There's a subscription for that

What did you subscribe to this week? A streaming service? A meal kit? An online fitness class? Chances are you’re being charged for some of these.

Because in today's economy, nearly every business is pivoting to a subscription model to bring in recurring revenue. It's not just Netflix and Spotify anymore.

Car washes, pet toy boxes, razors, makeup, even Taco Bell - Yes. For 10 bucks a month, you can guarantee yourself a taco a day. 

The goal is to keep us hooked with automatic recurring payments. Which we often forget about.

According to reports, the average American is spending over $200 a month on subscriptions, though we're often only aware of less than half that tally. Our forgetfulness when it comes to canceling unwanted services has become a lucrative revenue stream for companies.

Economists estimate that customer forgetfulness boosts revenues from subscriptions by up to 200%. It's a business model fundamentally built on human nature and inertia.

While the shift to subscriptions is a wise financial play for companies seeking predictable cash flow, it comes at a cost to consumers. It strips away our freedom of choice and financial autonomy.

Instead of choosing what we want when we want it, we're now automatically locked into recurring payments - even for products traditionally sold via one-time transactions.

And as an Axios article warns, this transition exacerbates existing inequities, making essentials less affordable for lower-income households unable to opt into discounted subscription bundles.

So while subscriptions offer undeniable convenience, they risk making us all subscribers whether we like it or not as businesses chase bigger profits.