The holidays are all about giving and receiving, and what better gift to offer your customers than the ongoing delight of a subscription? With a subscription solution that offers powerful out-of-the-box features, you can easily set up a recurring revenue stream that keeps your customers coming back for more, long after the tinsel is packed away. Let’s dive into the best practices for creating a joyful and efficient subscription program.
1. Define Your Festive Offerings with Product Types
Before you hang the mistletoe, clearly define what products you’ll offer as subscriptions. The platform’s Product Types are your foundation. Whether it’s a “Monthly Mistletoe & More” box (a product bundle), a recurring delivery of “Holiday Spice Coffee Beans” (standard product), or even “Festive Fragrance Refills” (configurable product with options), ensure your product types are correctly configured.
- Standard Products: Perfect for single-item subscriptions that don’t vary, dog food or body wash.
- Configurable Products with Options: Ideal for subscriptions where customers can choose variations (e.g., different scents for a fragrance refill).
- Product Bundles: Create curated holiday boxes by bundling multiple products together as a single entity for a subscription offering. Remember, inventory is tracked at the component level for bundles, not the bundle itself.
Holiday Tip: Consider offering a “12 Days of Treats” or “Advent Calendar” as a product bundle subscription that delivers festive surprises throughout December.
2. Tailor Pricing with Subscription Discounts
Sweeten the deal with attractive discounts. The platform’s Subscription Discounts allow you to apply order or item-level discounts specifically to subscription products—leading to better conversion and retention rates.
- Initial Order vs. Continuity: Decide if you want a special introductory discount for the first order, ongoing savings for continuity orders, or both.
- Frequency-Based Discounts: Encourage higher subscription frequencies by offering discounts for weekly or monthly deliveries compared to bi-monthly deliveries.
- Nth Purchase Discounts: Reward loyalty by offering a discount on a specific continuity order, such as “every third order gets 15% off.”
- Applicable Price Lists: Link your subscription discounts to specific price lists you’ve created for subscription pricing. This is crucial for ensuring the correct prices are applied.
Holiday Tip: Offer a “First Subscription Box Free” promotion or a “Buy a 3-Month Subscription, Get the 4th Month 50% Off” to entice holiday shoppers.
3. Manage Inventory Like Santa’s Workshop
Accurate inventory management is key to successful subscriptions, especially during peak holiday seasons. Look for a subscription platform that offers robust features to ensure you never oversell your festive goods, such as real-time inventory unification.
- Enable Inventory Support for Locations: Ensure that the locations fulfilling your subscriptions have inventory support enabled.
- Real-Time Inventory Service (RIS): RIS provides accurate and near real-time inventory visibility on your storefront, minimizing overselling and maximizing customer satisfaction.
- Inventory Segmentation: If you allocate specific inventory for subscriptions versus one-time purchases, use inventory tags. This ensures subscription orders pull from the designated stock.
- You can define tags based on channels, customer groups, or fulfillment methods.
- Set inventory allocation percentages or discrete units for each tag.
- Future Inventory: If you anticipate new stock for popular holiday subscription items, leverage future inventory to “promise” availability, even if it’s not yet on hand. This is particularly useful for managing demand during busy periods.
- Backordering: For high-demand items that might temporarily run out, enable backordering. Shipments with backordered items can be held and released once new inventory is available.
Holiday Tip: Use inventory segmentation to reserve a certain percentage of your most popular holiday-themed products exclusively for your subscription program, guaranteeing stock for your most loyal customers.
4. Streamline Fulfillment for Smooth Deliveries
Efficient fulfillment ensures your subscription boxes arrive on time, delighting your customers. The platform offers various fulfillment methods to support your operations.
- Ship to Home (STH): A common method for shipments directly from fulfillers to the customer.
- Fulfillment Workflows (BPM): The platform offers standard fulfillment process flows. For unique subscription needs, custom BPMs can be configured by the development team.
- Email Notifications: Keep your customers informed every step of the way. Enable shipment confirmation, order pickup ready, and other relevant email notifications.
Holiday Tip: Consider offering a “Curbside Pickup” option for local customers during the holidays for an extra festive touch, if your business model supports it.
5. Personalize the Experience with Customer Attributes & Segments
During the competitive holiday season, offering relevant and personal shopping experiences can be the difference between a shopper buying from you or a competitor. Make your subscribers feel special by leveraging customer data.
- Customer Attributes: Apply attributes to customer accounts for special uses, such as marketing campaigns or discounts. These can be used for targeted campaigns.
- Customer Segments: Group customer accounts together for special uses, such as marketing initiatives, discounts, or price lists. These segments can then be targeted with specific promotions or price lists.
- Shopper Agent: Leverage an AI agent that can answer questions about products or delivery and provide personalized recommendations based on the shopper’s needs.
Holiday Tip: Create a “Holiday Subscriber” segment and offer them exclusive early access to new seasonal products or a special holiday bonus in their next box.
Conclusion
By implementing these best practices, you’re not just setting up a subscription program; you’re cultivating a continuous cycle of customer delight and reliable revenue. A well-executed subscription strategy transforms seasonal interest into year-round loyalty, ensuring your business thrives long after the holiday lights come down. Ready to unwrap the full potential of your subscription offerings?
