Amazon Subscribe Sets New Stage for Publishers
Amazon just launched a new service that placed the company in the perfect position to complete their dominance in yet another industry – Amazon Subscribe. This new service intends on providing a digital platform for publishers to offer their digital subscription to Amazon’s entire consumer base. Although Amazon has been notoriously leading the digital revolution with items like the Kindle and other e-Readers, the newsstand and subscription industry may actually sustain in the age of paperless books – thanks to their biggest enemy.
Amazon recently “returned to its roots”, so to speak, by opening several brand new retail bookstores. This unique tactic allowed Amazon to re-enter the publishing industry on a retail level, which initially has every e-commerce expert shocked. Brick-and-mortar bookstores? Why?
It’s true that Amazon actually opened five out of six planned brick-and-mortar retail bookstores over the past 8 months, which brings us back to 1994 when Amazon first launched as an online bookstore. Industry experts believe that Amazon plans to scale this venture and open more locations throughout the US.
Amazon’s unique way of re-entering the book industry combines these brick-and-mortar bookstore with a brand new service: Amazon Subscribe. The company plans to dominate even further by opening hundreds of bookstores throughout the US and eventually on a global level – all of which will be complemented by the new Subscribe with Amazon service.
Amazon Partners with Top Publications
Major distributors (including TNG) are already lining up to supply magazines to the new Amazon bookstores. In the past few years, many publishing industry professionals have realized that their jobs may very well be obsolete in the near future. Is it possible that Amazon, one of the major players behind the rapid decline of print publications, might actually save the industry from going completely under?
“Subscribe With Amazon” announced its official launch in a press release from Business Wire on April 24th. By catering to both content publishers and readers alike, this feature has already signed on with major digital subscription brands. Top names including LegalZoom, The Princeton Review, Consumer Reports , The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and Dropbox have already signed on. The new service is still accepting new applications at www.SubscribeWithAmazon.com.
How do potential candidates know if they’re eligible to sell through this part of the marketplace? There are three current points listed as the criteria for a successful application. If you’d like to apply to sell your subscription based item, here’s the criteria you’ll need to meet:
- Your subscription may include items such as a digital download, app, website or software product
- Your business address must be officially registered in the United States
- You collect your profit by recurring fees paid by your customers for the product or service provided
Setting Up Your Subscribe with Amazon Account
- Apply online and wait for an email approval from the Subscribe with Amazon team
- Once approved, publishers can create their product detail page and list tiers such as premium subscription, introductory rates and free trial offers
- API integration from Amazon Subscribe offer a wide range of benefits for both publishers and readers
- For each subscriber’s first year, publishers receive 70% of the transaction.
- After a customer renews a yearly subscription, the profit increases to 85% of each transaction.
So ultimately, the amount of money you receive from Subscribe with Amazon is based on how much your buyers value their subscription. We’re eager to see how Amazon Subscribe works out for both readers and publishers alike. Will the service be the savior of publishing – or the nail in the coffin?