase successful charges and your customer lifetime value—to the tune of 43% or more. **And it only takes about five minutes to read and implement.** Get it for free below:\n"},{"title":"Rebilling 101: Every Payment Term You Need to Know","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-05-01","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/glossary.png","id":1404,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/subscription-payment-processing-glossary","timeToRead":"15 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Rebilling 101: Every Payment Term You Need to Know\n\nWhen you decide to start a subscription business, the sheer amount of terms to learn can be overwhelming.\nWhat’s a blocklist?\nWhat’s dunning, and how can you use it to decrease involuntary churn?\nRead on to find out all of these answers and more:\n\n## The basics: Subscription &amp; payment processing terms you absolutely need to know\n\nThere are a lot of terms to keep in mind, but these are the ones you absolutely need to know to be able to run your subscription business well:\n\n**Blocklists**\n\nA stored value that if matched results in aborting an operation.\nFor example, [in Rebilly](/product/), you can block customers from purchasing based on the following:\n\n- Customer IP address – IP address of the customer making the purchase;\n- Customer email – Email address of the customer making the purchase;\n- Customer ID – The Rebilly “customerId” of the customer making the purchase;\n- Payment card – The card number of the payment card being charged;\n- Payment card BIN – The Bank Identification Number of the payment card being charged;\n- Device fingerprint – A string holding information about the software and the device used by the customer making the purchase;\n- Country – The country of the customer making the purchase and/or of the charged payment card’s billing address;\n\nWhen a customer attempts to make a purchase from you with a credit card or fingerprint that has been flagged on your blocklist, the transaction is blocked from being sent to the payment gateway altogether.\nWhy would you want to do this?\nYour data may show that a payment card has been marked as stolen, so you wouldn’t want to process a transaction on that card again.\n[Blocklists](/solutions/payments/) can help you prevent future risky or fraudulent transactions.\n\nA Blocklist, can have an expiration date.\nBy setting up a TTL (time to live), thus making it not permanent.\nThis is typically used to block weak attributes temporarily — like residential IP addresses, which change frequently.\n\n**Chargeback**\n\nA cardholder can dispute a charge with their issuing bank.\nIf the issuing bank accepts the dispute, it becomes a chargeback.\nA chargeback is sent through the card association to the acquirer, eventually on to the merchant.\nThe merchant has a deadline to respond to the chargeback.\nResponding is typically called “representment.” A chargeback has a reason code (the reason codes are specific to and predefined by each of the card brands; such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc.).\nChargebacks can become [very costly for subscription businesses](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/).\nBecause of that, it’s important to [do everything in your power to decrease them](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/) and [respond to/dispute them when they do happen](/blog/how-to-handle-chargebacks/).\n\n**Dispute**\n\nA dispute is the result of a customer contacting their bank or credit card company about a charge to their debit or credit card account that they are contesting.\nThe dispute and its related information is then made available to the merchant, who will have the option to represent the charge and win the case.\nThis process is known as dispute resolution.\nIf the merchant is unable to represent the charge, the card issuer will typically rescind the sale and add fees on top of it.\nThis process is called a chargeback.\n\n**Dunning**\n\nDunning is the process of methodically communicating with customers to ensure the collection of accounts receivable.\nIn other words, it’s the process of retrying unsuccessful payment transactions.\nThis can be done automatically or manually, and might involve a “dunning discount” (which a merchant grants a customer in exchange for the balance being paid off, instead of being left unpaid).\n[Read more about how to use dunning emails to decrease your churn here](/blog/how-to-write-dunning-emails/).\n\n**Fraud**\n\nThere are two types of fraud: friendly fraud and criminal fraud.\n\nFriendly fraud is usually just buyer’s remorse or forgetfulness — maybe the customer decided they really didn’t need that subscription, or simply forgot they signed up.\nRegardless, it’s not organized, and not always intended maliciously.\nA customer simply wants their money back, and they’ve taken measures with their bank to get it.\n\nThe intention behind criminal fraud is the opposite of friendly.\nSomeone wants to get something for free, or are after your money, and they are pursuing it in very creative, underhanded ways.\nFor more information about detecting and fighting credit card fraud, [head here](/blog/how-businesses-can-avoid-credit-card-fraud/).\n\n**Invoice**\n\nAn invoice is a commercial document issued by a seller (merchant) to a buyer (customer), relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller has provided the buyer.\nPayment terms are usually stated on the invoice.\n\n**Merchant Account**\n\nA merchant account is a specific type of bank account built for businesses, which lets them accept payments (usually via debit or credit cards, but sometimes via other means).\n\n**Payment Card**\n\nThe card a customer is using to pay for their subscription, usually charged automatically.\n\n**Payment Gateway**\n\nPayment gateways are responsible for processing transactions and distributing funds into your merchant bank account.\nIt’s the online equivalent to card swipe machine in stores.\nFor example, Rebilly is a payment gateway, connected directly to processing platforms, but we’re also a payment gateway that can make connections to other payment gateways.\nFor more about payment gateways and what to look for in one, [head here](/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway/).\n\n**Payment Method**\n\nThe type of payment used to settle a balance due.\nSome examples are:\n\n- payment card (credit or debit)\n- check\n- wire\n- ACH\n- direct debit\n- etc.\n\n**PCI and PCI Compliance**\n\n“PCI” stands for “Payment Card Industry”, and PCI Compliance is a set of security regulations set by the Payment Card Industry.\nFor more about PCI Compliance and how you can become compliant, [head here](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/).\n\n**Response Message**\n\nThis term represents the response message, typically meant as the reason for a decline, from a gateway.\nEach gateway has unique response messages.\nSome gateways may also have response codes.\n\nResponse types:\n\n- Approved: The transaction was approved and processed.\n- Declined Soft: This means the transaction was declined, but may work at some point in the future.\n- Declined Soft Fix: This means with additional data (or data correction) from the customer, a transaction may be retried.\n- Declined Hard: This means the transaction is not likely to work, it does not need to be retried.\n  An example is “No such card issuer,” and “Transaction not allowed,” “Stolen card.”\n\n**SaaS (Software as a Service)**\n\n“SaaS” stands for “Software as a Service,” which is a software licensing and delivery model where the software is typically accessed online or through an app, and paid for/licensed on a subscription basis.\nThink about the apps you pay a monthly subscription for – like Asana (project management), Sworkit (workout creation and tracking), Mint (finances and budgeting), etc. As SaaS has become a more commonly used word/acronym, spinoff terms have started to pop up – like [“anything as a service,” or “XaaS.”](/blog/how-to-start-a-digital-subscription-business-without-code/)\n\n## Payment terms to tackle after you’ve mastered the basics\n\nThese are terms you might not need to interact with daily, but that can still help you get the most value from every customer and create the best experience for them.\n\n**3D Secure**\n\nAn authentication method used by merchants to validate cardholders.\nThe cardholder authenticates their card against the Issuing Bank’s website.\nThe merchant chooses whether or not to use 3D secure, and this is usually done via an iframe on the merchant’s site.\nThis allows the merchant to shift liability from themselves to the issuing bank in some cases. 3D Secure requires cardholder interaction to be completed.\nFor more information, see [3D Secure](/docs/settings/3ds.md).\n\n**ACH**\n\nAutomated Clearing House, an electronic network for financial transactions.\nAn alternate payment method that uses the routing and account number for US bank account holders to electronically transfer money to the merchant.\n\n**Acquirer (Acquirer Bank)**\n\nAn acquiring bank is a bank or financial institution that processes credit or debit card payments on behalf of a merchant.\nThe acquirer will either approve or decline a credit card transaction.\nIf approved the acquirer will then settle the transaction by placing the funds into the merchant’s account.\nThe term acquirer indicates that the bank accepts or acquires credit card payments from the card-issuing banks within an association.\n\n**Acquirer BIN**\n\nThis number (typically a 6 digit number) represents the bank identification number within an association.\nSo, if Chase Paymentech is an acquirer, it will have a different bin for Visa than MasterCard.\nThe acquirer bin is used for enabling 3D Secure.\n\n**Approval**\n\nA result of a transaction that is considered valid and accepted by the Issuing Bank.\n\n**Audit**\n\nA compliance or financial evaluation that takes place once or more per calendar year.\n\n**Auth (authorization)**\n\nA transaction type used to authorize that a card is valid, and results in a hold placed on the cardholder’s account for the authorized amount.\nAn authorization response code is later used to capture the authorized funds.\n\n**AVS**\n\nAddress Verification System.\nUsed in fraud prevention on credit and debit card transaction by verifying a cardholder’s billing address.\n\n**Balance**\n\nThe amount a customer owes the merchant.\nThe balance is calculated by adding up all debit invoice items and subtracting credit invoice items (on invoices that aren’t abandoned or voided), and then also subtracting all approved sale/capture transactions, and adding approved refund/void transactions.\n\n**Billing Address**\n\nThe address where the issuing bank mails the cardholder’s monthly statements.\nAlso the address an invoice should be addressed to — which may be distinguished from the delivery address (the address where products may be delivered to.)\n\n**BIN (Issuer Bin)**\n\nThe first 6 digits of the payment card which typically designate the issuing bank.\nAn issuing bank may have multiple bins.\n\n**Bitcoin**\n\nA cryptocurrency, and a potential alternative payment method.\n\n**Category Code**\n\nMerchant category code.\nA merchant category code (MCC) is a four-digit number assigned to a business by credit card companies (for instance American Express, MasterCard, VISA) when the business first starts accepting one of these cards as a form of payment.\nThe MCC is used to classify the business by the type of goods or services it provides.\n\n**Check**\n\nA bill of exchange where the drawee is the bank.\nA check, in the US, has a routing number and an account number.\nIt’s written for a specific amount, to a specific payee (or to cash).\nA check is good for only a single payment.\n\n**Consecutive Decline**\n\nThe number of times a payment card was consecutively declined while authorizing an auth or capture transaction.\n\n**Credit**\n\nIn accrual accounting, a credit is the opposite of a debit.\nA credit is a positive amount added to an account.\n\n**Credit Card**\n\nSometimes used erroneously to mean all payment cards, but it is different from a debit card in that a line of credit is extended to the consumers.\nMore specifically, a consumer is not expected to have funds available for a credit card purchase, and transactions within their credit limit are financed with the expectation of future settlement with the issuing bank.\n\n**Currency**\n\nA system of money in common use especially in a nation.\nFor example, US Dollar, British Pound, etc.\n\n**CVV (cvv2/cvc/cvc2)**\n\nA code found on and associated to a payment card used for verification purposes.\n\n**Debit**\n\nIn accrual accounting, a debit is the opposite of a credit.\nA debit is an amount that is subtracted from an account.\n\n**Debit Card**\n\nA payment card associated with a bank account that allows a client to pay for goods and services electronically.\nA debit card is different from a credit card in at least that the funds are automatically debited from the cardholder’s bank account at time of payment authorization.\n\n**Decline**\n\nA response where the issuing bank declines to approve a payment transaction.\nA decline can be for various reasons, and it will be accompanied with a reason code, such as: insufficient funds, incorrect billing address or cvv, etc. [Head to this post](/blog/how-to-reduce-customer-credit-card-decline-rates/) to read more about how to reduce decline rates.\n\n**Direct Debit**\n\nA payment system whereby creditors are authorized to debit a customer’s bank account directly.\n\n**Dynamic Currency Conversion**\n\nDynamic currency conversion (DCC) is the feature to present to the customer the choice to be billed in the original transaction currency or the customer’s native currency.\n\n**Dynamic Descriptor**\n\nA descriptor is the information that appears in a cardholder’s billing statement to clearly identify the source of a credit or debit card transaction.\nA Dynamic Descriptor is a descriptor that can be modified on a per transaction basis.\n\n**GST/HST**\n\nThese are Canadian-specific tax terms. “GST” stands for “Goods and Services Tax” and “HST” stands for “Harmonized Sales Tax.” Whether or not they apply (and how they apply) to your business and products depends on what kind of products you’re selling and where you’re based.\nYou can read more about them in [What is the GST/HST?](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4022/general-information-gst-hst-registrants.html#H1_104) and calculate your rates in [Canada's GST/HST rates calculator](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/charge-collect-which-rate/calculator.html).\n\n**Installment Payments**\n\nThe legal term for a contract in which a purchaser agrees to pay for goods in parts or a percentage over a number of months.\nOther analogous practices are described as closed-end leasing or rent to own.\n\n**Issuing Bank**\n\nThe bank that issued the payment card to the cardholder.\n\n**Late Fees**\n\nFees a customer may be charged, in addition to the balance due, if their payment is not received by a specific due date.\nSome merchants allow a grace period before charging a late fee.\n\n**Lead Source Attribution**\n\nThis is simply the process of keeping track of which leads come from where.\nWith Rebilly, you [can do this in a number of ways](/docs/dashboard/marketing/lead-source-attribution/).\nBut even if you’re using a different payment processing tool, you should set up a way to track conversions from different marketing and advertising efforts, so [you can adjust your efforts accordingly](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).\n\n**Like for Like**\n\nA phrase that means processing and settling in the same currency.\n\n**MCC**\n\nMerchant category code.\nSee Category Code for full definition.\n\n**MIDs**\n\nA merchant account identifier.\n\n**Net Payment Terms (Net 15, Net 30, Net 60, etc.)**\n\nThese are typically stated on an invoice (or contracts related to services/payment) and communicate the expected timeframe of payments.\nThe number in a net payment term is how many days payment is expected to be received in.\nFor example, if an invoice is issued with “Net 15” payment terms, and it’s issued on the first of the month, it should be paid on or before the 16th of the month.\n\n**PAN**\n\nPayment account number (also known as the credit card number of debit card number) — typically 12-19 digits long.\nThe PAN must be protected per PCI Compliance.\n\n**Partial Payment**\n\nDifferent from an installment payment, a partial payment represents a customer who has paid any amount less than the balance due.\nThe merchant may be expecting a partial payment, or may not be expecting it.\n\n**Paysafe Card**\n\nAn alternate payment method that is a prepaid online payment card.\n\n**Prepaid Card**\n\nA payment card that has funds loaded to an account prior to it being used, and will work just like a credit card.\nSome prepaid cards are reloadable, and some are not (those are disposable).\n\n**Processor**\n\nTypically used interchangeably with Gateway or Acquirer; however, it actually describes the communication transport mechanism between the Acquirer’s platform and the actual card scheme networks such as VisaNet.\n\n**Purchase Order and Purchase Order Number (PO Number)**\n\nA “purchase order” is an official confirmation of a purchase.\nIt’s different from a receipt or invoice in that it’s typically sent to the vendor by the customer, and includes not only an itemized list of what’s being ordered, but often includes the person authorizing the order, the delivery address, and any other pertinent details.\nThe “Purchase Order Number” is the number given to the purchase order to track it in bookkeeping, etc. Purchase orders are more commonly used in B2B transactions than B2C ones.\n\n**Reconciliation**\n\nThe process of checking merchant account statements (from merchant’s processor/acquirer) against actual deposits (in corporate bank account) against sales records (in your subscription billing management tool – for example, Rebilly.)\n\n**Refund**\n\nA refund removes funds from the merchant and transfers them back to a customer.\nA refund is similar to a void, except a void must happen before settlement of funds.\n\n**Representment**\n\nThe term used for the merchant’s reply to a chargeback with evidence to support its original charge (formally known as presentment).\n\n**Reserve**\n\nThe amount of funds an acquirer withholds from a merchant, usually in a specially designated reserve account.\nThe purpose of the reserve is risk mitigation for the processor.\nThe reserve amount may be nothing, a flat amount, or a percentage of transactions.\nThe reserve may also be a rolling reserve, in that the amounts in the reserve are released after some period of time.\nA typical period of time for a rolling reserve may be six months.\n\n**Restrictions**\n\nSettings to be applied to a coupon that restricts the coupon’s use to a specific set that the user controls.\n\n**Retention**\n\nThe continued use or payment of a good or service by a customer.\n\n**Retrieval (aka information request)**\n\nThe process where an issuer requests information about a transaction through the card association to the acquirer, which passes it onwards to the merchant.\nA retrieval usually precedes a chargeback.\n\n**Setup Amount**\n\nA fee charged to a customer for setting up a new subscription.\nUsually a one-time charge.\n\n**Tailored Pricing**\n\nThe ability to create unique prices specific to a customer or group of customers for specific products or product bundle.\nA merchant may wish to charge two customers different prices for the same exact product.\nThis pricing strategy is very common in SaaS models.\n\n**Tokens**\n\nA one-time use string that represents a customer’s payment card details.\nA token expires within 24 hours.\n\n**Webhooks**\n\nAn HTTP request to a merchant defined url notifying the merchant in a programmatic way of certain events, such as: a new transaction, a new subscription, a new invoice, etc.\n\n**Wire**\n\nAn alternate payment method.\nAn electronic transfer of funds.\nWire transfers typically transfer money from one bank account to another.\n\n### Use your new vocabulary to build a strong subscription business\n\nNow that you know the subscription billing lingo, it’s time to continue to make smart subscription billing decisions.\nIf you’re looking to start a subscription business or want to make sure you’re on the right track, check out our Six-Month Success Checklist.\nDownload it today and set yourself up to win:\n"},{"title":"Strength in Numbers: Choosing the Best Pricing Structure for Your Business","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-04-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/pricing_plans.png","id":1389,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas","timeToRead":"10 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Strength in Numbers: Choosing the Best Pricing Structure for Your Business\n\nChoosing a pricing formula is one of the first — and most important — steps when creating a pricing plan.\nIf you’re a new subscription business owner, it’s easy to assume you need to use something like “$X a month for Y product.” It’s simple, intuitive, and it works well in a spreadsheet.\n\nHowever, there are other options that may fit your business model better and result in a healthier bottom line.\nIn addition to understanding the basic pricing formulas available, you need to know how to combine those into a value-based pricing structure for your subscription business.\n\n**The most common pricing formulas are:**\n\n- Fixed fee\n- Flat rate\n- Volume\n- Stairstep\n- Tiered\n\n## Fixed fee\n\n{% img src=\"./images/fixed-fee.jpg\" alt=\"fixed fee diagram\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nFixed fee pricing is probably the pricing formula you immediately think of when you think of a subscription.\nThe unit quantity is always one, the price is the same, and the only factor that changes with this formula is the time period (whether it’s billed per week, month, year, etc.).\n\nFor example, “Petflix,” a dog movie streaming company, charges their customers $13.99 per month to have full access to their dog movies database.\nThe quantity of movies streamed at the end of the month does not affect the price paid.\n\n**Good for:** Subscription businesses where there’s no need to measure units because the quantity is always one.\nThis is often the go-to model for membership programs or digital subscriptions.\nFor example, [Hulu](https://help.hulu.com/s/article/how-much-does-hulu-cost?language=en_US) is $5.99/month with ads or $11.99/month without.\n\n## Flat rate per unit\n\n{% img src=\"./images/flat_rate.jpg\" alt=\"flat rate diagram\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nThis is another simple formula, represented by a price per unit.\nAn example might be $0.10 per transaction or $12 per seat.\n\n**Good for:** Businesses where customers might want to vary the amount of product they’re getting from month-to-month (or quarter-to-quarter, etc.), where volume discounts don’t come into play.\nThis is also great for businesses where the value the user gets increases as the amount of units increases.\nFor many businesses, “users” are the units here — for example, [Front charges $9/user/month](https://frontapp.com/pricing) for their “Starter” plan.\n\n## Volume\n\n{% img src=\"./images/volume-pricing.jpg\" alt=\"volume pricing diagram\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nThe volume pricing formula uses quantity brackets.\nVolume-based is the price for the quantity bracket multiplied by the number of units.\nIt’s essentially the same thing as flat-rate per unit pricing, but with a volume-based discount.\n\nThis is a very popular formula in retail.\nLet’s take a look at the following pricing table:\n\n- For 0 to 1 apples, each apple is $5\n- For 2 to 5 apples, each apple is $4\n- For 6 or more apples, each apple is $3\n\nIf you were buying six apples, each of them would cost $3, for a grand total of $18.\n\n**Good for:** The same businesses that work with a flat rate per unit, but want to add a volume discount (or frequently get requests to do so).\nIt’s also good for businesses where there’s less overhead for a larger volume of units, so they aren’t leaving money on the table by _not_ offering a volume discount.\n\nThis is especially popular for physical subscriptions boxes.\nAn example is Freshly, [a meal delivery service](https://www.freshly.com/plans), which offers plans that start at $12.50/meal for four meals a week, with the per-meal price going to $8.99/meal for twelve meals a week.\n\n## Stairstep\n\n{% img src=\"./images/stairstep.jpg\" alt=\"stairstep diagram\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nStairstep pricing is best for units that are only sold in a specific quantity.\nUsing eggs as an example, if Joey wants to buy four eggs, they has to buy a carton of six eggs.\nThey can’t buy ⅔ of a carton of eggs.\nIf they wants to buy seven eggs, they’ll have to buy a carton of twelve eggs.\n\n**Good for:** Businesses who want to avoid selling products in smaller quantities, or businesses who want to keep their pricing simple (instead of having per-unit pricing).\nThis formula lets you extract more value per unit from particular price brackets.\nAnother example might be businesses who want to cap usage within specific pricing brackets — [for example](https://zapier.com/pricing/), Zapier’s free plan allows for 0 to 5 zaps a month, whereas their $20/month plan covers up to 20 zaps a month.\n\n## Tiered\n\n{% img src=\"./images/tiered_pricing.jpg\" alt=\"tiered pricing diagram\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nThe tiered pricing formula also works by brackets, with a few differences from stairstep or volume-based pricing.\nA common example of this is per-user pricing for software as a service products.\nOn a basic plan, you can have up to three users for a certain price per user, and additional seats are charged at a different rate.\n\nLet’s take a look at the following example:\n\n- For 0 to 3 seats, the price per seat is $25\n- For 4 to 5 seats, the price per seat is $20\n- For 6 or more seats, the price per seat is $15\n\nIf you decide to buy 6 seats, here is how much each would cost based on the tiered pricing plan:\n\n- Seat #1: $25\n- Seat #2: $25\n- Seat #3: $25\n- Seat #4: $20\n- Seat #5: $20\n- Seat #6: $15\n\nFor a grand total of $130/month.\n\n**Good for:** Overall, tiered pricing works well in the same businesses where volume pricing works.\nIt’s often found in digital products, including SaaS products and hosting companies.\nOne example of tiered pricing is [Amazon S3’s Storage pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/pricing/), which charges $0.023 per GB for the first 50 TB used in a month, then $0.022/GB for the next 450 TB used in a month, and $0.021/GB for everything over 500 TB used in a month.\n\n## Combine pricing formulas to create your pricing structure\n\nIn many cases, a subscription business might use a combination of these formulas to create a pricing structure that makes the most sense for their business and users.\n[Intercom’s pricing](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) is one example:\n\n{% img src=\"./images/pricing_plans_how_to_Price-1024x540.jpg\" alt=\"Pricing diagram\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\n**Their pricing involves:**\n\n- Fixed fee (the minimum monthly price for any given plan)\n- Tiered pricing that’s metered based on usage (an additional fee for more than 200 active leads/customers, that goes up in tiers depending on how many active users you have)\n- Flat rate per unit ($19/month for extra seats on the Essential plan)\n\n**An example subscription rate might look like:**\n\n- A user signs up for the Essentials plan, which has a base rate of $136/month for up to 200 active people and two seats\n- The user has 525 active people (leads and customers), which adds $15/month.\n- The user needs two extra seats, which adds $19 x 2 = $38/month\n\nThe user’s total rate is $189/month.\n\nUsing multiple pricing formulas like this is one way to make sure you’re maximizing your profits, _but_ you do run the risk of confusing your customers.\nIf you use hybrid pricing structure, make sure that it’s as easy as possible for your customers to figure out what their costs will be.\n[Check out MailChimp’s pricing calculator](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/) for one example of how to make it clear.\n\n## Other factors to consider in creating your subscription pricing structure\n\n### Billing: to meter or not to meter?\n\nYou probably noticed above that we mentioned Intercom has tiered, metered billing as part of their pricing structure, and might be wondering why “metered” wasn’t listed above as one of the pricing formulas. **Metered billing isn’t a pricing formula as much as it is a method of determining what quantity of units the customer is billed for.**\n\nIt’s likely you have more than one metered subscription account — energy bill, anyone?\nWith metered billing, the customer is charged for what they use, and nothing else.\nSometimes, it’s referred to as “usage based billing” or “variable price billing,” since it goes up and down from month-to-month depending on the usage.\n\nOne easy way to determine whether something is metered or not is:\n\n**Is the customer choosing the quantity of the item, or is the quantity based off of the customer’s usage?**\n\nSince it’s determined by usage, metered billing is usually done after the fact (more on that in a moment).\nTo use the above Intercom example, the seats are determined in advance by the customer and are paid every month whether the customer uses them or not.\nThe customer pays for the seats to be used in the next 30 days, but the price for active users is metered and is billed after the fact.\n\n### When you’ll bill\n\nDepending on how you’re billing users, it might make more sense to bill in advance or in arrears (after the fact).\nMost subscription services are billed in advance (for example, the customer pays on June 15 for service from June 15 to July 15), but businesses using metered billing often bill afterwards.\nThere are exceptions, though — for example, [Slack](https://slack.com/pricing) bills per active user, per month (or year), but bills in advance, and if you remove active users throughout the month, they issue you an account credit.\nYou can also do things like prepay for mobile phone usage, and only renew once you’ve used up the amount you prepaid for.\n\n### How often to bill\n\nPeople often think of subscription services as being monthly, but they don’t have to be.\nDepending on the industry and product, it’s not uncommon to find weekly, biweekly, quarterly, or annual billing.\nThere is some debate about which of these options might be best — [we’ve discussed the research before](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/), but here’s a quick overview:\n\n- [Annual plans can be better for getting upfront](https://www.profitwell.com/blog/here-is-why-every-saas-company-needs-an-annual-plan)cash, which can help you recoup your customer acquisition costs faster.\n- Compared to annual pricing, [monthly pricing can increase user commitment](https://hbr.org/2002/09/pricing-and-the-psychology-of-consumption).\n  If your product requires more habit formation than others (for example, something fitness related vs. a streaming movie service), it might actually be beneficial for you to bill monthly instead of in larger periods, because your customers might be more likely to use it.\n- Showing annual plans and/or annual costs can be used as a form of price-anchoring to incentivize people to sign up for a higher plan than they may have normally ([read about that in the previous post](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/))\n\n### Pricing for cost vs. pricing for value\n\nOne last thing to note is that there are two factors to account for in how you price each unit (whether that’s a membership, GB of storage, active users, or something else).\nThose two things to keep in mind are:\n\n1. The value your customer gets from using the product 2.\n   The cost involved for you in creating/selling the product\n\nObviously, you need to make sure that you’re covering your costs.\nOtherwise, you won’t have a business for very long!\nHowever, it’s all too common for people to price based on _just_ their costs, without considering the value for the customer/end user.\nThis goes both ways:\n\n- If you’re pricing a subscription at $200/month because that’s what _you_ think it’s worth, but the average customer doesn’t, then you’re going to run into issues\n- If you’re pricing a subscription at $20/month because that covers all of your costs and also has an okay profit margin, you could be leaving money on the table if your customers would be willing to pay more\n\nThis is something you can test over time ([which you can read more about here](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/)).\nTo start, you can get a feel for what kind of value your product provides by talking to your customers (or would-be customers) about the impact it has on their life, and looking at what your competitors (or would-be competitors) charge.\n\n### Keep testing and course-correcting\n\nChoosing how to structure your pricing to use can feel intimidating, but now that you’re more informed, you can make the right choice for you _and_ your business.\n\n**Want to keep optimizing your prices after you choose a formula?** Download our Price Optimization Guide to get a list of experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty, starting today:\n"},{"title":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-04-17","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/blog/metrics-that-matter/feed/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/1-3-6-checklist.png","id":1381,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/checklist-for-subscription-businesses","timeToRead":"9 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success\n\nOne of the biggest draws of starting your own subscription-based service or product is the idea of “set it and forget it” recurring revenue.\nBut setting up any kind of business takes work, time, and intention – and [avoiding many potential pitfalls along the way](/blog/common-subscription-business-struggles-and-how-to-fix-them/).\n\nIf only you had a checklist for the must-do items in the first six months of your business…like the one below.\nFollowing these guidelines will help you set the stage for success and build a strong foundation to your business:\n\n## The first month\n\nThe first month of starting any business can be pretty nerve-wracking, but especially so for subscription e-commerce.\nFor our purposes, we’ll assume that you’ve:\n\n- Already chosen your niche\n- Figured out what specific problem you’re solving\n- Started to get clear on your [unique selling proposition](https://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/5-ways-to-develop-a-unique-selling-proposition/) and the benefits of your product\n\n_(If you haven’t completed that “pre-work,” Practical Ecommerce_ [_is a great resource_](https://www.practicalecommerce.com/How-to-Find-Your-Ecommerce-Subscription-Niche)_.)_\n\n**In your first month, you’ll want to**:\n\n- Build a website\n- Figure out how to accept payments safely and securely\n- Have a marketing strategy in place\n\n### Choose your website platform\n\n**The first step is** **building a website** so that people can learn about your business, buy from you and subscribe to your email list.\nIf you want to write weekly blog posts about your experiences or to give advice, your website is a great place to park it.\nDeveloping a great website will impact your and your customers’ experience going forward, so be sure to choose wisely.\n\n### Choose and set up your payment gateway and merchant account\n\nObviously, this is a necessity for getting paid!\nWe’ve already [written an article](/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway/) to help you navigate that process, so make sure to check it out and choose a payment gateway and merchant account that fit your needs.\n\n### Choose your subscription billing management software\n\nOnce your website is set up, how will people sign up for a subscription?\nThis is where subscription billing software becomes important, as you’ll want to **make the payment process simple for you and your customers**.\nAnd it can provide other benefits, too.\nFor example, if you [lose a merchant account](/blog/lost-merchant-account-how-to-avoid-downtime/), billing management software can help you route payments to a backup gateway, so payments never get interrupted and your subscribers aren’t inconvenienced.\n\n**What to look for?** [PCI compliance](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/), multiple payment options, [payment gateway integration](/solutions/payments/)s, secure card vaulting, and much more.\nIf you want a full rundown of exactly what to look for from a subscription billing software, [check out our Six Must-Haves guide](/thank-you/six-must-haves/).\n\n## Marketing\n\nYour awesome website with easy payment options won’t do much good if no one knows about it.\nThere are many marketing tactics you can use to drive your product’s usefulness home to consumers and traffic to your website, but a few options include:\n\n- Social media marketing\n- Email marketing\n- Content marketing\n\n### Choose your social media channels\n\nDepending on what your business is, you’ll want to adjust your social platforms accordingly:\n\n- For a B2B company, LinkedIn might be the best option.\n- If you’re selling a beauty or fashion box subscription, Instagram is probably a good bet for your audience.\n- Facebook or Twitter are always a solid bet for someone trying to reach the widest cross-section of people.\n\nYou’ll also want to create a way to keep track of both social media efforts and all of your other marketing efforts — [Airtable](https://airtable.com/templates/content-production) has a lot of free organizational templates for this.\n\n### Choose your email marketing tool\n\nNot only is email a great way to let current and potential customers know what’s going on in your business, but it also allows you to keep up communication should your customers need to get a hold of you.\n[Check out our email marketing tool suggestions here](/blog/bootstrap-subscription-business-with-these-apps-tools/).\n\n### Begin establishing yourself as an expert through content\n\nContent is an important part of a modern marketing strategy and helps with your search engine rankings in the long run.\nAim to answer questions that your potential customers would have (whether about your product, the industry in general, or problems related to your product) and create useful, actionable content.\nFor search engine rankings, Hubspot has a great list of suggestions for how to [optimize for SEO](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/ecommerce-marketing).\n\n## Three months in\n\nThree months into the business, you’ll want to focus on the feedback you’re getting and adjust your processes accordingly.\nIt’s all about refinement.\nHow can you make things better?\nConsider these three areas:\n\n- CRM Tools\n- Onboarding Processes\n- Shipping/Logistics\n\n### Choose your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool\n\nYou’re looking for leads, or you’re getting leads, but you need a better way to see the bigger picture and capitalize on opportunities.\nLook for a (CRM) tool like [Pipedrive](https://www.pipedrive.com/) or, if you’re a bigger operation, try [Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/) to help you build and maintain those relationships.\n\n### Define and improve your onboarding processes\n\nYou got people to sign up, but are they staying?\nMany businesses are all about their prospects, but then seem to forget about them once the initial deal is done.\nDuring the first few weeks of getting a new user, you need to be just as focused on their experience as you were during the sale, if not more so.\nThis is where [customer onboarding processes](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) can make or break your churn rates.\n\n### Evaluate and improve your delivery, shipping, and logistics processes\n\nAt this point, you should also be aware of any hiccups in your shipping or logistics operations, if you are selling a physical product (like a box subscription), are your customers getting their orders when they are promised to arrive?\nAnd are your refund and return policies easy to understand?\n\nLogistics company Shippo [offers the following advice](https://goshippo.com/blog/ecommerce-shipping-challenges/):\n\n- Double-check the orders before they leave\n- Offer flexible shipping options\n- Be transparent about your shipping rates up front to avoid problems\n\n**For services,** this is your opportunity to evaluate how they are being delivered.\nHow well, quickly and easily are users able to access your service?\n[Do you have a SOP](https://zapier.com/learn/project-management/standard-operating-procedures/) for every step of the process to make sure nothing gets missed and every customer gets the same (great!) experience?\n\n**For digital products,** there’s a lot you can completely automate, but this is a good time to double-check all of your automations and integrations, and make sure they’re working as they should be.\nGo through the entire process as a new customer and note any places that can be streamlined.\n\n### Look at other processes and automate what you can\n\nWhile you’re looking at your customer relationship, onboarding, and logistical processes, don’t neglect other areas.\nMarketing in particular has a lot of ways to be automated without decreasing the quality of your results.\nTraditional automation software is expensive, but using tools like [Zapier](https://zapier.com/) and [IFTTT](https://ifttt.com/), combined with the other tools (like [Buffer](https://zapier.com/apps/buffer/integrations/) or [Airtable](https://zapier.com/apps/airtable/integrations)) that you might already be using, you can get a [head start](https://zapier.com/blog/marketing-automation-use-cases/).\n\nYou can also look at your customer service and communications in general.\nObviously, you don’t want to automate your customer communications entirely, but you can create communication templates that can save you (and your future team) time and energy.\n[Head here](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-service-email-templates) for a list of templates to start with.\n\n## Six months and beyond\n\nYou’re growing and communicating and refining your processes, hooray!\nNow’s the time to think about scaling up.\nTo do that you’ll want to…\n\n- Evaluate your hiring needs\n- Evaluate what’s working and what isn’t in your marketing strategy\n- Revisit your products, plans, and business model\n\n### Evaluate your hiring needs and weigh employees vs. contractors\n\nOne of the key decisions to make as your business grows is when to bring on help.\nThere are a lot of sub-questions here:\n\n- What specific work to start outsourcing\n- Whether to [use a contractor or virtual assistant](https://zapier.com/blog/virtual-assistant/), or hire someone full time (or part-time, but as an employee instead of a contractor)\n- How much work to offload at the moment\n\nStep back and review what you most need at this stage: Is it a bit of help fielding customer service requests?\nOr are you ready to build out a more customized website than the WordPress theme you’ve been working from?\nThen, hire accordingly – in this case, customer service support or a web developer.\n\nIn general, contractors are less expensive than full-time employees and require less overhead and administrative work.\nHowever, they might be less reliable help than having a full-time employee.\nIf you’re at a spot where you only need a few hours each week, or work on a project basis, [hiring a contractor or freelancer](https://hackernoon.com/how-to-build-a-better-marketing-team-ea524b23a32b) is the way to go.\n\n### Evaluate what’s working and what isn’t, and try new strategies\n\nThis is a good time to look at your analytics and evaluate what you can or should change when it comes to your marketing.\nAt about six months in, you should have enough data that you can start making smart data-based decisions.\nHere are some guides to help:\n\n- [How to Track and Reduce Your Involuntary Churn](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn/)\n- [How to Use Data-based Marketing Strategies to Boost Your LTV](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/)\n- [Track This, Not That: 6 Metrics That Matter](/blog/metrics-that-matter/)\n\nThis is also a good time to try new things.\nIf you haven’t [experimented with PPC ads](/blog/how-to-use-pay-per-click-ads-for-subscriptions/), that’s something to look into.\nAnd, if you’ve been using content marketing, you can start looking at [leveraging your existing content more](/blog/reduce-churn-with-content/).\n\n### Revisit your products, plans, and business model\n\nThere might or might not be any changes to make here, but while you’re evaluating your other metrics, it’s a great time to review these, too.\nHere are some questions to ask yourself:\n\n- As my business has grown, is the base model of it sustainable?\n  Am I finding myself working more hours than I’d like?\n- Are customers regularly asking for a product or plan that I haven’t created yet?\n  Is there a reason not to create it?\n- Are there things I could add on to create more value (like a monthly group coaching call) that would be an easy upsell for customers?\n\n## Set the stage for success\n\nNo doubt about it, there’s a lot to accomplish when it comes to creating a subscription business.\nBut if you follow these steps, keep working, and keep your eye on the prize — predictable (and sustainable!) recurring revenue — you’ll be rewarded.\n\n**Want to make it even easier?** You can download the checklist as its own reference sheet for free below:\n"},{"title":"How to Avoid the Most Common Subscription Business Struggles","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-04-10","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/Subscription_business_struggles.png","id":1370,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/common-subscription-business-struggles-and-how-to-fix-them","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Avoid the Most Common Subscription Business Struggles\n\nYou run a subscription business for several reasons — not least is the advantage of having predictable, recurring revenue.\nAnd you’re not the only one.\nOther reasons why [subscription businesses are booming](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/) include:\n\n- Subscription businesses can easily diversify their prices and products to match customer needs (by changing payment plans, using add-ons for specific memberships, etc.)\n- Regular payments can promote engaged users ([read more about that here](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/))\n- Subscriptions can be an easier “yes” for customers, since they don’t feel like a major commitment — there’s no large up-front investment and customers can cancel anytime\n\n**It isn’t all rainbows and unicorns in the realm of subscriptions, however.** Much like any business model, subscriptions have their challenges, too.\nHere are five of the most common subscription business struggles we see — and how to overcome them:\n\n## Consistently delivering value: Subscription fatigue is real\n\n“The problem is that some brands have a relatively repetitive type of product,” says Kit Yarrow, [a consumer psychologist](https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/subscription-box-market-fights-fatigue/314002/).\nAdditionally, a lot of businesses don’t make a big enough effort to stay up-to-date and relevant.\n\nIf you want your customers to stay subscribed, your offering needs to be useful and interesting from the jump — and remain that way over time.\nIf it’s software, for example, it needs to be consistently updated with changes that add value.\nWe all know someone who refuses to switch to a subscription service or update their software even if it means using an old, unsupported version, simply because the value of the updates don’t outweigh the subscription cost.\nDon’t let your customer be that person.\n\n**How to fix it:**\n\n- Craft [a customer onboarding sequence](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) that showcases your product’s value from the get-go, and shows users how to get the most from it.\n- Stay fresh and relevant.\n  Keep an eye on industry news and trends and a finger on the pulse of what customers want.\n  And follow through by taking action on what you notice.\n- Repeatedly demonstrate and add to your product’s value.\n  (Customer-specific content is a great way to do this, outside of improvements on the product itself.)\n\n## Security: PCI Compliance is just the beginning\n\nA subscription business is based on an ongoing customer relationship, and that requires trust. **Your customers need to know that their data is safe.**\n\nThe [Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard](https://www.pcicomplianceguide.org/faq/) (or PCI DSS, for short) is a set of security protocols that are necessary if your subscription business accepts online payments.\nIn other words, if you’re selling online, you have to be PCI compliant — but that’s just the bare minimum.\nYou should perform regular security audits and other maintenance to make sure that your site is running as smoothly (and securely) as possible.\n\n**How to fix:**\n\n- [Automate your PCI compliance](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/) by using a billing software that has [appropriate security measures in place](/docs/rebilly-faqs.md#how-secure-is-rebilly)\n- Train yourself and your employees on [social engineering](https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-emerging-threats-what-is-social-engineering.html), so that you don’t create a security issue on accident\n- Share information about the security that you use with your customers and tips on how your customers can keep their data safe as well (creating a secure password, etc.)\n\n## Fraud protection: Security goes both ways\n\nFraud — whether friendly or not — can put a serious dent in your business.\nChargebacks are typically classified into two distinct types: friendly fraud and criminal fraud.\nFriendly fraud is usually just buyer’s remorse or forgetfulness.\nThe key is that it’s not organized, and usually not intended maliciously.\nA customer simply wants their money back, and they’ve taken measures with their bank to get it.\n\nCriminal fraud, of course, is the exact opposite.\nSomeone wants to get something for free, and they’re pursuing it in very creative, underhanded ways.\nThey might be an affiliate sending transactions to collect a referral fee, then reversing transactions.\nThey could even be an underhanded competitor trying to drive up your chargebacks, decrease your margins, and cut into your cash flow.\nEither way, it’s not something you want to deal with.\n\n**How to fix:**\n\n- Create blocklists to automatically fight fraud ([read more on that here](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/))\n- Educate yourself on [the cost of chargebacks and follow our tips to prevent that cost](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/)\n- If you’re using Rebilly, you can also prevent potential fraud by assigning a [risk score](/solutions/payments/) based on any parameter(s) you set, then using the risk score to block or flag the transaction for manual review\n\n### Want to learn more about how to reduce your chargebacks? Press <span class=\"tve-leads-two-step-trigger tl-2step-trigger-1374\">[here to download our free guide.](http://here%20to%20download%20our%20free%20guide.)</span>\n\n## Involuntary churn: Ignoring this can destroy your subscription business\n\nEven the most loyal brand evangelists can forget to update their credit card information.\nThat, in turn, leads to a lapsed subscription due to expired or incorrect card information.\nThis is also known as [involuntary churn](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn/), and since it happens about [20-40%](https://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/profit-well-march-2018/the-profitwell-report-the-worlds-largest-study-on-churn-17) of the time, it can have a significant impact on your business.\n\nIf credit card information isn’t updated, or some other network error occurs, the service/product stops working.\nThe worst case scenario is that you’ll [lose that revenue](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/) if the customer jumps ship after experiencing a credit card hiccup.\n\n**How to fix:**\n\n- Use a subscription billing tool that has [account updater features](/product/renewals/), so that customer payment information is automatically updated before their card expires.\n- Set up automatic reminders for customers to update their information when their card is expiring soon (there’s a quick tutorial at the end of [this post](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/)).\n- Have fail-safes in place for if/when steps one and two don’t work and the customer does churn.\n  For example, a follow-up email sequence prompting them to update their payment information.\n\n## Payment methods: Don’t just accept your local currency\n\nIf your product or service is a global one, and you’re only accepting payments in one currency, you _are_ losing potential customers.\nNot to mention, as blockchain and [cryptocurrency like Bitcoin](https://bitcoinist.com/how-to-accept-bitcoin-business/) become more and more popular, you may encounter people who want to use Bitcoin to cover their subscription.\n\n**How to fix:**\n\n- Work with subscription billing software that lets you charge in [more than one currency](/solutions/payments/).\n- Make sure that your marketing\n- Keep in mind that, as a subscription-based business, there are some [disadvantages to accepting bitcoin](/blog/challenges-for-cryptocurrency-subscription-billing/) as payment, including costly setup and notifications for any billing change that occurs.\n\nSubscription businesses face the same challenges other businesses do — as well as these unique ones.\nBut with the right strategies, you can stay ahead of any problems, keep customers happy, and see your revenue grow year after year.\n\n**Speaking of strategies to build a successful subscription business, our Retry Strategy guide walks you through another one.** Download it today to get simple steps you can take to increase your LTV:\n"},{"title":"Stop the Cycle: How Content Can Slow Your Churn","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-04-03","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/blog/reduce-churn-with-content/feed/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/decrease_churn.png","id":1367,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/reduce-churn-with-content","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Stop the Cycle: How Content Can Slow Your Churn\n\nIt’s every subscription business’s goal to keep churn as low as possible.\nChurn — the percentage of customers you lose every month — can be tough to beat, and it can ruin your bottom line.\n\nOf course, there are reasons for losing a customer that are completely out of your control.\nIf someone doesn’t have the money for your product, or can’t use it because of where their business is at right now, then they’re not a good fit for the product at this point.\n\nOutside of instances like that, people generally fall off because of one of two reasons:\n\n- Engagement (or lack thereof)\n- Understanding (or in this case, not understanding) the value of your product\n\n**Everything from customer experience to customer onboarding falls under one of these two categories.** This is where content comes in — and how you can use it to decrease your churn.\n\n## Content to increase engagement and value\n\nWhat does that look like in practice?\nHere are four examples:\n\n### An onboarding sequence\n\n[Customer onboarding](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) is the most obvious example of how content can be used to engage people.\nA well-crafted onboarding experience starts the moment your customer signs up for a trial, takes them by the hand, and shows them the most valuable parts of your product — and why they’re valuable — in a way that grabs the customer’s attention and makes them want to stick around.\n\n### Blog posts or other content marketing\n\nYou might think of your blog’s purpose as generating leads or traffic, and not much beyond that.\nBut — especially if you already post regularly — add content that’s targeted not just at potential users, but new or existing users.\nYou might find that you get leads from those posts as well, and it gives you a way to keep your users engaged.\nPublishing intermediate or advanced content showcases your expertise or as a thought leader.\nIt can also help your existing customers experience more success with their goals related to your product (whether that’s getting better at weightlifting or improving their email marketing).\n\n### Help content\n\nThis is basic, but sometimes still gets overlooked.\nIf an existing customer has a question about how to do something, can they find an answer without emailing customer support?\nDo you have walkthrough videos for getting started?\nThis is all content that can help you retain existing customers and keep them engaged in using your product.\n\n### Exclusive content\n\nArguably the best way to engage existing customers is with content that’s exclusively for them.\nWhether it’s delivered via email, put behind a paywall on a membership website, or shared another way, content that’s created _just_ for customers is a great way to show how much you value them.\n\nMuch like content marketing, this doesn’t have to be content that’s specifically about your product.\nIntermediate or advanced content about using your product and getting the most out of it, or tutorials created for very specific use cases of your product, work here.\n\nBut don’t limit yourself though.\nYou can also include any kind of helpful content.\nWhether that’s interviews, webinars, videos, how-to posts related to your industry, or something else entirely, the fact that you’re delivering useful content _just_ for existing customers is a value-add.\n\n## How am I supposed to create all this content?\n\nYou might be staring at the above list and thinking, “that’s all good and well, but how am I supposed to find the time to create all of this?” Don’t worry — it’s easier than you think.\nIn fact, some of it may already be done.\nHere’s how you can get started:\n\n1. **Audit your existing content.** Create a list of all of your existing content — blog posts, email series, help content, etc. Then, categorize it by topic and the type of content it is.\n   [Airtable](https://airtable.com/templates/content-production) is a great tool to help with this, and has plenty of templates related to content production.\n2. **Figure out what of your existing content can be used in the above ways.** After you have a list of all of your existing content, look at it to see what can be repurposed to work in the above ways.\n   This might be rewriting a post, or combining several posts to [create an ebook](https://venngage.com/make-an-ebook) that’s only for customers, or turning a written post into a video or webinar.\n3. **Brainstorm new content to fill in the gaps.** Once you’ve figured out what content can be easily repurposed, you can create a list of new content to create.\n   Again, this doesn’t have to be overly complicated.\n   An easy way to get started is to look at the list of content you’ll be repurposing, and think of 2-3 offshoot ideas from each one.\n   It might be a “next steps” piece that could be part of a series (which could then later be turned into an email series or ebook, itself), approaching the problem from a different angle, dealing with a related-but-not-the-same problem, etc.\n\n## Tracking the effectiveness of your content\n\nOf course, at Rebilly, we’re [all about the metrics](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).\nSo after you start creating this content with the goal of engaging existing customers, you need to have a plan to track it.\nOverall, when tracking engagement, you’re usually looking at metrics like:\n\n- **Session interval,** which is the average amount of time between user sessions (if you don’t have an app, this could be the amount of time between logging in to a membership area, watching a video from your course, etc.)\n- **Session length,** which is the average amount of time that each user is spending per session (again, whether that’s in a membership area, in an app, or something else)\n- **Retention rate,** which is the percentage of customers retained over a period of time (whether it’s a month, a quarter, a year, etc.)\n\n_(For more engagement metrics and how to get them,_ [_head here_](https://mixpanel.com/topics/important-user-engagement-metrics-apps/)_.)_\n\nYou should still be tracking those, and compare them before/after implementing a content engagement strategy. **But, as we all know, correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation.**\n\nIf you want more specific metrics and you have a large enough customer base [to get statistically valid results with an A/B test](http://blog.analytics-toolkit.com/2017/statistical-significance-ab-testing-complete-guide/), you can segment customers by which content you’ve sent them.\n(This is just another way to [analyze customers by cohort](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/), which we’ve discussed before.) Then, compare the engagement analytics for different customer groups to the content said groups received.\n\nIf you don’t have that many customers yet, or setting up a test is beyond your current ability, you can also use [heatmapping tools](https://medium.com/@siftery/top-heatmap-tools-compared-49ea03e42877).\nThey’ll let you see what content customers are clicking on and engaging with, and where you’re losing them in the content.\nComparing that with the engagement metrics above (and the before/after of engagement metrics) should give you an idea of what’s working, and how well.\n\nDealing with churn should always be a multi-pronged effort.\nThe above tips will help you with voluntary churn — but you should be keeping an eye on your involuntary churn, and working to lower it, as well. **Our Retry Strategy guide can help.** Download it today to get simple steps you can use to increase your LTV:\n"},{"title":"How to Get the Most from Your PPC Budget","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-03-27","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/ppc_ads.png","id":1357,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/how-to-use-pay-per-click-ads-for-subscriptions","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# How to Get the Most from Your PPC Budget\n\nPay-per-click (usually shortened to “PPC”) advertising is everywhere nowadays.\nIt’s on Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, and more — and subscription businesses are using it to great effect.\nYou’ve heard the PPC ad success stories, and you’re considering dipping your toe into the wide world of pay-per-click yourself.\n\nWhen you do, you deserve to get the most from your pay-per-click investment.\nHowever, this form of marketing can get very costly, very quickly.\nYou need to be crystal-clear on what your budget is (including overall campaign budget, cost per lead, and ideal customer acquisition cost), long before you even think about starting a PPC campaign.\n\n**As digital marketing expert** [**Kiva Schuler**](https://theheartfulbusiness.com/) **frames it, don’t spend money on ads, especially Facebook ads, that you aren’t ready to throw away.** Even the best of the best in the business are constantly tweaking, course-correcting, and launching ad campaigns that, yes, flop.\nIt’s important to tread wisely and carefully.\nDon’t move into PPC advertising until a failed ad campaign won’t ruin your overhead for the month.\n\nThat said, how do you use PPC ads to find your target audience and deliver a decent return, _without_ overspending?\n\n## Step one: Solve their problem\n\nSearch for the audience’s pain point and address that pain.\nThis sounds like a no-brainer, but a surprising amount of well-intentioned marketing misses this key starting point.\n\nYour product or service is solving a problem for your target audience.\nThat problem might be knowing what gear to wear when hiking in different locations, so they don’t end up with wet feet or blisters at the end of the day.\nOr it might be knowing how to automate their email marketing, so they can spend their limited time where it counts – closing sales and serving clients.\n\nFocus your ad copy on your product’s benefits.\nChoose words, video, photos, or graphics that tell a viewer, “I feel your pain and know how to solve it.\nThis is _exactly_ what you are looking for.”\n\n## Step two: Give potential customers a good place to land\n\nIf your ad copy promises a much-wanted product or service, your next step is to deliver on the promise.\nSend potential customers to a landing page that:\n\n- loads fast (did you know [page load time has a huge effect on conversion rates](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/page-load-time-conversion-rates)?)\n- has a compelling headline (tweak yours with [this free headline analyzer](https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer))\n- has content that reinforces the benefits mentioned in the ad copy ([more on that here](https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/how-to-highlight-benefits-not-features-in-marketing-copy))\n- doesn’t have a menu or prominently feature links to other pages on your site\n\nDon’t send click-through visitors to the front page of your website.\nThey’ll get lost clicking on other pages, lose interest, and move on before taking the action that you want them to do.\nWhether that action is signing up for your email list, becoming part of your online community, or registering for your next webinar, if they aren’t doing it, you’re effectively pouring money down the drain.\n\n**Make it as easy as possible for visitors to do what you want them to do by sending them to a landing page with a call-to-action.**\n\n## Step three: Individualize and personalize the funnel\n\nYour ad appears only when someone searches for terms on a specific list, or – on sites like Facebook – when that individual is part of a group you’ve specified.\nGeneric terms (like “rugs”) can be as important as specific terms (like “blue wool rugs under $500”).\n\nTo make sure that your prospects are landing on pages that are as specific as possible, create multiple different keyword strings and landing pages.\nEach landing page should be tweaked to align with the specific keywords and ad copy the visitor clicked on.\n\n## Step four: Attract the exact customers you want with keyword matching\n\nExact keyword matches reduce the number of responses that match your PPC ad…_but_ those responses are much more likely to result in a sale.\nFor example, “six-axis robotic arm with laser” will attract searchers with a specific and probably immediate need for the exact item you’re selling.\n\nIn other words, go narrow rather than wide, using what’s known in the industry as a “long-tail” keyword.\nA [long-tail keyword](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/definition-long-tail-keyword-100-words-sr) is a keyword phrase that contains 2-3+ words, and targets niche demographics rather than mass audiences.\nThey’re more specific and often less competitive – which means you can get more bang for your PPC buck.\n\nAlso, investigate placement advertising.\nYou can choose specific websites where you want your PPC advertisement to appear (and reject specific websites where you don’t want to appear).\n\nRefine your keywords and audience carefully to get the best results possible.\nAccording to research by [Harris Interactive](https://www.janrain.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/online-consumers-fed-irrelevant-content-favorite-websites-according), 74% of consumers become frustrated with ads, promotions, and websites that do not match their interests.\n\n## Step five: Avoid attracting customers you don’t want by using negative keywords\n\nMany PPC advertising providers are now counting responses that include _almost_ exact matches.\nThis increases the number of responses, but lowers the conversion rate.\n\n**That change has increased the importance of negative keywords.** Negative keywords target those locations or audiences that you do not want to attract.\nWhen the negative keywords match the content on a website or search, your advertisement will not appear.\n\nIf your subscription service is a monthly delivery of curated, high-quality and well-sourced meats like [Butcher Box](https://www.butcherbox.com/), your negative keywords might include “wholesale” since you are selling direct to consumer, or “cheap” if your offering is decidedly high end.\nYou might also list “free” among your negative keywords.\n\n## Step six: Make sure every visitor remembers you with retargeting\n\nThey clicked on your advertisement.\nThey read your web page.\nBut they hesitated, they moved on, they didn’t close the deal.\nAll is lost and there’s no way to recoup those costs…right?\n\nNot if you use retargeting in your PPC strategy. “Retargeting” is when you use the data gained from a previous visit to your website to reach specific visitors who have already been to your site.\n\nFor example, you can create a retargeting campaign aimed at potentially-profitable visitors by showing them a promotion based on the pages they viewed.\nThe promotion could be a free trial or 10% off an annual subscription for the specific product they looked at.\nFor more about getting started on retargeting, [head here](https://instapage.com/blog/what-is-retargeting).\n\n## Step seven: Engage trust\n\nYou need to find out more about your target audience.\nThey need to trust you enough to share their personal and precise details.\nAccording to the Harris Interactive survey cited earlier, 77% of consumers would divulge more information if they knew how it was going to be used and how it would benefit them.\n\nYou need to give your target audience the information they need to feel trust, including your information sharing policy.\nIf possible, give them an experience that uses that information to their benefit.\nFor example, they share their biggest pet peeve about successfully onboarding subscription customers, and you suggest a [blog post](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) or other resource that matches that need.\n\n## Step eight: Remember the magic word\n\nIn this case, it isn’t “thank you” or “please” — the magic word is “you.” Address your customers as real people, because they _are_ real people.\nIf an ad sounds like a robot wrote it, it doesn’t matter how targeted or personalized it is.\nIf possible, run your ad copy by existing customers and get their feedback on whether it’s addressing their wants and needs.\n\n## Step nine: Anticipate the trends: Video &amp; connected TV\n\nSlowly, static ads are losing their edge in PPC in favor of video.\nVideo gives audiences a personalized and immersive experience that words often fail to provide.\nIn fact, [Cisco Visual Networking](https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/white-paper-c11-741490.html) estimates that video content will soon consume 80 percent of internet traffic.\n\nConnected TV advertising is one of the newest trends.\nWith this form of advertising, ads go directly to YouTube videos playing on a consumer’s TV.\nCisco predicts that this trend will increase 3x by 2022, to make up 27% of consumer traffic.\nThis doesn’t mean you have to completely change your PPC strategy, or skip trying out written copy.\nBut you _should_ be keeping an eye on this and planning to incorporate video and other multimedia ads into the mix when you can.\n\n## Step ten: Continue to measure costs after your lead converts\n\nYou’ve followed the other guidelines here and created a PPC ad campaign that’s converting well, and you’re keeping an eye on the metrics to make sure your ad costs are optimized.\nYour work here is done, right?\nNope.\nYou need to make sure that you’re keeping track of your CPL (cost per lead) and CAC (customer acquisition cost) from your ad campaigns, and which customers go with which campaign. _(_[_Head here to learn more about CAC and CPL_](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/)_.)_\n\nBoth of these metrics relate to your customer lifetime value, which is the lifeblood of a subscription business.\nYou need to make sure that you’re making back what you’re spending on customers in a reasonable amount of time, or your business outlook is pretty grim.\nMuch like [optimizing your prices](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/) and [reducing involuntary churn](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn/), evaluating your acquisition costs from pay-per-click ads is one part of the larger subscription puzzle of maintaining (and increasing) your customer lifetime value.\n\nFollowing these guidelines will help maximize your marketing budget and get the most from your PPC advertising.\nFrom there, as you get more customers and refine your ad strategy, you’ll want to work on optimizing other parts of your business…like your prices.\n\nNot sure where to start with that? **Get tips on pricing for revenue and long-term stability with our Price Optimization Guide.** It has a list of experiments you can start today, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nDownload it now:\n"},{"title":"Are You Tracking the Wrong Metrics?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-03-20","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/track_this_not_that.png","id":1353,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/metrics-that-matter","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Are You Tracking the Wrong Metrics?\n\nWe’ve all fallen into that trap of watching our follower count rise and congratulating ourselves on the gains.\nBut here’s the thing: until those followers become customers, they’re meaningless as far as your bottom line is concerned.\n\n**Followers are one example of “vanity metrics.”** They might make you feel cool, but they’re not necessarily going to create a more profitable business at the end of the day.\n\n**Which metrics are nothing but flash and which will serve up useful facts to help your business grow?** Here’s a rundown of the contenders:\n\n## You’re tracking: Followers\n\n### Track this instead: Engagement\n\nWhile a long list of followers is satisfying, the metric your business should really be concerned about is engagement.\nWhen you concentrate on engagement, you’ll learn more about why one post generates excitement among your followers and another post is barely glanced at.\nFrom there, you can learn a lot about who your customers are and what they want.\n\nHow many followers are commenting on, liking, and sharing each post?\nWhich newsletters or emails are being passed from one customer to another and how often is that happening?\n\nLooking at engagement tells you which marketing efforts spark the most interest and have the potential to increase your leads and conversions.\n\nA Net Promoter Score (NPS) goes one step further by measuring the likelihood that an engaged follower will recommend you to someone else.\nTo learn more about calculating your NPS and how to do so, [head here](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/how-to-calculate-nps).\n\n## You’re tracking: Awareness\n\n### Track this instead: Preference\n\nWhen you’re starting to break into an overcrowded field, it can be tempting to keep track of your brand awareness and get excited about any gains in it.\nAfter all, people can’t buy your product if they don’t know about it, right?\n\nHowever, even if someone is aware of your product, they may still prefer your competitors.\n[Brand preference](https://themasb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/MWP_ApplyingBIVModel_MeierFindleyStewart2018.pdf) measures your success against your competitors, assuming that all other variables (price, for example) are equal.\nIn that case, what percentage of all potential customers are choosing you versus your competitor?\n\nThe preference metric guides you in making decisions like lowering your prices, increasing your marketing spend, or changing your distribution to become more competitive.\n\n## You’re tracking: Visitors\n\n### Track this instead: Bounce Rate\n\nA large number of visitors to your website indicates that you have readable, interesting content with high SEO.\nBut are those visitors staying around or “bouncing” off to another, perhaps competitive website?\n\nYour “bounce rate” is the percentage of visitors that click away after viewing one page on your website (as compared to visitors who land on a page, then click through to another page afterwards).\nYou want to keep that bounce rate as low as possible — [depending on industry and primary traffic sources](https://admixglobal.com/whats-the-average-bounce-rate-in-google-analytics/), average bounce rates are anywhere from 26-70%.\nFor example, bounce rates from “cold” traffic sources, like search engines, tend to be higher, as they’re less engaged visitors than “warm” traffic coming from emails, social media, etc.\n\nAt any rate, it’s much easier to convert visitors to customers if they stay longer, digest your content, and at least consider your call to action before moving on, so focus on keeping your bounce rate low.\n\n## You’re tracking: Leads\n\n### Track this instead: Conversions\n\nWhen visitors sign up for a trial subscription or leave contact information, you have cause to celebrate.\nYou’ve just added another lead to your sales funnel and that is a good metric to follow.\n\nBut did that lead actually become a subscriber or regular user of your product?\nConversion rate from a lead to a customer is one of the most important metrics you can track.\nIn addition to that, make sure you’re looking at other factors like:\n\n- Length of time before converting visitors to actual customers\n- How many conversions turn into one time customers vs. repeat customers\n- Where the visitors who do convert from lead to customer are coming from (we talk more about this in [this post](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/), and [offer features to help you do it](/docs/automations/automation-reports.md)\n\nThis one is a bit different from some of the other metrics, because you definitely need to be tracking both of these.\nBut at the same time, don’t make leads the be-all-end-all goal.\nAfter all, converting visitors to leads doesn’t do much good if you can’t convert those leads to customers.\n\n## You’re tracking: Cost of Marketing\n\n### Track this instead: Cost of Customers\n\nMarketing campaigns consume resources—time, money, people.\nAnd your resources may be limited.\n\nHowever, the telling metric to watch is not the overall cost of marketing, but the cost per customer, also known as the customer acquisition cost.\nConsider the following:\n\n- The cost of acquiring each customer\n- How long each customer is staying with your product\n- How much revenue each customer is generating over a month, year, or lifetime of being a customer\n\nPaying attention to all of these data points can also indicate where you should be devoting your resources and where opportunities exist for upselling, and [help you create a data-based marketing plan](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).\nThat’s much more useful than a bottom-line marketing cost!\n\n## Make the most of your metrics\n\nMetrics can be empowering and useful.\nThey exist to give you facts about your customers, redirect your marketing efforts, and make the most efficient use of your resources.\nOf course, that only applies when you’re following metrics that matter, versus [ones you think matter (but don’t really)](/blog/transaction-success-rate-definition-why-it-rarely-matters/), or [less-talked-about metrics](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn/).\n\nThey also interact with each other, so make sure you’re calculating what you think you are calculating.\nFor example, if you are measuring engagement, then you may consider any mention of your brand to be advantageous; but if you are measuring preference, you want to calculate _only_ positive mentions that result in customers choosing your brand over the competition’s.\n\nWhen used well, metrics give you true insight into your return on investment.\nWhen you measure whether customers are actively engaged, show a preference for your brand over your competition’s, stay on your website, are converted to customers, and then stick with your product over time, you’re ditching flashy metrics to focus on the metrics that matter.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\nDownload our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:\n"},{"title":"The State of Subscriptions: Growth, Trends, and What's Coming Next (Infographic)","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-03-13","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/infographic_rebilly_the-state.png","id":1345,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# The State of Subscriptions: Growth, Trends, and What's Coming Next (Infographic)\n\nYou know subscription businesses are growing — but do you know just how much they’re growing, which industries are the most profitable (and why), and what all of this means for your business?\n\nRead on to learn about the humble roots of subscription businesses (it’s older than you think!), where they’re at now, and what’s coming around the bend:\n\n{% img src=\"./images/infographic_state_subscription_businesses_rebilly-last-5.jpg\" alt=\"Subscription businesses infographic part 2\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n{% img src=\"./images/infographic_state_subscription_businesses_rebilly-last-4.jpg\" alt=\"Subscription businesses infographic part 3\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n{% img src=\"./images/infographic_state_subscription_businesses_rebilly-last-2.jpg\" alt=\"Subscription businesses infographic part 4\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n{% img src=\"./images/infographic_state_subscription_businesses_rebilly-last-1.jpg\" alt=\"Subscription businesses infographic part 5\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n{% img src=\"./images/infographic_state_subscription_businesses_rebilly-last.jpg\" alt=\"Subscription businesses infographic part 1\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%} **Sources:**\n\n- [Magazine Designing](http://www.magazinedesigning.com/history-of-the-magazines/); [Modern Philology](https://www.jstor.org/stable/433632)\n- [Tomtunguz.com](https://tomtunguz.com/the-first-saas-company/)\n- [Netflix](https://media.netflix.com/en/about-netflix)\n- [Fashionista](https://fashionista.com/2016/08/beauty-subscription-boxes-history)\n- [Hitwise](https://www.hitwise.com/en/gated/trend-report/subscription-box-report-2018/)\n- [Entrepreneur](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/313813)\n- [McKinsey and Company](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscription-box-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers#0)\n- [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/19/streaming-services-americans-spend-2-point-1-billion-a-month-in-55-percent-homes.html)\n- [Financesonline.com](https://financesonline.com/2018-saas-industry-market-report-key-global-trends-growth-forecasts/)\n- [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2018/03/04/the-state-of-the-subscription-economy-2018/#111f69d753ef); [McKinsey and Company](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscription-box-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers#0)\n- [Incredo.co](https://www.incredo.co/blog/3-success-stories-of-high-performing-saas-companies)\n- [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2017/01/17/how-zoom-ceo-eric-yuan-turned-frustration-into-a-1-billion-valuation-in-six-years/#15a47f4d7dcc)\n- [Investor’s Business Daily](https://www.investors.com/news/technology/subscription-services-economy/)\n- [ZDNet.com](https://www.zdnet.com/article/gartner-predicts-saas-revenues-to-reach-85-billion-in-2019/)\n- [SensorTower](https://sensortower.com/blog/svod-revenue-q3-2018)\n- [WeAreFetch.com](https://marketing.wearefetch.com/content/2018/07/FETCH_TheMobileFirstConsumerAndtheSubscriptionEconomy-1.pdf)\n- [McKinsey and Company](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscription-box-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers#0); [Hitwise](https://www.hitwise.com/en/gated/trend-report/subscription-box-report-2018/)\n- [Hitwise](https://www.hitwise.com/en/gated/trend-report/subscription-box-report-2018/)\n- [McKinsey and Company](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscription-box-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers#0)\n\n## Here’s those takeaways one more time\n\n- Subscription services have experienced major growth since 2011, especially in the subscription box category.\n- Convenience continues to be a huge factor in subscription-based growth.\n  Your product should be easy to use and become a habit for the customer.\n  This is just one reason [a good customer onboarding process](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/) is important.\n- **Recommendation to drive new subscriptions:** Capitalize on mobile searches, as well as [email marketing](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/) and affiliate links.\n- Subscription services will continue to grow as long as they have a great end-to-end experience, whether they do that by offering personalized service or cost savings.\n  In other words, make sure to keep an eye on [your involuntary churn](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/) and customer retention!\n\n**Get more tips on how to optimize your prices for revenue and long-term stability with our Price Optimization Guide.** It has a list of experiments you can start _today_, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nDownload it now:\n"},{"title":"How to Choose a Payment Gateway","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-03-08","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/payment_gateway.png","id":1342,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Choose a Payment Gateway\n\nOnce your subscription business is off the ground, you’d _probably_ like to get paid for the service or product you’re providing.\nTo do that, you’ll need a payment gateway – and choosing which one is one of the most critical decisions you can make.\n(In fact, we recommend that you set up more than one, but we’ll talk more about that later.)\n\nOr perhaps your current payment gateway isn’t cutting it, and you’re looking for a new solution.\nWhat should you look for when selecting a payment gateway?\nWhat is a payment gateway, actually?\nWhy are they important?\nHow can you set them up so that you can process payments [without any interruption](/blog/suspended-by-paypal-what-to-do-next/) to your business?\nRead on to find out the answers.\n\n## What is a payment gateway?\n\n**Payment gateways are the go-between in the online transaction process between the buyer and seller**.\nA payment gateway makes it easy for a customer to securely pay for a product on your website using a debit or credit card.\n\nWhen someone buys something online, they typically enter their credit card information.\nThe data that’s transmitted gets encrypted by the payment gateway, which communicates with the payment processor, which relays that information to the merchant account.\n\n## Aren’t payment gateways and merchant accounts the same thing?\n\nNope! **A merchant account is where** **from your customer’s account after the transaction has occurred**.\nIt’s important to note that merchant accounts aren’t the same thing as your business bank account, either.\nPayments usually go to the merchant account _before_ they hit your business bank account.\n\n## Do I need a payment gateway?\n\nThe simple answer is yes. **A payment gateway is how you get paid when someone initiates a transaction on your website**.\nThough there are many to choose from, there are a few factors you’ll want to consider when picking the payment gateways you’ll make available to customers on your website.\n\n**And actually, you need** [**more than one**](/blog/suspended-by-paypal-what-to-do-next/) **payment gateway**.\nThe reason why is simple: If, for whatever reason, your sole payment gateway stops working, another payment gateway option allows customers to complete their transactions without any hassle.\nBest of all, you don’t lose a sale due to a technical issue.\nIt’s win-win for everyone. _This is why Rebilly supports [{% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways](/solutions/payments/) — so you have all the options you need to protect yourself and your business._\n\n## What factors do I need to consider when choosing a payment gateway?\n\n[Choosing a payment gateway](/blog/bootstrap-subscription-business-with-these-apps-tools/) is a decision you’ll want to make carefully.\nThe features of a payment gateway can affect your customers [and your profitability](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn/).\nHere are the top 8 questions to ask when evaluating a payment gateway:\n\n### Question one: Modern or classic?\n\nModern gateways, like PayPal and Stripe, make for an easy process to get you up and running – and often don’t require having a merchant account since the modern gateway acts as an all-in-one system.\nModern gateways, being more all-inclusive, will typically have higher fees compared to classic gateways.\n\nClassic gateways, like WorldPay, take a bit longer to set up, and require both a separate merchant account and more technical knowledge.\nThey will comparatively lower fees, but you’ll likely have fees associated with a separate merchant account.\n\n### Question two: Hosted or integrated?\n\nDo you want customers to be able to complete payment on your website, or get redirected to your hosted gateway website?\nHosted gateways offer the opportunity for more security, but it may affect your conversion rate if people have to leave your website to pay.\n\n### Question three: Level of security?\n\nWith data breaches everywhere you look, [payment security is a huge factor](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/).\nHow secure your gateway is could be the difference between making a sale or not.\nIf your website payment method isn’t secure, some customers will avoid it completely because they’ll be nervous about entering their card data.\n\n### Question four: Payment methods accepted?\n\nPeople still pay with credit and debit cards when making online purchases, but you might want to ensure that your payment gateway accepts other forms of payment, like digital wallets or bitcoin.\nAre you a global company?\nThen you also need to consider what sort of currencies you’ll accept.\n\n### Question five: What fees are involved?\n\nIt’s difficult to find a gateway that doesn’t have fees.\nSome gateways charge a fee per transaction, while others charge a monthly flat fee.\nYou’ll also encounter additional fees for chargebacks or refunds.\nDepending on what type of service you offer, [those fees can add up](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/).\nDo your research and make sure that you won’t lose money on associated fees.\n\n### Question six: What contracts and/or service agreements are required?\n\nIf you have a contract or service agreement with your gateway payment provider, be sure to read the fine print.\nYou might need to meet a certain number of transactions to qualify for a payment rate.\n\n### Question seven: Can you view customer data?\n\nIf you rely on your payment gateway for user data for financial review, this would be a good feature to have.\nIn general, the more customer data you can track, the better.\n\n### Question eight: Does the gateway offer fraud detection and prevention?\n\nThis added layer of protection helps you as the seller, so you don’t lose money to fraudulent transactions.\n\n## Where does subscription billing software come into all of this?\n\nYou might think that your billing software and payment gateway are similar mechanisms, but **billing** **software helps you stay organized, automates some of the recurring billing processes, and can** [**offer gateway integrations**](/solutions/payments/).\nPayment gateways are not one-size-fits-all and don’t always do what you need them to do.\nUsing a billing software can help route payments, restrict certain customers, simplify foreign currency transactions, and more.\n\nAfter you’ve got all the credit card info and want to arrange recurring payments for your subscriptions, subscription billing software allows you to set up [payment plans](/product/orders/) and [pricing formulas](/docs/settings/pricing-formulas.md) (flat, tiered, stair-step, etc.).\nYour customers will be able to check out through the software, and you’ll have options for viewing customer data as you see fit.\n\nSubscription billing software can also help keep your card-data current, which becomes vital in the event that a card [expires](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn/).\nIf it offers Account Updater features, subscription billing software can [automatically try and update the card data for you](/product/renewals/)—before you lose the recurring revenue.\n\n## To recap\n\nPayment gateways are an important part of your subscription business.\nWithout them, there’s no way for buyer and seller transactions to occur.\nWhen choosing a payment gateway, factors such as security, integration, payment methods, and fees (among others) should be top-of-mind to avoid problems in your billing.\n\n**Don’t forget to make sure that you have more than one option available.** That way, you can avoid interruptions to your payments and keeps customers happy.\n\n**Now that you know what to look for in a payment gateway, find out what you should look for in your subscription billing tool.** Download our Six Must Haves guide to get a list of the must-haves (and why they matter), plus a bonus three-page feature checklist.\nGet it for free below:\n"},{"title":"Timelines: View and Comment on Transactions, Orders, and More","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-03-06","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"rebilly","label":"Rebilly News & Updates"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/timeline.png","id":1324,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/timelines-view-and-comment-on-transactions-orders-and-more","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Timelines: View and Comment on Transactions, Orders, and More\n\nWe’ve been hard at work on adding new features to Rebilly, and we’re happy to share our progress on Timelines.\n\nTimelines let your customer service team quickly view a timeline of activity (including customer activity, charges, and renewals).\nIn addition to viewing that information, they can also view and add internal notes on the timeline.\nThe goal? **Help your customer service team provide a better experience to customers and clients.**\n\n## Here’s what a customer timeline looks like\n\n{% img src=\"./images/customer_timeline-1.jpg\" alt=\"customer timeline\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" width=\"500\" /%}\n\nTo view a customer’s timeline, you’ll find that customer through the “Customers” screen.\nAfter clicking on a customer’s name, you’ll be able to see the timeline underneath “Recent Orders.” While you’re on a timeline, you can leave comments on it, with notes for yourself or other team members.\n\n**While you’re leaving a comment, you can also**\n\n- Tag another person in your organization\n- Attach documents or images\n- Link to another customer or order\n\n**Items tracked in the timeline include**\n\n- Invoices being created, issued or reissued, and paid\n- Invoices being marked past due or voided\n- Changes to the subscription’s products or pricing plans\n- Payment methods being added or updated\n- Which payment methods have been charged\n- Transactions being approved or declined\n- Changing of billing anniversary dates\n\nThese are all laid out on a simple chronological timeline, complete with dates, times, and which of your team members took an action.\nFor example, you can see when a team member marked something as past due.\n\n{% img src=\"./images/items_tracked_timeline.jpg\" alt=\"items tracked timeline\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" width=\"500\" /%}\n\n**In addition to customer timelines, we’ve also added order and transaction timelines.** You can view these timelines by clicking on the order or transaction to see the history.\nAll of the same commenting features apply on these timelines, as well.\n\nThis is what a transaction timeline looks like:\n\n{% img src=\"./images/transaction_timeline.jpg\" alt=\"transaction timeline\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" width=\"500\" /%}\n\n## The best part of Timelines?\n\nSharing important customer information internally, so that your customer service and success teams can access it quickly later, and serve your customers better.\n\n**Ready to check it out?** [Sign in to Rebilly](https://app.rebilly.com/login) and follow the instructions above. **Not a Rebilly user?** [Sign up for a trial today](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/) and see what you’re missing.\n"},{"title":"Customer Satisfaction: How to Create a Lasting Onboarding Process","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-02-27","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/onboarding.png","id":1329,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Customer Satisfaction: How to Create a Lasting Onboarding Process\n\nBeyond the initial win of getting your customer to sign up, keeping them is the real test.\nWithout a good onboarding process, it doesn’t matter how many people you get to sign up if they don’t stay.\n\nClient retention depends on how much value they receive and how positive their experience is, especially during those first weeks as a customer. **That means a good onboarding process is a crucial piece of your business strategy.** And while most onboarding advice is tailored specifically to SaaS companies, the truth is that no matter what kind of product you have, the tenets of onboarding are the same.\n\nSo, how _do_ you create an onboarding process that gets your customer to stick around?\nRead on to find out:\n\n## What is customer onboarding?\n\nCustomer onboarding covers the initial period that customers begin using your product or service.\n[Groove HQ](https://www.groovehq.com/support/great-examples-of-customer-onboarding) defines the onboarding period as beginning and ending with [two critical events](https://www.groovehq.com/support/great-examples-of-customer-onboarding), the outcomes of which determine [your customer’s lifetime value](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/):\n\n1. **The initial sale.** The clock starts ticking as soon as the customer has signed up, after they’ve completed [the “buyer’s journey](https://www.smartbugmedia.com/blog/the-3-stages-of-a-typical-buyers-journey):” awareness, consideration, and buying decision.\n\n2. **Your customer’s first success.** The second critical milestone happens when they first experience valuable results from using your product or service.\n\n## Why is onboarding so important?\n\n**Most customer churn takes place between these two events, i.e.** **\\*during onboarding\\*\\*\\***.\\*\\* “That’s where customers abandon your product because they get lost, don’t understand something, don’t get value from the product, or simply lose interest,” explains Len Markidan of [Groove](https://www.groovehq.com/support/great-examples-of-customer-onboarding).\n\nIf that fact doesn’t get you on board yet (see what I did there?), consider [these stats](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-onboarding):\n\n- On average, you’ll lose 75% of your new users within the first week\n- 40-60% of free trial users will use your product once and never come back\n- Most revenue comes from returning customers\n- Getting new customers is much more expensive than retaining existing customers\n- Happy customers become your top referral sources\n\n**Think of the process like taking on a new hire.** If a new employee experiences chaos and confusion their first week, how likely is it that they’ll continue working for that company?\n[When new hire onboarding goes well](https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/companies-with-the-most-unique-employee-onboarding-practices), 91% of employees will remain for at least a year, and 69% will stay for at least three years.\nThe user’s initial experience is just as critical.\n\nThe better your onboarding process, the more likely you are to reduce churn and keep more of your customers.\nThat, in turn, lowers the cost to acquire new customers and increases your overall revenue.\n\n## What a good customer onboarding process looks like\n\nIn the onboarding stage, it’s vital that you remain as customer-focused as you did in your sales and marketing efforts.\nKeep communication up and follow through on your value proposition.\n\n### Here are a few guidelines to consider when onboarding a new customer\n\n**Match customer expectations.** Even better?\nExceed them.\nReview your marketing materials to see if you’re at risk of overselling your product.\nIf the first experience a customer has with your product is disappointment that it doesn’t match expectations, they’re unlikely to stay a customer.\nIn other words, deliver exactly what you promised to deliver (or better!).\n\n**Tailor the customer experience.** Personalized customer experience will go a long way toward customer retention.\n\n- What are your customer’s specific concerns, and how can you meet them?\n- What does success look like for them, and how can you shorten the time from sign-up to success for them?\n- Do you have distinct customer groups with different needs, for whom you could tailor different onboarding paths?\n  For example, for a company offering client relationship management software, one client profile may be the business new to using a CRM, while another may be the seasoned business with a large list who is migrating from a competitor.\n  Each group will have very different questions and problems to solve when first using your product.\n\nThe more detailed your knowledge of your customer’s needs and expectations, the easier it will be to fulfill them.\n\n**Keep communication ongoing, timely, and relevant.** A good way to start the process is by sending a welcome email (especially when [free trials](/product/orders/) are in play).\nHowever, it bears repeating that if you send nothing but that initial email and one follow-up email near the end of the trial, you probably won’t retain that customer.\n(For more about creating successful free trials, [head here](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/).)\n\nA better plan is to start with the welcome email, and then follow through with a series of daily or weekly emails, depending on how your user interacts with your product or service.\nThose emails may:\n\n- Highlight a product feature, or offer a timely tip\n- Address any FAQs that may be relevant at this stage\n- Present case studies demonstrating how other customers are using your product and sharing their results.\n\nAll of these emails should guide your customer toward success, whatever that looks like for your subscription service or product: a well-designed and client-attractive landing page that wins your customer their first opt-in or sale; a delivery of exactly the organic produce they want, that gets consumed deliciously in the weeks before the next delivery; or a fully automated email campaign that creates an uptick in audience engagement.\nHow does your customer define success?\n\n**However, be careful not to overload your customers with too much information.** Use discretion.\nWho is your audience?\nWill they need significant hands-on help in their first week of use, or will an occasional check-in suffice?\nAsk yourself: how granular can I make this, to keep overwhelm at a minimum?\n\nYour initial communications should function on a “need-to-know” basis to get your customer up and running (well-timed how-tos), as well as reassure them that they made the right decision in committing to your product (relevant customer stories).\nSave “nice-to-have” service features or upgrades for later communications, when the customer has some experience—and positive feelings about your product—under their belt.\n\n**Make sure your tutorials are clear and easy to understand.** Many onboarding processes include step-by-step instructions on how to use your service or product.\nFor your business, that might be a downloadable checklist, a friendly user interface that pops up along with customer actions in real time, or a series of training videos.\nNo matter how you offer the tutorials, make sure that the customer finds them easy to use and follow.\n\n**Start with a plan.** Here are some [great checklists](https://www.smartsheet.com/definitive-guide-client-onboarding) to get you started.\n\n## See it in action\n\nLook outside the digital world for inspiration.\n[Outdoor retailer REI](https://www.appcues.com/blog/non-digital-user-onboarding) knows that if customers buy equipment that just ends up gathering dust, they won’t come back for more. “REI’s guided activities, classes, and group events help teach users how to get more value and enjoyment from their products, while also building an active user community and encouraging continued use of their products,” writes Katryna Balboni of [Appcues](https://www.appcues.com/blog/non-digital-user-onboarding).\nTheir approach gets customers to success (using the equipment in a fun outdoors activity) and keeps them engaged for the long term.\n\nGood onboarding, when used in conjunction with other strategies, can have many benefits — not least, reducing your chargeback rates.\nFor other tips on reducing chargebacks, make sure to download our free cheat sheet below:\n"},{"title":"How Do You Reduce Involuntary Churn?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-02-21","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/involuntary_churn.png","id":1319,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn","timeToRead":"7 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How Do You Reduce Involuntary Churn? Start by Tracking It\n\n**If you’ve been in the subscription business for a while, you’re no stranger to involuntary churn — or the desire to reduce it**.\nEven as a new business owner, you probably know churn is something you’ll deal with regularly, voluntary, or not.\n\nLuckily, there are steps you can take to reduce involuntary churn.\nHowever, you can’t set a goal to reduce involuntary churn until you know where you’re starting from.\n\n**After all, “what gets measured gets improved,” as Peter Drucker, author of _The Effective Executive,_ famously said.** In other words, step one to reducing churn is to track it.\nHow else can you know whether you’ve improved?\n\n## …And involuntary churn is? (A refresher)\n\nChurn comes in two flavors: voluntary and involuntary.\n\nVoluntary churn occurs when an unsatisfied customer cancels their subscription.\nReducing this type of churn is where most businesses focus the most effort.\nAnd for good reason: [of the average 5-7% average churn rate](https://sixteenventures.com/saas-churn-rate) for a subscription business, and of that, [60-80%](https://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/profit-well-march-2018/the-profitwell-report-the-worlds-largest-study-on-churn-17) is voluntary.\n\nIf you did nothing to improve customer retention or win new business, that means you’d lose over 56% of your subscribers within a year.\nAs it turns out, [involuntary churn is expensive](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/).\n\nThe remaining nearly [20-40%](https://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/profit-well-march-2018/the-profitwell-report-the-worlds-largest-study-on-churn-17) of churn is involuntary, which can happen even if the subscriber is a raving fan, and/or one of your biggest customers.\n(Involuntary churn doesn’t discriminate.) It occurs when a subscription is unintentionally interrupted because of scenarios like:\n\n- A subscriber forgets to update their billing information and their credit card expires\n- A customer’s credit card is lost or stolen\n- A customer’s bank declines the subscription charge due to a network error or because the customer exceeded their credit limit\n\nAny of these situations can lead to a lapsed subscription.\nThat, in turn, can potentially cause problems for the customer, in addition to lost or disrupted revenue for your business.\n\n### So, why pay attention to involuntary churn?\n\n**Involuntary churn quietly erodes your profits and damages customer relationships.** The involuntary churn average of about [1.8%](https://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/profit-well-march-2018/the-profitwell-report-the-worlds-largest-study-on-churn-17) (20-40% of an average 5-7% churn rate) of all transactions across industries may seem relatively harmless.\nHowever, those errors and delays can have a big impact on your business over time—over 20% in a year, if nothing is done to fix or prevent them.\n\nIf your subscription base represents $100K a year, involuntary churn could add up to $20K+ in lost revenue _every year_.\nIf you did nothing to proactively reduce involuntary churn, your revenue would drop by _half_ in less than 3 years.\n\nIn addition, involuntary churn can destroy customer trust, leading to [account cancellation](https://gocardless.com/guides/posts/intro-to-churn/).\nLet’s say a card payment declines, and the customer only learns that something went wrong when the software they and _their_ customers rely on suddenly stops working.\n\nAs their business grinds to a halt and customer service issues mount, they make an angry call to you and provide a new payment method.\nTheir account is restored, but the damage has been done.\nInconsistent service breaks customer trust, even if they are technically “at fault” due to a failed payment method.\n\nIf service interruption doesn’t cause catastrophic repercussions, a declined payment can still turn into an unplanned reevaluation of your service and its cost, paving the way for a customer’s potential defection to one of your competitors.\n\n**Do you know how many subscribers you’re losing to involuntary churn each month?\nHow do you compare to industry benchmarks?\nAnd why is this important?**\n\nBy tracking involuntary churn, you’ll get a clear picture of what normal levels are for your business.\nBy comparing your business to your industry rates, you’ll get a sense of how you stack up — and whether you’re missing an opportunity to carve out a competitive advantage.\n\n## Involuntary churn benchmarks by industry, business stage, and product\n\nIn general, B2C companies experience more churn than B2B companies, averaging [8.11% versus 6.22%](https://tech.co/news/startup-churn-rates-industry-standard-2017-06).\nSaaS and cloud computing services include a higher proportion of B2B services which tend to experience less churn.\nAs a result, involuntary churn rates are lower.\nEducation churn rates are seasonal, dropping when school is out of session.\n\nIf you are in a [growth stage](https://www.incredo.co/blog/what-is-a-reasonable-customer-attrition-rate-by-industry), your business can tolerate a higher churn rate.\nFor example, if you gain new subscribers at a rate of 10% per year, an annual churn rate (not to be confused with monthly churn rate) of 5% is manageable, as your revenue is still growing.\n\nIf you offer a more specialized service, you can expect a [lower number of new subscribers](https://www.incredo.co/blog/what-is-a-reasonable-customer-attrition-rate-by-industry).\nChurn, then, becomes much more significant, as renewed subscriptions will more directly determine your company’s sustainability.\n\nFinally, pricing matters.\nThe [larger the size of your contract/subscription](https://www.incredo.co/blog/what-is-a-reasonable-customer-attrition-rate-by-industry), the lower you can expect your churn rate to be.\n\n## How to track involuntary churn\n\nYou can make this data collection and analysis as simple or complex as you want.\nIn a nutshell, you’ll want to get a sense of your overall monthly churn, then determine what portion of that churn is involuntary.\n\nTo calculate your overall churn rate, you can divide the number of subscribers who churn during the month by the number of subscribers at the beginning of the month.\nEasy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.\n\nOr, you can calculate your churn rate by day, then extrapolate your results to calculate your monthly figures.\n\nYou can also calculate churn rates based on [revenue](https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/05/12/customer-churn), using monthly reoccurring revenue (MRR) as a baseline figure, where MRR at the end of the month is subtracted from MRR at the beginning of the month, less any customer upgrades.\nThat figure is divided by the starting MRR.\n\n**To determine what portion of your churn is involuntary, measure how many of your lost customers were due to credit card declines versus account cancellations.** To slice and dice this data even more, filter your credit card declines by their decline codes.\nThat way, you can isolate whether your primary issue is:\n\n- expired cards\n- outdated billing info\n- spendy customers who exceeded their credit limits\n- or something else entirely\n\n**The more specific data you gather, the more strategic you can be in your approach to reducing involuntary churn.**\n\n## How to reduce involuntary churn\n\n**The best way to reduce involuntary churn is by implementing automated decline management tools.** Here are a few examples (using our tool of choice, [Rebilly](/product/renewals/)—but the strategies are the same no matter what you’re using):\n\n- **Remind your clients when their payment method will soon expire.** You should be able to automate these email reminders to your customers.\n  Chances are they don’t know when their expiration date is and will appreciate the follow-up to keep their service going.\n  ([Head here](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/) for more tips on how to do that.)\n- **Keep customer credit card information as current as possible, automatically.** Rebilly’s [Account Updater](/solutions/payments/) links up with card issuers to keep your customer’s card-on-file data updated automatically in the event of an expired card, lost or stolen cards, or account updates.\n- **Automate retries of declined charges, intelligently**.\n  If a payment is declined for whatever reason, you should be able to [automatically](/product/renewals/) and intelligently retry those payments based on decline code and timing.\n  (There’s a whole [strategy](/blog/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries/) behind retries and how to get the most from them.)\n- **Predict new expiration dates and update cards before a decline occurs**.\n  Our [expiration date guesser](/product/renewals/) follows standard expiration date calculations and tests the new expiration date before running the card for the full subscription amount.\n  And it does so _before_ waiting for a declined charge.\n\n**Want a step-by-step strategy to decrease involuntary churn?** Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes to reduce churn and increase your CLV:\n"},{"title":"How to Automate Your PCI Compliance","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-02-13","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"minimizing-risk","label":"Minimizing Risk"},{"id":"security","label":"Security"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/pci_compliance.png","id":1277,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance","timeToRead":"5 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Automate Your PCI Compliance\n\nYou’ve spent years building your company and your customers’ trust in it. **And you know one of the biggest threats to that trust is lax data security.**\n\nAt this point, it’s easier to list big companies that haven’t had a data breach than ones that have — T-Mobile, Facebook, Marriott Starwood, Target…the list goes on.\nEvery time this happens, customers lose money and a business’s brand is damaged, sometimes irreparably.\n\nThe question is obvious: **How do I avoid becoming next?** Tackling your online security can seem insurmountable and overwhelming, and you might not have any idea where to start.\n\n## The goal: PCI Compliance\n\nThe Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is the baseline for billing security.\nThose firms meeting its standards are PCI compliant.\nIf you accept debit or credit card payments, you _have_ to be PCI compliant.\n\nLet’s take a moment to go over the process.\nStart with assessing your current systems, practices, and software to see both where you’re at and what needs work.\n\n## Levels of certification\n\n**To get started, you need to determine the level of certification you’ll be aiming for.** There are four levels of merchant compliance you can fall under.\nHere’s a very top-level overview of them:\n\n- Level 1: Six million or more transactions annually\n- Level 2: Between one and six million transactions annually\n- Level 3: Between 20,000 and one million transactions annually\n- Level 4: Less than 20,000 transactions annually\n\nHowever, it’s not quite as straightforward as that.\nEach of the major card issuers (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and JCB) maintains their own table of merchant levels, with slight differences between them.\nDiscover, Visa, and Mastercard all have mostly the same requirements, with a few small differences, while JCB and American Express have their own versions.\n\nUsually, if you’re at a certain level with one provider, you’re at the same across all providers, but there are a few exceptions.\nTo read more about the exceptions and see the level tables for all of the card issuers, [head here](https://semafone.com/blog/a-comprehensive-guide-to-pci-dss-merchant-levels/).\n\nOn top of all of that, the exact technical details of the standards are regularly updated to keep consumers safe from new threats.\n\n_Whew._ That’s a lot, but you’re not done yet…\n\n## Next up: Self-assessment time\n\n**Next, you’ll want to** [**head here**](https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/document_library?category=saqs#results) **and download the “Understanding SAQs for PCI DSS” document.** That will tell you which of the 9 Self Assessment Questionnaires (SAQs) to download.\nAfter you’ve downloaded the right SAQ for your business, you’ll go through about 10-12 questions, and answer “yes,” “no,” or “n/a” for each one.\n\n**When you’ve completed that step, you can move on to addressing any gaps in compliance.** After you’ve closed all gaps, you can download a [Formal Attestation of Compliance](https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/document_library?category=saqs#results) (also called an “AOC”), and prepare it along with your SAQ.\nYou’ll then file these with your billing partner, along with any other paperwork they request.\n\nIt’s also worth noting that SAQs are only valid for level 2-4 merchants.\nLevel 1 merchants have much higher requirements, including a yearly audit done by a third party company — no self-assessment allowed.\n\n## PCI Compliance is the beginning, not the end\n\n**While being PCI compliant is necessary, it’s also the bare minimum of security.** Home Depot and Target were both PCI compliant when they experienced data breaches.\nAfter you’re PCI compliant, you should still be doing the following:\n\n- Making sure your payment processor avoids storing cardholder data at any point\n- Performing regular security audits and staying abreast of changing standards to make sure you’re up to date\n- And of course, making sure you’re doing the other basics of good security (unique usernames and passwords, having an SSL certificate, training your team on how to [recognize social engineering attacks](https://digitalguardian.com/blog/social-engineering-attacks-common-techniques-how-prevent-attack))\n\n**Don’t work hard on your PCI compliance, only to have customer data compromised in another, avoidable way.**\n\n## Make compliance easier\n\n**It’s possible you’re even more overwhelmed now than when you started.** The good news is that there’s a shortcut: using a payment processor that’s already done the work of being PCI compliant for you.\nIf you’re using a subscription billing tool that has a secure checkout page and uses data tokenization, you can save a _lot_ of time on PCI compliance.\n\nFor example, [Rebilly](/solutions/payments/) accepts the cardholder data sent through the shopper’s browser and then creates a unique token to send to the selling company.\nThis allows our customers to keep basic customer data on file, without having credit card numbers accessible for hackers to steal.\n\nWhen working with a company like Rebilly, you’ll still have to fill out an SAQ — but that’s all you’ll have to do. **Find out which SAQ you’d have to fill out to reach the various levels of compliance by** [**heading here**](/docs/pci-compliance.md)**.**\n\n**Whichever subscription billing management tool you wind up using, security shouldn’t be the only thing you look at.** Make smart subscription billing decisions without the stress by downloading our free report that covers security must-haves and has a bonus three-page feature checklist.\nGet it below:\n"},{"title":"Are You Affected by Mastercard’s New Free Trial Rules?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-02-06","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"chargebacks","label":"Chargebacks"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/master_card_new_rules.png","id":1260,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/mastercards-new-free-trial-rules-subscriptions","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Are You Affected by Mastercard’s New Free Trial Rules?\n\nLast month, [Mastercard made an announcement](https://newsroom.mastercard.com/2019/01/16/free-trials-without-the-hassle/) that left many subscription business owners wondering if their business would be affected — or to what extent.\nThey later [updated the announcement to clarify](https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/16/mastercard-free-trial-protection/) some of the rules, specifically around digital products, but in case you missed that or still aren’t sure whether it would affect your business, read on to find out what’s what.\n\n## The details of the new requirements\n\nMastercard rolled out new consumer protections that apply to subscription businesses with free trials for physical products.\nIn other words, **if your subscription business** **_only_** **delivers digital products, these protections don’t apply to you.** That said, it’s still worth paying attention to them and what they could mean for the future of the industry.\n\nMastercard’s new rules require merchants to do the following to ensure their customer’s conversion from free trial to subscriber remains valid:\n\n- Send the cardholder – either by email or text – the transaction amount, payment date, and merchant name along with explicit instructions on how to cancel a trial.\n- Send a receipt to the cardholder for each transaction by email or text message, with clear instructions on how to cancel the service if the customer so desires.\n- The merchant website URL or the phone number of the store where the cardholder made the purchase must be included on all charges that appear on the cardholder’s statement\n\nIf a merchant doesn’t follow these guidelines, customers can dispute the charges.\nThese changes reflect best subscription practices, which can help [reduce chargebacks](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/) and negative reviews, while protecting the customer trust you’ve worked hard to create.\n\n## What this means for you\n\n**The big question is, what kind of product do you offer?** If it’s a subscription in beauty products, records, scotch, or anything else that’s a physical product, you need to make sure you’ve implemented the new guidelines, or your Mastercard chargebacks will likely increase.\n\nHowever, even if you sell digital products, this is a good time to examine [how you’re charging and onboarding new customers](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/).\nAfter all, these rules could be part of a sea change that may eventually affect digital products.\n\n### In other words, it’s time to take a look at your free trial and customer onboarding practices with an eye on the following\n\n- **Understanding your customer’s needs and experiences.** How can you deliver the information about your product and how to use it when they need it?\n  Will learning how to use it take a few minutes, or a few hours, or longer?\n- **Optimizing customer time to proof of value.** “Proof of value” is the moment your customer experiences how your product is going to save them time, energy, or money.\n  In other words, it’s when they see what makes your product worth paying for.\n  Ideally, this amount of time should be as small as possible, making it more likely for customers to stick around.\n- **The timing of your post-signup emails.** Business-owners often set email timing based based on hours or days after signup.\n  But it might make more sense to time them with concrete onboarding milestones.\n  Your goal should be to get the customer to “proof of value” ASAP, while ensuring they stick around long enough after that to turn product-usage into a habit.\n\nThe way you’ve set up your free trial should take all of this into account, especially points one and two.\nThat’s one reason that Rebilly [offers complete customization](/product/orders/) on how long your free trials can be — so you can match it to how long the onboarding process, and time to proof of value, takes for your product.\nWe also offer [dynamic descriptors](/docs/settings/set-up-a-gateway.md#configure-card-statement-descriptions), which make it easy to change what shows up on your customer’s credit card statements, in case you need or want to add your website URL or phone number.\n\nWant to learn about other ways to decrease your chargebacks, and [all of the associated costs](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/)?\nDownload our guide to reducing chargebacks today:\n"},{"title":"Planning on DIYing Your Subscription Billing?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-01-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/build_vs_buy.png","id":1163,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/subscription-billing-build-or-buy","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Plan on DIYing your subscription billing? Read this first\n\nWhen it comes to finding the right subscription billing management tool, it can be tempting to build your own.\nBut before you decide to embark on that journey, make sure you’ve carefully weighed the pros and cons.\nAfter all, many a business owner has attempted a DIY software project, only to wind up regretting it later.\n\n**Let’s find out how you can avoid that same trap:**\n\n## The upsides of building your own subscription solution\n\n### Customization\n\nThe biggest and most obvious benefit here is that you’ll have the ability to completely customize the features to perfectly match your needs.\nFor example, you might be considering building a billing solution if you need payment methods or schedules that aren’t often supported by other tools.\n\n### A possible edge\n\nThis ties in with customization, but is worth discussing as its own point.\nOutside of the customization benefits for you as a business owner, would creating your own subscription billing tool give you an edge in your industry?\nIs there something you could build into it that would also be a standout benefit for your product/business?\n\n**With subscription tools, this is a little less likely than other scenarios.** When it comes to a billing tool, there are only so many standout features that matter for customer experience, and most of them are covered by one tool or another.\nHowever, if your business exists in a particular niche where your customers want features like:\n\n- specific [payment methods, schedules](/product/orders/), or [pricing formulas](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/)\n- invoices delivered in a certain format\n- other features that might not be included in a standard billing solution\n\n…then this could come into play.\n\n**The important thing here is to make sure you’re considering things from your customer’s point of view – not yours.** Oftentimes, business owners think that customers care about something that they don’t actually care that much about.\nIf you can, sit down and talk with a few customers about what (if anything) they don’t like about the way your business is currently processing payments.\nTake that feedback into account before deciding whether you should build a subscription billing solution of your own.\n\n## The downsides of building your own subscription software\n\n### Cost\n\nNo matter which way you build it, creating your own software is almost always more expensive than using ready-made software.\nIf you successfully build your own on a reasonable budget _and_ the other options are very expensive, then you might save money in the very long run, but that’s about it.\n\nIt’s common for people to try and lower development costs by outsourcing exclusively to overseas developers or cheap development agencies.\nDon’t forget that communication can take up a lot of time.\nIf you’re working with people in other time zones, there’s often a slow turnaround on communication too.\n\nIf you don’t have someone on staff who can work on your billing solution, but you’re still intent on building it, look for local agencies or freelancers.\nFinding a freelancer to work with can cost less than hiring an employee or working with an agency.\nAnd make sure to look for someone with experience.\nThey don’t have to have a decade of work behind them, but working with someone more experienced can help with communication and scope creep.\n\n### Scope creep\n\nScope creep relates to cost, but should also be considered and discussed on its own.\nIn essence, “scope creep” is a term that describes that projects often take longer than we originally estimate.\nIt specifically refers to adding things to the scope of the project — extra features, etc. — hence the name, but is often used as a shorthand for the general growth of a project over time.\n\n**Projects, especially projects involving multiple moving parts and people, often take 1.5-2x as long (or longer) than we think they will at first.** The larger and more complicated the project is, the more likely it is that scope creep will become an issue.\nThere are things you can do to try and keep it in check, though:\n\n- Make sure that the scope of the project is as thorough as possible and includes padding in all time estimates\n- [Learn about how to create better time estimates for software projects – here’s a few tips](https://hackernoon.com/barriers-to-effective-software-effort-estimation-and-how-to-avoid-them-4abd39f09f26)\n- Be proactive about checking in with the developers and raise issues if you feel that scope creep is becoming a risk\n- Identify potential bottlenecks (whether they’re tasks or people) and discuss what to do to keep them from being an issue\n\n**The important thing to remember is that scope creep’s cost is twofold:**\n\n1. It adds to the cost of development (especially if you’re paying hourly fees) 2.\n   It also adds to the time until you have a workable solution, which means potentially losing money in the meantime\n\nJust how out of control can scope creep get?\nWell, [Rebilly was originally created as a proprietary billing solution](/about/).\nNow, more than six years later, we’re still continuously adding features.\nKeep that in mind if you think creating a comprehensive billing solution will be simple or easy!\n\n### Maintenance and security\n\nAssuming you _do_ finish your subscription billing tool, you’ll need to maintain it and keep it up to current security standards.\nThere’s no shortcut here.\nIt has to be done, so make sure you plan for that commitment when making a decision.\n\nIf you used a freelancer or outside team to build the tool, you’ll need to make sure that they’re available for ongoing maintenance work, or hire someone internally who can handle it.\nSecurity wise, you’ll need to stay at the top of the game to make sure that your customer’s data isn’t at risk.\nAt the very bare minimum, you’ll want to maintain PCI compliance.\nYou can read more about [PCI compliance and what it takes to meet it here](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/).\n\n## Is there a compromise?\n\nIn general, the only real reasons to build a new subscription billing tool from scratch are:\n\n- A need for features that aren’t readily available _and_ can’t be created with API functionality from current tools\n- The ability to build in subscription billing features that would be a selling point for your product itself\n\nOtherwise, you can get most of the upsides of building your own tool, without the massive investment, by using a tool with a robust API functionality.\nThen, you’ll be able to create the kinds of customizations you need, without having to build the entire tool from the ground up.\nFor example, [using Rebilly’s API](/docs/dev-docs/api/), we’ve had customers [create custom fields](/docs/settings/custom-fields.md) that let them keep track of which content their customer “likes,” which makes it easier for customer service agents to help customers.\n\n**If you’re looking for other ways to evaluate a subscription billing tool, make sure to download our free checklist.** You’ll get a list of the six absolute must-haves (and why they matter), along with other useful tips.\nGet it for free below:\n"},{"title":"Suspended by Paypal?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-01-15","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"minimizing-risk","label":"Minimizing Risk"},{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/Payment_Gateway_Isnt_Working.png","id":1101,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/suspended-by-paypal-what-to-do-next","timeToRead":"5 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Suspended by Paypal? Read These Next Steps ASAP\n\nIt’s one of the emails you hope to never receive.\nDuring your morning email check, you see that you’ve got an email from PayPal.\nAnd…your account is suspended.\nYou can’t process any payments through PayPal, and if that’s the only payment gateway you’re using, that means you aren’t making _any_ money.\n\nObviously, you need to fix this, ASAP.\nFirst, let’s cover what to do if you’ve been suspended by PayPal and can’t accept payments in the meantime:\n\n## Set up another payment gateway\n\nYour primary goal right now is to minimize your downtime and get back up and running.\nWith that in mind, you need to set up another payment gateway and integrate it with your subscription billing tool.\n\nWhen you’re looking at a payment gateway, be sure to take the following into account:\n\n- **The payment methods and currencies you want to accept.** The goal here is to cover as many payment options and currencies as possible, _without_ overwhelming your customers with too many options.\n  Depending on your niche, you might need less common payment options — bitcoin, for example — to match your customers’ preferences.\n- **The rates the payment gateway charges.** Is it a flat fee per month, per transaction, a percentage fee, or a combination of the above?\n- **Contracts &amp; payment terms.** Do you have to commit to a minimum number of months or transactions per month?\n- **Ability to export customer data.** Can you export it yourself?\n  Do you have to contact a company representative and have them send it to you?\n- **Customer support.** What are their hours?\n  How fast do they respond?\n  What channels are available — can you call in case of an emergency, or are there only chat/email functions?\n- **Whether or not they offer an [Account Updater](/blog/use-account-updater-increase-your-approval-rates/) feature.** This is a feature that attempts to automatically update expired card details, which can help with [reducing involuntary churn](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/).\n  (If you’re looking for another way to reduce involuntary churn, check out our [smart retries and renewals features](/product/renewals/).)\n- **Deposit turnaround time.** How long does it take for payments to hit your bank account and how often are they deposited?\n\nObviously, right now, you might not have the time to do a full cost-benefit analysis for every payment gateway.\nJust make sure to check the basics so that you aren’t unpleasantly surprised in a month or two.\n\n### Set up _another_ payment gateway\n\nAt Rebilly, we _strongly_ recommend having more than one payment gateway at all times.\nThat way, you won’t be left without the ability to process transactions if one payment gateway fails.\n(Just one reason we support {% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} [payment gateways](../../gateways/)!) Once you get the immediate emergency here fixed, you should pick a second payment gateway and set that one up as well.\nNow, in the future, if something like this happens again, you can keep your downtime to an absolute minimum.\n\n## Appeal your suspension\n\nOnce you’ve got a payment gateway up and running and are accepting payments again, you can investigate why you were shut down.\nPayPal has a [series of steps you can take to lift limitations on your account](https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/how-do-i-remove-a-limitation-from-my-account-faq2189), so you may be able to resolve the issue.\nYou’ll still want to set up another gateway in the meantime, in case of permanent suspension or slow resolution.\n\n## Get your data\n\nEven if you can’t process your sales right now, you should be able to log in and export your data as a CSV.\nAfter you log in, go to “payments received,” and then press “download” on the right-hand side of the page.\n\n**Why download your customer data?** You might already have access to it all via your subscription billing tool, but you want to make absolutely sure that you don’t lose valuable information like customer name, location, and email, how long they’ve been a customer, total CLV, etc. Having easy access to that data makes it easy to, among other things, [optimize your marketing](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/) — it’s one reason we work hard to have [robust reporting features](/product/reporting-automation/).\n\n## Why would PayPal freeze my account?\n\nSometimes the reason that PayPal has suspended an account isn’t exactly clear.\nIn the past, a sudden influx of purchases (especially from around the world) often caused account freezes, which made product launches…interesting.\nIn recent years, PayPal has become better at detecting fraudulent activity.\nHowever, they will still suspend an account if it seems “high risk” — usually for having too many refunds or customer disputes.\n\nPayPal is still a very convenient payment option for many customers, so you should have it as a payment option if possible.\nJust make sure that you’re not relying on it solely, and that you’re doing what you can to [decrease your risks of chargebacks](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/) in the meantime (and [disputing them](/blog/how-to-handle-chargebacks/) when they do happen).\n\n**Now that you can resume your normal business activity, it’s time to take smart steps to decrease involuntary churn.** Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how, using data like decline codes and card types to reduce churn and increase your CLV.\nDownload it below:\n"},{"title":"Shopping Cart Software: Hosted or Installed?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2019-01-02","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"The shopping cart experience is the last step in a long process, which makes abandonment common for consumers and frustrating for businesses. BI Intelligence reports that $4 trillion will be abandoned in carts this year. The good news is that 63 percent is recoverable.","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/shopping_cart-1.png","id":23,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/what-makes-the-best-shopping-cart-hosted-vs-installed-software","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Shopping Cart Software: Hosted or Installed?\n\nThe shopping cart is the last step in the purchasing process, which means that losing a customer there can feel much more frustrating than losing someone at the beginning.\nAnd shopping cart abandonment is _common_.\nIn fact, BI Intelligence reports that [$4 trillion](http://uk.businessinsider.com/heres-how-retailers-can-reduce-shopping-cart-abandonment-and-recoup-billions-of-dollars-in-lost-sales-2014-4?r=US&IR=T&__hstc=229822019.07430159d50a3c91e72c280a7921bf0d.1542326400150.1542326400151.1542326400152.1&__hssc=229822019.1.1542326400153&__hsfp=998628806) will be abandoned in carts annually.\n\nThe good news? **According to the same report, 63% is recoverable <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">—</span> _if_ you’re willing to take a few simple steps.**\n\nThe key is to create a simple, flexible shopping cart experience.\nThis keeps customers from getting confused with where they are, shocked by added costs, or frustrated by a lack of options.\n\n## Features to look for in your shopping cart software\n\nOutside of common-sense features like [secure payment processing](/solutions/payments/), the most important features customers need in a shopping cart are:\n\n- **A space to set options aside and keep browsing the shop.** Customers often use a cart as a “save for later” space, and then come back to it to compare and evaluate options before making a final decision.\n- **An at-a-glance summary of what’s in the cart**.\n  This needs to have enough detail to make sure the customer knows the value of each option.\n  When selling subscription products, this includes details like [the subscription schedule](/blog/the-most-popular-subscription-schedules/) of said product (weekly, monthly, etc.), any setup fees, and how long the [free trial](/product/orders/) lasts.\n  Make sure that you’re making your prices as clear as possible, in the interest of [decreasing chargebacks](/blog/cost-of-chargebacks/).\n- **Easy upsell options.** Adding an upsell option can be a great way to [increase average order value](https://optinmonster.com/upselling-tips-and-examples/) without a lot of work.\n  Ideally, your shopping cart software will make it easy for customers to upgrade a product or subscription, or for you to offer customized upsells based on what’s in their cart already.\n- **A clear path to check out.** Pretty self explanatory <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">—</span> if your customer can’t figure out how to check out, they’re much less likely to buy!\n\n## How to choose between hosted, custom-built, or API integrated shopping carts\n\nWhen it comes down to it, you have three options for putting together the shopping cart you need:\n\n### Hosted shopping cart services\n\nMany e-commerce service providers offer hosted shopping cart platforms.\nThis means the cart runs and is maintained by the service, not the business using the cart.\nThis is the simplest shopping cart solution and requires the least amount of technical knowledge.\nBecause of that, many startups go this route to start bringing in revenue quickly.\n\nThe downside of this solution is that the user doesn’t have complete control over the functions, features, and navigation of the shopping cart.\nFor some customers, this can feel too stifling.\nBeyond that, selecting a shopping cart from the various options can feel overwhelming.\n\n### Built in-house\n\nThis is only an option if you already have a dedicated development team with experience in creating tools for e-commerce, _and_ you have time and resources to support it internally.\nEven then, serious evaluations should be done before starting the project.\nDevelopment time and resources add up, projects get out of scope, and you need to take all of that into account and see how likely it is to produce a cart that’s significantly better than what’s already on the market.\n\nIf you _do_ decide to undertake this, you’ll have complete control over all of the details and be able to customize and test to your heart’s content.\nThe downside is that it can be a significant drain on your internal resources.\n\n### API integration\n\nThe sweet spot between these two options is integrating with an existing cart service using APIs.\nThis gives you complete control over the user experience, without building everything in-house.\n\nIf you have a moderate amount of technical skill, you can set up an API integration.\nThen, you’ll be able to make adjustments to the shopping cart as needed. **For the majority of subscription businesses, we recommend either going this route or using hosted shopping carts from a provider that will let you customize and test the appearance.**\n\n## Fix the cart problem\n\n**In the end, you need to choose the shopping cart solution that best suits your needs and business model — but don’t forget about your customers and _their_ needs, either.** From current abandonment rates, it’s obvious businesses are losing a lot of money at the last minute.\nTime and effort invested in optimizing your shopping cart can pay for itself many times over.\n\n_Header photo by [rawpixel](https://unsplash.com/photos/EspXDd5Gu-c?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)_\n"},{"title":"Bootstrap Your Subscription Business With These 14 Tools","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-12-19","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/Every_tool_you_need.png","id":1066,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/bootstrap-subscription-business-with-these-apps-tools","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Bootstrap Your Subscription Business With These 14 Tools\n\nWhen you’re first setting up your subscription business, the sheer amount of tools available can be overwhelming.\nWhat do you need to get started?\nWhat’s a must-have, and what’s a nice-to-have?\nWe’ve got a full list for you below, split into categories covering…\n\n- Websites\n- Payments\n- Marketing\n- Communication\n- Shipping &amp; Logistics\n\nReady?\nLet’s dive in:\n\n## Websites\n\nFirst off, you need a site to direct people to — a homebase for your business where people can read your marketing content, purchase your products, and sign up for your email list.\nThese products will get you up and running:\n\n### WordPress/Squarespace\n\nWordPress (which you can use [self-hosted](https://wordpress.org/) or [hosted by WordPress](https://wordpress.com/)) is the most popular CMS for a reason.\nIt’s easy to learn how to use, has a huge amount of themes and integrations available, and it’s easy to find contractors who specialize in it because of how popular it is.\nAll of the below tools integrate with it (or, in the case of one of them, are built to work with it).\nIf you go with self-hosted, [Flywheel](https://getflywheel.com/) is a managed WordPress host that makes the process seamless.\nIf for whatever reason, WordPress isn’t for you, you might take a look at [Squarespace](https://www.squarespace.com/) as an alternative.\n\n### Thrive Themes\n\n[Thrive Themes](https://thrivethemes.com/) offers a suite of conversion-focused themes and plugins that can get your WordPress site up, customized, and looking great, with just a few clicks.\nWe’ll talk more about email marketing in a moment, but the gist of it is that you definitely want to be collecting email addresses.\nOne of their plugins, Thrive Leads, makes that extremely easy — it lets you create opt-in forms to add to pages, posts, and your sidebar, and run tests to see which version is most effective.\n\n### Google Analytics\n\nIf you aren’t tracking your marketing efforts, you’re missing out.\nTracking analytics on your site lets you keep an eye on what’s working and what’s not, [letting you more effectively leverage your marketing budget](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).\n[Google Analytics](https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/) is the industry standard, and it’s free.\nThere is something of a learning curve in figuring out how to get the most effective data from it — [here’s a resource on how to set up ecommerce reports](https://www.monsterinsights.com/5-best-google-analytics-custom-reports-for-ecommerce/) with it.\n\n## Payments\n\nIn addition to the subscription billing software you’re using, you’ll need at least one payment gateway.\n[We _strongly_ recommend](/blog/lost-merchant-account-how-to-avoid-downtime/) having at least two payment gateways as a risk-distribution measure.\nThat way, if something goes wrong with one payment gateway, you can still keep collecting payments through the other gateways, and not lose money.\n\nThe factors you’re looking at should include:\n\n- The payment methods you want to accept\n- The currencies you want to accept\n- The rates the payment gateway charges\n- Contracts &amp; payment terms\n- Ability to export customer data\n- Customer support\n- Whether or not they offer an Account Updater feature, which automatically updates expired card details (great for [reducing involuntary churn](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/)!)\n\nHowever, everything that goes into choosing a payment gateway deserves its own article, [which you can read here](/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway/).\nIf you want to jump-start your evaluation process, view all the Rebilly supported [Payment gateways](/gateways/).\nIf you find that a payment gateway is not supported, you can [request a new payment gateway integration](/docs/settings/integration-requests.md) free of charge.\n\n### Subscription billing software vs. payment gateway\n\nYou might be wondering what the difference is between a payment gateway and a subscription billing software.\nHere’s an overview:\n\n- Subscription billing software (also referred to as a subscription management tool or recurring billing software) is what lets you set up recurring payment plans and payment formulas (stair-step, flat rate, etc.), gives you a clean interface for your customers to check out through, and lets you access your customer data later\n- The payment gateway is what takes your customers’ money, processes the transaction, and puts your customers’ money into your merchant account\n\nYou’ll need both subscription billing software _and_ a payment gateway (and, as mentioned above, ideally 2+ payment gateways) to get your subscription business off the ground.\nIf you don’t already have a merchant account, [you may need to get one](/blog/does-my-subscription-business-need-a-merchant-account/).\nPayment gateways are not the same thing as a merchant account, and neither is a business checking account.\nIf you don’t want to get a merchant account, you’ll need to use a payment gateway that doesn’t require one, usually referred to as a modern payment gateway (vs. “classic” payment gateways).\n\nIf you’re in search of a subscription management tool, there’s always [Rebilly](/product/) — you can [read about our recently announced features here](/blog/new-rebilly-features-dashboards-timelines-and-more/).\n\n## Marketing\n\nGetting your business up and running doesn’t do much if you can’t get the word out about it and stay in touch with leads.\nThese tools will help you do that:\n\n### ClickFunnels\n\nIf you’re looking for a one-stop shop that lets you create a membership site, manage and pay affiliates, set up sales funnel pages quickly, and run A/B tests for all of this, [ClickFunnels](https://www.clickfunnels.com/) is the way to go.\nIf you only need one of these pieces, you can probably make do with another one of these options — but if having everything under one roof is important to you, ClickFunnels can do it all with ease.\n\n### MailChimp/Drip\n\nEmail marketing is vital — no matter how many new social media sites crop up, email marketing should be the cornerstone of your marketing plan.\n[MailChimp](https://mailchimp.com/) is a great option, especially for new business owners, as it offers a full suite of features with paid plans starting at $10/month.\nIf you want features that are custom-built for e-commerce and have more of a budget, [Drip](https://www.drip.com/) is $49/month for email lists up to 2,500.\n\n### Pipedrive/Hubspot CRM\n\nIf your subscription billing software doesn’t include CRM capabilities (psst, [Rebilly does](/product/customer-service/)), consider adding a CRM to your suite of apps.\n[Pipedrive](https://www.pipedrive.com/) is focused on giving you a clear, intuitive view of your sales funnel, and it’s reasonably priced at $15/user/month.\nIf you’re on a tight budget, the [Hubspot CRM](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm)is free.\n\nIt _is_ worth noting that in between an email marketing tool, any CRM features in your subscription billing software, and other tools mentioned, like ClickFunnels, you might not need another CRM tool.\nHowever, if you do, both of the tools mentioned integrate with most popular email marketing tools (including the ones we mentioned), so you’ll be able to keep it all synced up.\n\n### Buffer/Edgar\n\nWhile you shouldn’t rely on any one social network as your sole source of marketing (as that can lead to unpleasant situations when an algorithm changes unexpectedly!), social media marketing is still important.\n[Buffer](https://buffer.com/) is budget friendly, easy to use, and lets you schedule content across multiple platforms, so it’s a great place to get started.\nIf you want something with more robust automation tools that help you recycle and create content, check out [Edgar](https://meetedgar.com/).\n\n### Crowdcast\n\nWebinars and live videos are a great way to keep your marketing engaging.\n[Crowdcast](https://www.crowdcast.io/) will let you run webinars, online summits, and interviews while integrating with several of the other tools mentioned.\nIt also lets you stream to Facebook live for an extra audience boost, and engage your audience with Q&amp;A, polls, and chat features.\n\n## Customer Communication\n\nOnce you get customers (or have people interested in becoming customers), you need to communicate with them in a timely manner.\nThese tools can help you offer support, onboarding, and information to current or potential customers:\n\n### Intercom\n\nIntercom’s standout features are customer support chat, [chatbots](https://www.intercom.com/bots-for-support), in-app and push messages and [knowledge base tools](https://www.intercom.com/customer-support-software).\nThey also offer email support tools that are on par with the most popular support tools.\nIf you’re looking for chat/messaging features _and_ email support, and want it all in one spot, Intercom could be a good bet.\nThere are also service packages built around acquiring/engaging/supporting customers.\nThat way, you can use Intercom while continuing to use something else.\n\n### Helpscout\n\nHelpscout’s core functionality is [help desk](https://www.helpscout.net/help-desk-software/) and [knowledge base tools](https://www.helpscout.net/knowledge-base/), although they’ve recently added features like [Beacon](https://www.helpscout.net/live-chat/), which is something of a combination between a chatbot and knowledgebase.\nIf your primary priorities are email support and creating help docs, Helpscout is a great way to go.\nIt’s also budget-friendly, with plans starting at $12/user/month.\n\n## Shipping &amp; Logistics\n\nAre you one of the many subscription businesses out there that have physical products as part of your offerings?\nThese tools will help you get them out the door:\n\n### Shipstation/Shippo\n\nGetting your shipping labels printed can be a pain…but [Shipstation](https://www.shipstation.com/) and [Shippo](https://goshippo.com/) both make it easy.\nThey offer data imports and integrations, with Shipstation being focused on USPS and Shippo working with multiple carriers.\n\n### Packlane\n\nIf you fulfill locally and want to have customized packaging, [Packlane](https://packlane.com/) is a great option, especially if you have small order sizes (their order minimum is one box!).\n\n## Let’s take it from the top\n\nTo get your subscription service up and running, you’ll need:\n\n- A website to send people to that can collect email addresses\n- A payment gateway and merchant account to receive payments\n- An email marketing tool and social media sharing tool\n\nIn the category of “nice to have, but don’t let it keep you from starting,” we have:\n\n- A CRM to manage customers or potential customers\n- A customer support tool\n- A webinar/interview tool to create marketing content\n- A membership area and/or landing page creation tool, if applicable\n- Shipping management tools and custom packaging, if applicable\n\n**Now that you’ve got all of that covered, there’s only one thing left: make sure you’re using the best subscription software possible.** Obviously, we’re biased towards Rebilly — [check out our features](/solutions/billing).\nBut if you want to know what to look for (and why it matters), you can download our subscription billing checklist below:\n"},{"title":"New Rebilly Features: Dashboards, Timelines, and More","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-12-12","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"rebilly","label":"Rebilly News & Updates"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/new_rebilly_features.png","id":934,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/new-rebilly-features-dashboards-timelines-and-more","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# New Rebilly Features: Dashboards, Timelines, and More\n\nWe’ve recently launched a new user interface and we’re excited to share the changes with you!\n\n## What’s changing?\n\n[Our web app](https://app.rebilly.com) (the user interface used by admins, customer service reps, and billing managers), has been rebuilt from the ground up.\nYou’ll notice that information is organized and presented differently, that some features have moved, and that there are new features to explore.\n\n## What’s included in the new and improved Rebilly?\n\nThe app performs faster, and is built to make it easier to add new features in the future.\nSome of the features we’ve already added include:\n\n{% img src=\"./images/dashboard-rebilly-1024x662.jpg\" alt=\"dashboard\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n- A new, intuitive dashboard where you can see all of your KPIs at a glance\n- The ability to display specific segments on your dashboard (i.e. customers from a specific country, or customers paying with Visa cards)\n- Everything on the new dashboard is tile-based, so you can add and move around metrics to customize your view\n\n{% img src=\"./images/customer-filtering-1024x516.jpg\" alt=\"customer filtering\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n- A new customer view thats lets you see lifetime revenue, value, and number of payments from customers at a glance (and filter by all of those data-points, or other ones)\n- The ability to add and save filtered customer lists (for example, “lifetime revenue equal to or greater than $500”)\n\n{% img src=\"./images/customer-timeline.jpg\" alt=\"customer timeline\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n- Customer profiles that gives you all relevant information about a customer, including their lead source (both recent and original, making it easy to [create data-based marketing plans](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/))\n- A timeline on the customer profile that lets you see previous transactions, whether they were approved or denied, and when invoices were sent, along with the ability to comment on the timeline internally (for customer service notes, etc.)\n\n{% img src=\"./images/pricing_formula.jpg\" alt=\"pricing formula\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n### A few other additions include\n\n- An easy way to view all details for customer orders and email invoices directly from the order page\n- New pricing formulas in addition to fixed/flat rate, including stairstep, tiered, and volume pricing (Curious about pricing formulas?\n  [Read more here](/blog/biggest-pricing-table-mistake/))\n- Improvements to our Rules Engine to make it more robust and easier to use\n- The ability to copy user permissions from an existing user, making it easy to get your team set up in Rebilly in a few minutes\n\nAll of this is on top of the industry-leading features you’ve come to know and love Rebilly for, like [our dunning process](/product/renewals/) that lets you focus on finding new customers instead of fixing failed credit cards.\n\n### Our planned features include (but aren’t limited to)\n\n- Search\n- Shipping zones\n- Order-screen timeline\n- Additional transaction filters\n- Transaction-screen timeline\n- Dispute management\n\n## Why the change?\n\nEvery change we made was with the goal of making Rebilly significantly easier to use.\nOur team spent a lot of time doing usability research and tests and rebuilt using newer JavaScript libraries.\nNow, we’ll be able to add new features faster due to better code quality and more modern libraries.\n\n## What about my data?\n\nBoth user interfaces use the same API, so your data remains safe and secure.\n\n## We’ve worked hard, and we hope you like the results!\n\nWe’re continuing to work on and improve the new user interface, and add in missing functionality.\nPlease try the new user interface, and let us know what you think.\nUser feedback is what helps us plan new project and features.\nAnd as always, thank you for your support!\n\n## Want to take it for a spin yourself?\n\n**[Sign up for your free trial today!](https://app-sandbox.rebilly.com/)**\n"},{"title":"One-Time Sale vs. Subscription: What Makes Customers Buy?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-12-05","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/one_time_vs_subscriptions.png","id":903,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# One-Time Sale vs. Subscription: What Makes Customers Buy?\n\nThere’s a lot of information out there on how to maximize your sales — but how much of it is relevant to your business?\nSales research is often based on the assumption of a one-time sale and a business model based on selling products.\n\n**Sometimes that age-old wisdom holds true for subscription-based businesses…and sometimes, what works for another business can hurt a subscription-based business.**\n\nThe question for you, then, is what are the key differences for customers between deciding to buy a one-time product and signing up for a subscription product or service?\nAnd how can you utilize those differences to get more sales?\n\n## Do free trials work?\n\nFree trials can work in non-subscription businesses — samples are a popular sales tactic for a reason.\nWith free trials, it’s a little different, because the customer has to take an action to get the free sample. **If you’re a subscription business, there are two points of conversion:**\n\n1. Getting the prospect to convert to a free trial user 2.\n   Getting the free trial user to convert to a paying customer\n\nWhen it comes to the first point, there are no hard and fast rules.\nBecause of that, you should always test your landing pages and copy — depending on your industry and customers, you might find some surprises.\nFor example, Wedbuddy originally had a free trial CTA that emphasized that the no-risk, no credit card nature of their free trial.\nPutting the “free” in “free trial” makes sense, right?\n\nHowever, when they tested this landing page against a different version with a few key changes, they [increased conversions by 73%](http://growthrock.co/saas-conversion-optimization/).\nOne of the biggest changes was changing the CTA to focus on what users could _do_ with the free trial — create a website in minutes. **The lesson is to test everything.**\n\n_(For more about running successful experiments, head to_ [_our post on price optimization_](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/)_, or check out the free guide below.)_\n\n### Does the trial length matter?\n\n**Another factor to think about with your free trials is how long they should be.** For monthly subscriptions, 14-30 days is usually the go-to.\nThere are a few things to note here:\n\n- If your trial length is too short, especially if you have a service/product that requires setup and onboarding, people are unlikely to give it a go at all.\n- At least some [recent research suggests](https://www.marketingcharts.com/featured-80988) that there isn’t any correlation between free trial length and conversion rate to paying users.\n  That means this is another area where you’ll want to test and gather data for yourself.\n  Make sure to track not just which trial offer (14 vs. 30 days, for example) converts to more free trial users, but which converts to more long-term customers.\n  [Head here](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/) for more on the importance of long-term data collection.\n- [Another smaller scale review of SaaS data](https://blog.madkudu.com/50-of-saas-conversions-happen-after-trial-ends/) by MadKudu showed that no matter what length a free trial is, a lot of customers don’t convert until after the free trial is over.\n  In some cases, a significant percentage of customers didn’t convert until a month or more after the trial had ended.\n  This underscores the importance of long-term tracking and testing when it comes to your free trials.\n- If you’re looking for more resources, [Customer.io has a great breakdown of elements of your free trial process](https://customer.io/blog/free-trial-user-experience/) to tweak and test.\n- And of course, [Rebilly makes it easy to set up a free trial](/product/orders/), if you want to see how effective it is for your business.\n\n**One last thing to note is that the effectiveness of your free trial will be heavily influenced by your onboarding process.** Onboarding — and doing it correctly — is a topic big enough for its own blog post.\nJust keep in mind that if all you do is send one welcome email and one “Your trial is almost up” email, you’re likely losing customers and it has nothing to do with your free trial length or CTA.\n\n![Hey beauti splash](./images/hey-beauti-magazine-625631-unsplash-1024x683.jpg)\n\n_Photo via [Hey Beauti Magazine](https://unsplash.com/photos/UPXAjm_I_fs?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/search/photos/calendar?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)_\n\n## Are monthly plans the way to go?\n\nA monthly subscription is the default that most subscription businesses use — but is it the most effective?\n\nThere are pros and cons to having longer subscription periods available.\nThe second-most common option outside of monthly is annual, but you could also look at offering quarterly plans.\n\nThe biggest argument for offering annual plans has nothing to do with the customer and everything to do with your business.\nAnnual plans get you more upfront revenue — when a customer commits to a whole year upfront, you get that money faster than you would if they were paying month by month.\nBecause of that, you can recoup your customer acquisition cost quicker, and reinvest that in your business.\nTo see some graphs comparing revenue growth with annual vs. monthly plans, [head to this post from ProfitWell](https://www.profitwell.com/blog/here-is-why-every-saas-company-needs-an-annual-plan).\n\n**However, we aren’t here to talk about whether it’s a smart business strategy or not — we’re here to figure out whether it makes customers more or less likely to buy.** If you present annual prices first (and show the total annual price), it can be a form of price anchoring.\nThe idea behind “price anchoring” is that you show a more expensive price first.\nThat makes the less expensive price feel like the more reasonable choice.\n(The old sales saying goes: “How do you sell a $2,000 watch?\nPut it next to a $10,000 watch.”)\n\n**The biggest thing to remember when presenting annual prices is to be careful not to overwhelm your customer.** If you have five different plans and have two different ways of viewing prices, you might give customer so many choices that they don’t make any choice at all.\n\n### Can plan length affect customer commitment?\n\nInterestingly, there is some debate about whether the length of subscription affects the customers’ commitment to the product.\n[Harvard Business Review has conducted research](https://hbr.org/2002/09/pricing-and-the-psychology-of-consumption) which suggests that monthly pricing can make customers more committed.\nWhen renewing on an annual basis, the “sting” of the price fades over time.\nThe result: people are less likely to stay committed.\n\nWhen paying monthly, however, customers are reminded of the cost and more likely to make use of what they’re paying for.\nAnd if they’re using it regularly, they’re more likely to renew their membership (and tell other customers about it).\n\n### **The two takeaways around plan length are that:**\n\n- Showing annual plans and/or annual costs can be used as a form of price-anchoring to incentivize people to sign up for a higher plan than they may have normally\n- Monthly pricing can increase customer retention/lifetime value, as customers are often more committed with monthly plans\n\nOf course, depending on your target market, these might change.\nFor example, in many B2B cases, the person paying for the product isn’t the person using it, so annual plans might not make any difference in customer commitment. **The answer, as usual, is testing and user interviews to double-check your assumptions.**\n\n## How are you showing your prices?\n\nThis is one area where the commonly-held wisdom about pricing can hold true — and in fact, might be _more_ important.\nWhen you have several plans available, and then a monthly or annual option for each plan, customers can get overwhelmed quickly.\n\nHere are a few questions to help gauge if you’re potentially losing people because of your pricing plans:\n\n- **Can I streamline this more?** In an [extreme case study for simplification](https://www.groovehq.com/blog/pricing-that-worked), Groove found that by cutting all of their tiered pricing and switching to a flat per-user per-month rate, they increased their free trial conversions quite a bit and increased revenue by 25%.\n  That might not work for your business model, of course.\n  Still, it’s worth taking a critical look at your pricing plans to see if you can simplify them more, and testing simplified versions.\n- **What order am I displaying prices in?** Price anchoring can come in here, as well, which is why [Lincoln Murphy suggests putting your most expensive prices first](http://entures.com/pricing-page-design-high-to-low).\n  You’ll also want to take a look at which plan you’re visually highlighting — if any — and why you’re highlighting it.\n  Is it the most popular plan?\n  The most profitable for you?\n- **Will my customers immediately be able to see how much this costs?** In an interesting counterpoint to the way most companies display prices, [RJMetrics increased signups on their pricing page by 310%](https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/pricing-page-optimization/) by nixing a three-column layout and putting the emphasis on a pricing calculator that let users immediately see what they’d be paying.\n\nOf course — you know what’s coming up next — the best way to find out what will work is to test all of this for _your_ business and _your_ customers.\nWhile humans are, in general, fairly predictable creatures, there is no “one size fits all” for all businesses and industries.\n\n## **Want to test some of what you’ve just learned and run some pricing experiments of your own?**\n\nDownload our Price Optimization Cheat Sheet below:\n"},{"title":"How to Optimize Your Prices to Increase Subscription Revenues","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-11-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/Optimizing_your_Pricing.png","id":854,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# How to Optimize Your Prices to Increase Subscription Revenues\n\nMany subscription companies simply set a price and start selling their products ASAP. **That’s great when it comes to getting an MVP out the door — but it can also leave a lot of money on the table.**\n\nWhether it’s price plans that let you charge more for more features or lower-priced plans that can prevent voluntary churn, there’s a lot to experiment with.\nAlong with [reducing involuntary churn](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/)**,** tweaking your pricing is another area that can produce tremendous returns.\n\nSuccessful companies like [Buffer](https://buffer.com/) have taken seemingly-drastic steps towards price optimization in the past.\nAt the 2016 SaaStr Conference, Buffer co-founder Leo Widrich spoke of their decision to double Buffer’s pricing.\nThey had no idea what would happen, but they were confident that they’d made a great product and were creating value for their users.\n\nIn the end, the risk paid off for Buffer.\nThey had doubled their prices.\nThere was a huge impact on revenue and profitability, with little to no impact on conversion _or_ retention.\n\nIn a [similar test](https://vwo.com/blog/saas-pricing-ab-test/), Server Density originally had their pricing on a per-server basis, at $13/server.\nThey wanted to see if they could increase their revenue, so they changed their pricing to be in bundled packages of $99, $299, or $499 a month.\nThe $99/month package covered up to 10 servers, so it lowered the price from the $13/server price, but with the intention of increasing their average order value. **As a result, they had a 114% increase in revenue — despite previously having customers complain about their prices.**\n\n## The moral of these stories: If you aren’t experimenting with your prices early and often, you could be missing out\n\n**Price optimization can be broken down into three distinct stages:**\n\n1. Acquisition\n2. Growth\n3. Retention\n\n{% img src=\"./images/three_stages-1024x282.jpg\" alt=\"how to increase your revenue diagram\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\nThe most profitable subscription businesses are always running pricing experiments and looking for better performance.\n(Yes, even when their numbers are already pretty good.) Here’s how to get started:\n\n## Step One: Set a goal\n\nThe first step of every pricing experiment is to set a measurable goal.\nAn example would be “increase conversion by x%.” Keep it simple, and make sure you choose a goal based on what matters most to _your_ particular business.\n\n**A great place to start is by experimenting with different pricing offers to prospects.** Here are a few example starter goals and their corresponding experiments:\n\n{% img src=\"./images/pricing_experiments-1024x732.jpg\" alt=\"pricing experiments diagram\" withLightbox=true align=\"center\" /%}\n\n## Step Two: Set up your experiments\n\nYou might have been following along thus far and wondering — all of this sounds great, but how do I actually set these up?\n\nIf you’re looking for tools that will work regardless of platform, [Google Optimize](https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/optimize/), [Optimizely](https://www.optimizely.com/), or [VWO](https://vwo.com/) are great places to start.\nIf you’re fairly tech-savvy, familiar with Google Analytics, and want to get started for free, Google Optimize is your best bet.\nOptimizely and VWO both offer a variety of plans and features, but you have to get in touch with their sales teams to get exact prices.\n\n**Tools that integrate work WordPress:**\n\nWordPress is [still the most popular CMS out there](https://websitesetup.org/popular-cms/), so if you’re using it and want some tools that come with ready-made integrations, you might take a look at [Thrive Optimize](https://thrivethemes.com/optimize/).\nIt’s part of the Thrive Themes suite of apps and installs as a plugin.\nWith it, you can get detailed reporting, distribute traffic in custom percentages, and set conversion goals based on opt-ins, revenue, or visits.\nPrices start at $19/month for a Thrive membership or $127 for a license.\n\nAnother WordPress-integrated option is the [Nelio A/B Testing plugin](https://neliosoftware.com/testing/), which starts at $29/month.\nIn addition to standard testing features, it includes features like heat maps, click maps, and testing variations on child themes.\n\n## Step Three: Get enough data to have accurate results\n\nOnce you’ve set up an experiment, you need to make sure it reaches statistical validity before making any conclusions about the results.\nThe gist of “statistical validity” is that you need to make sure that you:\n\n1. Have enough participants in the test to make sure that each participant isn’t a disproportionate amount of the results 2.\n   Have a large enough difference in the test results for it to be relevant\n\nMost testing tools will calculate this for you, but if not, you can use [Neil Patel’s calculator](https://neilpatel.com/ab-testing-calculator/) to get a quick idea of whether your test is statistically valid.\nThere’s also the [Optimizely sample size calculator](https://www.optimizely.com/sample-size-calculator/) to get an idea for how large your sample size should be.\nIf you want to read more about the math behind this, [VWO has a great breakdown on their blog](https://vwo.com/blog/how-to-calculate-ab-test-sample-size/).\n\n## Step Four: Assess your results\n\nYou’ve reached statistical validity!\nIt’s time to take a look at the results and see which pricing model (or copy, or pricing plan, etc.) performed better.\nHere are a few things to keep in mind:\n\n**Don’t infer more than is strictly necessary.** Our brains love to turn anything into a story, which can be great when we’re improvising a reason that we forgot our homework, but less great when analyzing experiment results.\nThe temptation is often to say, “XYZ performed better than ABC, probably because…” The problem is that unless you were able to interview every single participant in the test after they made their decision, you don’t actually know _why_ they made that decision.\nThis is especially true when it comes to subscription purchases, which [often have different motivations than one-time purchases](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/).\n\nThe best you can do is make a hypothesis, and then create other tests to try and test that hypothesis.\nAnother option is to conduct extensive user interviews to figure out why users made the decisions they did.\nThe problem with assuming things about the results is that your assumption might be wrong.\nThen, in turn, whatever decisions you make based on that assumption could _also_ be wrong.\nIt can create a domino effect of wrong assumptions/decisions, and it’s the opposite of methodical, data-based testing.\n\n**Make sure to look at long-term results.** As [we’ve written about before](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/), making decisions based off of _just_ a conversion rate, without looking at the longer-term results (like average customer value or estimated lifetime value), can be shortsighted.\nYou don’t have to wait 3-6 months to draw initial conclusions, but make sure that you’re tracking which customers came through which experiment.\nThat way, a few months or a year down the line, you can see the long-term results, and iterate off of those.\n\n## Step Five: Choose your next experiment\n\nYou’ve successfully run your first experiment, you’ve reached statistical validity, and you’ve figured out how to get more revenue.\nCongratulations!\n\nWhat’s next?\nGo back to the drawing board and choose your next test.\nYou don’t have to be running major tests all the time, but you can be testing the order plans are listed, what kind of [pricing formulas](/product/orders/) you’re using, the calls to action, how your [prices &amp; features are displayed](/blog/biggest-pricing-table-mistake/), etc. The only thing you can do is improve your current results, so why _not_ test everything?\n\n**Looking to hit the ground running with your first experiment?** Our price optimization guide has a list of experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nYou can download it now and get started today:\n"},{"title":"Here's to Six Years of Rebilly","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-11-16","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"rebilly","label":"Rebilly News & Updates"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/6th_birthday.png","id":780,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/heres-to-six-years-of-rebilly","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Here's to Six Years of Rebilly\n\n## Happy 6th Birthday!\n\nSix years ago, we embarked on a mission to get more people from the pricing page to the thank you page, and get more renewals paid.\n\nI think about the past 6 years and can’t help but feel filled with emotions.\n\n**Awe, because…**\n\nOur progress is measurable.\nWe’ve helped our clients transact with millions of customers, totaling well over a billion dollars in transactions.\n\n**Gratitude, because…**\n\nOur clients have entrusted us with their most precious resources.\nI’m grateful for our team, without whom none of this would have been possible.\n\n**Anticipation, because…**\n\nWe’re just getting started.\nEven though six years have passed, it still feels like a new beginning, with bright and endless possibilities.\n\n**Resolved, because…**\n\nEven though there will be obstacles, we’ll overcome them.\nWe’ve navigated on smooth and rocky roads.\nWe’ll be ready.\n\nIt’s soothing to take moments, like this one, to pause and reflect.\nMay the next year be filled with good.\n\n![Adam Altman headshot](./images/Rebilly-Post-Headshot.png)Best,\n\nAdam Altman\n\n_Rebilly Founder_\n"},{"title":"How to Leverage Your Marketing Budget for Better Results","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-11-14","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/sociel_media_rebilly_marketing.png","id":772,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# How to Leverage Your Marketing Budget for Better Results\n\nWhen it comes to marketing, you might think that spending less — whether overall or per customer — is the best way to go for your company.\nAfter all, you’ve got a business to run and a budget to stay within.\nRight?\n\nIt might not be as cut and dried as you’d think…keep reading to find out how you can use data to strategically choose where and how to reinvest in marketing and get better results.\n\n## In short: spending more can get disproportionate results…when you do it right\n\nIn another recent post, we talked about a scenario where a hypothetical business reduced churn by 1.5% using strategies to [decrease involuntary churn](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/).\nIn that example, reducing churn by 1.5% resulted in a 43% jump in the customer lifetime value (LTV) — from $780 to $1114.\n\nNow, let’s add a few more hypotheticals to build on that scenario:\n\n- The business in question had initially earmarked $200 of the $780 LTV for marketing to and acquiring new customers.\n- They’re able to acquire 1,000 customers per day, at $200 each.\n\nNot bad, right?\nThey’ve earmarked roughly 25% of their customer LTV toward marketing. **But what would happen if they increased their marketing spend to match the boost in LTV?** $200 earmarked for marketing, when increased by 43%, becomes $280.\n\nIn marketing, an increase in spend — as long as it’s well-planned and implemented — can yield exceptional results.\nFor example, at Rebilly, we work with some companies that spend more than $1 million per _day_ targeting their audience.\nThat kind of buying power can unlock some serious opportunities.\n\n## The good news is: you don’t have to spend anywhere near that much to see the benefits\n\nA more realistic scenario, similar to ones we’ve seen, is having a choice between acquiring 500 customers a day at $28 each, or only 100 customers a day at $20 each.\nThe choice (and lesson) is clear.\n\nThe point of the above examples is twofold:\n\n1. First, like stocks and bonds, reinvesting profits in marketing can unlock the multiplier effect.\n2. And second, business owners and even marketers often put too much focus on optimizing for the lowest overall customer acquisition costs (CAC), but ignore the bigger picture.\n\n### CAC vs. CPL: What’s the difference and which is more important?\n\nIf you’re new to the world of marketing and advertising acronyms, you might be a little confused about where the differences lie between CAC (customer acquisition costs) and CPL (cost per lead).\nThey’re similar metrics in how they’re calculated:\n\n- CAC can be calculated by dividing total ad spend by how many new customers you got as a result of that spend ($100 spend / 8 customers = $12.50 CAC)\n- CPL is calculated by dividing total ad spend by how many leads you obtained as a result of that spend ($100 spend / 10 leads = $10 CPL)\n\n**The only difference is that CPL tracks** **\\*leads\\*\\*\\***, and not actual customers.\\*\\* If someone clicks through an ad and signs up for your newsletter or enters in their data for a consult call, then that’s measured with CPL; if they become a customer, that contributes to your CAC metric.\nYour CAC is probably going to be higher than your CPL, since most businesses don’t convert 100% of their leads.\n\n## To see this in action, let’s look at two advertising campaigns\n\n![campaign example](./images/rebilly_cac.png)\n\nWhich is the better campaign?\nMost people will guess Campaign A.\nOn the surface, we would agree.\n\n**In reality, though, we’re only seeing part of the picture.** Now, imagine we collected further data, so we could estimate the lifetime value (eLTV) of each customer acquired in each of these campaigns.\n\n![campaign example](./images/Rebilly_eltv.png)\n\nYikes. **In this scenario, campaign A would barely cover its cost, while campaign B will double its return on ad spend.**\n\nWithout this data, though, most marketing managers would cut the spend on campaign B, based solely on its higher CAC.\nAs a result, the company will be spending more than necessary and could run out of budget quickly, because the LTV of the customer barely covers the acquisition cost.\n\n**Spending more on campaign B, however, would result in a very gradual increase of cash back to the company.** If your marketing budget rises as sales and profits rise, which we generally recommend, this means you would have more money available, faster, to acquire even more customers — which is where compounding benefits kicks in.\n\n## To be clear, we’re not advising you to _always_ reinvest in the highest CAC campaigns…\n\nThat would be ludicrous.\nInstead, we’re encouraging a pragmatic, data-driven decision process: **Don’t eliminate entire campaigns simply because they cost more or convert at slower rates.** Look at the big picture to see what drives the most long-term value back to your business, and put your money there.\n\n## Another way to optimize: Analyze by cohort\n\nNow that you know that a low CAC isn’t always the best thing in the long run, let’s talk about other ways you can optimize your marketing spend.\nOne of the best ways to continue optimizing your performance is to create “cohorts,” or groups of leads, and then look at the differences in metrics across them.\n\n**A cohort is simply a group of prospects or customers that you’re treating as a collective for marketing and reporting purposes.** Example cohorts might be:\n\n- Gold-plan members\n- Leads that have taken the trial but not purchased\n- Customers acquired through Facebook ads\n- Customers acquired from Affiliate A\n- Customers who joined during January 2018\n\nIn our campaign A and campaign B examples above, the campaigns are our cohorts. **When it comes to your own marketing, you can create cohorts for just about anything that you want to optimize.**\n\nWhen you’re in the process of making major changes — like redesigning your subscription site or dramatically overhauling membership benefits — you typically use time periods as your cohorts.\nThat way, you can measure the performance differences before and after the change.\nYou can also treat marketing campaigns as cohorts to compare the overall initial purchase value, LTV, and rate of churn for customers that convert across each of your campaigns.\n\n## If you want to get started optimizing your marketing, here’s our top two ways to get started\n\n### One: Create cohorts for all your lead sources\n\nMost marketing organizations track cost per lead and cost per customer.\nBut, all too often, they stop tracking the customer once they’re acquired.\nInstead, create cohorts that track _every_ lead by the source they originated from (down to the specific marketing campaign, affiliate, etc), and **keep tracking them even after they convert.** Lead sources and segments are built into Rebilly to make this easy – [find out more about those features here](/product/reporting-automation/).\n\nWhy do this? **Tracking cohorts like this gives you long-term insight into which marketing channels are the most efficient, effective, affordable,** **_and_** **profitable for you.** They can also help reduce fraud.\nWatch out for sources that give you tons of leads at a low cost, but result in a customer lifetime value that is dramatically lower than normal (by half or more).\nThis sometimes means the marketing messages and tactics used by the affiliate may not be above board.\n(In short, their practices may be deceptive.)\n\n### Two: Reinvest in the best marketing channels\n\nAs you work on the other cornerstones of running a subscription business — [reducing churn](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/), optimizing pricing, and [reducing fraud and chargebacks](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/) — don’t forget reinvest a healthy portion of your gains into the lead sources that yielded the best long-term results (CAC, LTV, etc.).\n\nIt works like compounding interest:\n\n- The more you optimize, the more you earn.\n- The more you earn, the more you market.\n- The more you market, the more customers you acquire.\n- The more customers you acquire, the more you can profit.\n\n## It’s easy to get tunnel vision running a subscription-based business\n\nBut when you focus too much on acquiring new customers and too little on reducing churn, optimizing pricing, and reducing fraud, you can end up harming your business instead of helping it.\n\nInstead, take a holistic approach to growing a healthier, more profitable subscriber base.\nStart by making sure that you aren’t losing customers to involuntary churn.\nAfter that, optimize your pricing and your website, along with working to reduce chargebacks and increase your fraud prevention.\nThen, you can put the gains from all of those activities into reinvesting in high-performing marketing campaigns…and watch your business go to the next level.\n\n**If you’re looking for tips on optimizing your pricing, you’re in luck.** Our guide to optimizing your prices has a list of experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nYou can download it and get started today:\n"},{"title":"How Much Are Chargebacks Costing You?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-11-07","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"chargebacks","label":"Chargebacks"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/infographsnippet.png","id":749,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/cost-of-chargebacks","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How Much Are Chargebacks Costing You?\n\nWhen a customer successfully disputes a charge you’ve made against their credit or debit card, the card issuer will rescind the sale from you – and adds feed on top of it. **This process is called a chargeback, and it costs businesses a fortune every year.**\n\nShort of physically swiping every subscriber’s card, every month, it can be very difficult to prove that a charge is legitimate.\nThat puts the word of your credit card issuer’s customer against yours, and the customer usually wins.\n\nIt’s not just the money that’s at stake, either.\nIn a higher risk business, it’s already hard enough to get new merchant accounts with reasonable rates and terms. **Accrue too many chargebacks, and you can find yourself with a termination notice, leaving you without a merchant account altogether.**\n\n## Let’s look at the full cost of chargebacks for subscription businesses\n\n{% img src=\"/blog/images/Full_cost_chargebacks-last-5.jpg\" alt=\"Chargebacks graphic 6\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\n{% img src=\"/blog/images/Full_cost_chargebacks-last-4.jpg\" alt=\"Chargebacks graphic 5\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\n{% img src=\"/blog/images/Full_cost_chargebacks-last-3.jpg\" alt=\"Chargebacks graphic 4\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\n{% img src=\"/blog/images/Full_cost_chargebacks-last-2.jpg\" alt=\"Chargebacks graphic 3\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\n{% img src=\"/blog/images/Full_cost_chargebacks-last-1.jpg\" alt=\"Chargebacks graphic 2\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\n{% img src=\"/blog/images/Full_cost_chargebacks-last.jpg\" alt=\"Chargebacks graphic 1\" withLightbox=true width=\"600\" align=\"center\" /%}\n\n_Sources: [1](http://solutions.lexisnexis.com/fraud.tcof.lp-65303.t-92611), [2](http://blog.clear.sale/protecting-your-online-business-chargeback-fee-statistics-by-industry), [3](https://chargebacks911.com/chargeback-stats-2017/)_\n\nIf you’re looking for more tips to keep your chargebacks under control, head to [this post](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/). **Or, you can download our Reducing Chargebacks Guide, with our four top actionable tips on how to minimize your losses:**\n"},{"title":"How to Reduce Your Losses From Chargebacks","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-10-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"chargebacks","label":"Chargebacks"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/rebilly_criminal.png","id":717,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks","timeToRead":"8 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Reduce Your Losses From Chargebacks\n\nAs an online business owner, chargebacks are just part of your day-to-day life.\nBut that doesn’t mean you have to accept them and move on. **In fact, there are a lot of ways you can reduce chargebacks automatically, without having to respond to every single case by hand.**\n\nFirst, let’s talk more about how chargebacks work and are classified. **Chargebacks are typically classified into two distinct types: friendly fraud and criminal fraud.** Friendly fraud is usually just buyer’s remorse or forgetfulness.\nSometimes, it’s denial— “there’s no way my husband was looking at those kinds of sites!” Either way, it’s not organized, and not always intended maliciously.\nA customer simply wants their money back, and they’ve taken measures with their bank to get it.\n\nCriminal fraud, on the other hand, is the exact opposite.\nSomeone wants to get something for free, or are after your money, and they are pursuing it in very creative, underhanded ways.\nThey might even be sending a huge volume of transactions your way to collect a referral fee, then reversing all the transactions.\nThey might even be competitors of yours trying to drive up your chargebacks, decrease your margins, and cut into your cash flow.\n\n**This isn’t paranoia — it’s the reality of running a high volume online business.** You can either roll over, or you can fight back.\nLuckily, there are very effective ways to significantly reduce both types of chargebacks.\nYou’ll never get to zero, but with the right combination of strategy and technology, you’ll be able to hold on to more of your hard-earned revenues.\n\n![One criminal image](./images/rebilly_criminal_alone.png)\n\n## Let’s start with criminal fraud\n\nThe game here is to prevent criminal fraud before it happens, at the time of the order.\nYou can significantly reduce your chargeback percentages by using the data provided at the time of purchase and automated scoring methods to prevent high-risk orders from being accepted.\nHere are some of the key data points you’ll want to look at for every transaction:\n\n- **Transaction velocity:** How many times has a similar fingerprint (name, location, credit card number, IP address, etc.) been used to attempt an order in the past 5 minutes?\n  Past hour?\n  Past 24 hours?\n  Past week?\n\n- **Transaction amount:** How much was the transaction for?\n  It’s not always the high-dollar transactions that are a higher risk for fraud.\n\n- **Transaction attribute consistency:** Was the order placed from an IP address in Hong Kong, but with a card issued in the United States and a shipping address in Africa?\n  When something doesn’t look right, it usually isn’t — and looking for big inconsistencies like these is a great way to catch fraud before you fall prey to it.\n\n### When we talk about transaction fingerprints and attributes, there are a handful of key identifiers you should pay particularly close attention to\n\n**Device fingerprints:** Each computer and browser combination has its own unique fingerprint.\nEven if a fraudulent buyer manages to change or mask their IP address between transactions (through VPN services and advanced re-routing technologies), their device fingerprint will stay the same.\n\n**Why are device fingerprints important?** It may be normal, depending on your product offerings, for a customer to make multiple purchases within a 7-day period — but it would be highly abnormal for the same device fingerprint to make purchases for 7 different customers within a 7-day period.\nSpot that, and you can stop fraud.\n\n**Bank identification numbers (BINs):** Typically, this is the first six digits of a credit card account number.\nFor example, 464018 is a Chase Rewards Visa Card issued in the United States.\nBy knowing what the numbers mean, you can look for inconsistencies.\n\n**GeoIP:** If the geo-location determined by the IP address of the user is significantly different from their shipping and billing information, you may want to pay closer attention.\n\n**Billing and shipping countries:** Make sure these tell a similar, consistent story to the other data you have collected, like GeoIP and BIN.\n\n**Transaction response:** Even after you approve an order, it’s not too late to void it.\nIf the same card attempts another order a few minutes later and you receive a response back that the card is stolen, you should take action to void any previous charges and prevent any future ones.\nAlso, make sure you are using AVS (address verification service) and CVV match checks (the 3 to 4 digit card verification value) for all your transactions.\n\n**Finally, consider the lead source:** What campaign source, referral link, affiliate, or sub-affiliate did the order originate through?\nDo you notice any emerging or established trends with chargebacks and lead sources?\n\n## Blocklists: Fight fraud automatically\n\nOne of the most effective ways to automate criminal fraud prevention is through blocklists.\nBlocklists are created and maintained to add the transaction identifiers (credit card numbers, device ID’s, etc.) that are permanently barred from buying from you.\nWhen a customer attempts to make a purchase from you with an account number or fingerprint that has been flagged on your blocklist, the transaction is blocked from being sent to the payment gateway altogether.\n\nBlocklist can be not permanent by setting up a TTL (Time to live) when configuring them.\nThis is typically used to temporarily block weak attributes — like residential IP addresses, which change frequently.\nPermanently blocking a residential IP address could prevent legitimate orders, since the IP address could be reassigned to a new home in a matter of days or weeks.\nIn instances like these, it might make more sense to implement a 7-day block against the transaction than a permanent one.\n\n## Friendly fraud: Your best defense is a good offense\n\nCatching and remediating friendly fraud can be a bit trickier.\nOccasionally, it’s the result of duplicate orders.\nThat means looking for identical purchases that happen sequentially, and checking in with customers, can help prevent what may become a chargeback down the line.\n\nSome businesses also notice a slightly higher propensity for friendly fraud amongst certain BINs, which may indicate that similar people with similar behaviors and preferences may be more likely to commit friendly fraud than others.\nThere is often truth to this, but be careful about making sweeping assumptions.\nThe goal is to prevent fraud, not commit discrimination.\n\nSo what can you do? **The best, most proven way to reduce friendly fraud is to deliver so much value to your customer that they have no remorse.** No remorse, no chargeback.\nPrice competitively, deliver exceptional service, and sell superior products packed with value and quality, and you will enjoy significantly lower friendly fraud rates than competitors who overpromise and under deliver.\n\nOutside of providing stellar value, you can also follow a standard set of business practices that can also make big dents in your friendly fraud chargeback rates:\n\n**Check the TC-40 reports.** When Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and other major credit card brands (schemes) detect fraud, they report it in TC-40 reports.\nOften, these are large fraud rings that haven’t yet turned into chargebacks, but are expected to.\nGet ahead of it, before it costs you.\n\n**Be at the front line of customer service.** As many as 80% of friendly fire chargebacks occur because the customer is too lazy to resolve the issue proactively with the merchant, or found it too difficult.\nMake it easy for customers to process returns and exchanges and resolve disputes — online and on the phone.\n\n![Telephone image](./images/quino-al-293094-unsplash-1024x683.jpg)\n\n_Photo by [Quino Al](https://unsplash.com/photos/xhGMQ_nYWqU?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)_\n\n## Four tips to prevent chargebacks with great customer service\n\n**Answer the phone quickly, every time.** Resolve _every_ issue — even if it means a refund — before it becomes a chargeback.\nUse [good inbound call center software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/call-center/) and monitor your service levels and resolutions, and be vigilant about setting high customer service expectations.\n(You might wonder if you need phone customer support in 2018 and beyond — [you do](https://www.helpscout.net/blog/history-of-phone-customer-service/)!)\n\n**Audit your customer experience.** Pretend you are your own customer.\nFollow their journey — from encountering your advertising or affiliate campaigns, through to the shopping and buying process.\nComplete several purchases, and identify where you may have gaps that may underwhelm, confuse, or mislead the customer.\nLook for the sweet spot between conversion rate and clarity as you improve your processes and your messaging.\n\n**Take action on transaction response codes.** A “stolen card” response code can mean either that your customer’s card was stolen, or that they were the thief.\nDon’t wait for a chargeback to find out which one.\nReach out to customers about uncertain transactions before you fulfill them, to prevent unnecessary fees and penalties.\n[Learn more about response codes and how to take action on them here](/blog/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries.md).\n\n**Audit your cancellation and downgrade processes, too.** How easily can customers cancel your service?\nIf you make it hard to cancel, they’ll chargeback every time — and not just a single transaction, but often months of recurring subscription fees.\nKeep as much as you can by making it easy for them to choose a reduced-cost offering, or cancel altogether.\n\nChargebacks can add up over time — but these tips can help keep it under control. **For more tips, download our Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud guide where we reveal the full cost of chargebacks and our top actionable tips to minimize your losses:**\n"},{"title":"Stop Losing Customers From Involuntary Churn - Here's How","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-10-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/Involuntary_churn_v2.png","id":681,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn","timeToRead":"6 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Stop Losing Customers From Involuntary Churn - Here's How\n\n**When you’re running a subscription business, churn is just part of the game.** Granted, you want it to be as low as possible, and you probably work hard on reducing your churn month to month…but do you pay attention to your involuntary churn?\n\nWhile you’ll never be able to entirely eliminate churn — involuntary or not — you _can_ decrease it as much as possible.\nIn particular, involuntary churn, when a previously happy customer is lost due to circumstances like an expired credit card or declined transaction, is typically preventable.\nAnd not only is it preventable…it’s potentially costing you much more money than you’ve realized.\n\nOn average, most debit and credit cards issued expire after three years, with some US card issuers shortening the cycle even more in response to [the new EMV “chip &amp; pin”](https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/emv-faq-chip-cards-answers-1264.php) mandates.\nThat means that, at minimum, 1/36th of all cards in circulation (or 2.8 percent), expire every month.\nThis doesn’t account for cards that are canceled due to theft or other circumstances, but we’ll use it as a baseline to discuss the costs of involuntary churn.\n\n## An example of how much involuntary churn can affect a subscription business\n\n![churn diagram](./images/involuntary_churn_3-1024x131.png)\n\n- Let’s say you start with 1,000 subscribers, and aren’t making any effort to earn new subscribers _or_ reach out to customers as their cards expire (unlikely, but we’ll run with it so that we have round numbers for the sake of this example).\n- In just one year, you’ll lose 34% of your revenue, compared to the prior year (or 336 subscribers).\n- In your second your, you’ll 336 more subscribers, and take a 50% drop in revenue over the prior year.\n- By the end of the third year, you’ll have lost virtually all of your revenue and subscribers — all over declined credit card transactions and involuntary churn.\n\nIn a real world situation, your sales and marketing engines are hopefully adding new subscribers at a much faster rate than you’re losing them.\nEither way, it’s worth setting up systems to decrease involuntary churn.\nThat way, you’re covered in case something happens that throws off your sales and marketing goals (like [your primary social media platform changing the way it shows posts](https://later.com/blog/how-instagram-algorithm-works/)).\n\nIt’s also worth noting that it’s much more affordable to reduce churn than it is to acquire a new customer. **So no matter how quickly you’re adding subscribers, it’s still costing you more than keeping the ones you already have.**\n\n## Let’s look at another example…\n\nIf your churn rate is 5% per month, and you charge a monthly subscription fee of $39, your projected lifetime customer value (LTV) is $780.\n($39 divided by .05 = $780)\n\n![churn calculation diagram](./images/involuntary_churn_1.png)\n\nIf you look at it from a different angle, that means your average customer lifetime is 20 months.\nBy reducing your rate of involuntary churn, you can, in turn, increase your average customer lifetime (and your average LTV).\n\nIf, for the purposes of this example, we assume that 2% of your total churn rate is voluntary — customers actively choosing to cancel their subscription — that means that the remaining 3% is involuntary churn. **If you can cut that in half, to a new rate of 1.5% of involuntary churn or 3.5% total churn, you can increase your customer lifetime value by quite a bit, to $1,114 (or nearly 43% more).**\n\n## Use revenue to decrease involuntary churn — yes or no?\n\nIf I were to tell you that it would cost 2% of your revenue to cut your involuntary churn by 1.5%, would you want to take the deal?\nProbably not, right?\nIt sounds like a bad deal, at first glance.\nBut if you break down the math, you’ll find a different story.\n\nWhen you invested nothing in churn reduction, your customer lifetime value was $780.\nIf you invest two percent of your revenue into strategies that, in turn, reduce churn by 1.5%, you end up with an LTV of $1114 — at a cost of $22.28 ($1114 x .02).\nIn other words, it would cost you just over $22 to earn $334, which is **a 15x return on investment.**\n\nHow quickly do you achieve that ROI?\nIt takes 29 months to fully realize it, but the first “earnback” usually happens after a few short months.\n\n**Even with more conservative returns, it doesn’t make sense to _not_ invest in reducing churn.** If your 2% investment results in a .01% reduction in monthly churn, you’ll still save 1 out of 1000 customers every month, and completely break even on the investment.\n\nIn extreme cases, we’ve had customers come to us with monthly churn rates as high as 20%.\nThese companies were literally bleeding out, and in their cases, very small investments in churn reduction not only saved them, but for some of them, made them wildly profitable again.\n\n## So…how do I get started fixing it?\n\nThere are a lot of ways you can approach the problem of involuntary churn. **Our suggestion for your first place to start?** Get proactive with your customers who have cards expiring soon, and make the process as easy as possible for them (there’s a special trick for this in the download below).\n\nThe data is all there, it’s just a matter of automating a process to act on it.\n[In Rebilly](/product/renewals/), you can set up automatic card update reminder emails to your customers.\nYou’ll create a custom event and schedule it to run before the payment card expires by a certain amount of time (for example, 30 days).\nThen, you’ll add a rule to the custom event with an email action (and compose the email).\n\nNo matter what subscription software you’re using, if you’re using an email marketing tool (like MailChimp, Aweber, Drift, etc.), you can export your list of customers with cards set to expire in the next two months.\nThen, you can use that to create an email series reminding them to update their payment card.\nIt’s a simple action that will only take a few moments to set up (and some maintenance over time), but you’ll see the dividends before you know it.\n\n**Want a fully-developed strategy with actionable steps you can take to decrease involuntary churn?** Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes and card types to reduce churn and increase your CLV.\n"},{"title":"Demystify the payment terms you need to know","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-07-18","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/unsplash.jpg","id":549,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/demystifying-payment-terms","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Demystify the payment terms you need to know\n\nNot a day goes by that we don’t encounter some confusion around the payments industry language.\nWhat complicates things is that many of these payment terms can have multiple meanings, depending on the context.\nThis article provides a foundation and explains how we understand these words.\nHaving a basic understanding of these terms and how many of these pieces fit together will help you better understand what you need from a subscription billing software.\n\n_Have a term you’re curious about?\nLeave a comment and we’ll add it to this list._\n\n## Payment Terms\n\n**Cardholder**: Typically this is your customer, who has the payment card.\n\n**Gateway**: A software that transmits transaction requests to another gateway, or a processor, on behalf of a merchant.\n\n**Gateway-to-Gateway**: A term to used to define when a gateway transmits to another gateway.\n\n**Merchant**: The entity that ultimately collects the revenue from the goods or services sold.\n\n**Merchant Account / MID**: The merchant account, or merchant account id, represents the facility granted to the merchant that enables them to transact with payment cards.\n\n**Processor**: The software that receives transaction requests from gateways and transmits transaction requests to the scheme platforms (like VisaNet).\nIn everyday slang, “processor” is typically used to represent Acquirer, ISO, payfac, and sometimes gateways too.\n\n**Scheme**: Also known as the brands, like Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.\n\n**Acquirer**: Visa and Mastercard do not issue cards directly to cardholders, and they don’t issue merchant accounts directly to merchants either.\nInstead, they rely on a network of “members” which may also be known as acquirers, that deal directly with merchants and resell these card processing services.\nAn acquirer typically relies on the services of a processor.\n\n**Issuer**: The bank that issued the cardholder the credit or debit card.\n\n**Payment Facilitator (or payfac)**: A company that has something like a “primary” account for which it can underwrite new sub-merchant accounts.\nWell-known payfac’s are Stripe and Square.\nThey make it easy to get a new account, and they take on the risk involved with the accounts.\nStripe is not just a payfac though, they are also a gateway, and also offer other billing functionality.\n\n**Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs and Sales Agents)**: A company or individual that sells new merchants on opening a merchant account, typically in exchange for a recurring commission on fees earned.\n\n**Settlement Account**: A corporate (or individual) bank account owned by the merchant where funds are ultimately deposited.\n\nRead through the above definitions a few times, and they may start to become more clear.\nHowever, most companies don’t fall neatly into a single category due to mergers and acquisitions or other expansion efforts.\nHere are some examples:\n\nChase Bank.\nThey are an issuer.\nThey issue cards to cardholders.\nThey also are an acquirer.\nThey issue merchant accounts, and have in-house sales teams that do that, and also have relationships with ISOs too.\nIn addition, they own at least two processors under the brand of Chase Paymentech, and at least one gateway (Chase Orbital).\n\nThat’s a lot to chew on.\nAnd it’s really common in this industry.\n\nNow, to add some additional nuance, consider American Express.\nThey differ from Visa in that they do work directly with cardholders and merchants.\n\n### General rules of thumb to help evaluate what services a company provides\n\n1\\.\nIf the service enables merchants to open a merchant account, but they are not a bank and they don’t issue credit or debit cards themselves, they are probably a payment facilitator.\n\n2\\.\nIf the service is a bank, then they are likely an acquirer and/or issuer.\n\n3\\.\nIf the service just enables commerce, it’s likely a gateway.\nIf the service only enables the payment connects, it’s likely doing gateway-to-processor integrations.\nIf the service provides extra value-added features, it’s likely doing gateway-to-gateway integrations, or some combination therein.\n\nIt’s tough to get a handle on the complicated and ever-changing payments industry and its payment terms.\nWe hope this article helps you get a jump start on understanding the fundamentals.\nBe sure to leave a question in the comments if you need further clarification or have any additional terms you’d like defined.\n"},{"title":"One Simple Trick to Dodge Downtime After Losing Your Merchant Account","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-05-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/lost-merchant-account-how-to-avoid-downtime/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"agnostic-billing-software","label":"Agnostic Billing Software"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/neonbrand-258972-unsplash.jpg","id":486,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/lost-merchant-account-how-to-avoid-downtime","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# One Simple Trick to Dodge Downtime After Losing Your Merchant Account\n\nFor online sellers and more specifically subscription business owners, a lost merchant account is the worst case scenario.\nWhat many don’t know is that there is a way to continue business in the event of a lost merchant account. **So, here’s our guide on how to completely avoid downtime after losing your merchant account.**\n\n## Be prepared\n\nBefore you stomp off thinking this is a gimmick, we’ll walk you through three steps that ensure you’re prepared.\nIf you never want to lose another penny to a lost merchant account again, you should:\n\n1. **Vault payment card data.** Your transaction and customer data should never be held hostage.\n   Yet some payment gateways make it very difficult for you to get your data out when you need it — like when you lose your merchant account and need to set up a different gateway.\n   To circumvent this, work with a billing software who securely vaults your payment card data so that you have it when you need it.\n   ([Read more about why data portability matters here](/blog/why-data-portability-matters/).)\n2. **Have a backup merchant account.** Preparedness isn’t just for Boy Scouts.\n   If you have a backup merchant account (or several), you can continue accepting payments if one account goes down.\n   The more accounts you have, the less chance you’ll ever have to deal with losing sales to downtime.\n3. **Work with an agnostic billing software.** Before you select a provider to manage your payments, ask them if they are gateway agnostic.\n   This means they’ll allow you to integrate as many payment gateways as you’d like, so that the software can send subsequent transactions onward to one of your backup merchant accounts after one goes down.\n\nIf you’re doing these things, as well as working with subscription billing software that allows you to:\n\n- Integrate whichever payment gateways you’d like, and as many of them as you’d like – Rebilly supports [{% payment-catalog-count variant=\"gateways\" /%} payment gateways](/gateways/)\n- Route subsequent transactions to a backup merchant account ([another payment feature we offer,](/solutions/payments/) by the way)\n\n…then there’s simply no reason you’ll ever lose money to a lost merchant account again.\n\n## Bonus points: Follow up on why\n\nIf losing merchant accounts has been a recurring problem for your business, there may be some underlying issues.\nOftentimes, it’s due to a [high number of chargebacks](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/), [customer disputes with the payment gateway](/blog/suspended-by-paypal-what-to-do-next/), or sometimes it’s just a matter of transactions from around the world flagging an internal algorithm.\nTake some time to assess why your account was closed, and then make adjustments as necessary.\nIn the long run, it’ll result in a healthier business, and hopefully fewer headaches for you.\n\n**One way that you can reduce the risk of losing your merchant account?\nReduce chargebacks and fraud.** If you aren’t sure where to start with that, our guide can help:\n"},{"title":"Transaction Success Rate: What It Is and Why It Rarely Matters","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-05-18","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"declines","label":"Declines"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/carlos-muza-unsplash.jpg","id":478,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/transaction-success-rate-definition-why-it-rarely-matters","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Transaction Success Rate: What It Is and Why It Rarely Matters\n\nIf you own or work for a subscription business, you know the importance of metrics to your success.\nAnd “transaction success rate” sounds like a pretty important metric, right?\n\nAt first glance, transaction success rates _are_ important, because they measure how many of your payments are approved.\nObviously, getting paid is extremely important for your business!\nBut peeking below the surface, we see that your transaction success rate may not matter as much as you’d think.\n\n## What is “transaction success rate” and how is it calculated?\n\n**First off, let’s start with a quick definition:**\n\nYour transaction success rate (TSR) is calculated by dividing the total number of successful (approved) transactions by the total number of attempted transactions over a given time period.\nFor example, if you ran 100 transactions, and 93% were successful, your TSR would be .93, or 93%.\n\n## Why it rarely matters\n\nConsider this scenario: Your business just ran 100 payments of $100 each, and 80 of those were approved, while 20 failed.\nThat means that your transaction success rate was 80 percent.\nThat could be better, right?\n\nSo, you decide to retry the 20 failed transactions.\nOf those 20 retries, five are successful.\n\nThat means a few things:\n\n1. Your transaction rate started at 80%\n2. After your retries, you had tried a total of 120 transactions, with a total of 85 of those being successful\n3. Because of the retries, your transaction success rate dropped to 70.83% (85 successful transactions/120 attempted transactions)\n4. **Even though your transaction success rate dropped, your revenues increased – by $500!**\n\nIn this scenario, if your primary metric for measuring success was your transaction success rate, you would have missed out on significant additional revenues. **In the world of big data, metrics without context can confuse or overwhelm you into the wrong decision.** Don’t let your TSR get you down!\n\n## When is transaction success rate important?\n\nAll of that said, there are select instances when measuring your TSR can be useful.\nHere are a few:\n\n### Split testing two gateways\n\nIt could be useful to see if there’s a drastic difference in your TSR between [multiple payment gateways](/solutions/payments/).\nHowever, even in this scenario, other metrics may be more important — like the cart completion/purchase success rate.\n(You can [read more about testing and optimizing your prices here](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/).)\n\n### Assess customer segments\n\nIf you’re assessing your customer segments, consider evaluating each segment on their collective transaction success rate.\nIf a specific customer segment has an extremely low or 0% TSR, it might make sense to eliminate that segment from your marketing efforts.\n([Read more about customer and lead segments and how to use them to optimize your marketing here](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/).)\n\n### Merchant account providers\n\nSome merchant account providers will penalize for low transaction success rates, with sliding-scale fees based on very low TSRs.\nIf you have an extremely low transaction success rate, they may think your business is being used for “[carding](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carding_(fraud)>),” where fraudsters test stolen credit cards on your checkout form.\n\nWhen it’s all said and done, TSR can be useful as a metric in specific circumstances.\nBut, like most metrics, it shouldn’t be the sole factor in business decisions.\nThe nuanced nature of metrics is the reason that Rebilly lets you [track multiple KPIs and see them all in a single dashboard](/product/reporting-automation/), so you can see the full picture of your subscription business.\n\n#### Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\nDownload our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:\n"},{"title":"Five Useful Decline Definitions To Empower Your Retries","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-05-15","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"declines","label":"Declines"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/bethany-legg-14229-unsplash.jpg","id":475,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/five-decline-definitions-to-empower-retries","timeToRead":"5 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Five Useful Decline Definitions To Empower Your Retries\n\nThere are dozens of different decline codes you receive back from your payment gateway when a transaction is not approved or requires additional action.\nHere, we’ll focus on defining the five most common decline codes that present an opportunity for you to prevent churn and maximize profit by taking further action.\nWe’ll also provide detailed instructions with the decline definitions so that you’re equipped with a data-driven strategy to increase your approval rates.\n\n## Insufficient funds (NSF)\n\n### What it means\n\nThe balance available on the card is less than the amount you are trying to charge to it.\n\n### What to do\n\nYour best strategy will vary based on the type of card you are processing.\n\n- For debit cards, the best strategy is to try to hit it on payday.\n  Debit cards are typically limited by the amount of cash available in the account, plus a small overdraft limit.\n  This cash is often depleted in between pay cycles, and replenished again on payday — so by figuring out when the cardholder gets paid, you maximize your chance of rebilling success.\n- For credit cards, where the available balance is impacted by recent payments, the best strategy is to rebill on the cardholders’ payment “due date” — right after they’ve paid down a bit of the balance and made room for your transaction.\n- Reloadable pre-paid cards are very similar to debit cards.\n  Funds are typically replenished on or around payday.\n- For non-reloadable prepaid cards, your best bet is to collect a partial payment, and ask the customer for an alternate payment method to cover the balance.\n  We suggest using automated, low-effort ways to do this to prevent cancellations and chargebacks.\n\n## Do Not Honor\n\n### What it means\n\n“Do Not Honor” can mean just about anything.\nIn some regions, card issuers use this code when they aren’t allowed to disclose that funds are insufficient, due to privacy regulations.\nIn other cases, the card issuer may be unwilling to complete the transaction due to a heightened risk profile.\n\n### What to do\n\nFollow the same strategy outlined above, for Insufficient Funds.\n\n## Expired Card\n\n### What it means\n\nThe card is no longer valid, since it has passed it’s expiration date.\nMore than likely, a new card has been issued with a new account number and / or expiration date.\n\n### What to do\n\nWe actually wrote a whole blog post devoted to this topic!\nCheck out [How to use account updater to increase your approval rates](/blog/use-account-updater-increase-your-approval-rates.md).\nIn short, we’d recommend preventative strategies for expired cards, including:\n\n- Using Account Updater services if they are offered by your issuer.\n- Asking your customers for their new number before the old one expires.\n\nWhile preventative strategies are recommended, they are not 100% effective.\nIn any recurring billing business, you will end up with expired cards.\nAfter a card has officially expired, we recommend:\n\n- Guessing the new expiration date.\n\nSeriously.\nIt sounds crazy, but it’s not — and it works.\nWith the exception of massive card reissuances like the EMV chip card rollout in the United States, it’s a legitimate, moderately successful approach.\nHere’s how to do it.\n\n- First, try the card again by submitting an authorization request without any card expiration date.\n  Most gateways will reject it, but a few won’t.\n- Next, try the card again with an expiration date that is exactly three years later than the date you originally had on file.\n- If that doesn’t work, try four years.\n- Finally, if that doesn’t work, try just two years.\n\n## Restricted Card\n\n### What it means\n\n“Restricted Card” typically means the issuer is blocking transactions between their customers and merchants in your country.\n\n### What to do\n\nFirst, try the card again – but wait 13 days.\nOccasionally, this message is erroneous, since many issuers use really old technology.\nIf there was a wholesale problem at the issuer, 13 days is usually enough time for them to identify and fix it.\n\nIf you get this error often, and it’s costing you a lot of lost business, you may want to consider opening a subsidiary or related branch in the country that is restricting transactions with you, and open a merchant account in that country to process the payments.\nIt requires effort and expense, but many businesses have found it profitable.\n\n## Lost Card, Stolen Card, Pickup Card, or Hot Card\n\n### What it means\n\nEach of these terms typically means the card you are attempting to process was either lost or stolen.\n\n### What to do\n\nWhat you don’t know if whether your customer was the victim or the thief.\nEither way, it doesn’t make sense to try to charge the card again.\n\nIf your customer was the victim, Account Updater services can help for certain issuers.\nOtherwise, this is one instance where you’ll need to engage with your customer to update your records.\n\nUsing data like decline codes to help drive your retry strategy will pay huge dividends when it comes to your approval rates and customer lifetime value.\nThe information is there, and we’re here to help you understand it and enact a plan that works best for you and your subscription billing.\n\n## Want to learn more about making the most of customer data?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"How to Use Account Updater to Increase Your Approval Rates","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-05-11","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/rawpixel-600777-unsplash.jpg","id":472,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/use-account-updater-increase-your-approval-rates","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Use Account Updater to Increase Your Approval Rates\n\nIf you’ve come within ten feet of a subscription billing service, you’ve probably heard the term “involuntary churn.” But in case the term is unfamiliar to you, we’ll explain.\nInvoluntary churn is <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">when a previously happy, paying subscriber is lost due to circumstances like an expired credit card or a declined transaction.\nIt’s “involuntary” because the subscriber didn’t choose to end their subscription, rather it ended due to inaction on the subscriber’s part. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Involuntary churn is extremely common for subscription businesses.\nA subscriber signs up for an ongoing subscription with one payment method, likely a payment card.\nOver time, that payment card will expire or the subscriber’s payment card could be compromised.\nIn this post, we’ll address a simple way to stop subscribers with expired cards from churning.</span>\n\n## <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to Prevent Expired Card Declines: </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We recommend a strategy that, whenever possible, seeks first and foremost to prevent expired card errors.\nGetting new card information before the card expires reduces the risk of churn, and keeps your revenue predictable. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strategies for proactively updating credit card information before they expire include: </span>\n\n### Account Updater Services\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Certain issuers offer services (like MasterCard’s Automatic Billing Updater and Visa’s Account Updater) that can keep your card-on-file data current.\nThese services automatically update customer records in the event of an expired card, lost or stolen cards, or account upgrades and portfolio conversions.\nPlease note that only certain issuers participate in Account Updater — and coverage varies dramatically from country to country. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We strongly recommend looking into Account Updater services because it offers a seamless experience for both you and your subscriber.\nYour records will stay current, so your customer won’t churn involuntarily, and the customer won’t have to take steps to update their information.</span>\n\n### Ask Customers for Their New Number Before the Old One Expires\n\n**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Account Updater won’t work for you or isn’t offered in your country, we still recommend the old fashioned way — talk to your customers!\nDepending on the nature of your relationship with the customer, and the subscription services you provide, it can be highly effective to reach out to your customer 30 to 60 days in advance of expiration to ask them to update their payment information. </span>**\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In some businesses, this is a risky strategy, since it may give the customer an opportunity to reevaluate your service, and potentially churn voluntarily.\nYou know your business better than anyone else: if your customers are loyal and your service is extremely high-value, you should try this approach.\nAnd if you know the customer will definitely churn due to an expired card, it can’t hurt to try. </span>\n\nA recurring billing service can help you manage these tasks, and help increase your approval rates and customer lifetime value with many other tools. **Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"The Biggest Pricing Table Mistake","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2018-05-01","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/biggest-pricing-table-mistake/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/alvaro-reyes-unsplash.jpg","id":465,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/biggest-pricing-table-mistake","timeToRead":"5 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# The Biggest Pricing Table Mistake\n\nThe pricing table is arguably the most important element of your pricing page — but many businesses are making a key mistake when it comes to theirs.\n\nWhat is it and how can you address it?\n\n## The value isn’t clear\n\nYour pricing table needs to do two things at once:\n\n1. Convey the price (and [subscription schedule](/blog/the-most-popular-subscription-schedules/)) of your product.\n2. Communicate the value of your product.\n\nIf your pricing table isn’t clearly communicating the value to your customer, you’re not going to sell as many subscriptions.\nCustomers might even wind up signing up for the wrong product or plan, because they’re confused about what features are offered in each.\nIn turn, that customer confusion can lead to buyer’s remorse (which can, in turn, [lead to chargebacks](/blog/how-to-reduce-chargebacks/)).\n\n**How to fix it:**\n\nTalk to your existing customers.\nMake sure to record the conversations, too.\nThat way, you can see what language they use to describe their problems (and how they’d like to solve those problems).\nTry different versions of pricing plans and features to make sure your [prices are optimized](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/) and that you’re converting as many customers as possible.\n\n## Help customers along their journey\n\nA pricing table is close to the start of the customer’s buyer journey.\nThey’re aware of their problem and found your product as a potential solution.\n\nThe job of your pricing table is to help them make the right purchase decision, without overwhelming them with complexity or unnecessary details.\nSome enterprise companies go so far as to hide their prices on the page, because their formula for calculating it is too complicated or they’re worried about causing sticker shock.\n\nSo what are the ways you might calculate your pricing?\n\n## Different pricing formulas for different products and needs\n\nThe most simple way to charge for a subscription product is a flat rate — for example, $9 per month.\nThat said, there are other ways that a business might charge for subscriptions, including per user or with breaks for volume.\nHere are a few pricing formulas with examples of each model:\n\n**Flat rate:**\n\n- $9 per user\n- The most common rate type – easy for customers to understand.\n  It might not be a great fit for cases where people will need to be using the product together as a team, though.\n\n**Volume:**\n\n- 1-10 users: $9 per user\n- 11-25 users: $8 per user\n- 26+ users: $7 per user\n- In this scenario, you pay a single price per user, based on how many users you have.\n  For example, if you have 12 users, you pay $8 x 12 = $96 per month.\n  This is ideal for products that teams will be using together.\n\n**Tiered:**\n\n- 1-10 users: $9 per user\n- 11-25 users: $8 per user\n- 26+ users: $7 per user\n- This is similar to volume pricing, but with a key difference — you’re charged for all users in each tier.\n  For example, with 12 users, you would pay ($9 x 10) + ($8 x 2) = $106.\n\n**Step (aka stairstep):**\n\n- 1-10 users: $50/month\n- 11-25 users: $99/month\n- 26+ users: $199/month\n- In this scenario, if you have 12 users, you pay $99/month.\n  If you have 13, it’s still the same price, because they are in the same “step.”\n\n[For more examples of pricing formulas and how they can work for your business, head here](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/).\n\n_(If you’re looking for a subscription tool that can handle all of these formulas, check out [Rebilly’s Order features](/product/orders/).)_\n\nThese examples are using “users” as the base unit, but you could also have pricing formulas based off of another unit — API calls or support requests per month, etc.\n\nIt’s the job of your pricing table to showcase your pricing formula and plans, along with the features that go with each of those.\n\n![Image of sandwich board menus outside a restaurants](./images/bundo-kim-635309-unsplash-1024x683.jpg)\n\n_Photo by [Bundo Kim](https://unsplash.com/photos/7FmoAzL2x1s?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) via [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/search/photos/price-display?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)_\n\n## Display your features\n\nIn addition to your pricing formula, you might have different plans (and features to match).\nThis can get complex very quickly.\nFor example, if you have three different tiers and then three different feature plans, your customers now have nine options to look at.\nYour pricing table needs to show:\n\n- Features that are enabled or disabled with each pricing option\n- Any metered items or features that go with each pricing option (like bandwidth or minutes used)\n\nMetered pricing is similar to the per-seat pricing we looked at above.\nIn fact, they’re both categories of usage-based pricing.\nThe main distinction is that one is billed in advance and one is billed in arrears.\nHowever, when you bill something in advance, you have to decide how are you going to handle over and under usage, which can add more complexity.\n\nFor example, let’s say you bought 500 minutes for the month of January, and had used them all by January 25th.\nThe business could do nothing and stop providing service.\nOr charge in the interim if you want to continue service.\nThere’s also the option to add an overage charge at the next invoice.\n\nBut what happens if you go under your limit, and only used 300 minutes in January?\nThe business could do nothing, and have a no-rollover policy.\nThey could also refund or credit the unused amount.\nOr roll them forward month-to-month, and allow them to use the unused 200 minutes in the future.\n\nYour pricing table itself shouldn’t necessarily go into all of these details, as potential customers can get bogged down quickly.\nBut this information should be covered on the pricing page somewhere.\n\n## Find pricing table perfection\n\nThis is barely scratching the surface of what can go into creating a pricing page.\nWhat it all boils down to is that you should be presenting both the pricing and the value of your product in the clearest way possible.\nYour subscription software can help you set up a pricing table (or [Rebilly](/product/) can, at least), but only you can make sure it’s clearly communicating your value proposition.\n\n### Want more tips on optimizing your pricing?\n\nOur price optimization guide has a list of experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nYou can download it now and get started today:\n"},{"title":"Is Rebilly for Me?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-10-19","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/is-rebilly-for-me/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"rebilly","label":"Rebilly News & Updates"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/volkan-olmez-73767-unsplash.jpg","id":177,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/is-rebilly-for-me","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Is Rebilly for Me?\n\nWe say Rebilly is the world’s first subscription profit maximization company, meaning our product is purpose-built to help you derive greater profits from your subscription business.\nBut is Rebilly the right fit to manage your particular recurring billing needs?\nEvery business and story is of course incredibly unique, so this post will attempt to help you answer a question that you may be having: “Is Rebilly for me?”\n\n## Do you have subscribers?\n\nThis is one of the first questions we ask when we are meeting potential clients.\nRebilly gives you the tools you need to have greater control over your subscription or recurring billing, so for Rebilly to be at its most valuable to you, you’ll need customers that pay you on a regular basis, or “subscribers.” Those payments can occur weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, etc. — any regular cadence.\n\n## Do you run offers?\n\nSo, you’ve got subscribers.\nThat alone means there’s a lot about Rebilly that would make your life easier.\nBut do you run offers, such as a free or discounted trial of your product?\nThis is a really powerful way to market to consumers, but can be trickier to manage on the payments side.\nRebilly not only makes it simple to manage your offers, but also gives you the tools you need to help manage risk involved with offering trials.\n\n## Do you need help controlling issues related to subscription billing?\n\nDo the words “churn” and “chargebacks” mean anything to you?\nThey are some of the most frustrating parts of recurring billing, which is why we’ve equipped Rebilly with several tools to help reduce involuntary churn, declines, and chargebacks.\nOf course those things do still happen, which is why we’ve also created convenient and intelligent ways to automate the retry process on declines as well as the documentation process for chargebacks.\n\n### Do you love data and testing?\n\nIs half (or more) of the fun of your subscription business the testing and optimization you manage to reach the numbers you care about?\nMaybe that’s total number of subscribers, customer lifetime value, cost per acquisition — whatever your goals, if you care about data and tracking to help make your business more successful, Rebilly is for you.\nOur reporting suite gives you access to the data you want when you want it, and you can configure our reports completely to your liking.\n\nWe hope these answers gave you a greater understanding of how Rebilly can work for you.\nIf you read something here that resonated with you, and perhaps even helped you answer “Yep” to the question, “Is Rebilly for me?” then we hope you’ll [reach out](/contact/) soon.\nWe’d love to help you start maximizing your subscription profits.\n"},{"title":"4 New Strategies to Keep SaaS Customers Engaged","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-09-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/4-new-strategies-keep-saas-customers-engaged/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/engagement.jpg","id":174,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/4-new-strategies-keep-saas-customers-engaged","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# 4 New Strategies to Keep SaaS Customers Engaged\n\nWith the SaaS model changing and advances in technology bringing new opportunities, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve.\nCustomer engagement rates are constantly fluctuating, so keeping customers interested in a product can seem like an uphill battle.\nWe’ve put together four new strategies to keep churn rate low and customer engagement high.\n\n## 1. Start at the Beginning\n\nThe customer’s journey with a service starts from the moment they sign up.\nGiving them a five-star experience right from the start will leave them with a good impression and keep them engaged during their relationship with a business.\n\nStart by creating a comprehensive onboarding process that customers will appreciate.\nSome ideas for creating the best experience include:\n\n- An onboarding walkthrough video\n- An email sequence designed to educate the user\n\nOne thing is certain, the onboarding process must be user-friendly.\nComplicating the product right at the start will only lead to lower customer engagement over time.\n\n## 2. Survey the Customer Base\n\nThe customers are the ones who know why they’ve stopped engaging with a product or service.\nSo why not ask them for the reason?\n\nSurveys may have a bad reputation, but they’re a surefire way to capture information about an important segment of a business’s database.\nThey also help to determine the cause of that dreaded churn rate.\n\nThese don’t have to be overly long surveys that are sent by email.\nInstead, capture in-app answers while customers are working with the product or service.\nBy asking a few questions while the customers are actively engaged, a business can start to collect information that will help them to improve.\n\n## 3. Update and Upsell\n\nUpselling a customer can be nerve-wracking.\nAfter all, we don’t want to lose them entirely.\nHowever, if the service is truly making a difference in their life, selling them on the next step should be a breeze and keep them engaged.\n\nProducts and services are most likely going to evolve over the years, so keeping customers alert to changes or upgrades is a great way to delight them and offer new solutions to their problems.\nMake sure there is a plan in place to announce any of product and service updates.\nIt’s important that customers believe they’re getting an invaluable service and, if they’re excited about the new features, they’re more likely to share them with their network.\n\n## 4. Treat Customers Like Business Partners\n\nOne thing that can lead to churn and turn customers away is a lack of communication and transparency.\nSaaS businesses have the added challenge of skepticism about the quality of the product, a lack of face-to-face communication, and increasing questions about security.\n\nMake sure to alert customers to important updates and news.\nThis can make them feel important, and kept in the loop about the service they’re buying.\nAim to announce things like:\n\n- Software updates\n- Outages\n- Contract changes\n- Security breaches\n\nHiding information never benefits anyone, so communicating with the people responsible for a company’s success will only increase their happiness and engagement with that company.\n\n## The Bottom Line\n\nThere are more options than ever before for the average consumer, so we make it a priority to ensure that our SaaS business comes out on top.\nWhile getting the customer in the door may seem like the biggest challenge, keeping them active and engaged should be the top priority.\n\n**Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter, including customer retention?**\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"How Subscription Businesses Have Changed The Retail World (For Good)","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-09-22","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/retail.jpg","id":171,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-month-checklist","slug":"/blog/subscription-businesses-changed-retail-world-good","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How Subscription Businesses Have Changed The Retail World (For Good)\n\nMarketing experts and B2C specialists have spent decades trying to figure out what makes a consumer buy a product and continue to buy.\nOne of the biggest consumer trends to become seemingly permanent is the subscription business model.\nWe’ve all heard of subscriptions to magazines, newspapers, even book-of-the-month clubs; but now consumers are turning to subscription-based-businesses for an innovative, ever-changing array of clothing, household items, skin-care, leisure, food, and everything in between.\n\n## Why Do Consumers Subscribe?\n\nSubscriptions for physical products solve two big problems for consumers — they are convenient and many times save a trip to a store, and they are a predictable expense that can be planned and budgeted for more so than impulse retail purchases.\nBeyond that, there’s the exciting feeling of something waiting for you at your door or in your mailbox.\nAll combined, it’s no wonder the subscription model for products has been successful.\nAnd that’s not even acknowledging the success of subscription services!\n\n## “Never Again” Moments\n\nIn 2014, _Inc._‘s editor at large Bo Burlingham [covered entrepreneur John Warrillow’s GrowCo speech](http://www.inc.com/bo-burlingham/why-john-warrillow-is-all-about-subscription-services.html) about the rise of the subscription business model.\nWarrillow knew the trend was here to stay.\nIn early 2015, the entrepreneur published _The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry._ This informative book covers nine models used by subscription companies.\nPractically anything can be made into a subscription and subscriptions can be marketed anywhere.\nAs Warrillow stated: the subscription business model is relevant to every consumer.\n\nA particularly compelling argument for subscription consumable products that we’d previously pick up at the store is what Warrillow coined the “never again” moment.\nOne example — an energetic toddler knocks over a glass of milk, spilling onto the counter, the cabinets, the floor.\nThe toddler’s weary parent reaches for the paper towels, remembering too late that they’ve just run out. “Never again,” the parent thinks.\nSubscriptions for consumable products like these solve this problem and feel like a major step forward in simplifying our lives.\nWith subscription popularity continuing to grow and new options debuting every month, subscriptions remain relevant.\n\n## Get In On The Trend\n\nChances are, if you’re reading our blog, you’re already a believer in the subscription economy.\nBut have you made the leap from believer to entrepreneur?\nThe subscription economy isn’t going anywhere, so let us formally invite you to make that jump you’ve been considering.\n\n**Not sure where to start?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our six-month checklist, to guide you on your way to subscription success:</span>\n"},{"title":"Bring on new team members: 3 best practices for SaaS startups","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-09-14","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/blog/bringing-new-team-members-3-best-practices-saas-startups/feed/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/office.jpg","id":169,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/bringing-new-team-members-3-best-practices-saas-startups","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Bring on new team members: 3 best practices for SaaS startups\n\nEmployee turnover can wreak havoc on any business.\nA SaaS startup really depends on having the right players and a consistent, well-formed team.\nIt will cost you more than time to replace a worker who isn’t onboarded properly; indeed, according to human resources experts at ERE Media, [you’ll pay about 40 percent of your worker’s annual salary to replace them](http://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/what-was-leadership-thinking-the-shockingly-high-cost-of-employee-turnover/?__hstc=23243621.e5b288e4f9cc658ff277fcade84834af.1468013802648.1472499918394.1472502904591.182&__hssc=23243621.2.1472502904591&__hsfp=3704963671).\n\nOnboarding the right way can help new hires quickly get up to speed and become a valuable part of your organization.\nThis is common sense, of course, and it’s easier said than done.\nWe’re hopeful that the tips outlined below will make it a bit easier done than said.\n\n## 1. Create a Company Playbook\n\nIf you don’t already have one, make creating and updating an employee manual a priority.\nA company-wide manual clearly outlines expectations, ensures that everyone is treated fairly, and helps new team members understand what you want from them.\nIn addition to a general procedures manual, an explanation of any “in-jokes,” company lingo and culture can help a new hire feel like part of the team quickly.\n\n## 2. Outline Expectations\n\nEmployee retention and onboarding starts before the candidate is even selected.\nBefore you hire new people, you should have a clear idea of the work you want them to do, the goals you’d like them to achieve and what you expect from the position.\nIt’s also critically important to relay these details to your prospective employees.\nIf you get carried away describing how great your company culture is, they could be in for a shock when they see the actual job duties they have to perform.\n\n## 3. Create a Process\n\nMake an onboarding process that works for your business.\nYou’ll need to make sure your new hires fully understand their role, responsibilities and what you expect from them.\nYou’ll also need to make sure they meet everyone else on the team and can actually find the things they need to perform their jobs.\nThe more readily your new hires adapt to the environment and become part of the team, the more likely it is that they’ll stick around and become long-term, valuable employees for your startup.\n\nWith crystal clear upfront expectations and a system to introduce new hires to your office culture, all of your employees can work together for the good of your company — and your customers.\nA focus on customer satisfaction and retention is key to creating a sustainable subscription business, and engaged employees can provide that focus.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"5 Smart Email Marketing Tips for Your SaaS Business","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-09-07","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/5-smart-email-marketing-tips-saas-business/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/email.jpg","id":166,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/5-smart-email-marketing-tips-saas-business","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# 5 Smart Email Marketing Tips for Your SaaS Business\n\nCustomer retention is more important to the SaaS industry than just about any other industry out there, and making the most of your email subscription list helps you in your retention efforts.\nAccording to Kissmetrics, 80 percent of your revenues will come from just 20 percent of your current customers, so cultivating those relationships and staying connected is a must.\nEmail marketing allows you to create regular, automated touchpoints that boost those valuable connections and help you retain as many of your current customers as possible.\n\nAt its best, email marketing builds relationships, boosts engagement and provides value; at its worst, it is seen as an annoyance or even spam by the recipient.\nHow can you be sure that the emails you send to your subscribers are the good kind — and that you’re actively building relationships?\nThese ideas can help:\n\n## 1. Send Valuable Content\n\nJust getting in touch isn’t enough: You need to be regularly sharing useful content.\nEvery piece you send needs to be valuable in some way to the recipient – simply touching base because you are “supposed to” won’t cut it.\nIf you have an email newsletter, use this vehicle to relay interesting news, statistics about your industry and even spotlight some of the latest industry trends.\nHighlighting little-known features of your recurring payment software or your subscription billing software can help existing clients learn even more about using your product and inform prospects about your capabilities without a heavy sales pitch.\n\n## 2. Develop Your Voice\n\nIf your brand doesn’t already have a consistent voice, it’s time to think about how you’re coming across to your readers.\nDeveloping a consistent voice that carries across your communications helps prospects know what to expect and goes a long way toward forging a lasting connection.\nYou are sending the same email to all of your prospects; using a consistent voice or approach helps them to feel a more personal connection to your brand.\n\n## 3. What Traits Do Your Subscribers Share?\n\nYour current buyers and clients have at least one thing in common — your service.\nThey also likely share other interests and preferences; if you can connect on more than one level, you can be more certain that your emails will be opened and read.\n\nWhether it’s humor, hobbies, a specific fandom or other interests, knowing what makes your subscribers tick can help you forge a more personal connection.\nYou may actually already have this information: If you’ve come up with a marketing persona, incorporate these details into your email marketing strategy to really resonate with your prospects.\n\n## 4. Skip the Promotion\n\nNo one wants to be constantly barraged with promotional messages and heavy-handed calls to action.\nAt least some of your emails need to be about providing information without strings attached.\nWhether you’re offering a freebie, sharing great news or simply providing access to something new, some of your contact points need to include things that purely to benefit your reader.\n\nIf you are constantly sending “look at me” and “special offer” emails, you’ll end up in the spam folder before long.\nStriking the right ratio of promotion to information and sharing helps ensure that your prospects don’t feel like they are being harassed or like they are constantly being closed.\n\n## 5. Track What Works\n\nKeep track of which emails your prospects are opening — and which ones are simply sitting.\nBy measuring your progress, you can get an idea of which headlines work and which emails are producing results; you can then use this information to further tailor your email marketing efforts.\n\nWhen you maximize your emails to give your customers what they want without the hard sell, you’ll have positioned your business favorably when you roll out that next upgrade.\nHappy writing!\n\n## Want to learn more about how to take action on data — and get results?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Make Me an Offer","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-08-31","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/offer.jpg","id":163,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/make-me-an-offer","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Make Me an Offer\n\nToday’s marketplace is switching away from the prohibitively high upfront costs of software and services of the past.\nThese price tags did little to discourage counterfeiting and instead encouraged competitors to seek cheaper, more accessible products, even if the quality wasn’t always comparable.\nInstead, subscription-based services are becoming popular, giving consumers an affordable price and the ability to make changes as needed.\n\nThis has created an explosion of growth within the affected industries.\nHowever, the new obstacle facing subscription providers, whether it be for software or services, is how to maintain a base of customers who are always seeking the better deal.\nThe secret is to provide them with something extra in order to create interest in the product.\n\n## Bonus Features\n\nBy far, one of the greatest draws of subscription-based services are the low monthly access fees as compared to the price of a large single purchase.\nHowever, over the long-term, consumers may begin to question whether the value of these monthly fees is still worth their compounding cost.\n\nIn response to this concern, many companies are leveraging their subscription fee against a selection of add-on features and bonus content available only to subscribers.\nFor instance, Adobe offers cloud hosting and discounted stock photography to their Photoshop subscribers in order to encourage them to continue using the product, as well as to raise its perceived value.\n\n## Contests &amp; Prizes\n\nIn addition, the trend of monthly ‘boxes’ has provided a new template for web-based commerce.\nBoxes usually consist of a monthly selection of products that generally fall under a particular theme and are delivered to a subscriber’s door.\nMany of these start-ups host monthly contests to a select number of subscribers per month, enticing them with free offers and more products.\nThe renewed interest helps maintain volume while encouraging new customers through targeted advertisements featuring the prize packages.\nThese types of tactics are proving to be a reliable source of short-term growth for young companies.\n\n## Discounts &amp; Customizable Plans\n\nOver the long-term, many retailers are leaning toward tiered subscription platforms and deep discounts for multi-month subscriptions.\nWhile this isn’t a new concept in its entirety, it is beginning to be applied in new markets.\nVirtually every monthly service allows its customers to save money by committing to a longer term of service, providing security for the business and a sense of value for consumers.\n\nIn a similar vein, in addition to or in lieu of discounts for long-term contracts, many businesses are now turning towards customizable plans that offer consumers the ability to tailor their services to their current needs.\nThis goes a long way toward preventing cancellation when a package of lesser content will often do, and gives consumers the option to upgrade when they feel underwhelmed by their current options.\n\nRegardless of how you approach the subscription platform, the key to attracting, maintaining and satisfying customers is to give them a sense of value that grows and changes as they do.\nA subscription service is a ‘buy it and forget it’ business model that suffers from threat of stagnation in the mind of the customer.\n\nWith a never-ending influx of competitors who can provide similar products at better prices, it’s most important to treat customers like individuals, rather than large groups.\nCustomizable offers and the ability to access bonus content not available elsewhere can be the difference between a long-term subscriber and a cancellation notice.\n\n**Speaking of strategies to build a successful subscription business, our Retry Strategy guide walks you through another one.**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download it today to get simple steps you can take to increase your LTV:</span>\n"},{"title":"3 Simple Tips for Subscription Billing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-08-17","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","redirects":{"/3-simple-tips-for-subscription-billing/":{}},"categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/billing-errors.jpg","id":158,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/3-simple-tips-for-subscription-billing","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# 3 Simple Tips for Subscription Billing\n\nBilling errors can create significant headaches for businesses, forcing you to spend time chasing down customers who haven’t paid enough or apologizing to those you’ve overcharged.\nMaking sure these three areas are covered will save you time (and money!), allowing you to focus more on your data to make smart decisions for your business.\n\n## Set Up a Billing Cycle\n\nWhether you bill your customers weekly, monthly or even yearly, automated subscription billing can help you handle the process as efficiently as possible.\nOnce you decide on the lengths of your billing cycles, you can set up a subscription billing automation system that sends out bills at regular periods without requiring any human input.\nRecurring payment software can automatically generate accurate bills and send them to customers, which reduces the chance of manual errors such as sending out a bill for the wrong amount or, worse, failing to send a bill at all.\n\n## Simplify Your Invoices\n\nGenerate simple, clear invoices for your customers.\nInvoices that are difficult for customers and employees to understand can increase the risk of billing errors going unnoticed, which could result in money lost for your company or anger in your customers when they realize they have been paying inaccurate bills.\n\n## Keep Customers Happy\n\nBy offering a seamless billing experience to customers, you can encourage them to stay loyal to your brand.\nAttracting a new customer can cost as much as five times more than retaining a current one, so it’s vital to focus on keeping your current customer base happy.\nYou can go above and beyond automating rebills and simplifying your invoices by rewarding long-time customers or updating your product to reflect their feedback.\n\nIf your business isn’t already using a subscription billing service, you could be losing out on vital revenue. **Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"The SaaS Reading List: 5 Blogs to Get You Inspired","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-08-10","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/books.jpg","id":155,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/saas-reading-list-5-blogs-get-inspired","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# The SaaS Reading List: 5 Blogs to Get You Inspired\n\nLaunching an SaaS startup is an enormous undertaking.\nGetting your business off the ground means that you’ll be ultra-busy developing your software, launching your website, dealing with subscribers and payments, and connecting with your customers to keep them engaged with you product.\n\nWith all that you have to do, you don’t have much time for reading.\nThis is why you need to make sure the articles you do take in are good ones.\nHere are some of the best blogs from people who have successfully launched their own startups and creative careers to get you inspired and keep your brain humming with helpful tips and tricks about running your business right:\n\n## 1. Groove\n\n[Groove](https://www.groovehq.com/blog/startup-journey) is a help desk ticket management company that also offers one of the most interesting SaaS blogs on the web.\nThey’ve stated their goal of earning $500,000 per month, and they’re blogging about all the steps along the way to reaching that revenue level.\nCheeky writing and useful topics are a hallmark here, and you might learn a shortcut or two to save time and cut out the noise of running a startup.\n\n## 2. HelpCentral\n\n[HelpCentral](https://www.helpcentral.com/blog) is new on the scene, but it’s witty writing style promises to be entertaining and useful as they scour the internet for the best productivity tips and resources for SaaS startup leaders.\nLike Groove, they’re documenting their own company’s journey (this time to a certain number of users rather than a monetary goal), but with the added benefit of pointing readers to the podcasts and blog posts they’ve found most useful.\n\n## 3. The Entrepreneurial Mind\n\n[The Entrepreneurial Mind](http://www.drjeffcornwall.com) is full of video clips and articles with nuts-and-bolts tips on everything from turning down a client to determining fair wages for your employees.\nIt’s totally practical, and the videos give busy leaders the opportunity to listen to the information while committing for even better multitasking.\nThis is a rich stockpile of information for any startup founder to sift through.\n\n## 4. Chaotic Flow\n\nThe aptly named [Chaotic Flow](http://chaotic-flow.com) blog is chock-a-block with specifics about SaaS marketing and metrics that will help you figure out your customer base and their needs so you can target them more effectively.\nIf you love data — or just want to know how to better use it to give your business a shot in the arm — this blog is definitely worth your time.\n\n## 5. Sales Hacker\n\n[Sales Hacker](http://www.saleshacker.com/library/) is your go-to resource for ideas on how to get by on a shoestring budget, so it’s perfect for lean businesses that are just starting out.\nThese posts are full of actionable ideas and tips that don’t take a huge upfront investment to try, but are proven to get your sales stats climbing skyward.\n\n## Want to learn how to boost the subscription metrics that matter?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"4 Pricing Practices Your SaaS Business Should be Using in 2019","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-07-27","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/desktop.jpg","id":151,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/4-pricing-practices-saas-business-using","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# 4 Pricing Practices Your SaaS Business Should be Using in 2019\n\nOne of the first things you have to do when you set up a SaaS business is figure out your pricing structure.\nThe problem is that it’s hard to know where to start or what to do.\n\nHere are four best practices to start with:\n\n## Transparent Pricing\n\nIt used to be trendy to require potential customers to book a sales call before they could get pricing information about a product.\nThe idea is that by getting a client on a call or demo, you’re getting them to commit a little bit, which makes it easier to get them to commit more to the product later.\n\nIf you’re a larger company with an expensive product, this might make sense for you.\nHowever, for most SaaS companies, you’ll want to have your prices clearly stated.\nThis does two things:\n\n- Provides prospective leads with the information they need to make a decision\n- Ensures that these leads are the best fit for your business based on the pricing range\n\n## Simplified Pricing\n\nOn top of being easy to _see_, prices need to be easy to _understand_. **Confused customers don’t buy.** If there’s too many factors that go into a pricing table, it’s likely that people will get overwhelmed and click away before signing up for a trial or to book a demo.\nMake sure to display prices in the clearest way possible, that’s also easy to understand.\nYou should also make it easy for visitors to see other details at a glance, like [how long the free trial is](/blog/mastercards-new-free-trial-rules-subscriptions/) and what features are included.\n(If you’re looking for a subscription management tool that makes it easy to set up free trials, look no further – [it’s one of our features](/product/orders/).) And if you want to learn more about [how to optimize your prices, head here](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/).\n\n## Flexible Options\n\nA custom plan can be great, as long as it doesn’t come at the sacrifice of simplicity and transparency.\nRemember – you don’t want to confuse customers out of buying.\nOne way to do this is by adding a pricing calculator to your page, like so:\n\n![pricing calculator](./images/pricing-page-6.png)\n\nIn an interesting counterpoint to the way most companies display prices, [RJMetrics increased signups on their pricing page by 310%](https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/pricing-page-optimization/) by changing away from a three-column table to use a calculator users immediately see what they’d be paying.\nThis is a great example of how you can combine flexibility, simplicity, and transparency.\n\n## Above all: stay focused on the customer\n\nObviously, when it comes to pricing, you have to consider profitability and what works for your business model.\nBut you shouldn’t be making pricing decisions based _solely_ on that.\nAfter all, your customers don’t care about your profit margins.\nThey care about getting a product they want to use, at a price that works for them.\nBy thinking about ideal customer groups first and designing packages around those needs, instead of around what they want, SaaS businesses can offer plans and pricing formulas that are a better fit for customers.\n\nIf you want to read more on the psychology of sales and how it differs between subscription sales and one-time offerings, [we’ve got a post for that](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy.md). **And if you’re looking for other ways to convert more leads to customers, check out our free guide to optimizing your pricing:**\n"},{"title":"Closing the Renewal: Tips for Making Subscription Billing Irresistible to Customers","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-07-21","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/magazine.jpg","id":149,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/closing-renewal-tips-making-subscription-billing-irresistible-customers","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Close the renewal: tips for making subscription billing irresistible to customers\n\nYou can have the best software services in the world, but if you’re not closing the deal on renewals, your SaaS company isn’t doing as well as you thought.\nOnce you’ve built your business with a great product and offered excellent service to your initial customers, follow these tips to make sure they keep paying the renewal fee every month.\n\n## Engagement Is Everything\n\nOne of the best things you can do to ensure your clients renew their subscription is to make sure that they’re engaged with your product.\nWhen the product you’re offering becomes a part of a person’s daily existence, they or they will keep paying for it.\n\nThere are different ways to monitor engagement among your clients, so be sure to choose the ones that are the most telling indicators of engagement with your product.\nExamples include frequency of visits, time spent using the product, and certain core actions.\n\nSet up a system to monitor each client and keep watch.\nIf an indicator shows a substantial drop in the client’s level of engagement, a proactive action should be automatically triggered: Try an automatic email asking for feedback or a follow-up customer service phone call, depending on your business model.\nProactive engagement long before renewal time helps get results.\n\n## Connect on Email and Social Media\n\nWhat are the main social channels that your customer base uses?\nYou should be engaging there, both to reach out to your customers and to find out the main topics and concerns of the most relevant industries.\nAs you reach out, ask people what they think of your product.\nBy soliciting feedback, you’ll be showing your clients that you value their opinions while getting some of the most useful information possible.\nYou’ll also stay top-of-mind, making it more likely they’ll hit that renew button.\n\n### Surprise and Delight\n\nSend out regular emails that include promotions and deals that will incentivize your customers’ continued support.\nEven better, have regular giveaways and promotions that show your clients how much you appreciate them.\nThis serves two purposes.\nFirst, it keeps your business at the forefront of their minds.\nSecond, it keeps the thought of your business associated with good things and pleasant surprises that make you unique.\n\nBy putting these practices into action, you’ll find you no longer have to dread the reports on churn rates.\nThanks to your careful groundwork, your customers will renew their subscriptions when the time comes — and you can focus on running your thriving SaaS business.\n\n**Want a step-by-step strategy to decrease involuntary churn?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes to reduce churn and increase your CLV:</span>\n"},{"title":"3 Ways to Minimize Risk With Recurring Transactions","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-07-13","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"minimizing-risk","label":"Minimizing Risk"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/safety-net.jpg","id":146,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/3-ways-minimize-risk-recurring-transactions","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# 3 Ways to Minimize Risk With Recurring Transactions\n\nSubscription billing is a popular and convenient way for businesses to charge clients for ongoing services — but the use of recurring transactions does come with a few potential risks.\nCustomers may file a chargeback for a variety of reasons or cardholder account information may be outdated, both situations resulting in the loss of revenue.\nFortunately, there are three key steps that business owners can take to minimize these risks while enjoying the benefits of subscription billing.\n\n## Clear Terms of Service\n\nThis step might take the most work, but providing very clear terms at the initial transaction of a recurring subscription can eliminate most of the issues that arise with these transactions.\nCustomers should be thoroughly informed on how subscriptions payments will be processed, including when the charges will occur and the total amount of the charges, including any additional fees, restrictions, and the cancellation policy.\nWhen these details are established from the start, chargebacks and even cancellations are much less likely to occur.\nIt’s also important to remind customers well in advance of any changes to the subscription payments — and even when expected recurring payments are about to be charged.\n\n## Strong Customer Service\n\nOffering timely, quality customer service is another key method to preventing risks in using recurring transactions.\nRegular communication with subscribers will keep your company and its service — as well as its value — in the front of your users’ minds, making it more likely that they will want to maintain their subscription.\nCompany contact information should be readily available in case subscribers have questions, whether they are using your website, reading an email or reviewing marketing materials.\nAs for cancellations that may occur, the policy should be as straightforward as possible, and termination of the subscription should be processed quickly to avoid any problems.\n\n## Proper Management of Data\n\nFinally, managing data accurately and securely is also an important method to preventing chargebacks and other issues with subscription billing.\nExpiration dates should be stored with cardholder data to ensure that current card information is available and used.\nServices like Visa Account Updater and MasterCard Automatic Billing Update may also be leveraged to ensure that subscription payments aren’t interrupted due to cardholder account changes.\n\nTaking these three steps — clear terms of service, strong customer support and quality data management — can help prevent issues with subscription payments, often before these problems begin.\nWhile cancellations and chargebacks may still occur, use of the best practices above will ensure that they occur much less often.\n\n## Want to learn more about making the most of customer data?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Should Your Subscription Service Accept Bitcoin?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-06-29","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"alternative-payments","label":"Alternative Payments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/bank.jpg","id":143,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/subscription-service-accept-bitcoin","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Should Your Subscription Service Accept Bitcoin?\n\nNot everyone wants to pay by credit or debit card.\nEBT, cash transactions using third party payment centers and Paypal are three of the most common alternatives, but new payment methods are rapidly appearing as part of the mobile revolution.\nSquare, Google Wallet, and Apple Pay are all becoming more accepted and each has their own benefits, but Bitcoin deserves some serious attention as well.\nHere are some basic answers on Bitcoin, along with the pros and cons of accepting Bitcoins as an alternative payment method.\n\n## Birth of Bitcoin\n\nIn 2009, an anonymous poster introduced the idea of an online cryptocurrency in the paper, _Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System_.\nAn open source client placed the first block of Bitcoins on the market and forums were introduced to negotiate the value among potential users.\nThe first purchase with Bitcoins is said to have been a pizza from Papa Johns.\n\nOver 1,000 merchants began accepting Bitcoins as an alternate form of payment by 2012.\nSome of the biggest names now taking Bitcoins for payments are WordPress, Virgin Galactic, OKCupid, Tesla, Reddit, and eBay.\nIn 2014, the U.S.\nCommodity Futures Trading Commission approved Bitcoin as a financial product in some instances.\n\n## What is the Controversy?\n\nThe main reason many merchants are wary of Bitcoin is the lack of regulation.\nThe IRS treats Bitcoin as a commodity, not a currency, and it is not insured by the FDIC.\nLack of regulation means that users don’t have to disclose their identity, which has linked Bitcoin to illegal online activities.\nWhile this normally doesn’t pose as a problem for bit-torrent sites like MEGA and online gambling houses, many merchants are steering clear of the entire issue for now.\n\n## Pros and Cons\n\nThe approach most merchants are comfortable with right now is “wait and see.” Whether or not to accept Bitcoin really depends on the kind of subscription service offered.\nFuture-forward technology brands, like Virgin Galactic, have found that Bitcoin enhances their brand messaging of being risk-takers, no matter what the other costs involved.\nOther companies, like WordPress and OKCupid, benefit from Bitcoin’s attention to online privacy.\nOn the other hand, financial services and more traditional industries may want to avoid Bitcoin for now if their brand messages center around issues of trust, stability, and security.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"The Coming Trend in Simplified Terms of Service","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-06-22","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/terms-of-service.jpg","id":141,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/coming-trend-simplified-terms-service","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# The Coming Trend in Simplified Terms of Service\n\nGoogle did it.\nFacebook did it.\nIt’s time to consider simplifying the terms of service for a new generation of customers that demand more transparency.\nNot only can this approach become a competitive advantage in the short term, it may become standard business practice in the very near future.\nThere is a growing sentiment among regulatory agencies that a lengthy terms of service page written in legalese cannot qualify as a channel for informed consent.\n\nIn Europe, where privacy concerns are more of a public discussion currently, The European Commons Science and Technology Select Committee insisted that social media companies simplify their terms of service in a recent report.\nThe [report](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2860689/Now-understand-Facebook-s-privacy-settings-hopefully-Social-network-launches-simplified-terms-conditions.html) concluded,\n\n“Let’s face it, most people click yes to terms and conditions contracts without reading them, because they are often laughably long and written in the kind of legalese you need a law degree from the USA to understand.\nSocially responsible companies wouldn’t want to bamboozle their users, of course, so we are sure most social media developers will be happy to sign up to the new guidelines on clear communication and informed consent that we are asking the Government to draw up.”\n\n## Facebook’s Response\n\nFacebook has responded by creating a new section called Privacy Basics.\nA streamlined version of Facebook’s new terms and conditions, especially relating to privacy and ownership of images, is illustrated using infographics.\nA connected site walks users through how to adjust their default privacy settings.\n\nThe Committee left the door open to legal action if companies don’t comply voluntarily.\nThe director of privacy watchdog Big Brother Watch, Emma Carr, said they expects companies to do more:\n\n“There is always more that could and should be done.\nWith many internet companies’ \\[extremely long\\] privacy policies and terms and conditions…users are undoubtedly still in the dark about how their information is accessed and manipulated.”\n\n## ToS;DR\n\nIn addition, a project called [Terms of Service; Didn’t Read](https://tosdr.org/#services) (ToS;DR) has created a rating system for the transparency of terms of service pages.\nThe site is still being developed so many of the largest sites on the web, like Facebook and Twitter, aren’t rated yet.\nSites that have been thoroughly investigated range from DuckDuckGo, which received a top A rating, to TwitPic, which received the lowest possible rating of E.\n\nPrivacy and security policies are emerging as a critical battleground in the war for customer experience excellence as consumers spend more of their lives online and trust their financial information to more and more recurring billers.\n\n**Security is important, but when you’re trying to choose a subscription billing management tool, it shouldn’t be the _only_ thing you look at.**\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Make smart subscription billing decisions without the stress by downloading our free report that covers security must-haves and has a bonus three-page feature checklist.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Winners in the Subscription Game","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-06-08","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/business.jpg","id":139,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/winners-subscription-game","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Winners in the Subscription Game\n\nShepherding a subscription-based business to financial success can be challenging to say the least.\nHere’s an encouraging collection of business that overcame those challenges to become leaders in their industries, and how they have been able to keep customers coming back, cycle after cycle.\n\n## Morningstar\n\nThis is one of those rare cases of paper media subscription services that successfully survived the transition online.\nOriginally, Morningstar produced a bound booklet called the Mutual Fund Sourcebook.\nIn the 1990s, the company updated to a CD-ROM and then a website with restricted access.\nUnlike most print media companies that struggled to retain subscribers, Morningstar concentrated on original research while expanding their consulting services and acquiring valuable add-ons in order to charge upward of $16,000 for a corporate license.\n\n## Empire Avenue\n\nCombining virtual goods with microtransactions can be one of the best ways to keep subscriptions fresh.\nEmpire Avenue gamified online influence, similar to Klout, by creating a mini-Wall Street with online profiles as the commodities.\nEaves, the virtual currency in the game, have turned into real revenue for the Canadian company as the financial significance of social influence has taken off in recent years.\nA variety of premium account options complements their main revenue source to even out unpredictability in their core pricing model.\n\n## BirchBox\n\nThis six-year-old Internet startup from New York proved that it’s possible for any kind of business to thrive on a subscription model, even in the highly individual and fragmented makeup market.\nSubscribers complete “beauty profiles” to receive individualized boxes of four or five makeup samples every month.\nOnline tutorials show members how to use them.\nAn e-store devoted to beauty products allows both subscribers and non-subscribers make purchases, but subscribers also get promotions and discounts.\nAs a result, 50 percent of their 400,000 subscribers buy from their e-store.\n\n## Activision Blizzard\n\nBetween World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, Activision demonstrated how to make games that people want to play.\nTheir challenge was convincing players to commit to subscriptions in a marketplace crammed with gaming options.\nTheir strategy has been a dedicated stream of expansion packs and continuous in-game improvements.\nMeanwhile, they are working to turn Call of Duty and Skylanders into Hollywood movies after having success with toys based on Skylanders, in order to help keep Activision games relevant and popular.\n\n## Citrix\n\nA technology company from the 1980s sounds like the beginning of a history lesson, but Citrix has been able to remain on the cutting edge of virtualization and mobile video infrastructure.\nThey were one of the early movers into mobile hardware and it paid off as NetScaler; their telco-grade application delivery controller now serves Tier 1 service providers.\nVideo on mobile is very sensitive to data interruption, so Citrix started with user experience and worked backward to create a platform with the scale, agility and integration requirements that their subscribers needed.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to build a successful subscription business?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Leverage overhead to pitch SaaS to small businesses","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-06-01","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/leverage.jpg","id":136,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/leveraging-overhead-pitch-saas-small-businesses","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Leverage overhead to pitch SaaS to small businesses\n\nAt the start of the SaaS revolution in the mid 2000s, cost savings were the primary driver used to pitch SaaS solutions to enterprise organizations.\nAs the market has matured and SaaS features have expanded, the focus has shifted to emphasizing the service-oriented benefits of a recurring, cloud-based software subscription.\nNonetheless, cost remains a primary factor for small businesses, and it’s important for SaaS providers to effectively illustrate the savings inherent in a quality subscription solution.\n\n## Emphasize infrastructure\n\nOne of the biggest benefits of SaaS over one-time software licensing is the savings in infrastructure garnered by a third-party hosted product.\nMany small business owners may underestimate the costs inherent in purchasing, maintaining, and operating a fully functional server cluster, especially when it comes to scaling that hardware up as the company grows.\n\nDrawing attention to the flat-fee nature of a recurring SaaS subscription is a good way to emphasize the cost disparity compared to self-hosted, licensed solutions.\nTo make the most of this, vendors should have a cost comparison pre-prepared, with examples like illustrating how much more expensive it is to have to double on-site server hardware to accommodate a business expansion versus simply doubling the number of SaaS licenses being paid for each month.\n\nThis can be taken a step further by drawing attention to scalability costs in relation to profit and loss reporting.\nEvery industry abounds with stories of companies who stumbled during a growth phase when money simply didn’t exist in the budget to pay for necessary expansions of their infrastructure, especially as those purchases amount to relatively enormous one-time expenses that can throw the profit ratio into disarray long after the purchase is complete.\nRemind small business leads that SaaS payments will be spread out over multiple installments, reducing the cost impact from moment to moment, and smoothing those potentially fatal spikes.\n\n## Staffing and Upkeep\n\nBeyond hardware, the biggest expenses for an on-site software solution are IT staff, downtime when things go awry, and the constant upkeep necessary to avoid it.\nThe real dollar costs of these areas should be included in example projections pitched to clients, and every opportunity taken to remind them that they’re offloading those costs to the SaaS provider.\n\nFrom the initial sale to the continuing relationship, small business customers should always have a complete accounting of the overhead costs inherent in on-site software in order to pitch the clear savings provided by SaaS alternatives.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"How Customers are Embracing SaaS","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-05-26","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/wallet.jpg","id":134,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/customers-embracing-saas","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# How Customers are Embracing SaaS\n\nThe trend lines for the explosion of cloud-centered SaaS solutions continue to point towards staggering growth in the coming years.\nWhile enterprise level SaaS purchases are growing slowly but surely, one of the biggest stories in SaaS has been the huge increase in the number of purchases made by individual customers, independent of a larger corporate IT structure.\nThis would seem to point to a “democratization” of the software buying world, and marks a valuable potential for SaaS providers to expand their recurring revenue lines.\n\n## SaaS Purchases on a Personal Level\n\nAlso referred to as the “Consumerization” of SaaS, this phenomenon is most clearly demonstrated when looking over the per-customer revenues of SaaS providers over the last four years.\nFrom a high of $96,000 per customer in 2011, revenues dropped to $13,000 per customer in 2014.\nWhen combined with the overall increase in SaaS revenues, this indicates an enormous shift from large enterprise clients to individuals as the primary driver of purchases.\nReinforcing this trend is the fact that the average SaaS provider going public in 2014 made 77 percent less per customer than similar companies in 2011.\n\nSilicon Angle predicts a continuation of this trend, and predicted that in the future, software purchasing decisions will continue to decentralize.\nThere will be more purchases made by individual team leaders without the oversight and curation of company-wide IT departments and other gatekeepers.\n\nWhile this can make it more time-consuming for SaaS providers to form the kind of sticky relationships that are emblematic of the recurring billing model, industry leaders predict that the overall benefit of an increase in potential for purchasing decision points can only signal good news for SaaS revenue.\n\n## Increase enterprise revenues\n\nIndustry-wide revenue forecasts for a variety of SaaS and cloud-based providers continue to be positive, and data services company Box remains the poster child for enterprise level activity.\nWith revenues of around $300 million in 2014, many analysts are predicting that the company will bring in more than $1 billion in revenues by 2019.\n\nIt’s been a long road since the start of the SaaS revolution in the mid 2000s, but with increasing purchasing activity across the size spectrum, the future of SaaS looks promising as customers continue to embrace its solutions.\n\n## Want to learn more about increasing revenue?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Why Online Retailers Love SaaS","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-05-18","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/online-retailers.jpg","id":131,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/online-retailers-love-saas","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Why Online Retailers Love SaaS\n\nIt really wasn’t that long ago when online retailers were required to make costly investments in software, hardware and skilled labor if they wanted to set up the infrastructure for an online retail store.\nSince the evolution of SaaS (Software as a Service), this has all changed.\nRetailers now have the option of paying an affordable monthly subscription fee to a vendor or service provider for access to the software applications they need to run a successful E-commerce site.\nSaaS-based platforms benefit online retailers in a variety of ways.\n\n## SaaS Has Lower Upfront Costs\n\nSince SaaS applications are subscription-based, online retailers pay only a monthly fee to use the applications.\nThat means they can set up and manage their store’s E-commerce platform without investing in high-priced software, steep licensing fees and skilled IT labor.\n\n## Businesses Can Focus on What They Do Best\n\nA SaaS subscription model allows online retailers to effectively manage their E-commerce platform without wasting valuable resources trying to manage the technological end of it.\nRetailers can focus their time and money on what they do best, such as marketing, selling and building brand awareness.\nSaaS enables businesses to create a positive online shopping experience for their customers without the need for a dedicated IT department to manage the platform’s complex infrastructure.\n\n## Non-Tech Savvy Retailers Can Build Feature-Rich Online Stores\n\nWith a subscription-based service, online retailers can build beautiful online stores that are brimming with robust, interactive features, even if they lack IT skills.\nSaaS helps online retail businesses grow because customers have an easy, user-friendly experience while shopping, thus encouraging repeat business.\n\n## SaaS is Quick &amp; Easy to Implement\n\nAccess to the internet is the only condition necessary for an online retailer to build and maintain a subscription-based E-commerce platform.\nThe SaaS application can be immediately accessed from any computer because there is no software to install.\nAll system upgrades are managed by the SaaS vendor, so online retailers never need to worry about installing patches or updating software.\n\nSaaS platforms have changed the way online retailers do business.\nSubscription-based software applications now make it possible for virtually anyone to maintain a professional E-commerce site, even if they possess little to no IT experience.\nThe benefits of SaaS simply can’t be beat.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"Tips for Creating a High-Conversion Free Trial","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-05-11","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/conversion.jpg","id":129,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/tips-for-creating-a-high-conversion-free-trial","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Tips for Creating a High-Conversion Free Trial\n\nFree trials make sense as a marketing strategy for software as a service (SAAS).\nInstead of asking prospective consumers to blindly accept the utility of a product, the software company offers a personal experience with the product.\nWhile there are clearly some good reasons for this approach, not all free trials are worth the investment.\nHere are some informative tips for establishing high-conversion free trials.\n\n## Share the Free Trial Option\n\nBrand identity can be enhanced by encouraging customers to share their free trial experience through social media.\nSharing can be paired with a referral bonus for bringing in another customer.\nFurthermore, a business can publicize its free trial policy on its social media profiles.\nEventually, the public will associate the trial offer with the brand.\n\n## Offer a Full-Featured Trial\n\nCustomers can’t be won over if the free trial doesn’t give them full access to all product features.\nFull access to features gives potential consumers the information they need to make a decision.\nThe customer’s decision is based on the product’s true effectiveness, instead of solely on its price.\n\n## Test the Free Trial’s Effectiveness\n\nFree trials aren’t free for businesses.\nLike any investment, free trials should be analyzed and tested periodically to check their ROI.\nOne quick way to see whether a free trial offer is resulting in more conversions is temporarily replacing the “Try Now” button with a “Buy Now” or “Begin Subscription” button.\nIf the free trial offer is effective, terminating it should result in a recognizable drop in the number of conversions.\nHard numbers that document the effectiveness of a campaign can be very persuasive to managers.\n\n## Segment the Target Market\n\nA great way of hitting the middle ground in managing free trials is to offer them to a select subset of a company’s audience.\nKabbage recommends that small businesses specifically target users who do a lot of online sharing, offering free trials selectively to these active influencers.\nThis “strategic sampling” procedure puts products into the hands of thought leaders and trendsetters, strengthening the company’s relationships while allowing influencers to spread the news about the product.\n\nFree trials are an integral part of selling software, and their popularity among both businesses and consumers will likely continue to rise.\nSmall and medium-sized businesses can ensure they get the most out of these programs by following a few of these straightforward practices.\n\n## Want to learn more about price optimization?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Reduce Churn, Costs, and Bounce Rate with Live Chat","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-05-04","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/christian-wiediger-626857-unsplash.jpg","id":125,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/improve-customer-experience-live-chat","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Reduce Churn, Costs, and Bounce Rate with Live Chat\n\nTrust is a big part of any customer’s buying decision – especially when it involves an ongoing subscription.\nThe online universe can be a scary place, and even potential customers who are interested in a product will check for clues that the business is on the up-and-up.\n\nOffering a live chat option on your site is one of the fastest and most effective ways to show would-be buyers that there’s a real human being behind the digital presence.\nRead on to learn about how it can benefit your subscription business:\n\n## It boosts conversions and time on site\n\nHaving a live chat option on a business platform gives customers a chance to ask their questions, without leaving the site or having to pick up a phone and call someone.\nBecause of this, [live chat is great for boosting metrics like conversion and time on site](https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-live-chat-can-maximize-conversions/).\n\nWithout the option of a live chat, someone who has questions or concerns has to either click around until they find a contact form and submit it, open their email app of choice and manually send an email, or call on the phone.\nAll of these options take more work, so it’s no surprise that [live chat is the preferred form of communication](https://www.superoffice.com/blog/live-chat-statistics/) for most people.\nWithout it, customers are more likely to simply move on and explore other places to buy from.\nTo test this for yourself, you can set up [lead source tracking](/product/reporting-automation/) with special tags for potential customers who use live chat, and see the results.\n\n## Customers can resolve disputes before they go public (or churn)\n\nIn this era of online reviews and social media, customers have a lot of power in their hands.\nEven the best-run business is likely to end up with a few disgruntled customers.\nLive chat gives them a way to resolve those disputes quickly, before the customer can fire off an angry tweet about it.\n\nLive chat gives customers a way to reach out and get a fast response, so you can prevent public negative reviews, and hopefully keep that customer from churning.\n(And if you’re in the business of subscriptions, you know too well that [reducing churn](/blog/reduce-churn-with-content/) is the name of the game.) Live chat agents should be authorized to give customer discounts, remove disputed charges, and perform other forms of [customer service](/product/customer-service/), to maximize on the potential of chat and make sure every customer feels valued.\n\n## Live chat is cost-effective\n\nIn addition to all of this, live chat is also surprisingly cost-effective for two main reasons:\n\n1. It allows for a customer service representative to take care of several users at once.\n2. It enables businesses to make personalized recommendations to each user (which can [increase your average order value](https://www.livechatinc.com/blog/live-chat-average-order-value/)).\n\nIn addition to these benefits, chatbots and other automated chat suggestions are becoming more and more sophisticated over time.\nAutomated solutions absolutely don’t replace live chat – and relying on them too much can actually drive customers away.\nThat said, having a few automated options to help customers resolve common problems, with the option of continuing to live chat, is a great way to streamline your customer service processes.\n\n## How to get started with live chat\n\nNow you’re sold on the idea of live chat and want to get started setting it up on your website, right?\nLet’s talk about some popular options for setting up your new chat box:\n\n- [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/) is a popular chat option (and [one we’ve mentioned before](/blog/bootstrap-subscription-business-with-these-apps-tools/)), but it’s also one of the more expensive options, with their least expensive all-in-one plan clocking in at $136/month for up to 200 customers and 2 active users.\n  (It’s worth noting that includes other features than live chat.)\n- [Olark](https://www.olark.com/) focuses on specifically live chat options, and has a flat rate of $17/user/month.\n  It’s primary selling points are that it’s easy to use and integrates with SalesForce, HubSpot, Groove, HelpScout, MailChimp, WordPress, and Google Analytics.\n- [Pure Chat](https://www.purechat.com/) is (as you probably guessed) focused specifically on chat.\n  It has a free option available, with paid plans starting at $29/month.\n  In addition to the browser interface, there’s a native mobile app to let you answer questions on the go.\n  It integrates with Facebook, WordPress, and [plenty of other apps via Zapier](https://zapier.com/apps/pure-chat/integrations).\n  They also have an open API, so you can build your own integrations.\n\n[Subscription business models are rapidly increasing in popularity](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/), and live chat is undergoing similar growth.\nPairing these two concepts together is a natural next step to create a cutting-edge business.\n\n**Once you’ve set up live chat, you should continue to take other steps to decrease your customer churn.** One aspect of that is reducing chargebacks – to get your chargebacks under control, download our free guide that reveals the full cost of chargebacks and our top actionable tips to minimize your losses:\n"},{"title":"What are the Five Main Subscription Models?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-03-02","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Among the many possible variations, here are five of the most common subscription models, as well as examples of companies that have implemented them well.","categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/subscriptions.jpg","id":47,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/what-are-the-five-main-subscription-models","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# What are the Five Main Subscription Models?\n\nOne of the best aspects of using a subscription pricing models involves securing a locked-in customer base that makes regular payments.\nHowever, businesses must be careful in choosing the right model because changes later on may alienate their best customers.\nAmong the many possible variations, here are five of the most common subscription models, as well as examples of companies that have implemented them well.\n\n**1. Short Cycle**\n\nMonthly, or even weekly, payments is the one of the oldest models.\nThis was developed by print media long before the Internet.\nShort cycle bills much more frequently than long cycle, which means there are many more chances for something to go wrong.\nOn the other hand, monthly and semi-annual prices are much lower than long cycle, making it easier for customers to commit or upgrade.\nWine Spectator is one of the rare print periodicals that successfully made the jump to a web-based subscription model by gating access to detailed reference materials for specialists.\n\n**2. Long Cycle**\n\nAnnual or longer billing periods are usually preferred by enterprise software companies with corporate licenses as renewals generally sync up with software development cycles.\nTwo years ago, Adobe switched from selling its software to a bundled annual subscription model.\nTheir Creative Cloud subscriptions, including Photoshop, were so successful that they added another line called Marketing Cloud, which include their popular Media Optimizer.\n\n**3. Virtual Goods**\n\nThis is the preferred option for game services.\nUsers pay real money to buy in-game currency or virtual objects.\nCompanies like Activision produce a range of desktop and inexpensive mobile games.\nThey earn revenue every time players buy virtual items like gems or gold.\nThe virtual goods can be used to speed up in-game rewards or buy accessories and character upgrades.\n\n**4. Freemium**\n\nThis is a preferred model for games and technologies that are unfamiliar to consumers, like cloud-based online storage was before Dropbox.\nThis model allows users to choose a free account with limited services or a premium account with greater capabilities.\nDropbox has had great success with this model after a rocky start.\nAfter users get accustomed to having online storage for pictures and documents on the free account, they quickly run out of room and upgrade to the premium level for more space.\n\n**5. Ad-based**\n\nSocial networks and media sites specializing in news and entertainment prefer this model, which is based on traditional network television and radio models.\nThe user accesses the content for free while revenue comes from advertisers who want to reach a specific segment.\nFacebook is the big winner in this category, operating for five years and adding 300 million users before it became profitable.\n\n## Subscription as the New Normal\n\nOf course, the vast majority of companies employ hybrid approaches that mix these models together or add them on to traditional sales channels.\nThe research firm Gartner estimated that at least 40 percent of media and online sales businesses would be using a subscription or hybrid subscription model by the end of this year.\nIt’s good business practice to have issues like controlling churn, dunning management and managing sensitive customer data securely addressed by experts in these fields rather than having each individual company reinvent the wheel.\n\n**Want to learn how to boost the subscription metrics that matter?**\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Direct Primary Care: A Natural Partner for Subscription Billing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-02-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Direct primary care is not insurance, but instead it delivers primary care to subscribers who pay a flat monthly subscription fee.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/medical.jpg","id":46,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/direct-primary-care-a-natural-partner-for-subscription-billing","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Direct Primary Care: A Natural Partner for Subscription Billing\n\nDirect Primary Care (DPC) is a health care payment model that is gaining rapid acceptance across the United States.\nIt is not insurance, but instead it delivers primary care to subscribers who pay a flat monthly subscription fee.\nAs the structure of health care billing undergoes nationwide transformation, it’s not surprising that subscription billing has emerged as one of the most promising new models.\nSubscription billing offers unique advantages to both vendors and subscribers, so it’s a natural fit for the challenges of medical billing.\nHere’s an overview of this new option:\n\n## How DPC Works\n\nPatients pay a flat fee, either monthly, quarterly, or annually.\nThis fee covers visits to their doctor’s office, as well as to most of the lab work and consultation services that the doctor may order.\nSince DPC does not cover emergency care, most subscribers also have a high-deductible emergency health insurance policy that covers hospitalization costs.\n\n## Benefits to Patients\n\nPaying for basic health care through a subscription model offers patients a deep sense of confidence and well-being.\nNo longer will a person have to weigh the urgency of their medical needs against the unexpected expense of a trip to the doctor.\nParents who are concerned about their child’s health can contact the pediatrician for a phone call or visit and know that their monthly budget will not be disrupted.\nFurthermore, longer visits with a physician — often from 30 to 60 minutes — allow patient to fully describe their situation, and to receive care that takes their lifestyle and personal needs into account.\n\n## Benefits to Physicians\n\nMany doctors struggle in today’s medical care structure, feeling torn between administrative requirements and their own professional needs to spend more time with each patient.\nThe subscription system of DPC gives the medical practice a predictable income, regardless of whether any individual patient happens to need care.\nDoctors find that they are freed up to carry smaller patient loads in order to support their office costs, and they are correspondingly more available to individual patients who need help.\nFurthermore, since subscription payments come directly to the medical practice, doctors are not bound by third-party payer regulations.\nThis enables them to provide the style of care they feel is best for the patient, while also saving time and money by sparing them insurance claim paperwork.\nThe cost and accessibility of health care is a deep national challenge, and the robust utility of subscription billing promises to be part of tomorrow’s health care solution.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"Dabble first: the slow-go approach to SaaS","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-02-17","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Even while SaaS and other cloud-based products appear set to become the future of the industry, many companies are taking a cautious approach to the transition.","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/dabble.jpg","id":45,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/dabbling-first-the-slow-go-approach-to-saas","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Dabble first: the slow-go approach to SaaS\n\nSoftware as a service has become the dominant force in today’s tech market, and spending on cloud-centered technology (with SaaS taking up the vast majority of that sector) is expected to grow to nearly $130 billion by 2018.\nMany of the tech industry’s biggest players are in the process of completing a transition to an SaaS-focused model.\nAmong these is Oracle, which recently announced an updated suite of Cloud-hosted software products split between Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, and SaaS.\nBut even while SaaS and other cloud-based products appear set to become the future of the industry, many companies are taking a cautious approach to the transition.\n\n## Flirt with SaaS\n\nThe most iconic example of non-committal potential SaaS converts is Microsoft, which made headlines for several years by hinting at the introduction of a subscription-based component to its Windows software.\nIn December of 2014, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner announced a “change” to the software giant’s plans for the future, saying, “We’ve got to monetize differently.There are additional opportunities for us to bring additional services to the product and do it in a creative way.”\n\n### Small Business Paving the Road\n\nMicrosoft is joined by smaller businesses like IT services firms NSK and CAP Software in adopting a gradual approach to SaaS, and leaders of those companies cite three primary reasons that they think doing so is a good move for small to mid-sized companies.\nThe main reason is that an SaaS transition moves a company from a point-of-sale revenue stream to a recurring one, leading to a revenue gap that can quickly turn fatal if a business hasn’t planned appropriately.\nAnd the most efficient SaaS models rely on customers having similar needs that can be uniformly met by a single suite of products.\nLastly, sales and support teams are not always happy with a shift from one-time transactions to recurring relationships, and may require adjustment or outright replacement in a move to SaaS.\n\nSaaS pilot programs allow a company to minimize these disruptive forces by easing their way into the market, especially when their existing product line is well-suited to a cloud-hosted, recurring billing dynamic.\nGiven the clear long-term benefit of a business model that emphasizes value-added contracts and sticky vendor/client relationships, most say that the rough patches are well worth it in the end.\n\n## Want to learn more about making the most from a subscription business?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes to reduce churn and increase your CLV:</span>\n"},{"title":"Subscription Box Retailing: An Overview","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-02-10","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"One of today's fast-growing trends in the online sale of physical products is the subscription box. Capitalizing on everyone's love of receiving gifts, the subscription box offers customers a monthly chance for a bit of surprise while providing merchants with a stable cash flow.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/subscription-box.jpg","id":44,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/subscription-box-retailing-an-overview","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Subscription Box Retailing: An Overview\n\nOne of today’s fast-growing trends in the online sale of physical products is the subscription box.\nCapitalizing on everyone’s love of receiving gifts, the subscription box offers customers a monthly chance for a bit of surprise while providing merchants with a stable cash flow.\nThe subscription-box model only began in 2010, but it is already a $5 billion industry — selling everything from artisan meats and high-end cosmetics to fishing equipment and pet products.\nBelow is a quick overview of this interesting retail trend:\n\n## How does the subscription-box model work?\n\nThe consumer answers a short survey about their personal preferences and agrees to monthly deliveries of a box with special, handpicked products from the merchant.\nOften merchants will offer several price-point options for larger or smaller boxes to please all customer demographics.\nThe consumer opens their box each month without knowing exactly what’s inside, so they enjoy the excitement of a gift experience.\nAndrea Doman, a physiology expert quoted by Forbes, says that, “When something’s being handpicked for someone, it’s feeding their self-esteem.\nIt makes them feel unique and keeps them continuing to purchase.” Because of this unique pleasure in discovery, subscription boxes make popular gift and auction items as well as personal purchases.\n\n## What benefits does a merchant receive from offering subscription boxes?\n\nThe staff at Birchbox could answer this question at some length since their subscription list has expanded to 800,000 people in the four years they’ve sold beauty-product samples by this method.\nMichael McCall, consumer-behavior expert and chair of marketing at Ithaca College, notes that customers are far less likely to return items they have already opened — even if they wouldn’t have chosen to buy those items on their own.\nFurthermore, consumers have the chance to sample unfamiliar items, and they often go on to discover they actually like a product that they might have previously ruled out.\nSubscription models in general provide vendors with a predictable income that provides a solid business architecture, and the standardized monthly shipping date simplifies inventory management.\n\n## What are some tips for setting up a winning subscription-box offer?\n\nHere are our top four tips for joining this growing selling channel:\n\n- Do some homework: Research competitors in order to capture customer loyalty by offering a fresh tweak that’s not available anywhere else.\n- Work out supply-chain logistics: Consider partnering with a company that gives free promotional samples.\n  How many subscribers does it take before a company gets quantity discounts on packaging or shipping?\n- Stay flexible: Offer a choice between monthly, quarterly or annual subscription payments.\n- Know the limits: Many subscription-box businesses hit a ceiling and have to resort to customer waiting lists.\n\nThe subscription-box model offers an interesting symmetry: predictability for the merchant and exciting novelty for the consumer.\nThe dual appeal of this selling method adds up to a win-win situation for both sides of the transaction.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Loyalty Programs: The Pros and Cons","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-02-03","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Savvy businesses conduct a periodic review of their loyalty programs, with an eye to exploring creative alternatives. Here's a brief look at some pros and cons of loyalty discounts, together with a few creative additions to traditional programs.","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/Pros_and_cons.jpg","id":43,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/loyalty-programs-the-pros-and-cons","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Loyalty Programs: The Pros and Cons\n\nIt’s typical for companies to offer some form of incentive for customers who commit to a longer subscription plan.\nWhile there are definite benefits to offering such bonuses, it’s important to understand the potential downsides, as well.\nSavvy businesses conduct a periodic review of their loyalty programs, with an eye to exploring creative alternatives.\nHere’s a brief look at some pros and cons of loyalty discounts, together with a few creative additions to traditional programs:\n\n## Pros\n\n- Familiarity: Customers understand and expect basic discount structures, including lower prices for longer contracts.\n- Loyalty: When customers feel appreciated, they are likely to continue their relationship with a business.\n- New product adoption: Premiums offer customers a chance to try new products that they will be willing to pay for in the future.\n- Stabilized cash flow: Businesses benefit from customers who sign on for the whole year.\n\n## Cons\n\n- No instant gratification: Traditional discounts for longer subscription periods offer deferred savings rather than immediate rewards.\n- No enticement for hesitant customers: Customers who sign up for shorter periods may feel like second-class citizens.\n- Profit margin questions: If a business can afford to offer its products at a discount and presumably still earn a profit, customers may wonder why they should pay a higher price.\n- Expense: It’s important to use analytics to monitor the success of an incentive program, because they will demonstrate whether a loyalty program is profitable.\n\n## Alternatives\n\nCreatively approaching loyalty programs allows businesses to mitigate the potential “cons” listed above, while still enjoying real business benefits.\nOne way to reward good customers without the risk of losing revenue is to offer an extra product or service that the customer might not have requested.\nThis promotes new product adoption while the regular subscription rates remain in place.\nBusinesses can also surprise loyal customers by providing a premium or special offer that isn’t publicized.\nThis obviously won’t be an effective marketing technique at the beginning, but it will have the strong advantage of making a customer feel special.\n\nDemographic segmentation is also useful, allowing special benefits to be offered to specific groups: new customers, infrequent site visitors, and other segments.\nA tiered incentive program maintains interest across all market sectors, making new customers feel welcome.\nRebilly can provide ample reports with which marketers can develop insights into these campaigns and customer behavior.\n\nDeveloping a successful loyalty program requires careful consideration, but a creative approach to rewards will make any type of business stand out in a crowded marketplace.\n\n**Speaking of strategies to build a successful subscription business, our Retry Strategy guide walks you through another one.**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download it today to get simple steps you can take to increase your LTV by 43% or more:</span>\n"},{"title":"Best Practices for Targeting Subscription Leads","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-01-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"As 2016 gets into gear, business owners should make sure to follow these best practices to target leads for subscription services.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/creative-workspace.jpg","id":42,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/best-practices-for-targeting-subscription-leads","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Best Practices for Targeting Subscription Leads\n\nSubscription services are a lucrative, stable source of income because people pay month after month for the same service.\nHowever, without finding people to subscribe to the service–including new subscribers to replace any that decide a service is not for them–service owners can’t make any money at all.\nAs 2016 gets into gear, business owners should make sure to follow these best practices to target leads for subscription services.\n\n## Use a Social Media Sales Funnel\n\nSocial media is a great source of leads, but it isn’t meant to be used to directly sell services.\nSome businesses make the mistake of trying to get social media users to purchase from their social media page, but this can be jarring to social users.\nInstead, social media services should be the opening to a sales funnel.\nThe business’ social media page should be used to get people to subscribe to a free service such as an email newsletter.\nFrom there, subscribers should be offered the opportunity to get a discounted or trial service so that they can consider subscribing.\n\nThis process works well to target leads because people who are interested in the business will follow the social media page, and a percentage of those users will sign up for the free newsletter.\nThese newsletter subscribers are an ideal audience that is eager to learn more about the service; thus it is appropriate to sell to them.\n\n## Prioritize Content Over Promotion\n\nWhen targeting leads, it’s important to not oversaturate them with promotions.\nA much better method of attracting the leads that may ultimately subscribe is to offer a lot of quality, relevant content.\n\nConsider the primary problems and issues facing the business’ target audience.\nBy writing content geared towards customers’ major needs, businesses can attract a larger audience; many of these readers may become subscribers.\nThis type of content can be repurposed to fit on blogs as well as on social media pages, thus giving additional exposure to the business and attracting additional leads.\nThe sales funnel can then be used to gradually convert some of these readers to paying subscribers.\n\n## Consider Offering Free Trials\n\nThe end goal of any subscription campaign is to convert leads into subscribers.\nOne way to do that is to offer a free trial.\nTwo to four weeks of service prior to the first payment often allows would-be subscribers who are on the fence to try out the service; these subscribers may choose to cancel, but many continue using the service after the free trial has ended.\nBusinesses should offer free trials to people who subscribe to their free newsletter in order to continue moving readers towards signing up for services.\n\nTargeting subscription leads is important to move them from onlookers to paid subscribers.\nFollowing these best practices can help facilitate that movement and help businesses gain new subscribers.\n\n**Speaking of strategies to build a successful subscription business, our Retry Strategy guide walks you through another one.**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download it today to get simple steps you can take to increase your LTV by 43% or more:</span>\n"},{"title":"Challenges for Cryptocurrency Subscription Billing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2016-01-20","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Cryptocurrencies, or digital currencies that operate independently of a central bank, have become a popular way for people to pay for items online. Subscription billers will have to overcome certain challenges if they plan to accept this form of payment.","categories":[{"id":"alternative-payments","label":"Alternative Payments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/wallet-1.jpg","id":41,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/challenges-for-cryptocurrency-subscription-billing","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Challenges for Cryptocurrency Subscription Billing\n\nBitcoin (and other cryptocurrency) has grown swiftly in popularity, and doesn’t seem to be backing down any time soon.\nBy December 2018, almost 32 million bitcoin wallets had been set up globally.\nIt’s growing especially fast in developing markets (which are often under-served by other [payment gateways](/blog/how-to-choose-payment-gateway.md) or financial services).\nWant to get in on persuading some of those millions of people to buy from your business?\nRead on to find out how…\n\n## What’s cryptocurrency, anyways?\n\nCryptocurrencies are digital currencies that operate independently of a central bank.\nUnlike [Paypal](/blog/suspended-by-paypal-what-to-do-next.md) or other third party payment services, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not required to be tied to a debit card, [credit card](/blog/how-to-reduce-customer-credit-card-decline-rates.md), or bank account.\n\nThat means that users can pay online without any risk of identity theft.\nAs you can imagine, this makes cryptocurrencies attractive for a lot of customers.\nIn turn, more and more businesses are offering crypto payments as a result.\nHowever, there are some challenges to overcome before taking that step:\n\n## New licensure requirements\n\nOne of the biggest disadvantages to accepting bitcoin payments is that a state license may be needed to accept bitcoin payments.\nFor example, New York is proposing legislation for such a license and [other states may follow suit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_currency_law_in_the_United_States).\nThis type of law is a reaction to shady businesses, like online drug dealers, using bitcoin to hide illegal activities.\n\nIf you’re in a state where a license is required to accept bitcoin payments, that’s an obvious barrier to entry.\nSubscription businesses in that position should carefully weigh potential subscriptions against the cost of setup and license.\nIn contrast, the fees for getting set up with Paypal or [other payment gateways](../../gateways/) are minimal. **This comes down to your industry and target market — as usual, the answer is to talk to customers often and see what payment methods they’re requesting.**\n\n## Two-step process\n\nBitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are designed for single use only.\nThis allows users full control over their funds, since bitcoins are only transferred to a merchant when a user initiates the transaction.\n\n**In other words, for a customer to use bitcoins for subscription payments (or [any other recurring payment](/product/renewals/)), they’ll need to use another service on top of it.**\n\nFor example, Coinbase is a virtual wallet service that allows users to initiate recurring payments.\nUsers who intend to use bitcoin for payments would need to use it or something similar.\nOn the one hand, this can make it more tedious to use cryptocurrencies for subscription payments.\nOn the other hand, that extra step is on the customer’s side, not the business’s side.\nIt’s also worth noting that billers who offer Coinbase or a similar service may be seen as more attractive to customers.\n\n## Must get permission for any change\n\nUnlike credit card payments, bitcoin payments are _always_ for a set amount.\nSome subscription services raise their prices every year.\nWith normal payment methods, existing customers are charged the new payment amount as soon as it goes into effect.\n\nFor bitcoin and other cryptocurrency users, it doesn’t work this way.\nSince all virtual payments must be authorized by the user, any change in payment requires the user to sign up again with their Coinbase or other virtual wallet account.\nBecause of this, raising subscription prices can be more difficult when dealing with customers who use cryptocurrencies.\n\n**It’s likely that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will only become more common in the future.** Accepting cryptocurrency payments can show that you’re on the cutting edge and sway customers your way, especially those concerned about identity theft or [other security risks](how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance.md).\nJust be aware that there are unique challenges with this currency, and adjust your billing methods accordingly.\n\nFinding a subscription billing tool that offers the features you want (including [accepting bitcoin or other payment types](../../gateways/)) can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. **Download our Six Must Haves guide to get a list of the must-haves (and why they matter), plus a bonus three-page feature checklist.** Get it for free below:\n"},{"title":"How to Handle Hard and Soft Billing Failures","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-12-16","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"With the increasing occurrence of reissued cards due to data stolen from big box stores (Target and Home Depot are two examples from last year), dunning can become a significant part of the subscription process.","categories":[{"id":"declines","label":"Declines"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/unsplash-kitsune-3.jpg","id":40,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/how-to-handle-hard-and-soft-billing-failures","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Handle Hard and Soft Billing Failures\n\nDunning doesn’t have to be a big a headache.\nThings happen.\nCards fail.\nWith the increasing occurrence of reissued cards due to data stolen from big box stores (Target and Home Depot are two examples from last year), dunning can become a significant part of the subscription process.\nThe most cost-effective responses are to arrange an automated system with simple schedules to retry cards after soft failures, or generate the appropriate emails to customers whenever there are hard failures.\n\n## Define soft failures\n\nA soft decline is anytime that a card doesn’t go through due to a problem with the account or system failures, such as:\n\n- Gateway error or unavailable\n- Exceeds daily limit (do not honor)\n- Insufficient funds\n- Processor declined (too much or unusual activity)\n- Temporary hold\n\nAll of these are reasons to retry the card after three days or so, up to four times.\nThese are all situations where the customer doesn’t want to be contacted because all the information on the card is correct, but something that is not their fault is holding up the process.\nOn average, around five percent of online charges go through on the second or third attempt, according to the Bayard Institute.\nAfter that, it is very unlikely the card will ever be processed.\n\n## Define hard failures\n\nUnless they are resolved, all soft failures eventually become hard failures, usually after four attempts.\nHard failures mean that the customer has to provide another form of payment.\nErrors that mean the card never has to be retried include:\n\n- Lost or stolen card\n- Invalid card\n- Expired card\n- Declined CVV\n- Not allowed (may have rules like business expense restrictions)\n\nAt this point it is necessary to contact the customer, but craft your email carefully.\nThere are many cases where hard failures are not the customer’s fault, such as when their bank renews the card automatically and the expiration date is wrong, but the customer is not aware of the change yet.\nRemember that this may be their only interaction with the company’s customer service, so it must be positive and professional.\nGet marketing involved in writing an email that says “Sorry, your credit card didn’t go through,” in a way that supports your brand image.\nIf your business is fun, it’s OK to treat the subject lightly, but be professional.\n\n## What Could Go Wrong?\n\nThe fact is that the longer the period between customer bills, the greater the chance that the card has expired or changed.\nOn the other hand, more frequent billing means more chances for things to go wrong.\nIt is important to think through everything that could go wrong, and have an easy process for suspending, restarting and reviewing customer accounts. n nIf managing all the billing issues is taking away from the company’s core business, subscription billing software like Rebilly can help automate these processes.\nContact us for personalized assistance with proper handling of dunning procedures.\n\n**Want a step-by-step strategy to decrease involuntary churn?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes to reduce churn and increase your CLV:</span>\n"},{"title":"3 Ways Online Businesses Can Simplify Transactions","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-12-09","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Online businesses depend on customers being able to quickly and easily pay for purchases over the Internet. Here are three ways businesses can simplify transactions so that customers will be eager to do business with them.","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/blog-photo.jpg","id":39,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/3-ways-online-businesses-can-simplify-transactions","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# 3 Ways Online Businesses Can Simplify Transactions\n\nOnline businesses depend on customers being able to quickly and easily pay for purchases over the Internet.\nIf the payment process is too complex or confusing, it can be the kiss of death for an Internet-only business.\nHere are three ways businesses can simplify transactions so that customers will be eager to do business with them.\n\n## Allow Direct Debit From Bank Accounts\n\nThird-party payment services sometimes allow users to pay directly from their bank accounts.\nIt’s a good idea to sign up with this type of service because not every consumer has a credit card or is willing to put credit card numbers into an online form.\nIf businesses allow customers to use a third-party service to safely and securely transfer money directly from their bank account or debit card, these customers will be more likely to make a purchase.\nAs an added bonus, most third-party services make it easy and more convenient to pay — customers just have to press a button and sign into their accounts.\nAs another added bonus, this can cut down on [involuntary churn](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/) quite a lot, as credit card expiration dates are no longer an issue.\n\n## Set Up Automatic Payments\n\nIf a business offers monthly subscription services, setting up automatic payments makes it much easier for customers to keep using the service.\nInstead of having to sign into their accounts and make a payment each month, users can sign up for auto pay and forget about it; all they have to do is make sure the money is in their account prior to the payment date.\nConsumers are much more likely to make on-time payments using this type of system because it makes it so simple for them to pay.\n\n### Use Instant Transfer Methods\n\nIf a business uses a third-party provider, it still has to depend on its bank and the customer’s bank for payment, and this transfer can take 24 hours or more to clear.\nIn order to simplify the payment process, consider using an instant transfer method such as wire transfers or bitcoin.\nInstant transfers are superior to other payment methods because the consumer’s account is debited and the business’ credited as soon as the payment is made.\n\nThe easier online payment is, the more likely customers are to do business over the Internet.\nThere are many ways to simplify the payment process; the important thing is to offer flexibility and automation whenever possible so that consumers can pay in the way that’s easiest for them.\n\n## Want more tips on optimizing your pricing?\n\nDownload our free guide:\n"},{"title":"Fresh Content: The Key Performance Indicator","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-12-02","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Fresh, relevant content that draws readers' attention and keeps them coming back for more is the goal that all periodical subscription websites aspire to.","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/typewriter.jpg","id":38,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/fresh-content-the-key-performance-indicator","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Fresh Content: The Key Performance Indicator\n\nIn the subscription billing universe, stale content is the enemy.\nIf left unattended, this enemy leads to canceled subscriptions and a dwindling subscriber base.\nOn the flip side, fresh, relevant content that draws readers’ attention and keeps them coming back for more is the goal that all periodical subscription websites aspire to.\n\n## Avoid the ‘Analysis Paralysis’ Trap\n\nAny online business that’s not consistently applying a significant portion of its resources towards generating and managing fresh content is missing the boat.\nToo often, small businesses get caught in the analysis paralysis trap, meaning too much time is spent analyzing metrics from content that was created weeks ago.\nThis is content that readers have long since left behind in their rear-view mirror.\n\n## How to Drive Content with Limited Resources\n\nGranted, most small businesses have limited resources to generate fresh content.\nIt is easy for any business to fall into the trap of relying completely on its own staff to continuously create this content.\nThis is akin to sending a one-armed man into a fight.\nWhy do it all when there is army of readers who can help?\nTap into the insight, emotion and intellect of a subscriber base that’s ready, willing and able to contribute.\n\n## Have an Engaging Home Page\n\nMost successful paid subscription sites feature a free section that is incorporated into the home page.\nAlso typically featured is an interactive blog where readers can respond to articles and contribute ideas and exchanges — all of which continuously drives traffic!\nThe home page should also include links to premium content that only subscribers can access.\n\n## Subscription Sites May Rule\n\nFor example, many newspaper sites highlight news and information about various current events.\nA number of articles are free, while others tease readers with only the first paragraph visible.\nWant to finish the story?\nPress the subscription link, sign up and unlock the rest of the article.\nThe KPI (or Key Performance Indicator) of these sites is how often content gets updated, which is directly proportional to subscriber retention rates.\n\nAs for exactly how often content needs to be updated, this will vary and depends quite a bit on how specialized the subject matter is.\nFor a broad-based example that truly sets the bar, look no further than the Wall Street Journal’s online offering, WSJ.com.\nContent is updated every half-hour at minimum.\nHome pages are constantly refreshed with current picture offerings.\nTop stories are free, but the majority of articles require subscriptions.\n\nWhen done right, the ongoing generation of fresh content is the key to a longstanding and successful relationship between a successful online business and its subscribers.\n\n**Speaking of strategies to build a successful subscription business, our Retry Strategy guide walks you through another one.**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download it today to get simple steps you can take to increase your LTV by 43% or more:</span>\n"},{"title":"Are You Planning for Scalability?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-11-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"It can be a wonderful problem to have: how to scale up to handle incoming business. However, this can also be a dangerous issue.","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/path.jpg","id":37,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/are-you-planning-for-scalability","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Are You Planning for Scalability?\n\nIt can be a wonderful problem to have: how to scale up to handle incoming business.\nHowever, this can also be a dangerous issue.\nThe New York Times listed [out-of-control growth](http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/top-10-reasons-small-businesses-fail/?_r=0) as the third-largest reason why small businesses fail, just after the related problems of bad math and owners who can’t stop making the same mistakes.\nGrowing faster than the customer base puts too great a strain on cash flows as expenses spike on the promise of unpredictable revenue streams.\nOn the other hand, growing too slowly damages customer service levels and brand reputation, which mean everything to a service-based business.\n\nBeyond getting the timing right, businesses stumble during scaling operations because they often don’t count on the fact that some problems become impossibly complex above a certain threshold.\nFor example, 100 customers on a monthly subscription billing model could generate roughly 1,200 invoices.\nIn addition, there are upgrades, service additions, downgrades, cancellations, slow payments, payment failures, and technological glitches.\nDoubling the customer base can multiply those challenges beyond the business’ capability to address new problems, such as server performance, alternative payment types, churn, promotional packages, international currency and taxation issues, and additional customer support. n nHere are three suggestions to help prepare for the inevitable challenges of scalability:\n\n## Standardize\n\nWhen businesses are just getting started, everyone tends to do every job out of necessity.\nIn order for the business to scale effectively, ad hoc management processes have to end.\n\n## Outsource\n\nClients want to feel like they receive individual attention for their invoicing needs.\nIn reality, though, the company will quickly run up against a hard limit of how many hours there are in a day.\nDelegate a service company to handle details like billing and invoicing.\nFocus on improving core value operations.\n\n## Stop Troubleshooting\n\nThe front line has to be trained to handle the day-to-day fires.\nLeadership has to let that go and do the long-range planning for scalability.\nThe critical lesson from Ernst &amp; Young’s [Strategic Growth Forum](http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/11/20/5-steps-to-scale-your-business-you-wont-make-it-otherwise/) last year was this: entrepreneurs fail when they forget to grow the business.\nWork on your business, not in it.\nIn the rapidly evolving global market, stagnation is starvation.\nScale up, but do it intelligently by putting all the right resources in place before the complexity hits.\n\n**Speaking of strategies to build and scale a successful subscription business, our Retry Strategy guide walks you through another one.**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download it today to get simple steps you can take to increase your LTV by 43% or more:</span>\n"},{"title":"Overcome transaction challenges for subscription billing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-11-18","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Subscription billing may be difficult if business owners don't take the time to figure out the steps involved in tracking revenue, performing collections and generating reports.","categories":[{"id":"declines","label":"Declines"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/overcoming-transaction-challenges.jpg","id":36,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/overcoming-transaction-challenges-for-subscription-billing","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Overcome transaction challenges for subscription billing\n\nThe purpose of subscription billing is to allow business owners to streamline their accounts receivable process through a digital platform; however, subscription billing may be difficult if business owners don’t take the time to figure out the steps involved in tracking revenue, performing collections and generating reports.\nThe information below provides details on how to overcome challenges businesses may encounter using subscription billing systems.\n\n## Failed Transactions\n\nPayment reminder notices should be sent out to customers to alert them when their account will be deducted.\nConsider sending out the notices at least five to 10 days in advance so that the customers can ensure the money is available on the due date.\nThe notification sent should contain information on the total amount due, as well as any other fees that were added during the month.\nIf the transaction is in excess of the authorized amount, the notification will also serve as a reminder to the customer that there are also additional fees due.\n\n## Cash Flow\n\nSetup account email reminders so that customer payments are received on time through the recurring billing option.\nThe account reminders will alleviate the challenges faced by business owners as a result of customers being charged without their knowledge.\nThe immediate availability of cash is a hassle-free way for businesses to manage their accounts receivables.\nSubscription billing will provide business owners with a steady stream of readily available cash.\nThe immediate access to cash flow also enables business owners to reinvest in their companies and better control their accounts payable.\n\n## Flexible Billing and Payments\n\nCustomers prefer flexible payments for their subscription billing accounts.\nThe convenience of scheduling payments on an annual, monthly or weekly basis gives customers more control of when to make their payments.\nThe flexible billing service option may increase efficiency for business owners since invoicing and sending out paper bills in not necessary.\nThe flexibility of accepting payments can streamline the accounts receivable process for business owners.\nCustomers have a variety of options available for subscription billing services, such as eCheck payments, credit card payments and debit card payments.\n\n## Paperless Process\n\nSubscription billing decreases overhead costs due to the nearly paperless process.\nOffering paperless billing options can save a business both time and money; however, it is essential that business owners have their customers opt-in for the paperless billing option.\nProviding customers with the option to select paperless billing lets them know up-front whether the bill will come through the postal service or to their email account.\nCustomers will also have the option to access their accounts online to view bills when necessary, alleviating the unnecessary worry caused by losing or misplacing a paper bill.\n\n## Want to learn more about making the most from subscription billing?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"How to Overcome Subscription Billing Challenges: Payment Processing Edition","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-11-11","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Subscription billing helps a company better extend the monetization of each customer. Successful billing depends on secure, trusted processing and an ability to handle special circumstances with a particular customer account.","categories":[{"id":"security","label":"Security"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/challenge.jpg","id":35,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/subscription-billing-challenges-payment-processing","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Overcome Subscription Billing Challenges: Payment Processing Edition\n\nThere are a lot of moving parts in a subscription business, and one of them is billing and payment processing.\nTo do this successfully, you need both secure payment processing and the ability to handle the nuances that come with subscription billing.\nRead on to find out how:\n\n## Tip #1: Go beyond PCI compliance\n\nCompliance with the “Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard,” or “PCI compliance” for short, is a must-have for online businesses.\nThese are cardholder data protocols required by the major card issuers: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.\n\n**If a business wants to accept payment using any of these cards, PCI compliance standards must be met.** PCI compliance requirements are periodically updated, but always have key concepts at the core of the standards.\nThese include:\n\n- Establishing and maintaining a secure network\n- Regular system monitoring and testing\n- Protocols for protecting cardholder data\n\n**Adhering to PCI compliance is necessary, but compliance is the bare minimum of security.** Home Depot and Target were both PCI compliant when hackers targeted their POS systems with malware.\nThe criminals successfully stole customer data, which left many customers wary of using a card at either store.\n\nSecurity incidents like that are a logistical and PR nightmare.\nOnce you’re PCI compliant, you can increase security by making sure your payment process avoids storing cardholder data at any point.\n\nHaving security safeguards in place is vital to creating a good relationship with your customers.\nHowever, implementing all of these measures can be difficult – especially for startups. **This is where a third party subscription management tool can come in.** Tools like this handle all of the work of staying up to date for you, so you get the benefits of additional security, without the extra work.\n\nFor example, Rebilly can accept the cardholder data sent through the shopper’s browser and create a unique token to send to the selling company.\nUsing a unique token allows the company to keep basic customer data on file, without having credit card numbers accessible for hackers to steal.\n([You can read more about our payment features here](/solutions/payments/).)\n\n## Tip #2: Create a seamless subscription process\n\nSecurity protocols are important, and customers have become more and more aware of security risks over time.\nHowever, shoppers don’t usually think about security until something goes wrong or seems off while making a purchase.\nWhat’s more annoying is when a business can’t handle changes to subscription plans.\nThis can include free trial periods, coupons, refunds or offering new, limited-time products.\n\n**You have a similar choice here as you do with the security, with three options:**\n\n1. Tackle building something yourself, which can be costly and difficult to manage 2.\n   Use a tool meant for one-time purchases and modify it, which can require a lot of workarounds and sub-optimal customer experience 3.\n   Use a subscription billing management tool to maintain, manage, and instantly update your customer accounts\n\n**Obviously, we’re going to recommend the third option.** It might be tempting to use a general ecommerce tool and create workarounds to bill for subscriptions.\nBut if you’re using a true subscription management tool, you can do things like:\n\n- Process a refund without going through accounting first\n- Give loyal customers a free month of the product or service with the press of a button\n- Offer subscribed customers early bird access to a forthcoming product or subscription\n\nSophisticated software can also let you automatically do [smart retries of payments](/product/renewals/) and estimate card expiration dates, which helps you retain as many customers as possible.\nBy contrast, many tools set up for one-time purchases (or with an additional subscription option that isn’t the forefront of their product) will retry payments just once on a predefined schedule, and then the customer is lost.\n\nBeing able to do all of this helps you [reduce churn](/blog/how-to-fix-involuntary-churn/) and [increase your customer LTV](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/), because your customers will be more engaged and satisfied.\n\nAnd on your end, the ability to [manage all of these changes through one dashboard](/product/reporting-automation/) keeps changes from becoming lost in the shuffle between departments.\n\n### Want to learn more about what to look for in a subscription billing tool?\n\nOur free guide walks you through everything you need to know, with a bonus feature checklist to boot:\n"},{"title":"Pitch value for subscriber acquisition","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-11-04","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Pitching value for subscriber acquisition is a more involved process than simply offering attractive price points. When a business needs to emphasize the added value of its subscription offerings, it should keep the following information in mind to craft its marketing and acquisition strategies.","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/DeathtoStock_CreativeSpace4-11.45.06-AM.jpg","id":34,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/using-added-value-to-sell-subscriptions","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Pitch value for subscriber acquisition\n\nPitching value for subscriber acquisition is a more involved process than simply offering attractive price points.\nWhen a business needs to emphasize the added value of its subscription offerings, it should keep the following information in mind to craft its marketing and acquisition strategies.\n\n## Give Customers Ownership\n\nMaking customers feel that they’re directly involved in the growth and improvement of a product can trigger a sense of loyalty due to perceived ownership.\nAccomplishing this can be as simple as regular (but brief) customer surveys, but companies should be willing to adopt radical measures if necessary.\n\nThe independent gaming industry provides an ideal example of this in its growing phenomenon of “early access” sales, in which customers pay full price to receive access to a pre-release game in alpha or beta testing.\nThis is a win-win from the company’s perspective, as it literally convinces customers to pay for the right to serve as product testers.\nThis guarantees revenue, and most importantly, ensures that the software is tailored to user needs at every step of development, vastly improving the quality and value of the final product.\n\n## Highlight Iterations\n\nEvery company wants to pitch its current products as “the best” available, but this can actually become a liability in a subscription billing model, as it fails to emphasize the benefits of a recurring relationship with a company.\n\nProducts can still be sold as “the best,” but this should be done within a framework that emphasizes iterations, and paints a clear picture of a company’s history of product improvements from one generation to the next.\nIf a potential acquisition is already interested in a current product, a meta-message that says they can count on even better versions of it in the future is an effective way to convince them that they need to purchase recurring access to that product line in the present.\n\n## Emphasize Service\n\nProperly implementing the prior two concepts requires establishing productive relationships with clients, and a customer service ethos that emphasizes frequent business-to-customer interactions ensures that the groundwork is laid.\nTaking a passive approach to customer service can be a fatal mistake in a recurring billing model, as it requires customers to already be dissatisfied in some way before they have a chance to interact with the company.\n\nRegular surveys, product tutorials, and invitations to special events allows a business to begin building a loyalty-based attachment with its customers, and each point of contact presents an opportunity to initiate any number of added-value tactics.\n\n## Want to learn more about making the most of customer data?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Troubleshooting Excessive Satisfaction-Based Chargebacks","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-10-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"From a retention stand-point, the most important type of chargeback for a business to target is one based on customer dissatisfaction, as it indicates an opportunity to pitch a persuasive re-evaluation of the product's value.","categories":[{"id":"chargebacks","label":"Chargebacks"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/troubleshooting.png","id":33,"leadCaptureCampaign":"reducing-chargebacks","slug":"/blog/troubleshooting-excessive-satisfaction-based-chargebacks","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Troubleshooting Excessive Satisfaction-Based Chargebacks\n\nMost subscription chargebacks are based on customer claims of fraud or clerical errors, and while businesses can and should take aggressive steps to work with credit card companies and banks to dispute those chargebacks, doing so is mostly a matter of retaining that one-time revenue.\nAfter all, it’s very unlikely that a customer who has used a fraud claim to initiate a chargeback is going to be a promising target for retention.\n\nFrom a retention stand-point, the most important type of chargeback for a business to target is one based on customer dissatisfaction, as it indicates an opportunity to pitch a persuasive re-evaluation of the product’s value.\nTo do so, companies should keep the following information in mind.\n\n## Micro-Target the Market\n\nThe most effective retention efforts leverage different trigger points for different types of customers.\nRobust customer information gathering is a necessity in this pursuit and should allow a company to classify promising retention leads in one of the four following categories:\n\n### Wanderers\n\nThese customers are difficult to retain, as they have explicitly not even decided to make an actual purchase yet.\nThey’re most often encountered in a chargeback scenario during a conversion from a free trial period to the actual paid subscription.\nThey’re characterized by a “fact-finding” set of behaviors, and should be pitched compelling information about the utility and strengths of a product, especially versus its competitors.\n\n### Impulsives\n\nImpulsive customers are also frequent sources of chargebacks during a free-to-paid conversion, and since their defining characteristic means they may have signed up for the trial on a lark, there’s a good chance they haven’t given the product a real try to begin with.\nThey make good targets for aggressive individual outreach that highlights what a product can do for them, along with pro-active invitations to resource tutorials and walk-throughs.\n\n### Discounters\n\nThese customers are mostly motivated by simple price points, and especially frugality.\nA chargeback from them doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t appreciate the product, it simply says they’ve re-considered spending money on it.\nThey are ideal targets for extensions of free trials, or aggressive introductory price cuts.\n\n### Functionals\n\nA functional or need-based customers is primarily interested in what a product can do for them.\nPrice concerns and service are often secondary to a clear explanation of the exact utility that a product offers.\n\nBy effectively targeting a customer for an appropriate retention strategy, satisfaction-based chargebacks can be reversed, and in the best case, convert a dissatisfied customer into a loyal subscriber.\n\n**Want more tips on how to reduce chargebacks?** Download our Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud guide, where we reveal the full cost of chargebacks and our top actionable tips to minimize your losses:\n"},{"title":"Address a subscription retention crisis through pricing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-10-21","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"redirects":{"/addressing-a-subscription-retention-crisis-through-pricing/":{}},"excerpt":"A churn rate that spikes during subscription renewal periods is often a sign that something has gone awry in the pricing scheme. In such a case, it's a good idea to review pricing practices to make sure they incorporate these three principles:","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"},{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/learn.png","id":32,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/addressing-a-subscription-retention-crisis-through-pricing","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Address a subscription retention crisis through pricing\n\nIf your business is suffering from unsustainable levels of [customer churn](/blog/reduce-churn-with-content.md) (and it doesn’t seem to be tied to problems with your business model or product), you need to go back to the basics.\n\nA churn rate that spikes during subscription renewal periods often means one of two things:\n\n1. [It’s time to lower involuntary churn](/blog/tracking-reducing-involuntary-churn.md).\n2. A problem in rates or [pricing formulas](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas.md).\n\nThis is the ideal time to review your pricing practices and make sure they include the following principles:\n\n## Price variation\n\nIf a subscriber lands on a renewal page that lists several available products/services, especially around the same price point, they’ll likely be overwhelmed with the possible options and leave the page rather than buy again.\n\n**You can fix this by:**\n\n- Explaining your pricing structure in clear, easy-to-understand terms, with visual aids (for more on how to display prices, [head here](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/))\n- Highlighting the differences between tiers\n- Making sure that the copy is framed in terms of who the right customer is for each product, and what the biggest benefits of that product are\n\n## Weber’s Law\n\n[This psychological principle](https://www.britannica.com/science/Webers-law) explains the way consumers tend to view pricing changes in proportional terms, rather than as fixed values.\nIn other words, when a customer sees a price go from $10 to $15, they’re more likely to view it as a 50% increase, instead of a $5 bump.\n\nWeber’s Law [starts to kick in at around the 10% mark](https://tactics.convertize.com/definitions/webers-law) – meaning that price increases over 10% are more likely to irritate customers.\nOn the flip side, renewal discounts or special deals are less likely to have a positive impact, if the customer won’t be saving more than 10%.\n\n**Incorporate this by:**\n\n- Offering customers discounts of at least 10% (especially in cases of solving a customer service dispute or attempting to retain a customer before they churn)\n- When raising rates, try to raise them gradually and at smaller markups, instead of increasing prices more than 10%\n\n_(Need a subscription billing management tool that makes it easy to offer customer discounts?\n[Head here to learn more](/product/orders/).)_\n\n## Price anchoring\n\nPeople view the world in relative terms – already shown to us by Weber’s Law.\nWhen it comes to pricing, that means that both prices and products don’t exist in a vacuum.\nPrice anchoring takes advantage of this phenomena by putting a more expensive price first.\nThat makes the less expensive price feel like the reasonable choice in comparison…even if it’s more than the customer was going to spend originally.\n\nAs the old sales saying goes, “How do you sell a $2,000 watch?\nPut it next to a $10,000 watch.”\n\n**Even if a more expensive product isn’t relevant, listing it alongside their realistic renewal choices encourages them to perceive the less expensive choices as a better deal.**\n\nTake advantage of price anchoring by showing higher priced offerings on renewal and product pages.\nIf you don’t have a higher priced offering, create one, even if you don’t intend to seriously market it.\nYou never know – someone may go for the more expensive product, and you get money you would have left out on otherwise.\n(Of course, it goes without saying that you should only offer products you can realistically follow-through on.)\n\n**Looking for more ways to optimize your prices?** Check out our Price Optimization Guide for experiments you can do right now, categorized by funnel stage and difficulty.\nDownload it and get started today:\n"},{"title":"Is Couponing Worth Your Time?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-10-15","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"redirects":{"/is-couponing-worth-your-time/":{}},"excerpt":"It's a great debate in the marketing world right now: Will coupons help you grow traffic or just cannibalize sales?","categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/time.jpg","id":31,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/is-couponing-worth-your-time","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Is Couponing Worth Your Time?\n\nIt’s a great debate in the marketing world right now: Will coupons help you grow traffic or just cannibalize sales?\nOnline and mobile have changed the nature of couponing: Coupons can be printed out, called up on a mobile device or represented by a short code.\n\nCouponing remains very popular with start-ups, particularly those using a subscription billing model.\nCoupons attract new customers.\n\nDon’t underestimate coupons.\nRon Johnson lost their job as CEO of JCPenney partly because they didn’t understand the power [coupons still hold](http://business.time.com/2013/04/09/the-5-big-mistakes-that-led-to-ron-johnsons-ouster-at-jc-penney/) on the public imagination.\nThey said, “I thought people were just tired of coupons and all this stuff.\nThe reality is all of the couponing we did, there were a certain part of the customers that loved that.\nThey gravitated to stores that competed that way.\nSo our core customer, I think, was much more dependent and enjoyed coupons more than I understood.”\n\nOf course, retail is very different sales environment from online subscription services, but there is ample [evidence](http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/digital-coupons-loyalty-w-o-m-44802/) that new customer acquisition is still motivated by coupons.\n\n## Pros and Cons of Coupons\n\nHere are some important things that coupons do for your brand image, along with recommendations on the type of subscription service that can benefit from coupons.\n\n### Pros\n\n- The best part about coupons is that they make marketing efforts trackable.\n  You know who saw what and how much revenue it generated.\n- Coupons attract new customers, which is hugely important for subscription businesses.\n  The hope is that those customers will stay with their subscription.\n- Having solid numbers is crucial before an important round of funding.\n\n### Cons\n\n- Would those new customers have paid full price?\n  Will they jump ship as soon as someone else offers a coupon?\n- Constant coupon offers condition customers to wait for new offers.\n- If average order size is one of your critical metrics, coupons can hurt by reducing orders to only what is covered in the discount.\n\n## Who should be using coupons?\n\nCoupons work for businesses that position themselves as cost-reducing or time-saving alternatives.\nIf you are confident that customers will see your value once they give you a try, couponing is one of the fastest ways to grab attention and referrals.\nUnfortunately, this is only a short-term strategy if you are working on thin margins.\nAlso, if your strategy is to move up quickly into the higher end of the market where service matters more and customers are not so price sensitive, coupons work against the impression of exclusivity.\n\n## Want to learn more tips to make the most from each sale?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Retain subscribers who want to cancel","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-10-07","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"The huge cost disparity between retention and acquisition makes it important for a business with a recurring model to craft a cost-effective strategy that's ready to go when a customer wants to cancel immediately.","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/net.jpg","id":30,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/retaining-subscribers-who-want-to-cancel","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# Retain subscribers who want to cancel\n\nNo matter how integral customer retention efforts are to your company’s policy, even the most successful companies will still experience churn rates of 20 percent or more.\nWhile it’s not possible to change every customer’s mind, the huge cost disparity between retention and acquisition makes it important for a business with a recurring model to craft a cost-effective strategy that’s ready to go when a customer wants to cancel immediately.\n\n## Adjust the Sales Philosophy\n\nWhen it comes to a customer who is so dissatisfied that they are calling or writing to cancel immediately, the worst thing a business can do is re-pitch its “new customer” sales routine.\nAfter all, the promises and promotions made there are already known to the customer, and they’ve clearly found them lacking.\nWhen a dissatisfied customer feels that they’re being treated like somebody who hasn’t even subscribed yet, they’re likely to feel personally insulted and will only double down on their desire to cancel.\n\nInstead, it’s time to pivot the sales philosophy into one that accurately targets the customer’s profile, provides guarantees for future service, and leaves the door open for full retention even if they remain uncertain.\n\n## Make it Personal\n\nIn order to sell the customer on retaining their subscription, a company needs to be able to accurately identify the trigger points that will persuade them to stay.\nTo this end, a business should already have data available that allows them to place a customer into one of several broad categories, with associated language and strategies pre-planned for customer reps and customer communications.\n\nFor example, conservative, cost-conscious customers are more likely to respond to words like, “discount,” “small fee,” and “free.” Service-oriented customers, on the other hand, want to hear words like “personal,” “guaranteed,” and “customized.”\n\n## Provide Guarantees\n\nOnce a customer has been personally categorized, a business needs to provide guarantees that it will do better at meeting those personalized needs.\nThe goal here should be to make each customer feel that they’ve been lifted out of the general pool of consumers and are now receiving individualized service.\nThe most effective way to do so is to assign a single customer representative to work with the subscriber, as they’ll then become the personal face of the company.\nThis allows them to build a real company-to-client relationship that’s harder for the customer to ascribe negative feelings to.\n\n## Keep the Door Open\n\nIn many cases, a subscriber will remain determined to cancel even after steps are taken, and in that case a company should never hesitate to take action that leaves the door open for retention in the future.\nThis will likely require offering a deeply discounted product, and may even require a period of free service.\nSince the costs of acquiring a new customer are so much higher than retaining current subscribers, even that free offering remains the best choice for the bottom line.\n\nOnce the subscriber agrees to delay their cancellation, the business should then use that open door to reinforce its personalized commitments and rebuild the relationship to complete the retention process.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"How Subscription Billing Can Increase Artisan Revenue","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-09-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Artisan businesses' focus on frequently changing, small-batch product lines marks a perfect opportunity for capitalizing on a recurring customer relationship to increase revenue.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/artisan-revenue.png","id":29,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/how-subscription-billing-can-increase-artisan-revenue","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How Subscription Billing Can Increase Artisan Revenue\n\nIn many ways, artisan businesses like micro-breweries and other boutique manufacturers are prime examples of synergy waiting to happen when it comes to subscription billing models.\nTheir focus on frequently changing, small-batch product lines marks a perfect opportunity for capitalizing on a recurring customer relationship to increase revenue and strengthen the company.\n\n## Put consumer inertia to work\n\nConsumer inertia remains the bane of marketers and advertising campaigns and refers to the simple fact that most consumers resist changing products to a stubborn degree, especially if it’s a product they use frequently.\nA customer may love the artisan micro-brew they impulsively picked up one time at the store, but the next time they’re in that aisle they’ll almost certainly gravitate towards their tried and true big brand, even if they don’t enjoy it as much.\n\nA subscription model can break this trend and redirect it in the artisan’s favor by making those micro-brews a regular feature in the consumer’s consumption patterns.\nWhen a consumer knows they have a ready supply of delicious artisan beer already at home or a shipment on the way, they probably won’t even stop by the beer aisle.\nBefore long, the micro-brews are the product with inertia, and the competitive dynamic has been successfully reversed.\n\n## A Built-in Testing Pool\n\nAlthough artisan businesses often focus on experimentation and constant re-invention, reliable revenue is still going to depend on at least a few recurring product lines.\nKnowing when to promote a one-off product to a full-time offering can involve a lot of guessing, especially when a business has little direct contact with its customer base.\n\nProduct subscriptions can provide a source of consumer testing by including samples of new products and prospective roll-outs along with a customer’s regular delivery.\nBusinesses can include survey information to solicit customer feedback about the new product and use that to help calibrate their plans for the future.\nTo get the best response rates, surveys should be extremely brief and easy to complete.\nMany people are conditioned to avoid online surveys, so a simple pre-paid postcard with five or fewer quick questions about the product is likely to get the best response.\n\n## A Channel to Upselling\n\nOnce a consumer has been trained to switch their inertia to the artisan product, their new loyalty to the brand makes them promising targets for upsells.\nWhether it’s upgrading to a larger subscription package or simply taking advantage of one-off promotional offers on related products, that brand loyalty will boost the effectiveness of product advertisements included with their regular subscription deliveries.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"New Metrics for Subscription Business Valuations","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-09-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"We list out why SaaS startups trading at five times their revenue, and twice the valuation of ordinary software companies.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/New-Metrics-for-Subscription-Business-Valuations.jpg","id":28,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/new-metrics-for-subscription-business-valuations","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# New Metrics for Subscription Business Valuations\n\nWhy are SaaS startups trading at five times their revenue, twice the valuation of ordinary software companies?\nA report from Bessemer Venture Partners concluded that the subscription service pricing model featured by SaaS companies offers a more predictable picture of company’s market value than traditional software companies can for a number of reasons:\n\nSubscriptions make future earnings streams much more predictable for at least the next quarter, and often the one after that as well (based on the length of their contracts).\nChurn is the biggest enemy of this.\n\nDepending on growth can be risky for traditional sales models, but with a subscription service, businesses can simply continue to expand the reach of their services as their customers grow.\n\nThey interact with their customers regularly, usually monthly, for billing but also by email for updates as well.\nThis makes it easy to present new services and other offerings to a captive audience.\nThese companies can pursue growth by purchasing other service startups and upselling their current customers.\n\n## Traditional Valuation Methods\n\nConventional valuation methods estimate that a business should be valued at the net present value of the total future earnings that it can expect.\nOften referred to as “the market approach,” this method is favored by investors who value a business based on a multiple of past earnings.\nThis can be problematic for growth companies that make market share a higher priority than net income or profits, which is a model most identified with Amazon.\n\nAnother common investment practice is “the income method,” which projects a valuation based on the present value of expected cash flows.\nConservative investors tend to look on these expectations skeptically, though.\nThere is a great deal that can go wrong and no business plans on failing.\nThe other problem is that this also puts an emphasis on bookings, which makes sense for product companies, not recurring service-based companies.\nBecause subscriptions are open ended, it’s impossible to tell at customer acquisition what their life-time value (LTV) will be.\nBookings don’t tell you anything about upsells and service expansion.\n\n## A Better Metric\n\nA different metric already exists that is better able to capture the actual financial state of the business: monthly recurring revenue ([MRR](/blog/drilling-down-into-mrr)).\nThis includes both new accounts, increased price levels, reduced churn numbers and upsells in a single snapshot of the company’s current earning potential.\nIt certainly takes more work, as MRR tends to vary significantly over the fiscal year.\nFor greater accuracy, rolling in MRR with new accounts purchase orders and estimated churn creates Committed MRR (CMRR), a more realistic basis for the valuation of a subscription based business.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"What is Functional Billing by Accounts?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-09-22","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Subscription billing for customers in other countries requires functional billing by accounts. This simplifies reporting by translating figures based on exchange rates into a preferred currency when the billing occurs.","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/functional_billing_by_accounts.jpg","id":27,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/what-is-functional-billing-by-accounts","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# What is Functional Billing by Accounts?\n\nIn the new global economy, companies regularly do business across international borders.\nSubscription billing for customers in other countries requires functional billing by accounts.\nThis simplifies reporting by translating figures based on exchange rates into a preferred currency when the billing occurs.\nHere’s a closer look at how functional billing works.\n\nThere are approximately 140 free-traded currencies in the world, but most businesses find that the [top 10 currencies](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-03/03/content_17316095.htm) cover the vast majority, if not all, of their clients around the world.\nRight now, the top 10 currencies in order of global market share are:\n\n- US dollar\n- European euro\n- UK pound sterling\n- Japanese yen\n- Canadian dollar\n- Australian dollar\n- Chinese yuan (or renminbi)\n- Swiss franc\n- Singapore dollar\n- Hong Kong dollar\n\nNotice that the bottom three currencies are traded by a tiny fraction of the world population, but they represent wealthy sectors.\nOn the other hand, although India is the second most-populous nation in the world, the Indian rupee does not make the list because such a small percentage of global trade goes through India.\nBritish economists expect [the rupee to become a major currency](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/articleshow/38328247.cms) over the next two decades.\n\n## The Value of Local Currencies\n\nThe International Accounting Standards define [functional currency](http://www.readyratios.com/reference/accounting/functional_and_presentation_currency.html) to be the “currency of the primary economic environment in which the entity operates.” This is the currency that determines pricing, is used to pay expenses and is the most heavily regulated.\nFor most US businesses, functional currency will also be the presentation currency, which is the “currency in which the financial statements are presented.”\n\nHSBC reported that [less than one-third of US businesses](https://globalconnections.hsbc.com/brazil/en/articles/path-profits-international-ecommerce-go-local-en) online say that they offer payments in local currencies.\nThey concluded:\n\n“This and other studies strongly indicate that to generate profits from overseas markets, doing business in local currencies is a big differentiator for eCommerce companies.”\n\n## A Big Advantage for Small Change\n\nBusinesses that can bill customers in whichever currency customers prefer gain an enormous competitive advantage.\nHowever, figuring out how to convert costs back and forth can be complex, unless the billing service provider handles it internally.\nRebilly software automatically translates the amounts billed to and received from customers according to the applicable foreign exchange rate at the time of each transaction.\nNo matter what else changes in global economics, people will always prefer using their own country’s currency.\nFunctional billing by accounts removes one of the key barriers to commerce anywhere and everywhere.\n\n**Whichever subscription billing management tool you wind up using, currency options shouldn’t be the only thing you look at.**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Make smart subscription billing decisions without the stress by downloading our free report that covers security must-haves and has a bonus three-page feature checklist.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Lower overhead: subscription products vs. subscription services","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-09-17","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"A subscription platform can be successful for a wide variety of businesses, but how to keep costs low will depend on the product or service offered. [Netflix](http://www.netflix.com) and a subscription snack food box need to utilize different tactics to lower overhead.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"id":26,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/lowering-overhead-subscription-products-vs-subscription-services","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Lower overhead: subscription products vs. subscription services\n\nA subscription platform can be successful for a wide variety of businesses, but how to keep costs low will depend on the product or service offered.\n[Netflix](http://www.netflix.com) and a subscription snack food box need to utilize different tactics to lower overhead.\nEstablishing a program plan before signing up the first subscription is vital to long-term success.\nLook to existing successful programs for tips on how to keep costs low and begin a successful subscription business.\n\n## Service Updates\n\nA company offering a recurring service has an easier job at creating subscription billing programs.\nContent updates are the key to attracting and retaining subscribers.\n\nNetflix is a prime example of this model.\nFor a monthly subscription, customers get access to either DVD rentals or instant streaming — or both.\nThe streaming service is more profitable for Netflix, due to the lack of physical product, and the company has promoted instant subscriptions by changing up the movies and shows offered.\nContent cycles on and off of Netflix, which means that customers need to watch a favorite program before it goes away.\nAnd the fresh content keeps customers coming back for more.\n\n## Tailored Products\n\nProduct-based companies have a tougher brainstorming period than services.\nThe presence of physical products requires careful planning to keep inventory down and subscription retention high.\n\n[NatureBox](https://naturebox.com/) is a subscription snack box.\nEach month, subscribers are sent a box of five or six full-sized snacks.\nChoosing food for others is dangerous due to a wide variety of preferences — and food allergies — so NatureBox allows customers to design the box ahead of shipment.\nThe company can still limit the number of products offered to keep down inventory but also deliver exactly what a customer wants.\nNatureBox can use Netflix’s model of cycling by doing away with unpopular products and promoting seasonal or limited-time snack options.\n\n## Combo Approach\n\nCompanies with both services and products can create a cross-promotion plan without alienating customers by seeming too pushy.\nOne aspect of the business will usually be in the forefront while the other is an optional or supplemental aspect.\nProWritingAid is an online grammar and spell checker.\nWhile the scan offered will help most writers edit a work, ProWritingAid offers another option for those who need more help.\nUsers can press a button and get a price quote on having a human proofreader work on the text.\nMany users won’t use that option, but by using freelance proofreaders rather than full-time employees, ProWritingAid could keep its overhead low while picking up the occasional service customer.\n\n## Set up subscriptions\n\nBilling provided by a software as a service, or SaaS, places the day-to-day payment maintenance in the hands of a capable third-party processor.\nThis leaves the subscription company more time to develop programs and cycle through new products or content.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"Boost nonprofit revenue with subscription billing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-09-15","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"A recurring billing model is the holy grail for many nonprofits, as it provides a regular and predictable source of revenue that can smooth the \"feast or famine\" cycles plaguing yearly business plans.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"id":25,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/boosting-nonprofit-revenue-with-subscription-billing","timeToRead":"2 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Boost nonprofit revenue with subscription billing\n\nA recurring billing model is the holy grail for many nonprofits, as it provides a regular and predictable source of revenue that can smooth the “feast or famine” cycles plaguing yearly business plans.\nHowever, a recurring subscription can be leveraged even further to increase revenue on an individual basis using these suggestions.\n\n## Reduce “sticker shock”\n\nA key advantage of recurring billing is “sticker shock,” a well-studied phenomenon describing a person’s tendency to view smaller, incremental payments as less expensive than a one-time charge.\nThis holds true even when the final amount is identical, so that a monthly payment of $10 will be viewed as a “better deal” than a one-time $120 charge.\nThis fact can be leveraged to boost conversion rates and revenue by providing a value proposition to the buyer, especially when phrases like “small monthly payment” are used in advertising copy to prime the customer to perceive savings.\n\n## Demonstrate accomplishments to increase donor engagement\n\nStudies have shown that donor revenue increases when marketing can successfully convey the value of the accomplishments that those donations are funding.\n[The Heritage Foundation](http://www.heritage.org/), a political organization in Washington, D.C., recently performed a series of tests across different donor landing pages.\nThese tests demonstrated the effectiveness of a page layout and copy that put an above the fold emphasis on the specific goals and accomplishments of the Foundation’s work, and how those goals were met with the help of donor funds.\n\nEven though this new landing page was much longer than the original, its performance metrics were decisive, with average donation amounts up by 189 percent and conversion rates up by 74 percent.\n\nA recurring relationship with donors or customers allows a nonprofit to present this type of in-depth value and accomplishment breakdown on a regular basis.\nIndeed, a subscription often gives a donor a feeling of “ownership” which makes them even more likely to read and appreciate marketing information about what they’re helping to fund.\nThis makes them promising targets for up-selling and otherwise increasing donation amounts in the future, and encourages them to renew their recurring agreement, creating a positive feedback loop for the organization.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the subscription metrics that matter?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Drill down into MRR","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-09-10","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"For subscription based companies, monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the best way to predict operational income over any given period. Essentially, MRR equals the amount of subscription revenue from customers over a given month.","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"id":24,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/drilling-down-into-mrr","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Drill down into MRR\n\nFor subscription based companies, monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the best way to predict operational income over any given period.\nEssentially, MRR equals the amount of subscription revenue from customers over a given month.\nSome companies also refer to this metric as average recurring revenue (ARR).\n\nFor making long term strategic plans, it can be the most important metric to watch.\nThe biggest benefit of MRR is its help in determining where to devote resources to cut down on churn.\nThe biggest drawback is that GAAP doesn’t recognize MRR as a reportable metric.\n\nMRR is a calculated, predictive measure, not recognized revenue.\nThat’s one of the reasons why there is so much variation for what MRR means for different companies.\nGAAP attempts to take conservative methods of computing actual recognized revenue every day between the start and end date of a subscription period.\nBecause it deals with real numbers, there is an extreme amount of variation.\nFor managers trying to see trends in the data, trying to use recognized revenue only tends to complicate matters.\n\n## Smooth uncertainty\n\nMRR evens out the uncertainty by establishing a constant revenue number to clarify where the company is heading.\nMRR can indicate what a company should be able to expect based on projected existing customers, sales, upgrades, and churn.\n\nConsider the following:\n\n- A customer upgrades in the middle of a month, which could vastly change revenue for that day but only moderately affect MRR.\n- Another customer drops two services but retains the base program, eliminating revenue streams and offsetting the above upgrade.\n- A third customer pays their bill two weeks late, resulting in lower than expected revenues one day and higher than expected revenues the next.\n\nThe preferred GAAP revenue reporting method number displays wild fluctuations when a single constant, modified monthly would give a more accurate picture of income.\nCompanies that operate on month-to-month billing have a great deal more uncertainty, but also a shorter sales cycle.\nMRR typically does not include variable fees, but for month-to-month subscription services, it often has to include estimates on these numbers.\nSaaS Optics offers some suggestions on calculating MRR for term subscriptions vs. month-to-month models.\n\n## Fix churn\n\nOne of the most valuable lessons to draw from MRR is in tracking down churn.\nCutting down on churn is essential to the growth that underpins the success of a subscription model.\nMRR churn can be calculated by plugging MRR in place of customers in the standard churn formula.\nIn other words, MRR churn equals the change in contracts over the MRR for any given month.\n\nHere’s a good example: Company X has 200 customers and $2 million in MRR at the beginning of the month.\nDuring the period, 10 customers cancel for a total loss of $200,000.\nMRR churn rate will be 10 percent but the customer rate is only 5 percent, indicating that larger customers are churning.\nFurther analysis can discover the percentage of upgrades or downgrades per month and suggest ways to address customer trends before they spiral out of control.\n\nThe point is that MRR cancels out the noise of minor variations to indicate the health of the company at a high level.\nIt is not a financial or accounting number, but one that should be used for correcting strategy and enhancing customer experience.\nTo reduce churn and maintain a steady growth rate, pay close attention to upgrades and downgrades, as well as the type of customer that is having the greatest effect on MRR.\n\n## Want to learn more about how to boost the metrics that matter?\n\nDownload our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:\n"},{"title":"How to Use Consumer Events to Increase Subscription Rates","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-08-12","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Recurring events like sports games, concerts and other community activities present a promising opportunity for businesses to promote subscription products and services, especially when that promotion is effectively tied into the event itself.","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"id":22,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/how-to-use-consumer-events-to-increase-subscription-rates","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# How to Use Consumer Events to Increase Subscription Rates\n\nRecurring events like sports games, concerts and other community activities present a promising opportunity for businesses to promote subscription products and services, especially when that promotion is effectively tied into the event itself.\nCompanies can use the following steps to target a consumer event and incorporate it into subscription sales efforts.\n\n## Identify Promising Events\n\nThere are two primary criteria that mark the most promising types of events for this effort:\n\n### Regular Scheduling\n\nIt can take time for a business to build enough marketing momentum to make targeting a recurring event revenue-positive, and this requires a predictable and regular schedule.\nA regular schedule also emphasizes the value and utility of a recurring subscription, whether it’s regular deliveries of pre-packaged snacks or a monthly subscription to a sports statistics service.\n\n### Community Oriented\n\nEvents which engender a genuine community will allow marketing efforts to hitch a ride on word of mouth and self-representation.\nThis is especially true if the event involves a degree of ritualization, like sporting leagues or even a summertime “movies in the park” program.\nIn both cases, attendees will be participating in similar behaviors leading up to the event, like packing picnic dinners to eat at the movie or bringing a collection of stadium seats and other spectator gear to football games.\nThis ensures that when a business is able to offer a compelling product to fit the event, others will see people using that product and will immediately find it applicable to their own routine.\n\n## Seek Marketing Avenues\n\nMarketing for targeted events can take a variety of forms depending on the business and the scope of its activities.\nOn the small scale, marketing can be as simple as setting up a table display at the entrance to the event or passing out flyers.\nLarger events are likely to be run by an organization engaged in its own extensive advertising efforts, and they will usually be actively seeking paid sponsorships to advertise a product or service.\n\nBecause event attendees are already primed to be enthusiastic about the activity, a relevant and quality product will sell itself to some degree.\nThis exposure can be the most important metric for a company to consider as it crafts a marketing strategy.\n\n## Solicit B2B Cooperation\n\nSeeking ways to cooperate with related but non-competing businesses is perhaps the most cost-effective means of boosting the impact of each marketing dollar.\nIt also encourages consumers to view the marketed products as integral to the event, as packaged products take on the air of an “event kit,” rather than a single (and more easily dismissed) purchase.\n\n**Looking for other ways to optimize your business and convert more customers?** Check out the Rebilly guide to optimizing your pricing:\n"},{"title":"What Consumers Expect from Subscription Customer Service","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-07-23","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"It's crucial for a business engaged in a recurring billing model to recognize that consumer expectations for customer service change when they've become subscribers, rather than one-time purchasers.","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"id":21,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/what-consumers-expect-from-subscription-customer-service","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# What Consumers Expect from Subscription Customer Service\n\nIt’s crucial for a business engaged in a recurring billing model to recognize that consumer expectations for customer service change when they’ve become subscribers, rather than one-time purchasers.\nWhether it’s a discrete product or an ongoing software subscription, a customer who’s agreed to an ongoing payment plan expects to be treated to a customer service experience that emphasizes the _service_ they’re paying for.\nThe most successful businesses incorporate the following criteria into their training, procedures, and best practices for subscription customer service.\n\n## Instant Service\n\nThe digital age has little patience for elevator-music phone waits or response times that will take “3-5 business days.” When a customer is dissatisfied, they expect service instantly, and companies need to put every effort towards making that a possibility.\n\nLive-chat access to customer reps is an ideal solution, as studies have shown that people are less irritated by wait-times in a chat scenario than they would be in a phone queue.\nEven if a business is too small to realistically support the number of customer reps required to provide “instant” service, it should still strive to make a customer wait no more than five minutes to enter a direct, one-on-one conversation with customer service.\n\n## Self-Support and Comprehensive Resources\n\nA 2010 study revealed that 72 percent of consumers in the United States prefer to be able to answer questions on their own rather than having to contact customer support.\nIndeed, the practice of “self-support” has become a mainstay of the highest performing businesses.\nImplementing an effective self-support system requires an online portal that is able to answer most customer’s questions most of the time.\nThis can seem like a daunting task at first blush, but in reality, any business that doesn’t already have most of the documentation and information necessary to do so on hand is likely missing the mark in many other areas of its operation as well.\n\nWhether a business is small or large, having the capability to implement quick, comprehensive, and easy to use resources and support for customers will benefit it at all levels, as well as help the bottom line as it navigates the demanding cost curve from subscriber acquisition to retention.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?** Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:\n"},{"title":"Why Data Portability Matters","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-01-07","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"As a proud member of the data portability community, Rebilly is committed to making sure clients have full access to their data when they need it. This is absolutely critical for startups that depend on payment processors but don't want their private client payment data held hostage. The safe, secure, free-flow of data makes it a better online experience for everyone.","categories":[{"id":"security","label":"Security"}],"id":20,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/why-data-portability-matters","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Why Data Portability Matters\n\nWho controls your data?\nThat’s a big question in the news right now as Apple is currently [in talks with the FTC](http://amestrib.com/business/ftc-talks-apple-about-health-data-protection) about who owns the health data it collects through software on its new watch.\nA few years ago, [Facebook faced similar scrutiny](http://www.zdnet.com/facebook-beware-eu-antitrust-chief-warns-over-data-portability-7000007950/) about user photos and other private data that are posted on the platform.\nAt that time, the EU competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, summed up the debate by stating: “I believe that a healthy competitive environment in these markets requires that consumers can easily and cheaply transfer the data they uploaded in a service onto another service.\nIn those markets that build non users uploading their personal data or their personal content, retention of these data should not serve as barriers to switching.”\n\n## Credit Card Data\n\nObviously, credit card data is even more sensitive, and the same questions circle around payment processing.\nMany merchants rely on payment processors for better efficiency but are surprised to learn they don’t have the ability to port all of that valuable information to a new provider when they are ready for a change.\nPayPal, for example, is one of the biggest names in processing that doesn’t allow merchants to port its data.\nOften, payment processors that are the easiest to set up are often the ones that make it impossible to download that data, which can be frustrating to say the least.\n\nA few years ago, the Credit Card Data Portability Standard was set up as an opt-in community for companies that process electronic payments.\nMembers agree to provide merchants with all of their credit card information and the associated transaction data when they ask for it and in a way that is compliant with PCI regulations.\n\n## Objectives\n\nThe [Credit Card Data Portability Standard](http://www.portabilitystandard.org/) was modeled after the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which allowed people to keep their phone numbers and port them to other phone companies.\nIt has three objectives:\n\n1. Stop forcing merchants to rely on a single provider to store credit n card and transaction records.\n2. Allow data transfers to be completed securely with a standards-based n process that makes it PCI compliant.\n3. Foster the principles of fair competition in a free market.\n\n## Vaults and Security\n\nOne final consideration: Make sure that subscription relationship management software vaults cardholder data in-house and that they support the portability standard.\nIf they don’t vault it, it means that they only retain tokens that refer to cardholder data stored elsewhere.\nThat means that portability isn’t even an option with them.\nAs a proud member of the data portability community, Rebilly is committed to making sure clients have full access to their data when they need it.\nThis is absolutely critical for startups that depend on payment processors but don’t want their private client payment data held hostage.\nThe safe, secure, free-flow of data makes it a better online experience for everyone.\n\n**When it comes to choosing a subscription management tool, data portability and security shouldn’t be the only thing you look at.** Make smart subscription billing decisions without the stress by downloading our free report that covers security must-haves and has a bonus three-page feature checklist.\nGet it below:\n"},{"title":"How to Design Subscription Billing Around Customer Needs","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2015-01-04","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"A [subscription billing program](https://www.rebilly.com/) helps a company monetize products or services over time, but only if the program benefits consumers. Quality products or content with worthwhile updates, an easy-to-use interface and accepting varied payment methods will keep customers from canceling after the first month. Advanced planning and a software as service (SaaS) billing partner are keys to healthy customer retention.","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/christiann-koepke-1554952-unsplash.jpg","id":19,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/how-to-design-subscription-billing-around-customer-needs","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"content":"\n# How to Design Subscription Billing Around Customer Needs\n\nSubscription businesses [are growing exponentially](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/), and as their growth continues, many businesses are considering switching to a subscription billing plan.\nThis can be a very smart move for your business — whether it’s an established business or [a brand new one](/blog/checklist-for-subscription-businesses.md) — but only if you approach it right.\n\nYou can’t just throw together a subscription billing process without thinking about your customers, though, or your business is destined to sink.\nHere are a few can’t-ignore factors to consider as you set up your subscription business (and [the tools to help you run it](/blog/bootstrap-subscription-business-with-these-apps-tools/)):\n\n## Updates and additions to up the value\n\nAs we’ve mentioned before, [subscription fatigue is real](/blog/common-subscription-business-struggles-and-how-to-fix-them/).\nCustomers that sign up for a subscription plan want to see ongoing updates to the product to keep them coming back.\nAnd, in addition to that, you need to [show your customers how valuable your product is right away](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/), so they stick around through the free trial period.\n\n[Gamefly](http://www.gamefly.com) is a good example of a subscription model that keeps customers coming back for more.\nThis service — which provides video game rentals — frequently updates available games and offers a purchase discount on used rental copies.\nHardcore gamers will maintain a monthly subscription because they can play through multiple games a month at a fraction of what buying new games costs.\n\nMicrosoft is another example.\n[Office n365](http://products.office.com/en-us/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans) subscriptions give customers the ability to download software to five devices and get regular updates, for less upfront cost than an Office installation disc.\nCustomers feel like they’re getting a good deal and the benefits for Microsoft include lower overhead and the ability to keep monetizing what’s essentially the same product.\n\n### To showcase the value of your subscription product to customers\n\n- Make sure you have a plan for (sustainably) increasing value to customers over time\n- Highlight the updates (and their benefits)\n- Talk to existing customers to see places where you could add more value\n\n## Ease of use\n\nYour potential customers will run for the hills (or your competitors) if the subscription checkout process is complicated or confusing.\nNobody wants to spend 20 minutes trying to sign up for a membership product.\nShoddy interface or usability design doesn’t just make a business look unprofessional, it [can kill your conversion rates](https://neilpatel.com/blog/7-usability-mistakes/).\n\n### Instead, your subscription checkout process should\n\n- Be fast and easy, following [ecommerce usability guidelines and best practices](https://www.userzoom.com/blog/five-super-smooth-ecommerce-checkouts/)\n- Emphasize that you follow [security best practices](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/)\n- Include a clear explanation of billing terms (including [pricing formula](/blog/subscription-business-pricing-formulas/), [billing schedule](/blog/the-most-popular-subscription-schedules/), and [free trial information](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/))\n- Show the customer a detailed order summary before confirming payment\n- Send them a copy of the order summary and any next steps afterwards\n- Segue smoothly into [customer onboarding](/blog/customer-onboarding-how-to/)\n\n## Payment options\n\nYour customers definitely have a preferred payment method.\nIt might be Visa, AmEx, MasterCard, PayPal, or something else.\nInstead of forcing your customer to use a certain payment method, your need to meet them where they’re at.\n\nAll major credit card companies require vendors to meet [PCI compliance standards](/blog/how-to-automate-your-pci-compliance/) before allowing payment processing.\nIf you’re [thinking about building your own subscription solution](/blog/subscription-billing-build-or-buy/), make sure that you’re willing to do the work necessary to not only meet those compliance standards, but stay up-to-date on them over time.\nIt can prove expensive and hard to manage, since staying compliant requires frequent security testing and updates.\n\nAnother option is to use an outside subscription billing company that can integrate with your website and [payment gateways of choice](/solutions/payments/).\nThis saves time and resources, letting you focus on providing the best product possible for your customers.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?** Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:\n"},{"title":"How Consumers Respond to Billing Cycles","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-12-03","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"It's no surprise that churn rates for businesses that use recurring billing models tend to spike in synchronization with billing cycles. If a customer has been considering canceling a service, nothing will prompt him or her to make the decision and take action like receiving a bill. Since even minor changes in retention rates can have a significant impact on revenue, it's important to consider how consumers respond to billing cycles and what a business can do to reduce churn.","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"id":16,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/how-consumers-respond-to-billing-cycles","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# How Consumers Respond to Billing Cycles\n\nIt’s no surprise that churn rates for businesses that use recurring billing models tend to spike in synchronization with billing cycles.\nIf a customer has been considering canceling a service, nothing will prompt him or her to make the decision and take action like receiving a bill.\nSince even minor changes in retention rates can have a significant impact on revenue, it’s important to consider how consumers respond to billing cycles and what a business can do to reduce churn.\n\n## Subscription Based Sticker Shock\n\nAlthough billing cycles come in various lengths, most businesses simply make a choice between monthly billing and annual billing.\nBoth have pros and cons for the business, but from the buyer’s perspective, the single most important factor will be the perceived price.\nOne of the major advantages of subscription billing for churn management is the perception that prices are lower, as what would otherwise be a lump sum charge is instead spread out into smaller payments.\nChoosing an annual billing cycle can negate this and may undo the customer’s perception of value received.\n\n## Customer Loyalty and Promise of Service\n\nOn the other hand, some customers respond positively to annual billing cycles and feel that they are being guaranteed a certain level of customer service.\nThis is particularly applicable to B2B sales, which are already predicated on establishing and maintaining relationships between buyer and vendor.\nIn this case, some customers may believe that a monthly billing cycle implies a lack of long-term commitment to their needs or may indicate the potential for a sudden price increase.\n\n## High-Value Services\n\nSomewhat paradoxically, a customer’s perception of sticker shock for longer billing cycles may actually decrease for the most expensive services and products.\nThis is particularly true for SaaS (software as a service) companies that regularly sell software plans with final costs that reach six or seven digits.\nIn circumstances like this, customers may view an annual billing cycle as a price guarantee, despite the large lump sum required each year.\n\n## Choice Matters\n\nIn the end, which cycle a customer prefers may be less important than the fact that they’re offered a choice at all.\nStudies on churn rates and retention have consistently shown that the most important variable from a customer’s perspective is that they’re able to decide on their own how and when they prefer to be billed.\nAbove all, customers want to be presented with simple, easily understood options.\nThey shy away from any billing plan that appears complicated or attempts to “hide” unwanted charges.\n\nAs with everything, we strongly recommend testing your pricing and pricing pages.\n\n## Not sure where to start with price optimization?\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:</span>\n"},{"title":"What Are the Most Popular Subscription Schedules?","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-12-01","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Let's say that a company has just settled on a price for a particular product or service. In today's market, there are many billing options that businesses can implement, such as monthly, quarterly or annual billing. Customers have made it clear that they prefer a variety of subscription schedules, and many industries have listened.","categories":[{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/rawpixel-633847-unsplash.jpg","id":15,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/the-most-popular-subscription-schedules","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# What Are the Most Popular Subscription Schedules?\n\nOnce you’ve decided a price for your product or service, you have to decide how often you’ll be billing your customers.\nDepending on your customers and industry, you might go with monthly, quarterly, or annual billing – or something else entirely.\n\nCustomers have made it clear that they prefer choices when it comes to subscription schedules, and many industries have followed suit.\nFor example, some companies in the gaming industry have had success with [three-month subscriptions](http://www.cnet.com/deals/onlive-3-month-subscription-for-free-w-purchase-of-galaxy-note-4-1170341/) and most insurance companies prefer [six-month subscription](http://coverhound.com/insurance-learning-center/why-are-most-car-insurance-policies-only-six-months-long) schedules in order to better manage risks. **One thing is certain though — customers want options, and companies want satisfied customers.**\n\n## Monthly vs. annual schedules\n\nBy far, [monthly subscription schedules](http://blog.priceintelligently.com/blog/bid/194370/Boosting-MRR-Annual-Vs-Monthly-Subscriptions-in-Your-SaaS-Pricing-Strategy) are the most common choice.\nPrice sensitivity on the customer’s part is the primary driver of this arrangement.\nEarlier this year, [Pandora made headlines](http://lifehacker.com/pandora-one-is-raising-price-to-4-99-a-month-ditching-1547041836) when they raised their monthly subscription fee and eliminated their annual subscription plan.\n\n**Following the price increase, Pandora discovered that…**\n\n- A change from $3 to $5 per month registered as a small increase to the market\n- But a change from $36 to $60 annually was a significant increase that would have greatly dissuaded users from the service\n\nAs we said in [our post about the psychology of subscription sales](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/):\n\n_The biggest argument for offering annual plans has nothing to do with the customer and everything to do with your business.\nAnnual plans get you more upfront revenue — when a customer commits to a whole year upfront, you get that money faster than you would if they were paying month by month.\nBecause of that, you can recoup your customer acquisition cost quicker, and reinvest that in your business._\n\n### Other factors\n\n**For newer startups, restrictive rules created by merchant accounts might also come into play.** Oftentimes, credit card processing companies don’t want to deal with [annual subscriptions for risky startups.](https://signalvnoise.com/posts/753-ask-37signals-how-do-you-process-credit-cards) If the startup goes out of business, then the merchant account has to deal with a lot of extra processing and refunding.\n\n**If you aren’t sure where to start, you can offer more than one subscription schedule, and see what happens.** In Rebilly, for example, [you can use different pricing formulas](/product/orders/) (like tiered, flat rate, etc.), but also create multiple subscription schedules, and see which one more customers choose over time.\nJust keep in mind that you don’t want to present _too_ many options.\nIf you have five different plans and have two different ways of viewing prices, you might overwhelm potential customers and scare them away.\n\n## Focus on the users\n\nThe real answer to the question, “Which subscription schedule is the most popular?” is that it depends on the company’s user base.\nFor example:\n\n- In an oversaturated industry with low switching costs for customers, monthly subscription models might be more popular\n- If your tool requires a long (30-90 day) onboarding process, which is common in some B2B industries, a quarterly or annual subscription model might work better for you\n- In a market that has irregular changes throughout the year, like a subscription service based on games released at odd intervals, then a 3-6 month subscription model might work best\n\n**In short, figuring out the best subscription schedule is simply one piece in the larger puzzle of [price optimization](/blog/how-to-optimize-your-prices-to-increase-subscription-revenues/).** If you aren’t testing your subscription schedules and prices, and the copy around them on your sales pages, you’re probably missing out on sales.\n\nThere are so many factors that it’s impossible to make any snap judgements without knowing the details of your customers, your business model, your industry, and your product.\nBecause of this, companies should be making an active effort to learn about their customers through surveys, sales and user interviews, and customer service data.\n\nThis is why we recommend [collecting as much data throughout the sales and marketing process](/blog/data-based-marketing-can-increase-ltv/) as possible.\nIn fact, lead sources and segments are built into Rebilly to make this easy – [find out more about those features here](/product/reporting-automation/). **Then, you can use that data to make better decisions that are good for you _and_ your customers.**\n\n### Want to learn more about making the most of customer data?\n\nIn our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:\n"},{"title":"Adapting Revenue Forecasts to Subscription Billing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-11-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"In many ways, subscription billing can make a company's revenue forecasts even easier than point-of-sale or booking models, as it provides a reliable and repeatable rate of revenue accretion. However, in most cases, a company won't be able to simply replace POS numbers with subscription information and come out with an accurate forecast. Follow these suggestions that companies should keep in mind while transitioning to a subscription-billing model.","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"id":18,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/adapting-revenue-forecasts-to-subscription-billing","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Adapt revenue forecasts to subscription billing\n\nIn many ways, subscription billing can make a company’s revenue forecasts even easier than point-of-sale or booking models, as it provides a reliable and repeatable rate of revenue accretion.\nHowever, in most cases, a company won’t be able to simply replace POS numbers with subscription information and come out with an accurate forecast.\nFollow these suggestions that companies should keep in mind while transitioning to a subscription-billing model.\n\n## Change metrics\n\nFor most companies that are dependent on sales, the holy grail of metrics for revenue forecasting is the “booking” or “lead-in” number, which tracks sales orders to then predict the resulting revenue.\nHowever, the booking model usually takes into account factors such as cancellations, sales expenses, closure rates and product returns that fare poorly in a one-to-one transfer to a subscription model.\n\nTo most accurately reflect the landscape of a subscription-revenue model, the ideal prime metric is some form of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).\nMRR can be tracked for each sales representative, or each individual customer, but most importantly, it only reflects the subscription revenue made that month.\nThis distinction is crucial, as it provides the most accurate means to track the real revenue flow involved, and incorporates the monthly revenue from all subscriptions, even those billed quarterly or annually.\n\nA subscription is by definition a longer term arrangement than a simple point of sale, so revenue made from a monthly subscription payment is already final.\nIt’s not subject to any after-the-fact wrinkles like those in a booking model.\nAdopting MRR instead of a straight Recurring Revenue (RR) metric allows a company to track revenue across multiple billing cycles, and keeps the ebb and flow of the aggregate annual revenue stream clear and identifiable.\n\n## Identify churn\n\nThe major benefit of forecasting revenue under a subscription model is its reliability, so it’s important that a business is able to predict any disruptions to that flow.\nDoing so requires a clear churn rate, which tracks the number of customers who cancel their subscription preterm or simply decline to renew it at the end of a billing cycle.\n\nIt can be difficult for a company to calculate accurate churn rates when they have just transitioned to a subscription model.\nNevertheless, the churn rate will remain the single most important factor impacting revenue from year to year.\nIt’s vital to start tracking that information immediately and incorporating it as much as possible into revenue forecasts from the start.\n\n## Learn how to boost the metrics that matter\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download our free guide that’ll show you how to boost your customer lifetime value by 43% or more below:</span>\n"},{"title":"Subscription Services v. A La Carte Pricing: The Consumer View","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-11-28","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Recurrent billing is rising in popularity with consumers, and over 63 million consumers now rely on at least one service for which they make recurring payments. In today's market, it's important to be aware of what contributes to this consumer preference. Here is a quick overview of the three basic billing categories, with their advantages and disadvantages:","categories":[{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"}],"id":17,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/subscription-services-v-a-la-carte-pricing-the-consumer-view","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Subscription Services v. A La Carte Pricing: The Consumer View\n\nRecurrent billing is rising in popularity with consumers, and over 63 million consumers now rely on at least one service for which they make recurring payments.\nIn today’s market, it’s important to be aware of what contributes to this consumer preference.\nHere is a quick overview of the three basic billing categories, with their advantages and disadvantages:\n\n## One-Time Purchase\n\nThis is the simplest billing model: the buyer pays all at once for a product, whether online or in a physical store.\nThe relationship between buyer and seller may continue from one transaction to the next, through various marketing channels, but each individual purchase requires a separate consumer decision.\nThe buyer has no commitment to make repeat purchases, and they may be easily won over by a competing offer.\n\n**Advantages**: Customers feel confident about cost because the entire transaction is completed up front.\nTheir decision-making can focus on the present moment.\n\n**Disadvantages**: If it is a product or service they use frequently, customers have to repeatedly engage with the payment process.\nThey won’t always be notified or reminded if special sales or new products are available.\nAlso, a high-end service may be unaffordable if it must be paid for all at once.\n\n## Usage Based Fees\n\nUsage-based fees refer to a billing model in which the customer pays a variable amount, depending on how much of the service or resource was used during the billing period.\nThis billing model, familiar to customers through services such as water and utility companies, is increasingly being converted to tiered levels of service that provide more predictable pricing.\nThese tiered levels of service, combined with autopay options, are following customer preference by moving closer to subscription billing practices.\n\n**Advantages**: Usage based fees allow the consumer to learn how much their cost increases as they use a product or service.\nMeanwhile, tiered billing categories give customers predictability while also providing them with a sense of being able to control costs.\n\n**Disadvantages**: When the amount owed varies with each billing cycle, customers have a harder time budgeting for the expense.\nTheir loyalty is likely to suffer, since they may feel motivated to search for different providers after a more expensive billing cycle.\n\n## Recurring Subscriptions\n\nHistorically, consumers have been familiar with subscription models in two different arenas: The first is a service or publication that brings out new content on a continuing basis.\nThe second is when the subscription or lease provides full access to a significant product (solar panels, automobile, etc.) that is maintained and updated by the lessor.\nConsumers relate readily to a billing arrangement that refers to none of these familiar contexts.\nFurthermore, as the convenience and safety of recurring billing becomes more widespread, they will increasingly rely on this payment model in more sectors of their financial lives.\n\n**Advantages**:\nCustomers enjoy the convenience of not being required to go through a repetitive payment process each billing cycle.\n\nEasy access to full account information and payment details creates customer confidence.\n\nCustomers never run the risk of service interruptions due to late payments.\n\nContinuous product updates and external maintenance are attractive elements to a subscription model.\n\nAffordability: the product can be enjoyed immediately, while the cost of it is spread out over the period of usage.\nThis model allows predictable budgeting and builds customer loyalty.\n\n**Disadvantages**:\nOne reason that the popularity of recurrent billing continues to increase is that it addresses the downsides inherent in other billing methods.\nWith any type of online billing platform, customers need to feel secure that their billing information is being properly safeguarded.\nThey also must have clear information about termination procedures and all other aspects of customer service.\nA high-quality billing platform effectively addresses all potential consumer concerns, creating an atmosphere of trust and commitment.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?**<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:</span>\n"},{"title":"Why Subscription Billing Can Increase B2B Revenue","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-11-24","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"redirects":{"/why-subscription-billing-can-increase-b2b-revenue/":{}},"excerpt":"Companies engaged in business-to-business transactions are increasingly incorporating subscription billing into their sales models. Time and again, they are discovering that recurring billing actually increases their revenue and sales numbers. Subscription billing has proven to be a more efficient -- and easier -- billing option for many B2B companies.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"headerImage":"/blog/header-images/pepi-stojanovski-509192-unsplash.jpg","id":14,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/why-subscription-billing-can-increase-b2b-revenue","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"content":"\n# Why Subscription Billing Can Increase B2B Revenue\n\nB2B companies are increasingly incorporating [subscription billing](/blog/the-most-popular-subscription-schedules/) into their models.\nTime and again, they’re discovering that recurring billing actually increases their revenue and sales numbers.\nIt’s proven to be a more efficient — and easier — billing option for many B2B companies, which is one reason [that subscriptions are growing so quickly](/blog/the-state-of-subscription-businesses-infographic/).\n\nLet’s dig into why exactly subscriptions work so well for B2B transactions:\n\n## It’s Budget Friendly for Clients\n\nSubscription billing is often an easier “yes” for enterprise leads, because the monthly or annual bill is smaller than a point-of-sale purchase for enterprise software.\nThis reduces the “sticker shock” (along with the immediate cost) for a buyer.\nThis budget-friendliness can have a significant impact on large purchases, especially for companies who provide SaaS (software as a service) products, when final costs can easily reach six digits.\n\n## It Reduces Decision Points\n\nIt’s a truism among the sales profession that decision points are opportunities for a customer to say “no.” A recurring cycle bills automatically and doesn’t require the customer to continue to say “yes,” so it reduces chances for customers to make a decision to decline the purchase or seek an alternative.\n\nFree trials also come into play here; [as we’ve discussed elsewhere](/blog/one-time-sale-vs-subscriptions-makes-customers-buy/), free trials (especially if it moves to automatic billing at the end of the trial) can be very effective for subscription businesses, including B2B ones.\n\n## It Works With the Strengths of B2B Sales\n\nB2B sales are highly relationship-based, and often require extended and repeated contact between sales representatives and business clients.\nSince subscription billing is also recurring and long-term, it fits in well with this dynamic, and gives your sales team lots of opportunities to upsell leads as they continue their customer relationship with you.\nIn fact, upselling and add-ons with subscriptions are usually an easier sell than a one-time product, due to the budget-friendliness mentioned earlier.\n\n## It Reduces Acquisition Costs\n\nService-based subscriptions in particular benefit from a “bottom up” approach, in which a software license or other service is sold to one individual or department within a company.\nSales representatives can then pitch that service to other people or departments within the organization, and fold additional purchases into the ongoing subscription cycle, minimizing administrative costs.\nMany times, “buyer’s inertia” is a factor in these situations.\nIn other words, as business clients form deeper relationships with their B2B sales rep, they make the decision themselves to initiate further purchases.\n\nTo find out how B2B revenue can increase with recurring billing, [contact us](/contact/) today. **Or, if you’re looking for other ways to optimize your pricing and convert more customers, check out the Rebilly guide to optimizing your pricing:**\n"},{"title":"New, Trending and Sometimes Strange Subscription Services","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-11-18","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Subscription services are often a moneymaker for both large and small businesses. These services require customers to pay a monthly fee in order to access services, guaranteeing businesses revenue for months to come and allowing them to retain customers -- some of whom may pay for other services. Businesses of all types can benefit from creating subscription offers, especially if they use some creativity rather than merely offering a monthly payment plan for basic services.","categories":[{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"}],"id":13,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/new-trending-and-sometimes-strange-subscription-services","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# New, Trending and Sometimes Strange Subscription Services\n\nSubscription services are often a moneymaker for both large and small businesses.\nThese services require customers to pay a monthly fee in order to access services, guaranteeing businesses revenue for months to come and allowing them to retain customers — some of whom may pay for other services.\nBusinesses of all types can benefit from creating subscription offers, especially if they use some creativity rather than merely offering a monthly payment plan for basic services.\n\n## Consider Merchandising Options\n\nBusinesses that sell any type of merchandise may be able to create an “Item of the Month” club.\nThis type of subscription service is traditionally associated with books or wine.\nFor example, publishers often offer book-of-the-month services where customers receive a new book in the mail every month for a low fee.\nThis model works for almost any type of business, regardless of the product or service.\nRecently, a Brooklyn-based bagel company offered a New York Bagel of the Month service to customers around the country and businesses like the Dollar Shave Club offer consumers a monthly delivery of shaving items so that they don’t have to shop for new razors each month.\n\n## Provide Unlimited Service\n\nOne of the best types of subscription services involves unlimited service for a small monthly fee, as opposed to paying for goods or services each time the customer uses them.\nNetflix pioneered this model when it began offering unlimited access to DVDs and/or video streaming per month, which contrasted sharply with the “pay as you go” options that local video rental stores offered.\nMany businesses have since run with this model.\nRecently, Olive Garden offered an all-you-can-eat pass, which allowed subscribers to get as much pasta as they wanted over the course of seven weeks for $100.\n\n## Break With Convention\n\nIn order to make subscription services worthwhile for customers, businesses must be willing to think outside the box.\nInstead of focusing solely on sales, businesses should tailor subscription strategies around consumer needs.\n\nService-oriented businesses have an easier route to customer satisfaction.\nFor example, many life coaches offer subscription packages where consumers get a certain number of coaching sessions for a flat rate.\nIt’s easy to change this type of model to a subscription service where consumers get all the coaching they want for one flat fee per month.\nOne-time sales oriented businesses may have a more difficult time, but they ultimately need to focus on how to make the product line continually useful to the customer.\n\nBusinesses may double their profits by finding creative ways to convert their pay-as-you-go model into a subscription model.\nEven more importantly, using subscription billing gives businesses extra freedom.\nThey can use all of their creativity to find ways to serve their customers’ needs, make their business stand out and keep customers coming back for more.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?** Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:\n"},{"title":"3 Ways to Maximize Subscription Retention","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-11-17","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"When it comes to retaining subscribers, small victories matter. The increasingly mobile and connected world has left the days of market capture in the past, and customer churn rates over 50 percent are typical in most industries. However, acquiring new customers remains much more expensive than retaining existing subscribers, so even an increase of 1 or 2 percent in retention rates can have a significant impact on net revenue. Tactics for meeting this goal should be hyper-specific and targeted, but there are three broad strategies a company can adopt to inform their planning and maximize subscriber retention.","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"id":12,"leadCaptureCampaign":"price-opimization-guide","slug":"/blog/3-ways-to-maximize-subscription-retention","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# 3 Ways to Maximize Subscription Retention\n\nWhen it comes to retaining subscribers, small victories matter.\nThe increasingly mobile and connected world has left the days of market capture in the past, and customer churn rates over 50 percent are typical in most industries.\nHowever, acquiring new customers remains much more expensive than retaining existing subscribers, so even an increase of 1 or 2 percent in retention rates can have a significant impact on net revenue.\nTactics for meeting this goal should be hyper-specific and targeted, but there are three broad strategies a company can adopt to inform their planning and maximize subscriber retention.\n\n## Identify Pivot Points\n\nEvery subscription has a life cycle, and that cycle is marked by pivot points that serve as reliable indicators that a customer may be considering a departure.\nWhile sales and acquisition efforts usually do a good job of shepherding customers through the first “start of contract” pivot point, that individualized attention usually drops off once the customer is subscribed.\nThe “renewal of contract” pivot point may seem like the next most important moment to target for retention efforts, but in between the two points any number of other events might have occurred that are influencing a customer’s decision.\nThese “change of life events” can create a pivot point any time they make a customer re-evaluate their plans for the immediate future.\nSuch moments can range from the personal, such as a marriage or home re-location, to the strictly business, such as quarterly revenue reporting or a product launch.\nBusinesses should be able to identify these change of life pivot points as soon as they happen, then use them to target subscribers for outreach and retention initiatives.\n\n## Uphold the Relationship\n\nAccurately identifying pivot points depends on a tangible and information-productive relationship between businesses and their subscribers.\nIn many cases, a subscriber will only enjoy dedicated client status during the period where individual sales representatives are treating them as proprietary leads.\nOnce subscribed, most customers enter a broader pool where their interaction with the company is less frequent and personalized.\nThis represents a missed opportunity to continue gathering intel on the subscriber, and can make it impossible to reliably predict pivot points.\n\n## Gather Data, Comb the Data\n\nBusinesses should never neglect the opportunity that their own systems present for gathering subscriber intel that’s important to retention efforts.\nEvery subscription life cycle leaves its history behind, and over time a business should be building up a robust database of those life cycles.\nThe raw data can and should be rigorously mined to identify pivot points, address moments of retention failure and predict the behavior of future subscribers.\n\n## Want to learn more about making the most of customer data?\n\nIn our free price optimization guide, you’ll learn how to set up and run experiments that help you get the most from every sale, with specific experiments based on your business stage, and more.\nGet it below:\n"},{"title":"Stop Stressing: Keys to Hassle-Free Subscription Billing","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-11-13","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Subscription billing, or SaaS-type billing, offers businesses a way to maintain an ongoing financial relationship with consumers, and allows consumers to have constant, up-to-date access to a frequently used product. Additionally, businesses can rely on recurring revenue and benefit from a smoother transaction process -- which is always valued. Since there are numerous advantages on both the business and consumer side, let's take a moment to review how [subscription billing](https://www.rebilly.com) can reduce hassle on both ends of the spectrum.","categories":[{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"}],"id":11,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/stop-stressing-keys-to-hassle-free-subscription-billing","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Stop Stressing: Keys to Hassle-Free Subscription Billing\n\nSubscription billing, or SaaS-type billing, offers businesses a way to maintain an ongoing financial relationship with consumers, and allows consumers to have constant, up-to-date access to a frequently used product.\nAdditionally, businesses can rely on recurring revenue and benefit from a smoother transaction process — which is always valued.\nSince there are numerous advantages on both the business and consumer side, let’s take a moment to review how [subscription billing](/) can reduce hassle on both ends of the spectrum.\n\n## Automated, Customized Billing vs. Costly Bureaucracy\n\nBusinesses often try to design subscription billing across the accounting or IT departments.\nThe problem?\nThe resulting system is difficult to customize, slow to update and can cost a great deal of money to create.\nIn theory, this would allow businesses to have total control over their platform, but oftentimes, it results in a large portion of time devoted to managing and further developing the system.\n\n“Software as a service” products can be instantly updated, which allows users to customize the billing process as needed.\nBusinesses can use SaaS products to change the entire pricing structure or to offer limited-time discounts.\nThe system will remember these changes and continue to automate recurring billing unless the business changes the settings again.\nSaaS products save company time, which allows employees to focus more on product development.\nThe products also simplify company-customer interactions, allowing for organic and thorough customer service.\n\n## Tailored Customer Service\n\nThe ability to instantly customize the entire billing system means that the SaaS billing can streamline the customer service experience.\nIf a customer has a question about the account, a company operator can immediately pull up the appropriate records.\nIf the customer wants a refund, the operator can perform that action without having to route through a complicated process with the accounting department.\nSaaS billing also provides businesses with access to real-time subscriber metrics that can show areas of weakness or potential growth.\nBusinesses can also implement customer-facing programs such as free trials, limited trials or discounts with billing software.\nKeeping track nof those programs in a separate department can cause some offers and customers to fall through the cracks.\n\n## Cheaper, Secure Payments\n\nRecurring billing services should be [PCI compliant](/docs/pci-compliance.md) — a certification that the major credit card brands require of payment processors.\nCompliance involves a 12-point system that includes network firewalls, user data encryption and frequent vulnerability monitoring.\nPCI compliance for an in-house billing system is costly and complicated.\nUsing the SaaS model, the business can assure potential customers that financial transactions are secure while also accepting a wider range of payment types.\n\nBusinesses can also shop around for different payment gateways or credit card authorization services.\nThis allows the business to shop for better deals on transaction fees and gives the business the ability to quickly cut ties with a gateway that isn’t providing optimal service.\n\n**Not sure where to start when it comes to finding a subscription billing company that fits your needs?** Download our free Six Must-Haves guide, which covers the features you need in a subscription billing service, why you need them, and comes with a bonus feature checklist:\n"},{"title":"4 Most Common Reasons for Subscriber Churn","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-11-11","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Subscriber churn can seriously harm a business' profitability and success. Unhappy customers who unsubscribe from a service not only represent lost revenue, but may also become powerful voices who dissuade others from using the business. Businesses must eliminate churn as much as possible to be successful. Below are the four most common reasons for subscriber churn.","categories":[{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"}],"id":10,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/4-most-common-reasons-for-subscriber-churn","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# 4 Most Common Reasons for Subscriber Churn\n\nSubscriber churn can seriously harm a business’ profitability and success.\nUnhappy customers who unsubscribe from a service not only represent lost revenue, but may also become powerful voices who dissuade others from using the business.\nBusinesses must eliminate churn as much as possible to be successful.\nBelow are the four most common reasons for subscriber churn.\n\n## 1. Waiting to Resolve Problems\n\nThe most common reason for customer churn is that businesses often wait until the customer wants to unsubscribe before addressing problems.\nWhen the business finally pays attention to the customer’s needs, it’s too late.\n\nTo avoid this problem, businesses should develop a strong rapport with each new subscriber by doing the following:\n\n- Send a welcome email and ask the customer to fill out a survey or answer a question to find out more about what the customer needs.\n- Maintain contact with the customer through a newsletter or social media page, providing him or her with extra resources and services free of charge.\n- Respond quickly to any complaints or problems via email, phone or social media.\n\n## 2. Customer Isn’t Sold on the Service\n\nSometimes customers subscribe to a service on a limited trial basis in order to learn more about the company and the experience the service provides.\nThey may be curious about a service, but not convinced it’s really for them.\nIf customers are not quickly convinced of the service’s value, they’re more likely to unsubscribe.\n\nGive the customer a first impression they or they won’t easily forget.\nFor example, provide new subscribers with a special offer as a thank you for subscribing or send them a personal welcome message.\n\n## 3. Business Has No Competitive Advantage\n\nIf a business isn’t significantly better than its competitors in some way, customers will leave the second a competitor offers a lower rate.\n\nRather than focusing on price points, businesses should focus on their benefits to consumers.\nIf they demonstrate that they, and only they, have certain skills or provide certain programs, subscribers will be more inclined to stick around.\n\n## 4. Subscribers Don’t Know How to Use the Service\n\nSubscribers may be unaware of some of the unique benefits of a service or have a hard time navigating the business’ website.\nThese problems make the service itself seem useless or frustrating, which makes subscribers more likely to give up and unsubscribe.\n\nWebsites should have an easy-to-find FAQ and support page for customers.\nAdditionally, businesses should link to the FAQ and support pages in email updates and provide new subscribers with short tutorials on how to use the service.\n\nSubscriber churn is frustrating and devastating to businesses.\nThe biggest reasons for subscriber churn boil down to subscribers being unhappy with or not seeing the value in the service.\nBy developing rapport with customers and providing them with extra value, businesses can significantly reduce churn rates and raise their profitability.\n\n**Want a step-by-step strategy to decrease involuntary churn?** Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use data like decline codes to reduce churn and increase your CLV:\n"},{"title":"What You Should Know About Subscriptions and Consumer Rights","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-10-30","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Recurring payments and subscription-based services have had a contentious history in the United States, often due to questionable business practices from over-eager merchants. Related topics continue to make headlines, and local and federal agencies continue to investigate the issue and regulations. Though it’s unlikely that any business that avoids unscrupulous practices would find themselves running afoul, it’s still a good idea to keep up to date on recent developments.","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"id":9,"leadCaptureCampaign":"six-must-haves","slug":"/blog/what-you-should-know-about-subscriptions-and-consumer-rights","timeToRead":"3 min read","campaign":{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# What You Should Know About Subscriptions and Consumer Rights\n\nRecurring payments and subscription-based services have had a contentious history in the United States, often due to questionable business practices from over-eager merchants.\nRelated topics continue to make headlines, and local and federal agencies continue to investigate the issue and regulations.\nThough it’s unlikely that any business that avoids unscrupulous practices would find themselves running afoul, it’s still a good idea to keep up to date on recent developments.\n\n## Negative Option Billing and Why to Avoid It\n\nNegative option billing is a subscription model familiar to most consumers under the guise of music subscription services such as BMG and Columbia, which famously used “1 cent CDs” as a way to lure in new members.\nIt involves providing a “free” or reduced cost sample product to a customer before instituting a recurring billing agreement for further products and services.\nAlthough BMG and Columbia both exited the subscription market in the mid 2000s, the negative option billing model they embraced lives on, usually through “book clubs” and various “as seen on TV” marketing efforts.\nThe FTC has issued several reports on the practice and promises more regulations in the future, though these efforts have been stalled by legislative gridlock.\n\nAny company providing a free or reduced trial price is technically engaged in negative option billing, but the practice only garners a legally derogatory implication when terms are not properly disclosed.\nAs such, any company which provides free or “freemium” options to entice prospective clients should remain aware of the legal requirements in securing an above-board transaction.\nIn particular, an implied agreement to a subscription following a free sample may not hold up in court, as the FTC and various jurisdictions have repeatedly stated that any unsolicited and freely offered item or service cannot then be used as the basis to instate recurring charges.\n\nSubscription-based businesses also need to make sure that payment information such as credit card data or business account numbers are provided directly by the buyer as part of a legally signed purchase agreement.\nThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued several notices relating to unsolicited recurring charges and have made explicit the consumer’s rights to dispute those charges, have them canceled and refunded, and even pursue legal action against the charger in certain circumstances.\n\n## Remittance Transfer Regulations\n\nAs part of the Dodd-Frank Act passed in 2010, the CFPB issued updated regulations concerning electronic remittance transfers.\nThis type of transfer is usually related to mortgages or relatively esoteric transactions between businesses, but the CFPB explicitly excluded legal subscription and recurring charges from the regulations.\nHowever, they have stated that they continue to investigate the rights of consumers for all recurring charges, and may consider issuing additional regulations that would also be applicable to subscription charges.\n\nTo avert potential legal issues, any businesses that use recurring billing should make sure to always provide clear information for cancels and refunds, and never, under any circumstances, state or imply that a customer is unable to cancel a purchase, even if they have agreed to it beforehand.\n\nBecause financial regulations vary widely from state to state, it’s always a good idea to consult the local Attorney General’s office and other relevant governmental authorities to ensure compliance for recurring billing.\n\n**Choosing the right billing tool can help you stay compliant.** Make smart subscription billing decisions without the stress by downloading our free report that covers security must-haves and has a bonus three-page feature checklist.\nGet it below:\n"},{"title":"A One-Time Sale vs. Non-Recurring Subscription","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-10-06","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"One frequent question we receive: What should we do for a one time sale? The answer really depends on how the product or services will be delivered to your customer. From a payment perspective, the intent is to collect a single payment from the customer (which is quite simple). However, from a logistics and accounting perspective, three approaches demonstrate the variety to something that on the surface seems so simple...","categories":[{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"}],"id":8,"leadCaptureCampaign":"retry-strategy","slug":"/blog/a-one-time-sale-vs-non-recurring-subscription","timeToRead":"4 min read","campaign":{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# A One-Time Sale vs. Non-Recurring Subscription\n\nOne frequent question we receive: “What should we do for a one time sale?” The answer really depends on how the product or services will be delivered to your customer.\nFrom a payment perspective, the intent is to collect a single payment from the customer (which is quite simple).\nHowever, from a logistics and accounting perspective, three approaches demonstrate the variety to something that on the surface seems so simple:\n\n- Record it as a one-time payment/sale.\n- Record it as a subscription that does not recur (therefore only has one payment).\n- Record it as a one-time prepaid payment.\n\n## Olive Garden Illustration\n\nWe’ll use the Olive Garden as the “Merchant” for our illustration, being perhaps the newest high-profile entrant to the subscription economy.\n\nThe Olive Garden is a chain of 800+ restaurants, recently ran a promotion for 7 weeks of unlimited pasta for $100.\nThey offered 100 passes, and sold out within 45 minutes.\n\n### Example A: Customer purchases a meal from Olive Garden\n\nThis example is quite straightforward.\nThe customer goes to Olive Garden, orders food.\nConsumes the food.\nAnd at the end of the meal, receives a bill.\nThe customer pays for the meal.\nThis is what we would call a one time sale.\n\n### Example B: Customer purchases 7 weeks of unlimited pasta for $100\n\nOn the surface, this may not seem like a subscription, because it does not recur.\nHowever, recurrence is not a required property of subscriptions.\nWith this product, the customer may go to the restaurant, and order pasta (and some other items), at any time over a 49-day period.\nSo, the main question is, when Olive Garden makes this “sale”, have they delivered the product or service?\nWhen will they incur the expenses related with the product delivery?\nThe answer, it will be delivered over the course of the following 7 weeks.\n\nOlive Garden shouldn’t record $100 in revenue, when they sold this offer on September 8, 2014.\nInstead, they should record about ($100/49) $2.04 of revenue per day for each of the next 49 days.\nPractically speaking, perhaps Olive Garden reports revenues on a monthly basis, in which case they would record almost $45 of the revenues in September, and the balance in October.\nHowever, this illustrates how something as simple as a one-time payment can be very complex to account for…\n\nIf Olive Garden was using Rebilly, it would configure a plan with a fee of $100, set to only 1 time occurrence.\n\n### Example C: Customer purchases a $100 gift card to Olive Garden\n\nIn this case, Olive Garden takes $100 from the customer in exchange for a gift card (could be physical or digital).\nAt this point, the customer has not consumed any of that $100, and Olive Garden would record that as a liability (unearned revenue).\n\nA quick glance at Olive Garden’s website reveals that the eGift cards do not expire, which means, they need to carry this liability forward until the customer uses the gift card.\nLet’s say, for our example, the customer visits Olive Garden, and purchases $30 of food, which leaves a balance of $70 on the gift card.\nAt this point, Olive Garden reduces their unearned revenue by $30, and increases their earned revenue by $30.\nSimilar to subscription, the gift card infuses cash to the company.\nThe company must be diligent though, as they will need to deliver its products and services in the future.\n\nBesides tax and other compliance obligations, why bother with all of this effort for $100?\nDefinitely, example A is the easiest to understand, but by not exploring other opportunities, and reporting properly on them management can’t make informed decisions to help drive profitability and growth.\n\n## The Bottom Line\n\nThe product delivery schedule better dictates the approach to use.\nThe reason to use a particular approach over another may be for better management reporting, tax, and/or compliance reasons.\n\n## Want more tips on how to run a successful subscription business?\n\n**Our Retry Strategy guide teaches you exactly how to use customer data to increase your customer lifetime value by a minimum of 43%, all in about five minutes.** Download it today to get simple steps you can take to increase your LTV:\n"},{"title":"Rebilly Blog Grand Opening","template":"../@theme/templates/BlogPost","date":"2014-08-18","hideDate":true,"author":{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},"excerpt":"Rebilly launched a blog.","categories":[{"id":"rebilly","label":"Rebilly News & Updates"},{"id":"uncategorized","label":"Uncategorized"}],"id":7,"leadCaptureCampaign":"","slug":"/blog/rebilly-blog-grand-opening","timeToRead":"1 min read","campaign":{},"headerImage":null,"content":"\n# Rebilly Blog Grand Opening\n\nRebilly has been evolving for years.\nWe’re launching our blog to make it easy for our team to publish articles.\nWe plan to publish articles about a variety of topics including:\n\n- Subscription economy\n- Product features\n- Behind the scenes in the development of Rebilly\n\nOn that note, we’ve opted to create our own light blogging software.\nWe wished to host our content on www.rebilly.com, and as such wouldn’t use any of the standard options for security reasons.\nSo, our blog doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles you may be used to, but we’ll add new blog features as appropriate.\nIf you care to comment, please tweet to @rebillyinc hashtag #grandopening.\n"}],"blogMetadata":{"authors":[{"id":"adam-altman","email":"adam@rebilly.com","name":"Adam Altman","summary":""},{"id":"molly-richardson","email":"molly.richardson@rebilly.com","name":"Molly Richardson","summary":""},{"id":"michelle-nickolaisen","email":"michelle.nickolaisen@rebilly.com","name":"Michelle Nickolaisen","summary":""},{"id":"cecilia-gomez","email":"cecilia.gomez@rebilly.com","name":"Cecilia Gomez","summary":""},{"id":"chris-noonan","email":"chris.noonan@rebilly.com","name":"Chris Noonan","summary":""},{"id":"jessica-malnik","email":"jessica@jessicamalnik.com","name":"Jessica Malnik","summary":"[Jessica Malnik](https://www.jessicamalnik.com) is a content strategist and copywriter for SaaS and productized service businesses. Her writing has appeared on The Next Web, Social Media Examiner, SEMrush, BigCommerce, CMX, Help Scout, and Convince and Convert, among many other places."},{"id":"ellie-di-julio","email":"ellie.di.julio@gmail.com","name":"Ellie Di Julio","summary":"[Ellie Di Julio](https://elliedijulio.com/) is a freelance writer and editor who began entrepreneurial life as a personal coach and grew up to be an urban fantasy novelist. She splits her time between getting fellow writers unstuck and devising ways to entertain her toddler."},{"id":"lin-foo","email":"jielinfoo@gmail.com","name":"Lin Foo","summary":"[Lin Foo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/linfoo/) is a writer and content strategist, along with being a lover of food, yoga, Latin dance and travel."},{"id":"kristen-hicks","email":"kristen@austin-copywriter.com","name":"Kristen Hicks","summary":"[Kristen Hicks](https://austin-copywriter.com/) is an Austin-based freelance content marketing writer and lifelong learner with an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. She uses that curiosity, combined with her experience as a freelance business owner, to write about subjects valuable to entrepreneurs for Rebilly."}],"categories":[{"id":"agnostic-billing-software","label":"Agnostic Billing Software"},{"id":"all-about-subscriptions","label":"All About Subscriptions"},{"id":"alternative-payments","label":"Alternative Payments"},{"id":"chargebacks","label":"Chargebacks"},{"id":"churn","label":"Churn"},{"id":"customer-experience","label":"Customer Experience"},{"id":"declines","label":"Declines"},{"id":"metrics-and-kpis","label":"Metrics and KPIs"},{"id":"minimizing-risk","label":"Minimizing Risk"},{"id":"payment-process","label":"Payment Process"},{"id":"payments-lingo","label":"Payments Lingo"},{"id":"pricing-experiments","label":"Pricing Experiments"},{"id":"rebilly","label":"Rebilly News & Updates"},{"id":"saas-advice","label":"SaaS Advice"},{"id":"security","label":"Security"},{"id":"uncategorized","label":"Uncategorized"},{"id":"working-at-rebilly","label":"Working at Rebilly"}],"statuses":["publish","draft"],"leadCaptureCampaigns":[{"id":"retry-strategy","title":"Retry Strategy","fullTitle":"The Retry Strategy: How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value by a Minimum of 43%","path":"/thank-you/retry-strategy","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Retry Strategy and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},{"id":"reducing-chargebacks","title":"Reducing Chargebacks","fullTitle":"Reducing Chargebacks and Fraud","path":"/thank-you/reducing-chargebacks","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Reducing Chargebacks guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},{"id":"six-must-haves","title":"Six Must-Haves","fullTitle":"The 6 Must-Haves from a Subscription Billing Software","path":"/thank-you/six-must-haves","text":"Enter your email below to receive the Six Must-Haves download and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},{"id":"price-optimization-guide","title":"Price Optimization Guide","fullTitle":"The Rebilly Guide to Optimizing Your Pricing","path":"/thank-you/price-optimization-guide","text":"Enter your email below to receive our Price Optimization Guide and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"},{"id":"six-month-checklist","title":"Six-Month Checklist","fullTitle":"Your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success","path":"/thank-you/six-month-checklist","text":"Enter your email below to receive your Six-Month Checklist for Subscription Success and subscribe to Rebilly updates:"}],"topPosts":["how-to-design-visuals-for-your-business","how-to-handle-chargebacks","how-to-write-dunning-emails","how-to-start-a-digital-subscription-business-without-code","how-to-choose-subscription-pricing","how-to-upsell-subscriptions-to-customers"]}}