[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/06\/12\/subscription-business-model-b2b\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/06\/12\/subscription-business-model-b2b\/","headline":"How x-rays are disrupting the machine-dependent B2B market","name":"How x-rays are disrupting the machine-dependent B2B market","description":"New and better revenue opportunities exist within dynamic and perpetual service relationships, rather than static hard-goods sales.","datePublished":"2015-06-12","dateModified":"2022-12-07","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/dean-afzal\/#Person","name":"Dean Afzal","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/dean-afzal\/","identifier":96,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d49f62f414d1e47fe8e3fbc00be870c1ef013abff0c510cad25a5ea62f153b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d49f62f414d1e47fe8e3fbc00be870c1ef013abff0c510cad25a5ea62f153b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/xray-of-human-skull-image.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/xray-of-human-skull-image.jpg","height":550,"width":930},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/06\/12\/subscription-business-model-b2b\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/b2b\/","name":"B2B Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/B2B_e-commerce"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/","name":"Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q26643"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/customer-engagement-marketing\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},"Life Sciences",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/trends-commerce\/","name":"Trends","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fad","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q787045"]}],"wordCount":524,"keywords":["B2B","B2B Commerce","B2B E-commerce","B2B Trends","Commerce","Customer Engagement","Digital Commerce","E-commerce","Ecommerce","Omnichannel","Subscription Models","Subscription Services","Touchpoints","Trends"],"articleBody":"The cost of health care is painfully high, and patients are very aware of this. But what about medical practitioners themselves? For those in small clinics and large hospitals alike, the cost of doing business can be prohibitive, especially when it comes to the expensive machinery. Patients, who interact with manufacturers infrequently, expect x-ray machines, MRIs, and CT scanners to work perfectly and immediately. However, used day-in, day-out, these machines age and depreciate, which leads to the conundrum \u2013 repair or replace.When new models come with six- or even seven-figure price tags, health care facilities may find themselves forced to keep existing machinery in operation well beyond their prescribed life spans. This leads to repairs outside of warranty, and a decline in available parts, supplies, and qualified operators. These problems increase machine downtime, which further cuts into revenue.For many, there seems to be no choice \u2013 stick with what you have and spend your scarce funds patching it up.There is a new, disruptive solution that companies and customers in machine-dependent industries are now discovering \u2013 the transformation from a product industry to a service industry. At SAP hybris, we partnered with a manufacturer of high-tech medical equipment including CT scanners, and helped them deploy a disruptive model where they offer their machines for free \u2013 or at least at a significantly reduced price \u2013 in return for subscription revenues. In this arrangement, the manufacturer retains ownership of the machine, and responsibility for and all servicing and upgrades. Even the cost of printing the scans is covered within the subscription fee.The benefit for B2B customers (hospitals, clinics, or physicians) is an affordable arrangement based on usage, frequency, and revenue share, without a high initial financial outlay for the machine. Further, the customer can order additional downloads, such as a knee-scanning template, on an as-needed basis. Rather than waiting for years to break even, clinics can invest in a subscription instead, and allow the manufacturers to keep the machinery operational and up-to-date.The benefit for B2B suppliers is that by evolving from\u00a0the business of selling machines into a service industry, they open brand-new markets, connecting with customers who could never have afforded the machines, and would have turned to secondary or tertiary markets for used machinery, service, and parts. Even for those larger customers with the financial ability to purchase, the shift to delivering a service is becoming more lucrative and more regular.Medical machinery is not the only market for this disruptive model. Photocopier and printer companies have traveled this new route, transforming themselves into document service companies. Coffee machine makers do the same. New and better revenue opportunities exist within dynamic and perpetual service relationships, rather than static hard-goods sales.This subscription-based shift is just one of many ways in which organizations in high-tech media, entertainment and sports are discovering new and vibrant revenue opportunities, either as an adjunct to existing relationships or for breaking new ground. We call this disruptive monetization.  Every digital moment matters.Are you making the most of them?1,000 business leaders dish on how to stand out from the crowd with a great CX. Get the details\u00a0HERE.\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2015","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"06","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/\/06\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"12","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/\/06\/\/12\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How x-rays are disrupting the machine-dependent B2B market","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/06\/12\/subscription-business-model-b2b\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]