Maggie Johnson

If you’re a merchant who has always dreamed about starting your own subscription business but aren’t sure where to begin, then you’re in the right place. This post will explore what the subscription business model is and give you a better understanding of the steps you’ll need to take to start offering subscriptions, like choosing the right subscription management platform, building a website, and launching a marketing strategy. 

Online stores looking to increase their customer lifetime value (LTV) and grow customer loyalty should consider developing a subscription business model. It’s no secret that subscription businesses form stronger relationships with their customers, leading to reliable recurring revenue and lower customer acquisition costs (CAC). 

Launching a subscription business, but not sure where to start? Or maybe you’re not sure how to manage all subscriptions offered by your online store? Selecting the right subscription ecommerce platform is an essential part of creating a successful subscription business, laying the foundation for stores to support their subscribers throughout the customer journey. 

The subscription business model is growing in popularity, and for good reason. Recurring revenue gives businesses reliability that they don’t have with traditional one-time purchases. It also gives brands a chance to cultivate a strong long-term relationship with their shoppers, meaning increased customer loyalty and better retention.

So, you want to offer subscriptions to your customers. You know these offerings will likely help you increase average order value (AOV) and reduce churn, but you are unsure how to make everything come together. 

Are you tired of centering so much effort and relying on big numbers around just one period of the year? What if there was a better approach that allowed you to capture customers and ensure they continue making purchases with your online store? 

Headless is a term that is gaining traction in the ecommerce industry, but one that many find hard to understand. We sat down with Scott Knight, Founder and CEO at Alpha Omega Agency (AOA), on season three of our Hit Subscribe podcast to learn more about what headless means and the impact it will have on the future of ecommerce. 

In season three of our Hit Subscribe podcast, we talked with Justine and Rebecca Woods, CEO and Head of Logistics at The Bookish Box. We learned all about how Bookish has naturally built a community around their brand as they’ve grown, and how they are enjoying the benefits of this strong community today.  

Are you looking for a simple way to increase average order value (AOV) for your business? Trying to get more products off your shelves? Cross-selling might be the solution for you. By showing your customers additional items to buy, you can encourage them to spend more money while clearing inventory—perhaps on items you’ve had a hard time selling previously. 

Do you like receiving gifts with a purchase? What about when you get free shipping on an online order? Or earn points when you take a flight with your preferred airline? All of these benefits are actually loyalty program tactics that businesses use to retain you as a customer—and get you to spend more money with them. 

Choosing to offer subscriptions is an excellent way to provide your customers with a personalized customer journey. One merchant that has taken a very custom approach to their customer experience—with close attention to what information is shared with customers depending on their point in the customer journey—is Kettle & Fire. 

Anyone that works in the ecommerce industry knows that there are a million terms and acronyms used on a daily basis. Learning those terms—and their significance when it comes to running an ecommerce business—is crucial. But what separates gross merchandise value or gross merchandise volume (GMV) from the pack? And why is it such an important ecommerce term to learn?

This Earth Month, we are diving into the different ways that merchants are considering the environment as they do business. Subscription services lend themselves to ethical and sustainable practices since they allow merchants to predict future demand and give customers the chance to bundle their products and reduce shipping needs. 

Understanding direct-to-consumer (DTC) commerce is simple: Businesses sell their products or services directly to their end customers. In other words, the middleman is cut out of the chain, allowing merchants to reach their customers directly. Many businesses choose this particular business model so they have more control over the customer relationship. 

Two key members of the BIOHM Health team sat down on our Hit Subscribe podcast to chat all about the different ways they’ve created success within subscriptions and achieved high customer satisfaction. Through education efforts, a customer portal overhaul, and building a social media presence, BIOHM has seen big subscriber growth and steady retention rates. 

Business owners in the ecommerce industry recognize the importance of ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs). Succeeding in business is dependent on consumers being able to find your online store, which means successful ecommerce SEO is vital to your bottom line.

What happens when two brothers combine forces to take on conversion rate optimization (CRO) for some of the biggest names in ecommerce? In the case of Prismfly, really great things. 

When starting and optimizing your subscription business, there are a few mistakes you’ll want to avoid. Identifying what will make for a bad user experience and pinpointing where customers will churn can help you determine what needs to be done in order to increase your customer retention rates and lifetime value (LTV). 

As someone born in 1996, I’m stuck on the generational border between millennials and Gen Z, constantly in the middle of culture wars and defending controversial jean styles. Though I don’t always relate to either generation as a so-called “Zillenial,” I tend to lean more towards Gen Z, especially when it comes to my shopping habits. 

We talked to Ben Knox, SVP of Digital at Super Coffee, on our Hit Subscribe podcast all about how the company got started and their shift to subscriptions, including tips they’ve learned along the way to reduce churn. 

After a freak accident left Ryan Pamplin on medical leave for a year, health became his top priority. As a former tech innovator in Silicon Valley, he no longer cared about making money or becoming successful in business. Trying not to die was his baseline every day, and he relied on smoothies and protein shakes to help him survive this challenging time. 

For ecommerce brands, it's crucial to build a base of engaged and loyal customers. LOLA, makers of period and sexual wellness products, has done just this. Not only do they give amazing perks to their subscription members, but they also rally around their mission of giving back—which is something their customers appreciate too, creating a sense of greater purpose around their products. 

Before you even begin selling your products, customer retention—the art of keeping your customers with your business—should be a major part of your success plan. The stability offered by subscriptions and recurring customers often allows merchants to expand their businesses. But growth is hard to achieve if your store is dealing with high churn or unhappy customers that don’t plan to return.

In the world of ecommerce, a strong brand community is created when people have an emotional connection to your brand. It allows them to feel closer to your company and each other, and can even mean the difference between success and failure. When consumers are committed to your brand, they become your best marketing tool and will often stay loyal to your products.