Paying your freelancers, vendors, and contractors is a breeze when you use Stripe. But what about recurring subscription billing of your product or service? The options are limited and cumbersome. Here are some billing solutions that will make your life easier.
Invoicing
Invoicing is one of the most critical areas of your business. You need to invoice customers, partners, and suppliers regularly. As a subscription business, you can also use invoices as an opportunity to reinforce your brand values through design and messaging. And it will help you maintain good relationships with customers by reminding them when they’re due for payment or renewal.
Credit card gateways
Credit card gateways are the most common way to accept credit cards, but they’re also one of the most cost-effective and reliable. They’re a good choice if you want to ensure your business can accept payments efficiently and securely—but don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it.
These services allow you to connect directly with your customers’ financial institutions, so there’s no need for them to enter their details manually or fill out lengthy forms, which are not exactly user-friendly. Instead, they’ll be redirected automatically by the gateway service when they purchase on your site.
Subscription management platforms
Subscription management platform (SMPs) are a set of tools that help you manage your subscription billing. They can come in the form of software, web applications, or services, and they can help you to manage everything from customer acquisition to customer service. These platforms also provide access to analytics tools and reporting capabilities for your business.
The benefits of SMPs include:
- Increased sales and reduced churn
- Integration with third-party systems (e.g., CRM)
- Better customer experience
Third-party add-ons to your e-commerce platform
As you can see, there are several ways to get started with subscription billing. If you’re just getting started, it’s probably best to start with a payment gateway. This will give you the ability to accept payments from customers and provide them with an easy way to reach out if they need help canceling or changing their subscriptions.
Once you’ve established some revenue and have decided on how much capital (and time) you want to invest in growing your subscription business, however, it may make sense for your business model to move up the “stack” towards more advanced solutions like a SaaS-based platform or even developing custom software specifically designed for subscription management.
Payment facilitator or aggregator
Payment facilitators or aggregators are third-party services that handle subscription billing. They are typically used when a business needs to accept multiple payment methods, such as credit cards, PayPal and Apple Pay. They are also good choices for businesses that don’t want to deal with the hassle of setting up their recurring payments system and want to add a layer of security for their customers by handling all transactions themselves.
Payment facilitators charge transaction fees for every payment they process on your behalf, so you should be careful not only about how many subscriptions you offer but also about how much each one costs in terms of fees paid out over time.
Conclusion
Now that you know your options, it’s time to make a decision. There are many factors to consider when choosing a payment gateway for subscription billing, such as the cost to set up and maintain each system, as well as its compatibility with other systems or platforms. You should also consider whether or not the setup process will be difficult for your team members who are new or inexperienced with these types of systems—and if they have time available in their schedules to complete this work.
