Columbus, OH — The recent shift towards subscription offerings in the consumer marketplace is a trend that doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Your food, movies, and even your pet’s treats are delivered right to your door. This growing form of buying power has attracted business from every avenue, and now, thanks to Volvo, you can drive your subscription car down that avenue.
Earlier last month Volvo unveiled its new Care by Volvo subscription service. This new approach to car buying has interesting benefits that may make it more appealing to customers. You pay the same price, no matter where you get your car, and you have the same monthly rate as everyone else. Your subscription covers insurance, maintenance, and a 15,000-mile allowance. Currently, you can choose between the S60 sedan or the XC40 compact SUV. The subscription has 2-tiers, Momentum and R-Design. The latter is pricier, but it adds some nice touches to the car. By far one of the biggest benefits of the new subscription service is the ability to upgrade your car every year, rather than wait for your 2- or 3-year lease to expire. Not only can you upgrade your car every year, but you can also do it from the comfort of your couch either online or through the Care by Volvo app.
Like many subscription services before it, Care by Volvo is aiming to eliminate all of the car-buying aches and pains by simplifying the entire process start to finish. Users know they aren’t getting swindled by a smooth-talking salesman, they’ll always have the newest model, and they won’t have to worry if something breaks. All of these combined create a new type of car shopping experience, and time will tell whether or not it’s an experience people prefer.
Why This Matters—
As more and more spaces move towards subscription services, the way they structure their services will become the differentiator. Healthcare hasn’t been immune to the subscription bug, with direct primary care and “luxury concierge” options for at-home care. These services touch on a lot of the same things as Volvo’s convenience, personalization, pricing options, and the ability to do it from the comfort of your own home.
Subscription offerings also help more than just the patient. According to pymnts.com, it can help employers save 10-40% on insurance costs and will relieve some of the stress on physicians in the current format.
Another place in healthcare that the trend is popping up is in the prescription marketplace. The Pill Club is a subscription service tailored to making the process of getting and receiving a new birth control prescription as simple as possible. As more and more companies try their hand at subscriptions for their products and services, we’ll start to get a better idea of what formats work best for which market. Until then, we’ll be waiting on our next month’s supply of healthy snacks.
