How to start a subscription box business with Shopify effectively?

As a seller, you can provide your products to customers online through a one-time payment or a subscription. Suppose you are leaning towards the latter or wish to allow your customers to purchase their favorite items through subscriptions. In that case, you can enhance your product pages with an attractive Shopify subscription box.

This blog post will address all your queries regarding how to start a subscription box business with Shopify to clarify its definition and guide you to kickstart your e-commerce business immediately.

What is a Shopify Subscription Box Business?

Research indicates that the subscription e-commerce market is expected to surpass $450 billion by 2025, a significant increase from the $15 billion recorded in 2019. This substantial growth presents an immensely appealing opportunity for current and aspiring business owners.

A subscription box is a group of products delivered directly to the consumer according to a predetermined schedule, requiring no action from the customer. Subscription boxes come in various plans, including weekly, monthly, and quarterly deliveries.

Diverse subscription boxes cater to different markets, lifestyles, and price ranges. There are numerous options, whether one seeks a subscription box for clothing, dog treats, or craft supplies. Many subscription boxes specialize in beauty and consumable products, as these items necessitate regular replenishment.

Types of Subscription Box Services

There are three primary subscription types: curation, replenishment, and access. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and selecting the most suitable one for your business depends on the products you offer, your capacity, and your specific business goals and concepts.

Curation Business Model (e.g., Subscription Boxes)

This is the most prevalent subscription business model, popularized by companies like Birchbox, Blue Apron, and Stitch Fix. These businesses, often called subscription box services, aim to captivate and please customers by providing them with novel items and highly personalized experiences.

Usually, these enterprises specialize in products in categories such as apparel, beauty, and food. However, this versatile model has been expanding into various industries annually.

✅ Advantages:

High-profit potential: Subscription boxes can be highly profitable. They are often considered a luxury and can range from $15 to $100 per month, encouraging the discovery of new products. Over time, this profit model can scale rapidly compared to other business ideas.

🚫 Disadvantages:

High churn rate: Initial enthusiasm for these businesses is driven by novelty, resulting in higher customer turnover. Additionally, since these products are typically niche and non-essential, subscription box businesses thrive in a thriving economy but are vulnerable during a recession.

Operational complexity: Acquiring customers in the subscription box industry can be costlier, and these businesses entail significant operating expenses, including packaging, branding, and regular shipping.

Replenishment Business Model

This model prioritizes convenience and cost savings. Replenishment subscriptions enable consumers to automate purchasing essential items, often at discounted rates.

The suitability of this business model depends on the products you sell, as most items don't require frequent replenishment. Commodity and convenience products like razors, diapers, vitamins, and pet food align well with the replenishment model.

✅ Advantages:

Higher conversion rates: A substantial 65% of customers considering a replenishment service end up subscribing, a figure significantly higher than the other models (50%).

Higher retention rates: Given the nature of the products sold, the replenishment model boasts solid long-term subscription rates, with 45% of members subscribing for at least one year.

🚫 Drawbacks:

Slim profit margins: This business model often necessitates competing on price and providing generous discounts. Consequently, businesses must maintain low costs and operate at scale to generate profits, requiring high sales volumes.

Access Business Model:

Access subscribers pay a monthly fee to access lower prices or exclusive perks. Companies like JustFab, NatureBox, and Thrive Market exemplify access subscription businesses, with their primary value lying in offering exclusivity to their customers.

✅ Advantages:

Enhanced customer value: Since customers are paying for exclusive access to benefits, there's an opportunity to offer personalized incentives that can foster stronger customer relationships. This value can be further extended by creating a community of members who can interact through forums or Facebook groups.

Bundling opportunities: The chance to provide customers with a range of products (including intangibles like discounts on future purchases) as part of a single membership.

🚫 Disadvantages:

More significant time investment: Access requires more than just a single service or product that can be added to the checkout process. It necessitates ongoing efforts to ensure the membership offering remains robust and valuable to customers.

Bonus: Add-On Subscription Business Model:

While not a distinct business model, this hybrid approach enables businesses to incorporate subscription services into their operations. More and more companies are embracing this revenue model because it offers flexibility for exploring the subscription landscape without committing exclusively to one revenue model or radically changing their business.

Why Choose Shopify for Subscription Box Business?

Shopify stands out as one of the top eCommerce platforms, offering many features for launching and managing an online store. While it doesn't come with built-in subscription management capabilities, it seamlessly supports popular subscription management tools, empowering you to create and oversee subscriptions effortlessly.

Many third-party tools integrate seamlessly with Shopify, ensuring a smooth experience for you and your customers. Utilizing these tools allows you to easily automate subscription renewals, handle billing, and manage inventory without complications.

Given that subscription management relies on third-party applications. Below are a few compelling reasons to consider using Shopify for your subscription-based business:

User-Friendly Interface: Shopify's platform is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, enabling anyone to establish and manage an online store, including one centered around subscriptions.

Payment Processing: Shopify offers a secure and dependable payment processing system that supports various payment gateways, facilitating the acceptance of payments from customers worldwide.

Marketing Tools: Shopify provides comprehensive marketing tools to promote your subscription-based business. These tools encompass email marketing, social media integration, and SEO optimization.

App Integrations: Shopify boasts its app marketplace, featuring free and paid apps that seamlessly link your store with other crucial eCommerce tools, all with just a few clicks.

Scalability: As your subscription-based business grows, Shopify can grow alongside you. The platform offers various pricing plans, each equipped with distinct features and capabilities, making it straightforward to upgrade as your business expands.

In sum, Shopify offers a complete package for setting up an online store, and its direct integration with subscription management platforms makes it an efficient and user-friendly choice for selling subscriptions on the Shopify platform.

Popular Products for Shopify Subscriptions

Now that you have a good grasp of the Shopify subscription box business model let's delve into some diverse subscription product concepts that could serve as the foundation for your new subscription offering, thereby creating an additional revenue stream for your store.

Here are some of the most sought-after Shopify subscription product ideas in 2022:

• Beauty Products: This category includes skincare items, cruelty-free beauty products, and makeup items.

• Food and Drink: Explore options like organic snacks, food, healthy dressings, sauces, and marinades, among others.

• Stationery: Consider offerings such as journals, notebooks, scrapbooking materials, and postcards.

• Accessories: Explore subscription boxes for jewelry, T-shirts, tote bags, nail art kits, and other accessories.

• Pet Supplies: Cater to pet owners with subscription boxes featuring treats, pet toys, pet care products, and pet clothing.

How to Begin a Shopify Subscription Box Business

Step 1: Finalize Your Business Concept

Before embarking on your subscription box business journey, it's essential to establish a strong foundation. You can skip this step if you already have a business and want to incorporate a subscription model. However, if you're starting from scratch, it's vital to address certain fundamentals, especially for product-based companies.

• Define your niche and products: Begin by brainstorming and identifying the products you intend to sell and your target customer base.

You can read more:How To Find The Best Products To Sell On Shopify

• Market Research: Analyze potential demand for your products using tools like Google Trends or researching on platforms like Amazon and Etsy.
• Competitor Research: Investigate your competitors in the market to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
• Product Testing: If you plan to use a third-party supplier, order samples of your products for evaluation. Seek feedback from friends or family members who receive these products.
• Branding: Choose an appealing brand name and ensure the availability of a corresponding domain name. Consistency across social media platforms is advisable, so create accounts with the same name on all relevant platforms.

Step 2: Develop Your Subscription Box Business Plan

In this step, you can create a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for your business. Your business should have a distinctive appeal to stand out in the market. While you may draw inspiration from other brands and their subscription plans during the research phase, developing your unique concept is crucial.

Critical considerations for your strategy include:

• Subscription Model Selection: Determine the subscription model that aligns with your product offerings and customer needs. Your choice may depend on the products you want to sell and the ideal frequency for customer deliveries.
• Pricing Strategy: Recognize that not all customers will immediately subscribe; some may wish to sample your products first. Establish pricing for individual products as well as for subscription boxes.

You can refer to Everything about Shopify Plans and Pricing

• Package Design: Decide how to structure the subscription plans. Consider offering a single or multiple packages based on frequency or membership tiers. Determine the contents of each box, which could include products alone or additional benefits, such as free shipping or other perks.

Step 3: Establish and Construct Your Shopify Store

Utilize Shopify's 3-day free trial to its total advantage. It's imperative to complete all your planning and strategy tasks before creating your Shopify store.

When you are prepared to initiate the store-building process, click here to begin your 3-day free trial on Shopify and access three months for just US$1 per month. Provide essential information about your business; your store will be ready for construction.

3.1 Choose a Theme and Personalize Your Store

Designing your website significantly affects your brand's identity, especially for online businesses. Therefore, customizing your store is crucial in creating your online shop.

Kalles is a Shopify theme built to help brands establish a compelling online presence and provide customers with a smooth shopping experience. It suits various online businesses and combines modern design with a clean and minimalist style, offering a variety of distinctive demos. Kalles enables elegant product showcasing, making it easier for shoppers to browse, select, and buy products.

Additionally, if you want to customize your website highly, try the EComposer Landing Page Builder offers the added advantage of having a template designed specifically for the subscription business model.

3.2 Arrange Products and Collections

When organizing your products and collections on your Shopify store, there are essential considerations to remember.

Firstly, ensuring that your product listings are optimized for search engines (SEO-friendly) is crucial. Additionally, if your store offers multiple categories of items, creating distinct collections can enhance navigation and simplify the search process for your customers.

You can include items in your online shop by navigating to your dashboard's "Products" section and then choosing "Add product." Within this section, you can upload product images, provide descriptions, specify prices, and input other relevant information.

3.3 Add Subscription and Essential Apps

To effectively manage your subscriptions and recurring payments on Shopify, you must install a subscription app on your store. Given the numerous subscription apps available in the Shopify app store, we can simplify this step by offering some recommendations.

In addition to the page builder and subscription app, other apps benefit various types of businesses. For instance, you can find Shopify apps that enhance your sales through strategies like email marketing, upselling, cross-selling, loyalty programs, and product reviews.

3.4 Craft Your Subscription Plan

You can create your subscription plan by leveraging your chosen app and specifying the products you intend to include in the subscription box. The exact process may vary depending on the subscription app you select.

3.5 Adjust All Shopify Configuration Settings

Ensure that all settings are appropriately adjusted, particularly those related to payments, checkout and accounts, shipping and delivery, taxes and duties, and notifications. These settings hold significant importance for the proper functioning of your Shopify store.

Step 4: Establish a Clear Subscription Policy

In any business, having well-defined and easy-to-understand policies is crucial. These policies offer your customers transparency and provide legal protection for your business.

If you navigate to 'Shopify admin > Settings > Policies,' you will find a variety of store policies, including Refund policy, Terms of Service, Shipping policy, Privacy policy, and Contact Information. Shopify often offers templates for these policies that you can customize according to your business.

It's a good idea to carefully consider all the different aspects and potential scenarios specific to your subscription business and incorporate these policies or terms into your store policies wherever applicable. To provide more clarity to your customers, creating a separate page that clearly outlines your subscription policy is recommended. You may seek assistance from a legal writer with expertise in this area if needed.

Step 5: Launch and Promote Your Business

Once you've set up everything, it's time to unveil your store. Launching your online store is a meaningful milestone representing your hard work and dedication. However, remember that your work doesn't end here.

Building and expanding your business is an ongoing journey that continues indefinitely.

After launching, your primary goal should be to boost brand awareness and attract potential customers to your store. Ensure you've submitted your sitemap to Google Search Console and have essential tools for analyzing your store's traffic. Free tools like Google Analytics or PageSpeed Insights can be valuable resources.

The Top 3 Shopify Apps for Subscriptions

1. Appstle Subscriptions & Loyalty

Apostle is a highly-rated subscription app on the Shopify app store, boasting over 1700 reviews. Its beginner-friendly pricing structure makes it suitable for starting and growing your subscription-based business.

Apostle Subscriptions & Loyalty

Rating: 4.9

Key Features:

• Custom shipping profiles for managing different shipping options.
• Tiered discounts to incentivize customer loyalty by offering discounts based on the number of deliveries.
• You advanced email notifications for sending automated emails to your target audience.

Pricing and Plans:

• Free plan available until your store generates $500/month through subscriptions.
• Paid plan starts at $10/month and allows you to sell subscriptions worth up to $5000/month.

2. Seal Subscriptions

Seal Subscriptions is a prominent application available on the Shopify platform. It empowers online merchants to incorporate subscription choices for their products, making it easy for customers to subscribe and receive products at regular intervals. This app provides a range of robust features, including versatile subscription plans, automated billing and shipping, customer management, and much more.

Seal Subscriptions Shopify App

Rating: 4.9

Key Features:

• Sell regular and prepaid subscriptions, complete with discounts and free trials!
• Provide tiered discounts, personalized shipping options, gifts, and more through loyalty features.
• Make it simple for your customers to access their subscriptions with magic links!
• Gain valuable insights into your business with comprehensive statistics and a payment calendar.
• Customize your email branding with a white-label approach and custom email domains!

Pricing and Plans:

• This app has a unique pricing structure with no transaction fees for all pricing and reasonable fees for pricing. 

3. Bold Subscriptions

Bold Subscriptions allows you to manage your business alongside subscription metrics efficiently. It also offers subscribers a self-manageable portal where they can handle their orders, delivery intervals, payments, and personal information.

Bold Subscriptions Shopify App

Rating: 4.2

Key Features:

• Customer management tools for your support team to handle subscriber accounts.
• Dunning management to reduce failed credit card transactions.
• Customizable customer portal for subscribers to manage their subscriptions and payments.

Pricing and Plans:

• The app has a 60-day free trial and has a single-paid package priced at $49.99/month.

Tips for Running a Successful Subscription Box Business on Shopify

Given the intense competition within the subscription box market, it's beneficial to have some valuable tips to make your subscription box stand out and excel.

Develop an Exceptional Marketing Strategy for Your Subscription Box

In a market saturated with subscription boxes, newcomers often need help distinguishing themselves. This is where a well-crafted marketing plan becomes invaluable. Here are some actionable marketing tactics to consider:

• Foster a dedicated social community: Engage your subscribers actively by providing them a platform to share their reviews, comments, and ideas, building a loyal community around your brand.
• Connect with subscription box bloggers: Reach out to niche bloggers specializing in subscription boxes, which can help spread the word about your unique offerings and generate buzz within your target audience.
• Harness user-generated content: Your customers can be your most influential advocates. Please encourage them to share reviews, photos, or videos of themselves using your products, offering incentives for their contributions and showcasing them on your website.
• Optimize your SEO: Prioritize robust search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure your online store ranks prominently in search engine results, as customers typically "Google" for information when researching products.

Craft an Effective Subscription Product Page

Creating a compelling subscription product page is crucial to increase the chances of your products making it into customers' shopping carts. Consider these fundamentals:

• Prioritize mobile-first design: Design your product page with a mobile-friendly layout to accommodate users across various devices.
• Showcase captivating product images: Use high-quality images that showcase your subscription products in an appealing and detailed manner.
• Clearly state your call to action: Make sure the subscription process is straightforward and easily accessible, with a clear call to action guiding customers.
• Utilize engaging product demo videos: Enhance your product page with eye-catching videos demonstrating your subscription offerings' value and benefits.

Elevate the Subscription Experience for Your Store

To ensure that your subscription box leaves a lasting impression on customers, consider the following strategies to enhance the overall experience:

• Create an Outstanding Unboxing Experience: Pay special attention to the unboxing process, a crucial part of the subscription box experience. Think outside the box and make unboxing enjoyable for your customers. This can involve using exquisite packaging, adding quirky messaging, or even including bonus products. It's the small details that make the experience truly worthwhile.
• Embrace Customer Customization: Give your customers a say in what they receive. Provide options for customization, allowing subscribers to choose from various products, box sizes, or variations. This customization adds value to your service and enhances the customer's experience.

Offer a Variety of Payment Options

One common reason for shopping cart abandonment is limited payment options. Payment preferences vary from one region to another. For example, credit card usage is prevalent in the United States, while other areas may favor different payment methods. To provide a smooth checkout experience, adding a range of payment methods that cater to subscribers' preferred modes of payment is crucial.

In Conclusion

Subscription box businesses have established themselves as a beloved choice among customers due to the allure of savings and convenience. It's safe to say that they have a promising future. Numerous businesses have recognized this trend and integrated subscription models into their operations. If you've contemplated launching your subscription business, there's no better time than now.