Nowadays, more consumers are billed on a specific schedule by businesses, for most of their purchases, regardless if it’s a service or product. The convenience of not having to think when their due date is or forgetting to pay and incurring late service charge, are all resolved by subscription billings. These are methods suitable for business consumers who simply want to enjoy the product without thinking of anything else.

This subscription billing arrangement is no longer new. Most customers are into automation and smart lifestyle in recent years that they’ve gradually adapted to recurring billing methods. Even most businesses and online shops have opted for this scheduled payment since it is also convenient for them to track their subscribers’ activities. This payment setup’s predictability is just one of the numerous benefits that both business owners and customers can enjoy.

The Process

Most of the time, only those who availed of the services or bought the product are aware of how subscription billings work. Basically, it is the activity when the shop credits a customer for the items or services rendered in a pre-arranged schedule. It is pretty much straightforward. Even for subscription services, where it takes some time before it appears on the sales records, this arrangement already existed even before the inception of e-commerce. Some of the common subscriptions are newspapers and magazines, insurance policies, beverage deliveries.

In the past, where internet service is still not in the picture, the bills were sent through postal service to every customer. Despite its reliability, the emergence of e-commerce has significantly elevated the services and efficiency of performing business transactions.

Subscription Payment System

Retailers must implement a system for crediting scheduled payments to clients. When subscription services existed even before the automation era, integrating a billing system was the easiest part. Since technology keeps everything organised and simplified, creating an online shop and receiving payments online is not that complicated to install.

Merchants have the option to modify their payment gateways since pre-arranged payment mode is not a regular feature in online payment modes. They can hire software developers to design an in-house solution or invest in reliable software. Either way, they will need to make it as organised as possible for their consumers.

Clients Should Commence The Transaction

Potential consumers must initiate the activity, regardless of the services or products they buy. The frequency of their activity and their payment schedule must all be done by the customer. This part of the process is quick, just like creating an ordinary account online. They will need to provide their details, billing address, and credit card information. From there, the website will redirect them to payment arrangements to select their preferred schedule, mode of payments, and how often they get notified.

Flexible Subscription

Both consumers and sellers should be able to make modifications to the subscription easily. Adjustments such as upgrading or downgrading the customer’s account might occur at some time. Merchants should not have software that will allow their clients to efficiently do these changes to avoid billing issues and provide a good customer experience.

Furthermore, deploying software that will monitor the modifications performed in every consumer’s subscription plan will make the merchant’s reports and records updated. This will allow a more accurate forecast and reliable financial statement.