Subscriptions: the (not so) secret weapon of e-commerce and SaaS

How to structure a profitable and manageable recurring business

Stop the revenue roller coaster. Traditional transactional models, with their monthly ups and downs, wear on managers' nerves. Meanwhile, those who have understood the potential of the subscription model undoubtedly sleep better at night.

And for good reason: Subscription-based commerce isn't just for beauty boxes or online media anymore. Today, it applies to almost everything—from coffee to B2B software to cat food.

But here's the thing: while recurrence is attractive, its implementation, management and profitability require a real strategy... and the right tools.

Why subscription models are exploding

On the customer side, the subscription offers many advantages:

• practicality (no need to think about it every month),

• loyalty (we stay longer when it's smooth),

• personalization (automatically adjusted offers).

From a business perspective, it is above all a predictable, measurable and controllable model . We are talking about monthly recurring revenue (MRR), acquisition cost (CAC), churn, and above all Lifetime Value (LTV).

Predictable income and financial stability

Indeed, for businesses, subscriptions provide regular and predictable revenue streams. This financial stability obviously facilitates strategic planning, investment in innovation, and service improvement.

Reduction of acquisition costs

Acquiring new customers is a significant cost. Subscriptions help maximize customer lifetime value (LTV) by extending the length of the business relationship.

Increased loyalty

Additionally, a subscribed customer is more likely to remain loyal, thus reducing churn. Companies can thus reduce their acquisition costs while increasing profitability.

Scalability and accelerated growth

Businesses adopting subscription models experience significantly faster growth than those using traditional models. An analysis of 150 cases in the B2B sector reveals that this growth can be up to three times higher, highlighting the effectiveness and relevance of subscriptions for both SaaS and eCommerce businesses.

Platforms and tools that make subscription management easier

While the subscription model offers many advantages, it's important to use the right tool for its deployment and day-to-day management. Here, we've selected several tools that specifically address the challenges of subscriptions for SaaS and eCommerce businesses.

Chargebee

Chargebee is a cloud-based subscription management platform that automates recurring billing, revenue management, and related operations. It's also one of our favorite apps at Blendy .

It offers features such as rate plan management, automatic billing, free trial and discount management, and a self-service portal for customers.

Chargebee integrates with numerous payment systems and third-party apps, facilitating seamless subscription management for businesses of all sizes. The app also comes natively integrated with Pennylane, allowing for automated invoicing and payment processes.

ProAbono

ProAbono is a French solution that automates subscription management and billing for SaaS businesses. It offers an automated online subscription process, subscriber lifecycle management, a self-service customer portal, and offer personalization tools.

ProAbono also facilitates integration with other applications via RESTful APIs, enabling secure communication between systems.

Recurly

Recurly is a subscription management and recurring billing platform that powers over 30 million subscriptions for global businesses. It offers features such as subscription plan management, automatic invoicing, payment and reminder management, and detailed subscriber and revenue analytics.

Recurly integrates with various payment solutions and other tools, providing flexibility for businesses to efficiently manage their subscriptions.

Subbly

Less well-known, Subbly was designed specifically for selling boxes and physical products. This platform is 100% dedicated to subscription sales. It's a solution perfectly suited to the challenges of DNVBs or cCommerce players who want to centralize everything without having to code.

The real challenge: managing your profitability (and not just sending invoices)

Creating a subscription is one thing. Knowing if your model is profitable is another.

The mistake we see too often: rejoicing in having 1,000 subscribers... without knowing if they cover the logistics, acquisition or after-sales service costs.

A good subscription model is built with a real financial vision: cash forecasts, churn monitoring, net margin per customer, etc. And here, Excel files quickly show their limitations.

Thus, the subscription model is clearly attractive, but also requires a management rigor that not all companies yet have.

How Blendy helps you implement rigorous management

At Blendy, English-speaking French CPA, we've been supporting SaaS and e-commerce businesses looking to build a robust, scalable subscription model for over 12 years. Our favorite combination for this? Pennylane (or QuickBooks), for accounting connected to sales tools, and Finthesis, for real-time indicator visualization.

With these tools, we help our clients to:

• track MRR vs churn at a glance,

• anticipate cash flow needs related to subscriptions ,

• measure the real profitability of each offer,

• and structure accurate monthly financial reporting.

Conclusion: Subscription, yes, but not blindly

Adopting a subscription model can transform your business… provided you manage it rigorously.

At Blendy, our role as CPA and strategic partner is to help you structure this model to get the most out of it, without drowning you in tools or dashboards.

Want to manage your growth with rigor and clarity?

Are you considering switching to a subscription or optimizing your existing system? Schedule an appointment with a Blendy expert to set up smart, agile budget management that's 100% connected to your reality.

Let's conect!

With Blendy, international accountant based in France take advantage of all digital accounting to accelerate your financial process and develop your business.

Pennylane, Dext, QuickBooks and Stripe certified, we support digital, e-Commerce, IT services, SaaS companies in France and internationally.