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Subscription Services, Bots: Hot New Trends for 2018?
Posted On 26 Dec 2017
As we move into the final week of 2017, listicles abound — “Top 10 Whatevers” and the “5 Biggest Deals in Blah Blah.” Be they summary or predictive, you get the idea.
In many ways, Entrepreneur.com’s “8 Tech Trends to Keep Your Eye on in 2018” is par for the course coverage this time of year. Amidst blockchain decentralization and the mainstreaming of VR – Will 2018 finally be the year?! – there were, however, two very interesting predictions: chatbots and the subscription model.
Chatbots and subscription model billing and consumption are not new, like, at all. Advances in technology and current cultural trends, however, may have injected new relevance into these familiar ideas.
Consider what Entrepreneur said about chatbots:
Enterprise applications of messaging bots seem poised to have a tangible impact on the software space, as more companies invest in developing their own consumer-facing bots. Chatbots, at the most simplistic level, are front-end interfaces for companies to communicate with their customers. More advanced bots leverage artificial intelligence to provide enriching and interactive user experiences…
Expect to see companies across all industries, including hospitality, dining and travel, create bots for customer support, sales and marketing services.
The most significant dimension about this particular prediction is not that bots are cool or that bots can learn stuff via AI, but that people may be ready to embrace bots in a more seamless manner than ever before – or, so it’s implied.
Consequently, whereas veiled dating bots or years prior may not have been the best space to utilize this form of automation, 2018 may be the year for this sort of understood “customer service” in adult. Similarly, cultural readiness – or, re-readiness in this case – may be a tipping point factor in subscription model billing and consumption.
You may have noticed that subscription model billing and consumption have been making a huge resurgence in a variety of industries. According to Entrepreneur, many companies are starting up with or switching to recurring revenue models. You can have clothes, groceries and other household supplies, makeup and more delivered directly to your doorstep on any number of recurring timetables. Subscriptions can be “off the rack” or tailored to needs and tastes over time.
Though subscription model billing and consumption are just about as old skool as something can get, especially in adult, the resurgence in popularity and expansion of goods available is undeniable.
Performer Dani Daniels seems to be the first adult industry personality getting in on one contemporary version of the subscription model via her curated “DD Box.” Slated to begin shipping in February 2018, each DD Box will contain four to six items, a variety of sex toys, lube, condoms and restraints, as well as things like ties, hats, pins and other fashion items. Boxes will cost $25 a month, with changing monthly themes like the “Date Night Box” and the “Get Over Your Ex Box.”
As more and more consumers (re)embrace the idea of subscription goods, the possibilities here are truly endless — from curated lube samplings to monthly consumer toy testing and more.
More information about Daniels’ DD Boxes is available at DDBoxxx.com, which forwards to her Indiegogo campaign.
Further, the subscription model is being applied more widely than just to physical good. Most internet companies are operating under a “Software as a Service” (SaaS) model, where you pay a monthly fee on a recurring cycle for a service. For content producers, the SaaS model is
Entrepreneur suggested we can expect to see startups expand their subscription businesses into more verticals and to start specializing, which again is a consumption trend to consider when conceptualizing and planning future product, line or service launches.
Image via barun patro.
