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Our Apps Have Driven
5X AOV | 2X Conversions | $30M+ Additional Revenue
5X AOV | 2X Conversions | $30M+ Additional Revenue
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5.0 (900+ Reviews)
Shopify Apps
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Not long ago, DTC brands struggled to retain customers that they acquired through their campaigns. Customers, who were spoilt for choice were quickly shifting from brand to brand, making retention difficult. There emerged an impactful solution that not just increased retention, but increased customer lifetime value, but also retention and AOV. The solution? eCommerce subscriptions.
There are multiple ways to implement subscriptions in your store. You can create subscription bundles, single-product subscriptions, curated subscription boxes, and more. In this guide we will walk you through the essentials of ecommerce subscriptions, from creating impactful subscription offers to tools you can use to create subscriptions. Also, everything in between. Let’s jump in.
Ecommerce subscription is a selling strategy that offers customers the option of product deliveries at frequent intervals for a discounted price. This approach is widely popular among beauty, wellness, food, and beverage DTC brands. It’s an effective method to lock in customers for months in a single transaction.
There are multiple benefits to creating eCommerce subscription offers for your DTC store. Here are the top ones:
Revenue Predictability: Ecommerce subscriptions provide consistent, predictable income, making it easier for DTC brands to plan inventory, allocate budgets, and scale operations. With a strong subscriber base, Shopify stores can forecast more effectively compared to one-time purchases.
Enhanced Customer Retention and Loyalty: Subscriptions naturally foster loyalty, as customers who subscribe, are used to the brand. Then they are likely to purchase more in the future. Further, if you are selling subscription bundles, you induced repeats for multiple products instead of just one.
Increased Average Order Value (AOV): Subscription bundles increase AOV by grouping multiple products in one subscription package, in a single purchase. This provides better value to customers while maximizing revenue for the business.
Data-Driven Personalization: Over time, eCommerce subscriptions generate valuable data on customer preferences, enabling brands to personalize future offers. This data-driven approach enhances the customer experience and encourages long-term loyalty.
Scalability: As the subscriber base grows, ecommerce subscriptions achieve economies of scale, allowing businesses to expand product offerings, reach new audiences, and optimize their customer acquisition costs.
Before diving into ecommerce subscription types, let's explore the main models that form their foundation:
Replenishment subscriptions focus on convenience - automatically sending customers the products they regularly use before they run out. This model builds strong loyalty because it saves time, reduces decision fatigue, and ensures a steady supply of everyday essentials.
Curation subscriptions are all about discovery and personalization. Customers receive a selection of products - often as a surprise - based on their tastes and preferences. This model works because it combines the excitement of unboxing with the joy of trying new things, creating a highly engaging brand experience.
Access subscriptions give customers exclusive benefits - like early product launches, member-only pricing, or premium content - creating a sense of belonging and privilege. They work best for brands aiming to build loyalty and position themselves as premium or community-driven.
Choosing the right model depends on your business goals. The following sections will better equip you to do it.
Now that we have understood the framework of ecommerce subscriptions, let's learn how to implement these practically.
A single-product subscription allows customers to receive a specific item at a fixed interval. This type of eCommerce subscription is ideal for essential or consumable products. It is commonly used for items with consistent demand, like skincare products, vitamins, or pet food.
Subscription product bundles combine the subscription model with product bundling. Here, multiple products or services are grouped and sold as a bundle, giving customers the option to subscribe and receive the package regularly.
Example: Companies like Hello Fresh (Canada) deliver pre-measured ingredients for curated recipes each week, saving customers time and introducing new flavors.
Research product demand: Identify popular product combinations or items that naturally pair well together.
Decide on Bundle Type: Your bundle could be a mix-and-match bundle or a pre-curated bundle. Explore different types of product bundles in our blog here.
Set Key Parameters: Fix your key parameters of bundle design such as maximum or minimum product quantity, duration of offer, and subscription frequency.
Decide Price and Discount: Next fix the pricing and discount. Take into account you cost of goods sold, marketing expenses, transportation, and other costs when finalizing this. For pricing, you can opt for a fixed price and change pricing as per the contents that a customer chooses for a bundle. Tiered pricing with incremental discounts works well when you have multiple subscription frequencies to offer.
Market Your Bundle: Spending marketing dollars on promoting bundles delivers a higher ROI compared to promoting a single product. Capitalize this and create a promotion around your eCommerce subscription bundle. Give an appealing name. Remember to use urgency and scarcity cues on your website such as countdown timers.
Optimize Continuously: Consistently monitor your subscription bundles in terms of conversion rates and other key metrics. Keep tweaking and optimizing until you get it right.
PRO-TIP: You can create high-converting subscription bundles using the Easy Bundle Builder. A Built for Shopify, 5-star rated app; it is the only app you need to create impactful bundles. Explore Easy Bundle Builder Now.
Subscription boxes are curated packages sent regularly to customers. This type of ecommerce subscriptions are typically sent monthly and contain a selection of items that may vary each time.
Example 1: Surprise subscription boxes from FabFitFun combine beauty, wellness, and lifestyle items into seasonal deliveries.
Example 2: BarkBox and other pet subscription services deliver treats, toys, and pet care essentials to keep pets and their owners excited about each delivery.
Curation: Curate a new selection of products each month or quarter, based on themes or seasonal trends. For example, a ‘summer hobby kit’ for kids or a ‘winter care package’ of seasonal snacks like nuts for the last quarter.
Product Recommendation Quizzes: Start the subscription box journey for your customers with a product recommendation quiz. It helps you understand your customers and specific requirements, ensuring a higher probability of them liking the subscription boxes you send them.
PRO-TIP: You can create highly personalized product recommendation quizzes using the Byte App. It’s an AI-powered product quiz builder with an easy drag-and-drop editor. Leverage the output from Byte to create highly personalized subscription boxes.
Inventory-Based Box Creation: Includes a mix of best-sellers and new or limited-edition items to keep subscribers engaged. You can also add a couple of slow-moving products.
Marketing: Leverage social media and influencer marketing to create excitement around the ‘surprise element’ of your subscription box.
Access subscriptions for DTC brands involve customers opting in and subscribing to a brand’s email list, sms list, or community. Bear in mind, that these types of ecommerce subscriptions do not usually generate revenue but are complementary to a DTC brand’s marketing efforts.
Example 1: A brand could create a VIP list campaign for Black Friday. Subscribing grants the customer access to exclusive discounts, flash sales, and early bird sales.
Example 2: A fitness supplement brand can create a community of like-minded customers and provide free diet consultations if they subscribe to the community.
Example 3: Create a weekly newsletter for your product category and encourage customers to subscribe to it. It is an organic, cost-effective way to engage with your customers.
How to Implement Access Subscriptions
I found a powerful example of an access subscription that creates true business impact. Justfab is a clothing and shoe brand that has a unique VIP membership subscription. Subscribers to the membership can avail their first purchase for just $10. They further get 50% off on additional purchases. There are membership credits at play which work as loyalty points.
VIPs have exclusive access to certain brand collections. They get a 25% on purchases and benefit from easy returns.
CLV Calculation: CLV = (Average Monthly Revenue × Gross Margin %) ÷ Monthly Churn Rate
Example:
CAC Payback Period: Payback Period = CAC ÷ (Average Monthly Revenue × Gross Margin %)
You can simplify the management of your ecommerce subscription with the right set of apps. From flexible billing, and personalized recommendations to the creation of immersive subscription bundles, these Shopify apps offer everything you need to create a seamless subscription experience tailored to your customers.
Easy Bundle Builder is a Built-for-Shopify all-in-one bundle builder. The app is powered with a subscription bundles feature which empowers you to create high-converting subscription bundles quickly and easily.
You can create a wide variety of bundles such as mix-and-match bundles, fixed-price bundles, pre-curated bundles, gift bundles, and more.
Bold Subscriptions provides a highly customizable ecommerce subscription experience, allowing customers to manage their subscriptions with just a few clicks. Bold also offers subscription triggers during the customer journey, that help upsell subscriptions.
Note: BOLD Subscription is pre-integrated with Skai Lama’s Easy Bundle Builder
Recurpay offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to simplify and enhance subscription management for merchants.
Hulk App’s Shopify Subscription Plus simplifies subscription management, by creating a streamlined system for managing plans, payments, and billing concerning subscriptions.
Byte is an all-in-one product recommendation quiz builder. It allows merchants to create interactive product recommendation quizzes that guide customers to the ideal subscription options based on their preferences.
Let’s dive into some examples of single-product subscriptions in order to understand this form of ecommerce subscriptions better.
Bite is a dental hygiene brand that has a unique toothpaste tablet to offer. The tablets form makes the toothpaste eco-friendly, eliminating the need for tubes.
Goli is a DTC brand that needs no introduction. The brand offers an extensive range of health & wellness gummies that solve a range of problems.
Let’s dive into some examples of subscription bundles and explore this ecommerce subscription in depth.
Lilac St is an eyelash & press-on nail brand. It offers a wide variety of options on these frequently purchased beauty products. Eyelashes are frequently replaced and hence purchased. So it's a perfect fit for an ecommerce subscription bundle.
Sea Moss Jungle is a niche supplement brand centered around the superfood with the same name. The brand offers the product in gel and capsule form.
This subscription bundle and its dynamic flow was created using Easy Bundle Builder.
Cravory Cookies is a San Diego based online cookie brand. The brand has an eclectic cookie collection with unique flavors.
Ideally, Cravory should have allowed customers to switch subscriptions in the later stages, as have seen in the case of the Sea Moss Jungle example.
Once Upon a Farm Organics caters to kids and parents with healthy drinks and snacks.
Cratejoy is a store dedicated to subscription boxes. Users can pick boxes for a wide variety of activities and occasions. The brand also lets customers select their subscriptions based on gender and age. For example, the brand has an introvert’s box, care packages for women, activity kits for kids, and more.
Tokyo Treat delivers a taste of Japan straight to customers’ doorstep through monthly subscription boxes filled with authentic Japanese snacks and candies.
Ecommerce subscription is an impactful strategy that helps you create a predictable revenue stream while also increasing you AOV. There are multiple models and execution methods to creating ecommerce subscription. Choosing the right strategy as per your product catalogue, business goals and customer preferences is important. So the next time, you are stuck with high potential, low sale inventory or unpredictable sales pattern, think of subscriptions.
Starting an ecommerce subscription business involves several key steps:
The most popular online subscription varies by industry, but a few types consistently stand out:
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