Stabilize monthly sales! The secret of automation to evolve EC into subscription with "recurring payment"

In e-commerce site management, issues such as "monthly sales are not stable and it is difficult to establish business plan", "advertising costs to acquire new customers are increasing and putting pressure on profits", and "I want to increase repeat customers, but operating costs are only increasing" are common problems faced by many businesses. Especially in product sales e-commerce, how to increase from single item sales (pay-as-you-go) to subscription is the key to maximizing LTV (customer lifetime value).

In this article, based on the content of the webinar "How to Stabilize Monthly Sales! How to Evolve an EC Site with recurring payment", we will provide an overview of the "recurring payment payment" to stabilize the sales of e-commerce sites, the advantages and disadvantages of implementation, and "automation" to achieve stable operation. We will explain in detail the secret of GMO-PG's swan power.

*This article is an edited version of a webinar held in October 2025.

What is recurring payment payment?

recurring payment paymentis a mechanism that automatically repeats payment processing on a set period (monthly, bimonthly, semi-annually, etc.) based on a single purchase request. payment method employed in business models called "subscription" or "subscription".

While "pay-as-you-go (single item sales)", which was mainstream on conventional e-commerce sites, is a "flow-type" sales in which customers go through payment procedures each time they make a purchase​, recurring payment payment is a "stock type" that continuously generates sales from customers who contract once​. You can build a sales model for your

For example, it is widely deployed in the following services:

• Product sales (subscription): Regular delivery of cosmetics, health foods, supplements, food and beverages
• Service (subscription):Fitness gym, online salon, learning tools, video and music distribution services
• Others: Newspaper and magazine subscriptions, software licensing fees, real estate rents

For customers, there are advantages such as "no forgetting to buy" and "better deals than buying each time", and for businesses, there are great benefits such as "stabilization of sales" and "improvement of LTV".

recurring payment payment Main Types and Models

Even if you say recurring payment in one word, there are several patterns in its business model. It's important to be clear about which of your products and services fits or which ones you should aim for.

1. Flat-rate (fixed) subscription model

This model is represented by fitness gyms, video distribution services, and learning tools.

By paying a fixed usage fee in the form of "XX yen per month", customers have the right to freely use the service (or receive certain services) during the period.

• Features: The business side makes it extremely easy to predict sales with "number of members × unit price".
• Suitable for industries: digital content (video, music), online salons, SaaS, fitness gyms, etc.

2. subscription (repeat mail order) model

It is a mainstream model in e-commerce that deals with consumables such as cosmetics and health foods.

We will deliver products regularly (payment) in the form of "automatic delivery of specific product (A) once a month".

• Features: Prevent customers from "forgetting to buy" and maximize LTV. It is effective as an upselling measure such as "10% OFF if it is a regular flight".
• Suitable forindustries: cosmetics, health foods, supplements, food, beverages, daily necessities, etc.

3. Pay-as-you-go model

This model changes the monthly bill amount depending on the amount and number of times you use it.

For example, utility charge such as electricity, gas, and water, and some SaaS (billing based on the number of users and data transferred).

• Feature: Customers only need to pay for what they use, so there is a sense of fairness.
• Suitable for: utility charge, SaaS (Resource Billing), Platform Services, etc.

Background of recurring payment payment

As a first-hand feeling that we support our merchants every day, we strongly feel the change in consumer values from ownership to use by end users.Especially in the e-commerce market, it is difficult to continue to raise stable revenue amid intensifying price competition and soaring advertising costs with a business model that simply sells products and ends pay-as-you-go.

Many e-commerce businesses are currently considering how to build a continuous relationship with customers = move to a recurring payment-type model with the aim of improving LTV and stabilizing revenue.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of introducing recurring payment payment?

The introduction of recurring payment payment brings many benefits to e-commerce businesses, but at the same time, there are also operational disadvantages (challenges).

Benefits of introduction on the business (e-commerce site) side

1. Stabilize sales and improve predictability
   This is the biggest advantage. Since the minimum monthly sales are stacked in stock, the revenue fluctuates less. This makes it easier to plan advertising and purchasing costs, which directly leads to the stability of management.
2. Maximize customer lifetime value (LTV)
   With individual purchases, it's unclear when customers will leave and when they'll buy next. recurring payment can significantly increase the lifetime sales (LTV) per customer by prolonging customer relationships.
3. Optimization of operating costs (advertising costs, order management costs)
   It is said that acquiring new customers costs several times more than retaining existing customers (advertising costs, etc.). recurring payment focuses on retaining (repeating) existing customers, which helps them move away from excessive reliance on newly acquired ads and optimize ad spend.
4. Accumulate customer data and strengthen relationships
   By having a continuous point of contact, you can accumulate customer purchase and usage data over time.

Disadvantages (issues) of introduction on the business (e-commerce site) side

The benefits are great, but it does not mean that "if you introduce it, you will always succeed". I will also honestly talk about the "post-introduction issues" = disadvantages that we often see in the field.

1. payment Operational workload (manual work)
   recurring payment is not "introduce, it's over". Every month, there is always the work of creating "sales data" such as "which customer", "how much", and "when" to be charged, and linking it to the payment system. If the number of members is small, it can be done manually, but when it comes to hundreds or thousands of people, this manual billing process becomes a huge workload.
2. payment Lost opportunities due to errors (expired cards)
   A major challenge with recurring payment is the "payment error". In particular, in Credit card payment, there will always be "expiration" or "card number change due to reissue" of the card registered by the customer. If an error occurs, not only will sales not be made for the month, but it will also take reminders and requests to contact customers individually and have them re-register their card information. In this process, the risk of customers finding it troublesome and canceling (churning) increases as it is.
3. Increasing Complexity in Customer Management
   It is necessary to have a system to accurately manage the contract content of each customer, such as "Mr. A payment on the 15th of every month" or "Mr. B payment on the 1st of every other month".

How to introduce recurring payment payment

So, how do you implement recurring payment payment? There are two main methods.

1. contract directly with the service provider (credit card company, etc.)

This is a way to contract directly with credit card companies and, if Account transfer, each financial institution and the business individually.

• Disadvantages: Requires individual contract, screening, and system development for each payment method (per card company, per financial institution), which takes a huge amount of time and money. Functions such as "automation" and "account update" of recurring payment also need to be developed and operated in-house, so there is a high possibility that the daily operational load will be high.

2. Use payment processing services (PG Multi-Payment Service)

payment processing services such as "PG Multi-Payment Service" provided by GMO Payment Gateway is a service that stands between a business operator and multiple card companies and financial institution and takes care of everything from providing payment systems to contract and payment management.

• Benefits: Businesses only need to contract with payment processing company companies once and can implement the necessary payment method such as Credit card payment and Account transfer at once. The system provides the "payment execution functions" necessary for recurring payment and the "automation options" described later, minimizing the burden of in-house development. When introducing recurring payment payment on e-commerce sites and subscription businesses, there are many cases where payment processing services is used in terms of functionality, cost, and operation.

▼Credit Card recurring payment Operation Example in GMO-PG

Are you having trouble introducing and operating recurring payment payment?

PG Multi-Payment Service provides the payment method you need to recurring payment your e-commerce site and a wealth of features to automate your operations.

Download service materials (free)

Important points in the operation of recurring payment payment

In order not to fail in the introduction of recurring payment type payment, it can be said that the most important thing is how to minimize the "monthly operational load" and "payment errors" mentioned earlier.

This operational problem can be solved by utilizing the "optional functions" provided by PG Multi-Payment Service.

Point 1: Automate monthly "payment runs"

[Challenge]

If you have 100 members, you will have to create 100 sales data per month and upload it to the payment system. If there are thousands or tens of thousands of cases, manual labor is prone to errors and may lead to operational failure.

[Solution: Automatic sales function]

PG Multi-Payment Service 's "Automated Sales" feature solves this challenge.

Just register a billing rule (definition) such as "This member will be charged 5,000 yen on the 25th of every month", and the system will automatically perform the next payment processing every month.

This completely frees businesses from the hassle of creating and uploading monthly sales files, reducing human error to zero.

Point 2: payment Prevent errors "account update"

[Challenge]

One of the most impactful sales issues in recurring payment is payment errors caused by "expired" or "reissued" credit cards​. If an error occurs, the sales will be reduced to zero, and a reminder will be required to update the card information.

Solution: account update Function

account updateis a mechanism in which a payment processing company company works with a credit card company to automatically update (clean) the customer's credit card information (expiration date and card number) registered with the business to the latest state.

PG Multi-Payment Service automatically runs this account update process every month with theAutomatic account update" function.

By using this feature, the system automatically updates the card information before the customer notices the expiration date or card reissue (or before they complete the process).

This significantly reduces the payment error rate, reduces the burden of dunning work, and prevents unintentional churn (silent churn) by customers, which greatly contributes to stabilizing sales.

GMO-PG's account update feature has a very high coverage rate, and in one merchant's example, it has a Actual that supports more than 83% of registered cards.

Conclusion

• recurring payment payment (subscription Subscription) is an essential solution for turning e-commerce site sales into "stock-based" and building a stable revenue foundation
• Simply implementing recurring payment type payment faced operational challenges such as monthly billing processing and payment errors due to expired cards
• The key to success isThoroughly automate and streamline operationsTo do. In PG Multi-Payment ServiceAutomated salesandAutomatic account updateConvenient optional functions such as

It is important to calculate how much human cost (time) is spent on your company's business scale, number of members, and "manual work", and choose the implementation and operation method that suits your company.

If you are using recurring payment payment PG Multi-Payment Service

The "PG Multi-Payment Service" provided by GMO-PG​is standard for the recurring payment payment required for e-commerce sites and subscription businesses.

In addition to Credit card payment, a variety of payment method, including Account transfer, CVS Payment, and Pay-based payment (PayPay, d Payment, Amazon Pay, etc.) can be introduced in a single contract. We also offer a wealth of optional features, such as automated sales and automated account update, that significantly reduce the burden on recurring payment operations.

"I want to stabilize monthly sales"

"I want to increase repeat customers and maximize LTV."

"I'm worried about the load of monthly billing processing and dunning work."

If you are a business operator with such an issue, please consult with GMO-PG once. We will propose the optimal operation method for each operator.