What makes a good subscription flow?

by VitaminCommerce
March 28, 2022

The best subscription flows predict and expect customer behaviour. Rather than ordering a coffee bag a week, some would like three packets at the start of each month. Would they pay weekly or monthly? How about allowing them to cancel or skip shipments if they’re on holiday and delay the shipment to a later date?

Giving the customers more control over the frequency and billing of their subscription increases the chances they’ll actually subscribe to your products and remain subscribed! Acquiring a new customer is on averagely 5 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Specifically, with subscriptions, the Life Time Value becomes an essential measure of success and allows you to reduce operational costs with scale too. If you don’t provide them with convenience and ease, your competitor will. Giving subscribers more flexibility will result in a trusting bond with your band as in most instances they trust your business and remain loyal.

Regardless of how beautifully presented your box is, nor the witty copy the brand has, it’s important to understand customers’ expectations from your store. This depends on your product naturally, so if you offer products with lots of options such as lipsticks for different skin tones, flowers or flavoured coffees, avoid distracting customers from their journey to the checkout with an overly complex subscription flow. Simply give them a quick option to subscribe and choose their billing plan. Knowing they can change their billing date or schedule to what suits them will ensure customers feel safe buying from your brand for the first time. Likewise, if you’re selling something with fewer options such as books, plants or perfumes customers may want to see some other options and variations to their subscription flow.

To create a successful subscription widget there is a list of common elements and components that customers expect to see. We’ve listed them out for you:

1. One time or subscribe

Depending on your business products, you should offer both the options for a single purchase or subscription purchase so customers can decide if they’d like to become long-term subscribers in the future.

2. Discount for subscribing

Offer an immediate discount such as 10% off for choosing to subscribe and join with your brand. This can help turn one-time customers who are shopping around into long-term loyal subscribers.

3. Subscription frequency

Allow the customer to choose how many days, weeks, or months there are between each order to suit their needs and lifestyle. Having more freedom around frequency means they are less likely to cancel.

4. Quantity

Give customers the option to order multiple quantities of the same product. Some may go through more than a packet of the product in their subscription frequency or even prefer being stocked up.

5. Gift Subscriptions

Some customers purchase subscriptions as gifts, especially around the holiday seasons including Christmas, Mother’s & Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day. It’s a fun way to ensure the feeling of excitement and something new continues way past the celebratory day. The main difference between a gift subscription and a normal subscription is that a gift subscription is set for a short period of time and then stops. This allows customers to pre-pay subscriptions for a period of time without having to worry about cancellations and stopping charges. By ensuring gift subscription options are available then a whole new field of customers can be catered to.

Brands that are smashing it:

Who Gives a Crap– Bulk purchase, recycled toilet paper that does good? The company donates 50 per cent of its profits to build proper sanitation facilities for third world countries and the exciting packaging easily grabs customers’ attention.

Bloom & Wild– When it comes to any celebration, flowers rule the field. And better yet they come straight through their letterbox ready to bloom.
Square Mile Coffee– From coffee flavours to equipment and merchandise. The exclusive coffee world got easy.
Hownd– Ethical and Cruelty-Free dog grooming products and food designed to focus on customers’ needs from health worries to overall wellness.
Look Fantastic– An affordable and luxurious way to get the best products on the beauty market with a chance to trial new products each month.
Surreal UK– A new high-protein, zero sugar, keto-friendly and plant-based cereal with an attention-grabbing subscription builder.
Pasta Evangelists– The postal delivery allows customers to enjoy chef-quality dishes and ingredients without the need to step foot inside a cookery school.

- Abel & Cole– The weekly shop is done organically and straight to their customer’s door.
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