What is white label SaaS? Explanation with values and examples

White label solutions offer brands and businesses an opportunity to sell a product they don’t have to develop. You’ll have seen everyday examples in your local stores and supermarkets. Alternative brands sell similar-looking items in the same boxes and bottles, but they’re branded differently to appear unique.

SaaS is no different. There are countless software subscriptions on the market where the developers sell, lease, or license their products to other businesses, to sell on or implement the service as their own. Today, we look at the white label SaaS meaning, its advantages, the successful strategies that lead to healthy profits, and what it could mean for SaaS moving into the future.

What is white label SaaS?

A developer creates a product – or a range of products – completely unbranded, so you can make it look like you’re the developer and provider. A ‘white label’ is the blank slate to build your brand upon – just like the blank, white, unprinted labels of physical products.

It works similarly to affiliate marketing, which also profits from someone else’s products. As a result, white label sales are an excellent option for resellers, marketing specialists, and startups looking to expand their portfolios.

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Why choose white label solutions instead of developing custom solutions?

1. You bypass development costs

Building an app – especially a sought-after, efficient, and effective solution to a prevalent problem – takes time, skilled designers and developers, and a lot of resources. It’s hard to anticipate how high costs will rise, so that that budgeting can become challenging.

If you’ve got a dozen ideas to improve your business’s services, developing each of them could be financially impossible without the right partners, whereas leasing or licensing pre-built and highly recommended versions are very likely to be within your budget.

2. You may not have the necessary skillsets

You’re not developers but marketers, managers, sales specialists, or consultants. Even though you’re ideally placed to sell apps and services to your clients and customers, you’re not the best option to build those SaaS apps and solutions to get them off the ground.

3. They’re a simple way to expand your product range and scale your business

Startups that have developed their first successful app may want to utilize complementary and associated products and subscriptions to expand their brand (and their income) without the same amount of work it took to launch their flagship product.

Self-branding white label SaaS products quickly make them appear as prominent players in their market, providing a straightforward and legitimate way to boost their brand and turnover.

White-label SaaS is one of the most expected trends of 2023. Do you want to learn more about predicted SaaS and Tech trends for 2023? Download our free e-book with expert interviews right now!

White label SaaS solutions examples

There are myriad opportunities for white label SaaS software resellers, but the following are a selection of the most popular and easy-to-implement leading the field.

Marketing tools

Marketing automation
Automated social media campaign delivery tools
Social media monitoring and management
Email marketing tools and services
Content marketing creation
SEO and SEM management
B2B Email extractors

Website and app development tools

Website and page builders and landing page creation
APIs and plugins for popular platforms
CMS site builders
e-Commerce solutions
Chatbots and customer service solutions
Online review management tools

Reporting tools

KPI snapshot tools
SEO analytic tools
CRM software

Local delivery and ride apps

Grocery, fast-food, restaurant, and local product delivery services
Pharmaceutical sales and deliveries
Taxi services or Uberesque ride-request operations

Also read: How to build a SaaS business - everything you should know

Best white label SaaS strategies

1. Pick your product or products

Explore the associated SaaS options for your existing product or apps.

2. Thoroughly test possible new products

Too many apps are poorly constructed and riddled with bugs and flaws. Your business won’t get off the ground with a poor-performing product, so it’s essential to ensure your apps do exactly what you need them to.

3. Optimize your pricing strategy

The most successful businesses are passionate about the numbers – SaaS is no different. You need a specific amount of subscribers at a profitable price to provide the income you need to stay afloat and develop further stages of operation and growth.

4. Implement your brand

Once you’ve agreed on terms with the provider and set up a contract, it’s finally time to add your branding, tone, and presentation. Logos, colors, copy, fonts, and themes make your organization easily recognizable in new apps and software services, expanding your reputation throughout your market. Make sure to increase brand exposure by applying new trends; to learn more about those trends, contact any branding agency in Miami, as they are regarded pioneers in branding and marketing services.

5. Sell as a standalone service or add it to subscription tiers

Depending on your industry and app, you may want to sell it as a standalone option or add it to a higher-paying subscription tier. For example, an email delivery application works perfectly as a standalone service or could be added to a higher service tier, including various features of a CRM or other marketing operation.

Worth checking: How to create a SaaS product that sells – and sells itself

The challenges of white label SaaS

To every yin, there’s a yang. And for every upside of a white label business, there’s a pitfall to knock you off track. So to keep you above the healthy side of the red line, here are a few common challenges that lead entrepreneurs to failure.

Poorly optimized budgets and pricing

When it comes to pricing, you must do your research. Understanding where you should pitch yourself in your market and how many subscribers you’ll need to break even, make a profit, and excel is essential. Building any business takes time and hard work, so getting your early decisions right is vital for building performance and growth.

For that, you’ll need all-inclusive and accurate budgets and cash flow forecasts for the upcoming operating periods based on data, not guesswork and hope.

Employing accurate analytics and data-driven decisions

With software and marketing playing such an essential part in the discussion, it’s hard to believe that the businesses implementing digital products aren’t utilizing the tools of their trade. Yet, far too many fail to monitor essential activity. Like every other enterprise, you must pay close attention to usage, churn, and revenue rates.

If subscriber numbers are falling, you need to know why. You can spot the patterns that help remedy issues by monitoring your performance. Conversely, if your subscriber numbers are growing, you need to understand why they are, too, so you can use that data to maximize your efforts.

A product needs a market, however great it looks in action

All that glitters isn’t gold, as they say. With your SaaS apps, the most crucial factor is that they solve a problem people are willing to pay for. Without that, you won’t get the subscribers you need, and you’ll fail before you even get out of the blocks.

Remember, there are plenty of free services and cost-effective options throughout each industry, so be sure you can compete and provide enough value to accrue continuing subscriptions to your SaaS.

You may be interested: Are you considering vertical and horizontal SaaS as a consumer or creator?

How popular is white label SaaS in 2023?

As you can see, the benefits of white labeling are many. First, it’s incredibly popular with organizations looking to expand their services and, secondly, with those that want to build a business selling someone else’s products.

There are developers devoted to providing standalone white label services. As a reseller, all you do is sign up, pick your products, and take a healthy cut from every sale and subscription you make. Others, who sell successful SaaS tools under their brand, openly offer a white label service to boost their sales and subscriptions.

What does the future look like for white label SaaS?

With a wide range of apps already available to white label resellers, the market is set to grow as it becomes ever more inventive. White label opportunities are featured consistently in SaaS trend reports for 2021, 2022, and beyond. Looking to the future, there are no signs of things slowing down; in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

With more extensive and active digital operations, developers will only deliver better solutions – and more of them – and every profit-minded marketer will seize those new opportunities to expand their range and boost their subscriptions.

Successful white label SaaS businesses

Earlier, we listed a range of markets where white label SaaS software is thriving. Some of their most accepted and accomplished successes come from those markets, so without further ado…

1. Marketing automation – ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign delivers a complete marketing automation CRM suite for businesses. In addition, their white label opportunity is part of the Enterprise plan, allowing resellers to operate entirely under their branding.

2. Email marketing – CakeMail

CakeMail allows you to add additional revenue streams from your existing marketing client or customers with a complete white label SaaS software package. There are plenty of resources for new additions to the team, from training, support, and a partners’ hub to APIs that give new users the facility to carry out services for their clients.

3. Social media monitoring – Social Pilot

SocialPilot gives its subscribers complete control over publishing and scheduling posts and delivers insights into analytics with downloadable reports, keeping you and your followers engaged and connected. The white label service allows complete customization with a unique email setup, streamlined security, and seamless integration.

4. CRM software – AllClients

As with most CRMs, AllClients offers the workflows, automation, funnels, and features you’d expect but markets them as complex concepts in easy-to-use applications. They even have their site dedicated to their white label service.

White label SaaS solutions – conclusion

Digital development can be a costly avenue. A custom build is ideal for those with the next killer app under their belt that nobody has previously delivered. There are probably dozens of white label SaaS products for everyone else, offering all kinds of opportunities, getting you up and running far faster and cost-effectively.

As the old saying goes, why have a dog and bark yourself?

White label SaaS is the blank slate to build your brand upon – just like the blank, white, unprinted labels of physical products. So why choose white label solutions instead of developing custom solutions? Read our article to know its values, best strategies and examples of successful white label SaaS businesses.