10 Best Ecommerce Platforms for Subscriptions in 2024

Quick Summary: Starting an eCommerce business is full of challenges. Business owners always struggle to find the right features and platforms to support their online business.

One business model gaining massive popularity in eCommerce nowadays is the Subscription business model. The model opens up all the platform’s premium features for a fixed subscription fee.

We have listed the ten best eCommerce platforms you can use to launch your online business asap.

What is a Subscription Service?

In the Subscription service model, companies collect recurring payments or fees from users for the services they offer. In other words, people pay a monthly, quarterly, or annual fee to enjoy the platform services.

The significant benefit of the subscription model for business owners is it helps them retain customers on a longer basis. Once a user subscribes to the platform, they are likely to stick to it. Business owners can offer different services to the users and boost repeated sales.

Types of eCommerce subscriptions

Subscription eCommerce services majorly have three main types:

1. Replenishment Subscriptions

Users’ daily needs fall under this category, for instance, laundry detergents or beauty products. Users who subscribe can enjoy benefits like each day or on-demand delivery. So users do not have to bother about weekly or monthly refills. Replenishment subscriptions offer discounts and special offers to users for repeated orders.

2. Curation subscriptions

Another exciting and hugely growing subscription type is the box subscription. The subscription users get a monthly or quarterly box containing different curated products. The products may range from clothes, skincare products, educational games, etc.

One example of curated subscriptions is the Subscription box for kids that contains different educational products. From books to toys, flashcards to puzzles, the subscription box forms complete learning for kids in a fun way.

3. Access subscriptions

The most rapidly growing subscription type is the access subscription. The users can access the software or streaming services for a monthly or annual fee, For example, Netflix, Spotify, and Shopify.

Access subscriptions got in massive demand during and post-pandemic due to lockdown and social distancing norms. For many, Netflix originals, Amazon shows, or web series are a part of the routine.

Key features of a subscription eCommerce platform

Before choosing a subscription eCommerce platform for your business, consider if it offers the following features:

Automatic payment

The subscribers need not manually pay the subscription fee each time. The platform automatically collects payments without their involvement.

Subscription management for subscribers

If subscribers do not want to continue the services, they can cancel or unsubscribe anytime. Further, any subscriber can renew their subscription anytime they want to.

Payment gateway integration

The platform should support multiple payment gateways. It will enable subscribers to pay in any convenient payment method.

Popular Subscription Businesses

Adobe

Earlier, Adobe offered its Creative Suite package ( Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator) for purchase at $1299. Recently, the company switched to a subscription business model. Now the users can access the package for a monthly fee of $50.

The switch proved profitable for Adobe as they gained more users. Further, users spend more on the subscription package than the earlier amount.

Many companies like Microsoft now accept the Subscription model as the standard business model.

Dollar Shave Club

The company is giving tough competition to Gillette and Wilkinson Sword- its traditional competitors. The company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and free shipping over $30. Further, users can cancel the subscription anytime they want.

The company offers beauty tool kits, facial cleansers, shampoos, and soaps. Users can choose when and how frequently they want to get these products to their doorsteps.

FabFitFun

FabFitFun sends a pack of eight to ten beauty or wellness products to subscribers four times a year as part of the subscription service.

The package offers products worth $200 for a subscription of $50.

Users can pay for boxes every quarter or once a year. Users who take up annual subscriptions get a higher discount.

Netflix

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming platforms and is an excellent example of the success of the subscription model. The charge for the standard Netflix plan is $13. The platform enjoys over 200 million users, and thus other big companies like Amazon and Disney plan to adopt the subscription model.

Spotify

Spotify ranks among the top audio streaming apps and has over 130 million monthly active users. Though Spotify is free to use and download, users who want advanced features like no ads, unlimited downloads, etc.

Users from over 75 countries listen to Spotify for music, podcasts, or audiobooks. Further, the app has nearly 100 million premium subscription users worldwide.

10 best Subscription E – Commerce Plateforms

1. Magento

Regarding eCommerce subscriptions, Magento is one of the best eCommerce platforms for 2022. With over 10,000 stores, the open-source platform offers many benefits. Magento is written in PHP and is highly flexible and scalable.

You can use Magento in two available options:

Open Source:

It is entirely free for download and installation. However, business owners must pay for the hosting and domain price.

Pricing: Free

Magento Commerce:

It is a premium version of Magento Open Source. The premium version offers a complete set of features to help them run their eCommerce business.

Pricing: from $22,000/year

Magento offers many subscription offers and recurring payment extensions. The prices range from $299 to $1400 with different extensions. The platform manages the reorders automatically. Users have to pay the extension fee once. There is no need for renewal for the next period. Though each extension offers different features, the core usage of Magento Subscriptions is the same for all.

Let us look at the core usage:

• Magento is fully compatible with Magento 2 (Open source & eCommerce)
• Create, manage, and edit different subscription plans and customer information.
• Subscription offers special offers like free shipping and trials, discounts, etc.
• Integration of multiple payment gateways.

Pros

• A wide choice of Subscription extensions in the Magento marketplace.
• No additional fee for extensions.

Cons

• Extensions Cost too high.

2. Shopify

Shopify App store offers many tools and features to make setting up an eCommerce business easier. Business owners can sign up for the Shopify subscription and create a Shopify Store. They can also go for a 14-day trial to get used to the platform.

Shopify offers three basic, Standard, and advanced plans ranging from $29 to $299.

The two highly recommended subscriptions include- Bold and Subscriptions by ReCharge.

Bold Subscriptions

With Bold Subscriptions, one can sell recurring orders & subscription boxes. Business owners can easily create individual subscriptions within a few clicks. They can integrate them with their Shopify online store.

Look at the features:

• The platform forecasts revenue and inventory.
• Business owners can access robust analytics tools and get reports.
• Get email alerts for low stock.
• Complete control over language and styling of product pages to checkout.
• Auto-payment renewals with many payment gateways.

Pricing:

Shopify offers three plans including monthly and transaction fees. Users can also take up a 14-day free trial The three plans are:

• Basic: $29/month
• Shopify: $79/month
• Advanced: $299/month

Further, users can leverage advanced features to their Shopify subscription service.

Pros

• Beginners can easily use Shopify. No need to learn.
• Many subscription apps with additional features.
• Multiple payment gateways and integrations

Cons

• App pricing rises with a transaction fee. It leads to an increase in the overall budget.

3. WIX

Wix is one of the popular CMS that offers a simple drag-and-drop facility to build websites. Wix eCommerce by Wix offers trending features to support online business. The platform is friendly to use and suits the budget of all business sizes and types. Startups and small enterprises can establish their eCommerce business without much investment.

Pricing

Wix offers three different subscription plans- Basic, Business Unlimited, and Business VIP Plan.

• Basic: $17/month
• Unlimited: $25/month
• VIP: $35/month

Pros

• Simple and friendly platform.
• No need to learn to code.
• Affordable Pricing
• Flexible subscription options.

Cons

• Limited payment providers. Wix supports- Wix Payments, Wix Payment Brazil, Isracard, Stripe, and PayPal.

4. BigCommerce

Another best eCommerce subscription platform that provides a 360-degree solution for your eCommerce business. The Saas-based eCommerce platform provides mid-market and enterprise-level solutions.

Along with offering premium features, the platform also offers an easy start for businesses to start and scale quickly.

Pricing:

• Standard: $29.95/month
• Plus: $79.95/month
• Pro: $299.95/month
• Enterprise: Contact

BigCommerce does not offer built-in subscription features. Yet business owners can integrate subscription services and recurring payments at the store. Companies can partner with third-party payment providers and start offering subscription products.

Pros

• Ready platform with SEO support.
• Affordable Pricing plans (no additional fee)

Cons

• After reaching a specific sales amount, users need to upgrade to an expensive plan.

5. Shift4Shop

Shift4Shop is made keeping customers and their needs in mind. The newcomers in the eCommerce business can easily set up their business on Shift4Shop. The top eCommerce subscription platform offers an intuitive dashboard, SEO tools, and a variety of fully customizable themes.

Pricing:

• Basic store: $29/month
• Plus store: $79/month
• Pro store: $229/month

Another advantage of the platform is that it has built-in subscription features. Users do not need to pay an additional fee for subscriptions. Further, users can enjoy complete features to start their business in minutes.

• Full recurring order system
• Secure & automatic recurring billing
• Tokenized payment gateways
• Full reports on all subscriptions
• Customer account and subscription management
• Flexible discounts for subscribers

Pros

• Built-in subscription tools.
• Many payment processors.
• Compatible with all subscription products.

6. Square Online

The next best Subscription ecommerce platform on our list is Square Online. The platform offers many excellent features to help business owners sell effectively. For example, point-of-sale (POS) systems, built-in inventory management, and payment. Users can start and run their business on the free plan but it only offers the basic features. The premium feature provides access to the complete feature set.

Pros

• Affordable Paid plan
• Support for selling Facebook and Instagram
• Built-in inventory management
• Free Domain
• Abandoned cart recovery feature
• Advanced reports

Cons

• Limited Customer support
• Limited customization

7. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free plugin by WordPress for eCommerce solutions. The users can set up their online stores quickly by switching their WordPress websites to WooCommerce.

The platform has a built-in SEO and it offers many features and integration possibilities. The variety of themes and other integrations help business owners deliver the best possible shopping experiences to customers.

Woocommerce is ideal for startups and small business owners with a limited budget. It is free to install and simple to configure the platform. Besides, it supports PCI compliance, end-to-end encryptions, and a secure payment system.

However, WooCommerce cannot handle too many themes or plugins. It may slow down the speed, so users have to choose plugins and themes wisely.

WooCommerce Subscriptions allow your users to subscribe and pay repeatedly. While the other one offers existing products with subscriptions.

Pros

• Fully customizable.
• Over 25 payment gateway integrations.
• Easy to start and manage.
• Users can switch subscription plans.

Cons

• Poor customer service
• Limited Addons s

8. Subbly

The next best eCommerce subscription platform that powers more than 9000 businesses is Subbly. The platform offers a built-in subscription feature to help users start their subscription services effortlessly. Users simply have to drag and drop the elements to create the website. Users having an existing eCommerce website can easily integrate Subbly into the existing store for subscription services.

Features:

• Powerful eCommerce tools
• Flexible billing for subscription
• Automatic payments collection
• Customized shipping cycles & billing, trial periods, etc
• Drag-and-drop website builder
• Inbuilt CRM (Customer relationship management) system.

Pricing:

• Lite: $19/month
• Basic: $39/month
• Subbly: $79/month
• Advanced: $159/month

Pros

• The platform requires no extension as it offers a built-in subscription feature.
• The subscription plan pricing is affordable and flexible.
• The platform offers excellent customer support.
• The platform offers a wide variety of native features to build and run the eCommerce website.

Cons

• Subbly does not support a limited number of third-party payment gateways.
• Subbly is relatively new, and thus a limited choice to integrate with other third-party services.

9. Recurly

Like Subbly, another native eCommerce subscription platform is Recurly. The platform offers subscription management and a billing platform to help business owners quickly start their businesses. Further, they can customize the platform to align it to their business needs.

Features:

• Recurly allows business owners to enter into the subscription business model easily. Users can try the model and choose what best suits their business and customers.
• Recurly offers 21 payment gateway integrations that enable automatic sending and collection of recurring payments.
• The platform provides reports and analytics that give real-time insights into the performance of the subscription business.
• Recurly supports the integration of many third-party extensions and tools to support smoother business workflow.

Pricing:

• Core: $249/month + 0.9% of revenue

Pros

• Set up & start quickly.
• Built-in subscription with additional commerce features.
• Multiple payment gateway integrations.
• Good support team.

Cons

• High Price

10. Salesforce

The next on our list of top eCommerce subscription platforms is Salesforce. The major advantage of the platform is that it offers a built-in CRM (customer relationship manager). Thus, business owners can build and expand relations with their customers using AI-based data.

The CRM offers insights into the customer behavior and choices with users can utilize for their marketing.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based eCommerce platform that supports both B2C and B2B merchants. It offers different CRM and marketing services, allowing business owners to develop businesses while growing client relations.

Salesforce is expensive in pricing and requires extensive technology. Thus, it is not ideal for small business owners.

Conclusion

Picking your business’s best eCommerce subscription platform is not easy. The platforms mentioned in the above list are the ones that we consider the top 10 eCommerce platforms. However, to make your decision easier, you should look for the standard features of the eCommerce platform and the subscription service.

Further, it is also vital for you to consider what subscription products you will sell. For example, do you want to offer subscription services and a one-time purchase option? Then, the platform that provides subscription and recurring payment is the right choice for you.

Another factor you can consider is future growth. A scalable platform can always help you scale your business hassle-free.

The final and most important is your budget for the platform. Consider your profit margin, transaction fee, and other expenses.

Do you plan to launch your eCommerce business on a subscription-based model? You can’t decide which platform is perfect for you. Valuetree, the leading eCommerce app development company, is here to help you make the right decision. For any queries, email us on sales@valuetree.io.