Five on Friday: Ebooks, Banking and Barber Shops

Featuring Apple, Zuora, Forbes and LinkedIn

We are just 10 days into the New Year, and the international headlines are grabbing everyone’s attention. Check out today’s Five on Friday for a pleasant distraction. In this week’s edition, the Boardroom Salon for Men has made unlimited haircuts possible with a barber shop membership in select markets; Zuora discusses its thoughts on how subscriptions might be the future of banking; Apple’s App Store made more than $50 billion last year, but can it keep up the pace; Forbes thinks the 2020s are finally the right time for ebooks; and LinkedIn shares top subscription jobs.

Get Unlimited Haircuts with a Barbershop Membership for Men

Banking and Barber Shops — Source: Boardroom Salon for Men

In a new twist on the membership model, we learned about the Boardroom Salon for Men from a reader (thank you for the tip!). This exclusive barbershop offers unlimited haircuts to help men stay well groomed and looking their best. Available in select locations in Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arizona and North Carolina, Boardroom Salon for Men offers three membership tiers available in three, six and 12-month packages:

The Express – unlimited number of The Express haircuts
The Executive – Unlimited number of The Benchmark haircuts
The CEO – The Executive + 12 hand or foot groomings, express shaves of Fountain of Youth Services

Three months of The Express, for example, costs $185. Discounts are offered for members who visit more frequently (weekly, every two weeks and every three weeks). These aren’t just haircuts though, says Boardroom, who got its start in 2004. They offer “the community and nostalgia of an old-time barbershop” as well as quality customer service and professionalism in a country club setting, complete with pool tables, chessboards and complimentary beverages.

Zuora: Are Subscriptions the Future of Banking?

Are subscriptions the future to banking? The idea seems a little futuristic at first glance, but John Phillips, general manager, EMEA, at Zuora, thinks we need to look at banking – and opportunities – differently. He says that banks today must adapt to meet the changing needs of a new generation of consumers if they want to remain relevant.

Phillips refers to a personal banking survey recently conducted by Zuora. He shares some interesting findings about UK banking customers:

52% of survey respondents said they would switch banks to get a free subscription service like Netflix or Spotify
Respondents also stated a preference for bundled offers including travel, car services, phone insurance and airline points as incentives.
Nearly 44% of consumers would consider changing banks on a subscription basis in exchange for personalized service bundles.
33% said they would switch banks for smartphone insurance, while 31% said they would switch for utility services.

These findings make consumers appear fickle, but are they? We don’t think so. Customers are paying bank fees for a variety of services – monthly service fees, wire transfers, returned check fees, excessive monthly transfers, etc. – and most banks offer the same services. Today’s consumer wants convenience and personalization, so the one-size-fits-all approach is no longer working. Banks can use subscription offerings and personalization as leverage to woo new clients and to retain existing ones. Read more on why Zuora’s Phillips believe that subscription services will be part of banking’s future on the Financial IT blog.

The App Store Finishes 2019 with More than an Estimated $50 Billion in Sales

Eager to kick off the new year strong, Apple shared some of its significant successes in 2019. Here are a few highlights:

Subscription service launches: Apple Arcade, Apple TV+ and Apple News+
Launch of the Apple payment card
More than ½ billion people from 155 countries visit the App Store each week
Since 2008, Apple has paid app developers over $155 billion, up from $120 billion.
The App Store had gross sales over $50 billion in 2019, according to CNBC.
Between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, customers spent $1.42 billion in the App Store.
The App Store had record-high single-day sales of $386 million on January 1, 2020.

“2019 was the biggest year for services in Apple’s history. We introduced several exciting new experiences for our customers, all while setting the standard for user privacy and security,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We begin the new decade with incredible momentum and gratitude to our customers who have shown such enthusiasm for all of our Services, and we continue to celebrate the work of the world’s best creators, storytellers, journalists and developers.”

Why Ebook Subscriptions Will Finally Make It in the 2020s

Ebooks have been around for years, and several companies have tried to make a go of ebook subscriptions. Some have made it (Scribd and Amazon), while others (Oyster) have tried and failed. Forbes thinks the tide will turn in the 2020s. In a January 3 column, “Why Ebook Subscription Services Will Finally Succeed in the Coming Decade,” Forbes contributor Bill Rosenblatt said subscriptions will be as popular as Spotify and Netflix.

Why haven’t they made it until now? Rosenblatt said that major trade book publishers (e.g., Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster) haven’t supported ebook subscriptions. Those five publishers alone represent about 60% of total U.S. book sales, said Rosenblatt. Without them on board, it has been challenging to provide enough inviting content to entice avid readers to subscribe to such a service. Rosenblatt believes the major publishers will come around, as they find ways to make this new model profitable.

“My belief is that the logjam will finally be broken sometime in the coming decade. First, publishers need to be convinced of the opportunity. Although many publishing people love to insist that book publishing is different from the music industry, publishers will not fail to notice that the majority of music industry revenue now comes from paid subscription services, and that the industry has returned to solid growth after years of decline and stagnation,” wrote Rosenblatt.

Amazon is setting a good example of how it can be done. Started 10 years ago, Amazon Publishing is now a leading publisher of trade fiction, nonfiction and children’s books with 16 different imprints. Though they only publish about 1,100 books a year – which is 400 to 900 less per year than a larger publishing house – Amazon is able to help authors make names for themselves while providing a wealth of subscription content for Kindle Unlimited, Prime Reading and the Prime Book Box for children.

Though Amazon has been successful with subscription services, Rosenblatt said he thinks publishers will prefer a plug-and-play solution rather than developing their own ebook subscriptions. Read more about Rosenblatt’s prediction on the future of ebook subscriptions on Forbes.

Linked In and House of Kaizen: Top Subscription Jobs

Product Optimization Manager
House of Kaizen
New York, New York

The role of the Product Manager is to determine issues in the user journey that affect sales, revenue and the customer experience, then define measurable solutions to optimize it. You will work with our clients on their value proposition, product positioning in the market, pricing, landing page experience, personalization strategy and overall content structure to build a product optimization roadmap. You will work collaboratively with our client’s senior stakeholders to obtain buy-in on strategic recommendations and set a product plan to execute optimizations. You will oversee product optimization roadmaps for some of our top clients. You will work closely with research to uncover insights about the client’s businesses and customers. You will use problem-solving skills to develop hypotheses that create the best customer experiences and also achieve our client’s business objectives. Read more.

Senior Product Manager – Subscription Boxes
Amazon
Seattle, WA

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Product Manager to own demand generation focusing on building the features to drive program awareness and product discovery. You will work directly with internal stakeholders (business owners, engineers, marketers, operations, and more) to build experiences that will help scale our already rapidly growing business more quickly. Subscription Boxes are an exciting new space at Amazon with the ability to disrupt product discovery and curation while creating long-term recurring revenue and new and different brand building capabilities for our selling partners. You will be responsible for building features foundational to our business and working across Amazon with teams to integrate into some of the most critical features to Amazon as a whole. Read more.

Director, Fan Engagement ESPN+
Disney Streaming Services
New York, NY

The responsibilities of the director of fan engagement include:

Develop insights from data, analytics and research with the Data team to drive programs, concepts, product and editorial to maximize engagement of ESPN+ subscribers.
Ensure collaboration with all relevant groups at DSS and at ESPN including product, programming, production and both ESPN+ and Performance marketing to drive engagement
Collaborate on the implementation of product, content and marketing engagement programs across the appropriate group(s)
Ensure timetables for reviewing plans with GM ESPN+ are met by working group.
Implement plans and measure effectiveness of each component to ensure refinement and performance evaluation.
Work closely with both DSS Data and ESPN Research teams as well as product and technology to ensure we have tooled ESPN Digital Products to maximize data, feedback and measurement of efforts to drive engagement
Ensure tracking is in place for key efforts

Dana E. Neuts

Dana Neuts is Subscription Insider's Editorial Director, covering our daily subscription news as well as member features, case studies, premium content, and reports. Dana is also a writer, editor, marketer and communications professional. Her work has appeared in AARP Bulletin, The Seattle Times, Seattle Business, 425 Business, 425 Magazine, South Sound Magazine, Northwest Travel and more. Her specialties include business writing, community news, senior issues, travel and, of course, subscriptions!