The Consequences Of Using The Wrong Tech Stack For Your Subscription Business
Has it ever crossed your mind why your subscription business is generating mediocre revenue? Why is it that you are simply not getting the expected returns on your investment for your subscription business? You believe that you have done everything right by investing in top talent and partnering with the right technology company. But somehow, the results don’t seem to work in your favour. You are now confused and wondering why things aren’t going as planned. It is at this point that your intuition tells you to double-check on your tech stack. You finally discover that the tech stack that you employed is the culprit in this game and that it may need a rework to get your business back on track. An inappropriate or poorly chosen tech stack can significantly hinder business performance. In this context, let’s discuss some of the drawbacks that come with a poor choice of tech stack for your subscription business.
Longer time-to-market for the finished product
Getting your product to the market quickly is a critical success factor for any business, especially for those in the highly competitive subscription landscape. To get this functional, it is important that the subscription business has the right tech stack in place that supports efficient development and deployment. A wrong tech stack can lead to development delays, increased debugging and testing time and complicated deployment procedures.
These issues result in a lot of technical glitches that slows down operations and frustrates the end users. This kind of delay is likely to slow-down the time-to-market and end up in higher churns as customers lose their trust and patience with the service. They will now look up to competitor platforms for quicker and more reliable solutions. In the contrary, the right tech stack will easily streamline processes, speed up the launch and deliver a smoother and reliable product experience. This will improve the customer satisfaction levels, lower churn and attract more quality customers to the business.
Sluggish performance and limited device support
Is your subscription business slow even after integrating it with the required technologies and software? Then it is likely that the issue lies in your tech stack itself. You may have engaged with a lot of technologies to bring your subscription business alive.
However, it is probable that at least a few of these technologies used are not in alignment with the ultimate objective of your subscription business. This can be the reason for its sluggish performance. Additionally, a poor tech stack that is not well-optimized for different devices and operating systems can alienate potential customers. These customers expect seamless experience across all devices.
Slow loading times and outages
Slow loading times and outages are few of the reasons behind adopting a poor tech stack for your subscription business. This gradually results in a weak customer experience that can eventually frustrate users resulting in higher churn rates. On the other hand, this kind of poor choice of tech stacks can lead to outages that can hamper customers from accessing their subscriptions. This in the due course can lead to loss of revenue and reputation.
Limited ability to expand and serve your large customer base
It is important that your subscription business owns a tech stack that can accommodate your growth and scalability. Only a tech stack that is clearly aligned to your goals and objectives can make this a reality. As you progress with your business, you dream of expanding your customer base and growing your business exponentially. If your tech stack is a hinderance to this dream, it's time to reassess and make the necessary adjustments, before moving any further. Your tech stack should be a partner in your growth and not an obstacle.
Integration and compatibility issues
It is a well-known fact that the subscription ecosystem is a complex one and for it to become whole and complete it needs to be integrated with various third-party players. This includes payment gateways, CRM systems, marketing automation platforms and other analytics tools for efficient and smooth operations. It is here that tech stacks play a pivotal role. Improper tech stacks can lead to incompatibility issues which is likely to end up in hitches with these integrations.
Some of the issues that can arise out of this is compartmentalization of data which can lead to difficulty in getting a unified view of the business which is essential for decision-making. This kind of situation can force subscription businesses to rely on manual processes to bridge gaps between systems. As a result, they may face increased operational costs, time-consumption and a high risk of errors. In the long run, these inadequacies can hinder growth and the adaptability of businesses to respond and react to market changes.
Security challenges
Subscription businesses deal with an overload of customer data including the highly sensitive payment details that needs to be handled with a lot of care. With the wrong tech stack in place, there can be compromises on this data making it vulnerable to data breaches and cyberattacks.
Such compromises can lead to a loss or erosion of customer data, along with significant loss of customer trust too. To override such situations, the tech stack employed should have comprehensive security measures that can safeguard customer information and maintain trust.
Thus, an outdated or incompatible tech stack fails to secure customer data leading to potential data leaks, legal issues, and a loss of customer confidence.
Drives maintenance costs and technical debt
An incompatible or poorly chosen tech stack can constantly give you problems that demands continuous attention. You will keep running into problems with them. Maintenance becomes a daily challenge, and the associated costs are likely to weigh heavily on your budget. Over time this continuous upkeep results in a huge accumulation of technical debt.
This kind of constant maintenance can drain your resources and hinder all sorts of innovation. If unchecked, these mounting maintenance efforts can eventually lead to financial burdens that can hinder your need to invest in new features and improvements. This will ultimately limit your business’ potential for growth.
Clunky and unintuitive user interface
If your subscription business has been using the wrong tech stack, it is likely that the UI can end up being clunky and unintuitive. This can make the customer feel clumsy and frustrated when interacting with the subscription business.
The end result is higher churn rates, since customers are confused about how to navigate into this complex landscape. This kind of poor user interface will deter customer satisfaction levels and can easily pull down your brand’s reputation. Finally, it will be extremely hard to retain existing subscribers and attract new ones too.
Stifle innovation and adaptability
If you suspect that the tech stack used for your subscription business is not quite right, then its crucial to reassess it. Leaving it as it is can stifle innovation and adaptability making the subscription business’ ambitions for growth and scalability into distant dreams.
A rigid or incompatible tech stack makes it difficult for the subscription business to implement new features and adapt to market changes. This kind of rigidness can stall your business from evolving with customer demands. All these inconsistencies and incompatibilities can result in a product that cannot match up to the competitors.
Conclusion
Choosing the right tech stack is not just a technical decision—it's a strategic one that can have long-lasting implications for your subscription business. Aligning with the right tech stack is not merely as easy a pick and drop. It requires rigorous planning such that the chosen technologies align well to the business goals.
While a good tech stack can mean a lot for your business’ and its customers, a poor one can end up in in efficiencies, security challenges and several missed opportunities. This can finally hinder the growth of your business. Thus, only by investing time and resources in selecting the right tech stack can give your business the much-needed safety and security. Therefore, the right tech stack can lead to long-term success while the wrong one can have negative consequences.
Get in touch with saaslogic to engage with subscription platforms that will make sure that your business performs effortlessly and efficiently.