eCommerce Subscription Services and What You Need To Know

Today, customers are looking for ways to get subscriptions that make their lives easier. As work from home policies continue to increase, customers are looking for brands that can cater to their lifestyle. Not only is it for convenience, but it’s also becoming a necessity.

Busy moms, families, career professionals, and everyone in modern culture finds themselves with less time and more to do. Subscriptions help solve this need and provide for important things like groceries, makeup/skincare, consumer packaged goods, and more.

In the last 5 years, Google Trends has shown almost double growth for the search term “subscriptions.” Not only that but it is predicted that the subscription market will grow to $478 Billion by 2025.

While subscription business models have proven to be a very profitable business model, it’s also one that is high in demand. No matter how your business runs today, you can incorporate powerful subscription eCommerce solutions to make this possible.

Brand Benefits of Subscription Services

Do you have a storefront or an online store without a subscription? If not, you may be wondering, “Is it worth it?” We believe with the right strategy, you can build a profitable stream of predictable revenue for your company with subscriptions.

Utilizing a partner in your subscription journey can simplify the complexities of offering subscription services. Recharge helps you turn transactions into relationships, by providing the subscriptions payments solution to make it seamless. Below are a few ways your business can benefit from a powerful partner and system to provide subscription services for your customers.

1. Predict Your Revenue

Sales goals are at the core of consistent growth. But imagine securing revenue every month without having to worry about what the end of the cycle will look like.

A strong subscription service makes it possible to make monthly sales with minimal effort. Once a customer subscribes and has a happy experience, you can depend on continual sales.

This makes a big difference when you are planning on expanding your business. You can use this information and stability to plan and invest in the future.

2. Expand Your Audience

The minute you offer subscriptions, you open the doors to a brand new market. Some customers make their purchasing decision off of this availability. It offers convenience and reliability. They don’t have to shop every month for the same thing. You take care of it.

This puts you at a higher competitive advantage. The more options and features you provide, the better chance you have at winning new customers.

A subscription payments solution, like Recharge, uses the latest technology to equip your business to lead the market in the subscriptions space.

3. Create Loyal Fans

What better way to create super fans than by showing up at their door or inbox on a routine basis?

As you provide routine exceptional services and experiences, your customers will appreciate you and the brand. You build an active relationship with them and they can’t wait to tell others about you.

Subscriptions are all about the experience. Offer a great one, and your super fans will want to spread the word. When you make things easy for them, your brand becomes a no-brainer choice.

4. Increase Revenue

A successful recurring subscription program can increase your monthly revenue. Someone who may have bought once or twice is now buying every cycle for you. Why? You eliminated the need to make a decision and to act.

People are increasingly looking for ways to automate their life and subscriptions offer a big solution. When you meet this need, it benefits your business.

Imagine how a stable sales increase can transform your business.

Customer Benefits of Subscription Services

If it were all about business growth, we could end the article right here. But long-term growth requires investing in the infinite game. We need to take care of our customers and put them first to continue growing in the future.

Below are a few benefits customers appreciate about subscriptions.

1. Compliments Modern Lifestyles

Shopping is hard. You have to find a time when you are free while ensuring you make your shopping trips as efficient as possible. By providing subscriptions, merchants can eliminate the stress and limited time that customers often feel at traditional brick & mortar stores.

Additionally, due to the different state and province mandates due to the pandemic, many customers are unable to shop traditionally where they once did. Offering their necessities on subscription allows for them to receive your products on a regular basis.

2. People Believe In Brand Loyalty

As mentioned before, offering a subscription is a great way to build loyalty to your brand. It’s also a great way to nurture those relationships and create powerful word-of-mouth marketing. Every time they receive your product, or your service is renewed, you are continuing to nurture that relationship with them.

You can communicate new features, new initiatives, and other things to get them excited. Now and then, you can offer something new that they didn’t expect, creating a remarkable experience that won’t go unnoticed.

Even more important, especially in the younger generations, is the ability to connect your brand to a bigger purpose. Focused on sustainability? Lean into that mission and let your customers know that their purchases help your company in the efforts to better the world in some way.

By providing a purpose behind your brand, you can create an unforgettable experience, powering strong organic growth. Subscriptions give you the platform and opportunity to develop this relationship. For more tips to build customer loyalty, check out this resource on building loyalty programs that boost referrals and customer spending. 

3. Demonstrate Your Customer-first Culture

When was the last time you saw an industry get disrupted? It’s amazing to see how it happens. Almost every time, it has to do with companies not meeting the needs of their customers. Someone finally steps in and makes a difference.

Subscriptions make it easier to put customers first. They have a clear need— the option for automatic payments and continual service — and you provide it to them. Many industries are not adapting and shifting to these models. We need to give the customer what they want and subscriptions are where consumer demand continues to shift.

This might not seem easy to do, but thankfully solutions like Recharge offer frictionless onboarding and guidance to make it possible.

Elevating The Customer Experience

With the tools available online, there’s no better time to get started. As an agency partner of Recharge, we connect subscription services on popular eCommerce platforms. We have seen every implementation yield instant sign-ups, and just like your telephone bill on auto-pay, people do enjoy the concept of "Set It And Forget It." If you can save your customers time, they will reward you with loyalty and tend to stay customers longer, buy more frequently, and even get better results from not missing regiments like in the case of skincare products that you need to use daily and not run out of or it resets your benefits and outcome.