As someone who runs a retail (eCommerce) business for a living, I think it's also worth pointing out that people get far more "rational" about their purchases when you ask them to spend a large chunk of money at once.
The same person who would think "do I really need this?" when faced with spending $1200 on a high-end automatic espresso machine wouldn't even think about spending $5 a day on a takeaway latte (which ends up being an order of magnitude per expensive once you amortise the cost of the machine over the number of cups produced).
There is far less risk for ongoing expenses. So many times I have gone and paid the up front cost and then not used the product nearly as much or for as long as I imagined and ended up making a huge loss compared to having subscribed or rented it.
The same person who would think "do I really need this?" when faced with spending $1200 on a high-end automatic espresso machine wouldn't even think about spending $5 a day on a takeaway latte (which ends up being an order of magnitude per expensive once you amortise the cost of the machine over the number of cups produced).