The recurring customer

The recurring customer – A new chapter in family planning.

Just like Nintendo changed the at home experience, advances in technology changed everyday life. For example, the drive through, or alternatives to cash payments. Those are very basic examples, but in the beginning of the tech boom, it was about convenience. And one of those conveniences was the debit card. It’s possible that someone reading this can’t remember a world without debit cards. It was a different world back then.

For starters, the only recurring payment plans involved writing paper checks. Or handing over cash. In the days of the first Nintendo home entertainment gaming console, electronic funds were nonexistent. Every transaction was cash or check. Furthermore, hand written checks had an edge on today’s system. They put financial accountability front and center. In fact, there were credit cards back then, but they also had a paper backed system.

It’s a blast from the past to see one of those things now. However, back then, it was the norm. Things were handwritten. Signatures were actually obtained. And they were expected in ink. It was painfully slow. Yet, it was simple. Furthermore, it was genuine. And it was basically just another way to pay. Families were accustomed to making payments. Although recurring payments were still a thing of the future.

With the invention of the internet many things changed. Especially for the family. Once again, the goal of convenience and getting more done in less time, inspired new ways of doing things. One of the first things to open up was electronic banking. To say that the debit card revolutionized payment systems, is a bit of an understatement. However, it didn’t start out simple. In fact, it took some time for the concept, and the technology, to catch on.

Furthermore, there were fewer banking options. The brick and mortar banks still had the edge. Therefore, it took visiting a physical location, to do banking business. For example, moving money from the savings account to the checking account. Simple operation in today’s world. But in the days before the debit card, it meant driving to the bank. It was a purposeful errand. And it required planning.

No one wanted a check to bounce. And while overdraft fees are not as common in today’s world, back then they could be devastating. Furthermore, no one wanted to lose a membership, or incur overdraft fees because of an error in timing. And it happened more and more as the world of online services began to grow. For the family planning aspect of everyday life, this was less than convenient. Enter the concept of the recurring customer.

A New Chapter

The actual concept of the recurring customer isn’t new. However, the methods and techniques of marketing and sales, evolve. And through technology, targeting becomes more specific. Sometimes systems are developed to maximize the potential of a convenient idea. Then those systems evolve, and become the new normal. Having to remember to write a check each month, and then send it so that it arrives on time seems archaic, and slow, compared to today’s options.

Today’s world has the automatic debit option for almost every service available. Furthermore, the recurring payment plan covers just about every subscription service, old and new. And just about everything in today’s online world, requires some kind of recurring subscription. With that kind of convenience, family planning also evolved.

With this in mind, the original concept of value changed dramatically. For example, the original Nintendo. It was a standalone entertainment system. In other words, it was a one time investment that kept giving long after the initial cost. If the owner of a Nintendo wanted additional games they could be purchased at the local store. One time only. After the purchase, the owner of the Nintendo could play the game as often as they wanted.

The Recurring Payment In Family Planning

The standalone gaming system is a relic of the past. It’s almost impossible to comprehend an at home gaming system that doesn’t have an online community in today’s world. Likewise, an online membership fee just to play the game. The standalone gaming system was a one time expense that returned value for as long as the gaming system continued to work.

It is the concept of the recurring payment that influenced a change, not in the products, but in the way the products can be used. Suddenly it was the monthly service that was for sale. The gaming system is still a one time purchase. However, it doesn’t work without the recurring monthly payment. Neither does the doorbell. Or the satellite radio in the car. The concept of the recurring customer is in almost every facet of daily life.

Furthermore, the impact it has on family planning is no longer noticed. It gets lost in the new, more convenient ways to pay. Recurring payments can become so routine that people forget about them. It’s a budgeting phenomenon when people take the time to go through all the online subscriptions they have. Because much of the time they save a considerable amount of money from canceling recurring payments for subscriptions, and services, that they no longer use.

Family Planning

It’s a case of convenience being so convenient it actually costs more. For example, the subscription to that daily horoscope site that only costs a $1.99 a month. If it’s one of three different subscriptions, that’s an additional $6 per month expense. That’s $72 over the course of a year. Not a huge amount over the course of a year. But certainly so, if unaware of the subscriptions. That’s a drawback to the recurring payment model. It’s inexorable if forgotten.

The standalone gaming system was the best value. A magazine subscription was a great value because of the monthly magazine. It was something tangible and real. It didn’t take the membership fee for the magazine to work. The recurring payment plan may have been about convenience, but it had trouble giving the same value. Thanks for reading.

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