訂書訂報訂基因組測序 訂閱式經濟翻開新篇章

You’ve heard of the sharing economy? How about the subscription economy?

你一定聽說過共享經濟吧？那麼你知道訂閱式經濟嗎？

It’s actually not that new: Businesses have been selling monthly subscriptions for all sorts of goods and services for years—magazines like Fortune come to mind. But more recently, all sorts of unexpected industries have started dabbling in subscription-based business models, offering anything from online software to toothbrushes to genome sequencing for a flat monthly fee.

實際上，這種模式並不新鮮：多年以來，許多公司一直在銷售按月訂閱的各種商品和服務，比如《財富》雜誌（Fortune）。但最近，各種令人意想不到的行業紛紛開始採用訂閱式商業模式，按每月固定費率提供從在線軟件到牙刷，再到基因組測序等各種商品和服務。

One of the companies leading this charge is Zuora, a Foster City, Calif.-based startup founded by former WebEx and CRM 0.84% executives. The company sells software that helps other firms move towards a subscription-based revenue business model, including tools for billing, accounting and analytics. This week, Zuora unveiled the latest version of what it calls “relationship business management” software—a suite that lets companies transition and maintain a shift from a traditional to a subscription-based revenue model. (And yes, Zuora sells its product on a subscription basis.)

而這方面的領軍者之一是來自加州福斯特市的初創公司祖睿科技（Zuora）。這家公司由原網訊公司（WebEx）和客戶關係管理服務公司的高管們組建而成。它銷售的軟件幫助其他公司進一步推行訂閱式商業模式，包括計費、會計和分析工具。本週，祖睿科技推出了最新版的“業務關係管理”軟件——這套軟件幫助公司完成從傳統收入模式向訂閱式收入模式的轉變。（沒錯，祖睿科技也是採用訂閱的方式銷售自己產品。）

“[Relationship business management solutions] are an emerging class of software focused on building, managing and optimizing the ongoing customer relationships that are the lifeblood of a subscription businesses,” the company says in a recent press release.

這家公司在最近的新聞發佈會中表示：“（業務關係管理解決方案）是一種聚焦於建立、管理和優化訂閱式企業生命線，也就是動態客戶關係的新興系列軟件。”

But the real news is that more and more industries are dipping their toes—a rare few even jumping in head-first—to a subscription-based, recurring revenue model. At an event hosted by Zuora this week, several of these companies came together to discuss the shifting landscape and its opportunities and challenges. At the obvious top of the subscription-based model list are cloud software companies like and Box, which have always charged a monthly per-user fee for their online enterprise products. But this week’s event was also attended by a telecom firm, an online toothbrush seller and a biotechnology company, among others. Their reasoning? People today would rather subscribe to services than pony up the cash to own products.

但真正的新聞在於，越來越多的行業正在涉足訂閱式經常性收入模式，雖然很少有公司會不計後果地跳進來。在本週祖睿科技舉辦的一次活動上，幾家進行這類嘗試的公司共同討論了模式轉變的趨勢，以及所面臨的機遇與挑戰。訂閱式商業模式處於領先的是雲服務公司和Box，他們從最開始便採取對用戶按月收費的方式。但在本週的活動上，還出現了一家電信公司，一家在線牙刷經銷商，以及一家生物科技公司。他們爲什麼也來參加此次活動呢？如今，人們寧願訂閱服務，也不願意支付現金來購買產品。

Innovators like Netflix NFLX 0.42% , Zipcar CAR 2.28% and Spotify have certainly proven that subscriptions can work for more than just software. Should all industries make the switch?

奈飛（Netflix）、網上租車公司Zipcar和流媒體服務公司Spotify等創新型公司，已經證明了訂閱不僅僅適用於軟件行業。那麼，是不是所有行業都應該轉變商業模式？

The answer is complicated. Subscriptions should certainly be an option for consumers, regardless of the product type. Consumer behavior, especially among younger people, is changing, and the need to own and house goods—from music to cars to physical documents—is waning. While Wall Street grapples with how to evaluate some of the subscription-only companies (à la Box), it has clearly worked up an appetite for a recurring revenue model that gives companies all sorts of new ways to engage with old and new customers. But transitioning isn’t easy, and each company needs to evaluate the needs of its customer base—and how subscriptions could potentially open the door to new users.

這個問題比較複雜。不論哪種產品，訂閱都只是消費者的一種選擇。消費者的行爲在不斷變化，尤其是年輕一代消費者。不論是音樂、汽車還是物理文檔，對消費者來說，擁有和儲存商品的必要性正在減弱。華爾街對於如何評估以訂閱爲唯一收入來源的公司一直存在爭議，但它作爲一種經常性收入模式卻引起了人們濃厚的興趣，因爲這種收入模式可以給所有類型的公司提供一種新的方式，吸引新老客戶。要完成轉變卻並不容易，每家公司必須評估各自客戶羣體的需求，以及如何通過訂閱來吸引新用戶。

Case in point: Last year, Adobe Systems ADBE 2.20% decided to transition its software suite for creatives to the cloud. The move was far from flawless—a recent hours-long outage irked users—but the results have mostly been positive. The company says 20% of customers that are purchasing the updated online tools weren’t Adobe customers before the switch. And now that the software is cloud-based, Adobe can better track how customers are using it and constantly push updates to individual users.

這方面有一個很好的例子：去年，Adobe系統公司（Adobe Systems）決定將創意軟件套件向雲軟件轉型。這次轉型談不上完美——最近一次長達數小時的服務中斷令用戶大爲惱火——但結果總體令人滿意。這家公司表示，購買升級版在線工具的消費者有20%是轉型之後的新客戶。通過轉型雲軟件業務，Adobe可以更好地跟蹤用戶對產品的使用，向用戶持續推送軟件更新。

“We were really trapped inside the box that we shipped—both literally and figuratively,” David Wadhwani, SVP and GM of Adobe’s digital media division, said at this week’s event. (Adobe is not a Zuora customer.)

在本週的活動上，Adobe系統公司高級副總裁兼數字媒體部門總經理戴維o瓦德瓦尼說：“過去，我們真的是被我們自己的包裝盒給困住了，無論是盒子本身，還是象徵意義上的盒子來說，都是如此。”（Adobe不是祖睿科技的客戶。）

Other companies who have made the switch have found they’re able to attract a broader customer base by offering a subscription-based model, which has a much lower upfront cost to consumers. But the transition is sometimes easier on the customer than on the company, where the transformation to a new business model can be incredibly disruptive to the way sales and marketing is run. (Incentivizing and commissioning salespeople with this model is particularly challenging).

其他完成轉型的公司發現，通過提供訂閱模式可以吸引更多客戶，因爲在該模式中，消費者的預付成本更低。但有時候，消費者的轉變要比公司轉型容易得多。公司採用新業務模式對銷售和市場營銷的運營模式帶來的顛覆性乾煸超乎人們的想象。（在這種模式下，對銷售人員進行物質激勵和任命，尤其具有挑戰性。）

“It is an organizational issue,” says Mark Field, CTO and VP of software services at LifeTech, a biotech company owned by Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO 0.68% . “Our processes were set up to support selling instruments.”

商務科技公司LifeTech首席技術官兼軟件服務副總裁馬克o菲爾德認爲：“這是一個組織結構問題。我們流程的最終目的是要爲儀器銷售提供支持。”LifeTech公司的母公司是賽默飛世爾科技公司（Thermo Fisher Scientific）。

Zuora and its investors are, of course, extremely bullish on the growth of the subscription economy, and believe there are lots of untapped industries that will also jump on the bandwagon, from manufacturing to legal services to education. And even if you’re not buying your toothbrush via a monthly subscription service, chances are you’re already part of the subscription economy yourself. The way we consume movies, listen to music, or even drive around in cars, is changing. Zuora hopes the trend will continue.

當然，祖睿科技及其投資者非常看好訂閱式經濟的發展前景。他們相信，不論是製造業、法律服務業還是教育行業，這些未經開發的行業也將跟隨潮流。即便你沒有通過按月訂閱服務購買牙刷，但你可能早已成爲訂閱式經濟的一份子。我們看電影、聽音樂或駕車出行的方式正在發生變化。祖睿科技希望，這個趨勢能夠持續下去。