Subscription Supply Chains: The Ultimate Collaborative Paradigm

Supply chain practitioners have made great strides in forming collaborative partnerships, yet the end consumer is often left out of these plans. Being an important member of the supply chain, we propose that supply chains need to get closer to the end consumer ‐ forming collaborative relationships that center around demand planning. Developing subscription relationships with end consumers will lead to increased planning time, which will result in dramatic cost reductions and superior consumer value and satisfaction through lower costs, increased convenience, and improved availability of supply. Being a new and unique strategy, not all consumers will adopt subscription supply chains. However, we argue that some consumer segments will receive tremendous value and satisfaction purchasing certain types of products and services through subscriptions. Tremendous opportunities await those supply chains who target the right consumers, marketing the right products and services through a subscription supply chain.