How to start a Shopify subscription box business?

Subscription box business on Shopify is becoming increasingly popular in the business world. It is estimated that the subscription service market will have reached $473 billion by 2025, up from $15 billion in 2019. This type of business model is not new, but it is very promising in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Subscription boxes allow customers to receive a package of items on a recurring basis, while stores can retain a large number of loyal customers and generate predictable revenue from them.

If you are searching for a guideline to build your future subscription box business from scratch, or add subscription services to your Shopify store, you are in the right place. Jump into this blog right now and explore How to start a Shopify subscription box business. 

What is a subscription box business?

Subscription box business is a kind of model that charges your customers on a monthly or recurring basis for a product or service. Many customers are satisfied with this type of service because it brings out a convenient, enjoyable, and tailored buying experience. Meanwhile, your firm can effortlessly handle recurring revenue and make upselling, cross-selling easier.

Benefits of subscription box business

Subscription box business brings out lots of benefits for both you and your customers. From the customer’s side, they can enjoy the personalized subscription box for a recurring period of time. It saves them much time and effort in looking for new products or services that meet their needs.

From your side, as customers pay in advance or on a regular basis, you can forecast the exact future revenue and keep track of the cash flows better. Besides, the longer customers stay with your business, the higher customer lifetime value you earn from them. With good customer subscription service, you not only retain customers but also can upsell from them and save an amount of customers acquisition costs. 

Read more about the subscription business model

Choose the right type of subscription box model 

To succeed in the subscription market, you need to choose the right type of subscription box model for your business. There are 3 most common subscription box types that you can take into consideration including curation, replenishment and access. Each subscription type will be suitable for different target customers, preferences, products types, etc.

• Curation type is the most favorite one that delight customers with high personalized experiences and new items in the subscription box. 
• Replenishment will be the best choice for businesses that offer renewing products service.
• Access subscription box. Subscribers to access the business model will pay a monthly subscription in exchange for discounted rates or exclusive benefits. 

Read more about How to choose the right type of subscription box model

How to find subscription box suppliers

Suppliers are important stakeholders to make up the success of your subscription box business. They play important roles in the supply chain and may affect the development of your business. So below are a few suggestions for you to find subscription box suppliers:

• Local product suppliers: Local suppliers are manufacturers or distributors who can deliver your products or raw materials to your business location. They are mostly near your store so shipping time is shorter and you can easily work with them if there is any rising problem.
• Online niche product suppliers: They are small businesses, artisans, and designers who already cater to the demographic you’re targeting, therefore their items are likely to appeal to your target market. With these suppliers, it can be easier to get good deals by developing the partnership.
• Wholesale product suppliers: They are big suppliers with high credibility and huge production capacity that can provide your brand with trust badges of high quality. 

Read more about How to find subscription box suppliers

Subscription box pricing guide

Subscription box price is one of the important factors affecting many people’s buying decisions. When it comes to subscription box pricing, keep in mind your target customers’ budgets and try to demonstrate a worthwhile experience and value proposition. There are 3 most famous subscription box pricing models that we would like to recommend to you. 

• Flat rate pricing offers a single product with a set of fixed features for a given monthly price. 
• Tiered pricing model provides packages with various features and product combinations available at different price plans. 
• Usage-based model, also known as a consumption model or pay-as-you-go, is a method of directly relating a product’s cost to its amount of use. It usually involves a base rate and an additional usage charge.

Read more about subscription box pricing guide

Tips to build a successful pre launch landing page 

The pre-launch landing page is a page providing just enough information to pique potential buyers’ interest in your upcoming product. If you know how to optimize some elements on the pre-launch landing page, it can attract more leads and sign-ups for your business. 

• Put high quality media such as images, logo, videos, etc on your pre launch landing page which reflect the professionalism and legitimacy of your brand. 

• Make your content on your pre launch landing page concise and enticing to lead to call to action buttons. 

• Include a clear CTA button to convert your visitors into an actual lead. When users take the requested action, they need to know exactly what they will obtain (signing up to your list or making the purchase)

• Show trust badges, reviews, and testimonials to increase subscription box worth to your potential customers and increase credibility

• Check the mobile version of your landing page as it directly affects your conversion rates. If your landing page on mobile is not responsive, it may increase the bounce rate and decrease your potential leads. 

Read more about How to build a successful pre-launch landing page

How to decrease subscription churn rate

A large number of customers canceling your subscription service creates high churn rates which definitely harm your business. So we suggest a few ways to decrease the subscription churn rate effectively.

• Identify the common reasons why it occurs
• Ask for feedback and engage with your customers 
• Keep content up to date
• Reward subscriber customers for their loyalty
• Win back your subscribers who cancel

Read the details about how to decrease subscription churn rate

In conclusion 

Like any other business model, a subscription box business takes you time and effort to build and grow from scratch. With sharings in this post about How to start a Shopify subscription box business, we hope you come close to the success of your business. 

Wish you all the best for your subscription business!

If you need any help, feel free to contact us via live chat or leave comments below. Our dedicated customer support team is more than happy to help you.