In a significant departure from a business strategy that relies mostly on advertising, Snap-on Wednesday introduced a $3.99 monthly subscription version of the Snapchat app in the US and a few other territories.
At the debut, Snapchat+ will be accessible in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to Snap, which earlier this month previewed the subscription version.
Businesses are reducing their advertising budgets in reaction to rising expenses and decreased consumer spending, putting pressure on social media companies.
Snap’s shares dropped more than 40% in a single day last month after it said last month that it would miss its sales and profit goals for the second quarter and would have to restrict recruiting and reduce expenditure.
According to Snap’s senior vice president of product, Jacob Andreou, initial features in the premium edition include the option to modify the app’s icon and see who re-watched a story.
