Convenience Commerce refers to the traditional style of subscriptions. The same products are delivered on a regular basis, saving the customer the time and effort involved in manually purchasing and re-ordering their favourite products. The purpose of this type of commerce is in its name – its designed to be convenient.

Discovery Commerce refers to the style of subscription boxes that are designed to help customers find new products, allowing them to explore their options and products that they might not typically purchase.

The products sent might include totally new products every month, a rotation of their most popular, or a mix of both. These types are particularly useful for customers looking to try new beauty products, food products, etc.

As mentioned in the convenience subscription section, one of the main reasons as to why subscription commerce is so popular is due to the convenience it offers customers.

New subscriptions can be found and purchased in minutes. After that, customers just simply need to wait for their delivery to arrive, eliminating the process of needing to physically go out and source the products desire. The convivence aspect of subscription boxes will always be the biggest selling point for any subscription box. Of course, your great products are also going to be the USP of your business, but the convenience side of things extends to every business regardless of their products.

Ever done a food shop, and when it comes time to make food, you feel overwhelmed with choice? What about when you go shopping for clothes, and you feel overwhelmed by the choices? Sometimes, too much choice leads us to indecisiveness, its a natural human occurrence. The thing is, this indecisiveness can lead to that pesky thing known as buyers remorse (should the purchase go through of course!)

Subscription boxes help to eliminate the indecisiveness and buyers remorse since all the products are lumped together for one set cost, and this cost is usually cheaper than the overall cost to purchase products individually.

Unless customers are ordering repeat subscription for the exact same products every month (i.e. the same cat food every month, the same washing up liquid, etc) there is an element of surprise when signing up to a subscription box service. For example, the Rocca Box subscription model allows customers to receive a box of new products every month, that are typically different from the month before. The products are not pre-announced before they are received, creating an element of surprise for the customers. Its like receiving a gift on your birthday or at Christmas, except it is on a monthly basis. When the items a customer receives are consistently good, high quality, it will encourage them to keep coming back. It’s a quick way to build an extremely large loyal customer base, with a high level of customer retention.

Regardless of the sector you’re in, whether you are a subscription box business or not, the unboxing experience is crucial.

First impressions always matter.

In this industry specifically, strong branding is always used with cleverly designed packaging. As mentioned, receiving the box is like receiving a present, and brands adhere to this.

The stronger the branding and unboxing experience is, the more and more your customers will look forward to receiving their boxes every month, because not only are you delivering products, you’re also delivering an experience.

Word of mouth is a powerful tool for any business, regardless of the service they provide or products they sell.

Subscription box businesses tend to have a lot more success when it comes to engaging customers for a longer period of time, building a large loyal customer base, and increasing customer retention levels. Many subscription box businesses offer referral schemes, and see great benefits from using them too.

UGC (user generated content) is extremely popular and beneficial at the minute, especially on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Businesses can see great success from UGC of the products and unboxing experience.

A lot of eCommerce brands struggle with the nurturing side of things. What we mean by that is, businesses need to nurture their customers to help build a loyal customer base and increase customer retention by encouraging them to come back for repeat purchasing. Subscription box businesses can take a step back after a certain point (once the brand is well established) since generally speaking, if a customer is happy with the products they receive on a month to month basis, you won’t need to actively engage with them as much as your normally would have to.

Of course, this is not to say that you should completely avoid engaging with them, but it is something you might not need to focus on as much.

When you charge a set amount for your boxes every month, you can find it easier to set targets, forecast growth, and manage your finances with better accuracy.

When selling products individually, it can sometimes be a guessing game as to how many sales you’ll receive that month.

While the cost of the products you include in your boxes can fluctuate every month, you will still find it easier to plan your months in advance with better accuracy.

Every single business in the world faces competition, simply put, that is just business.

When it comes to subscription boxes, you need to find a way to offer something that your competitors aren’t – whether that’s the actual products, the unboxing experience, the overall service, the price, etc. Find something.

If you can’t, you obviously run the risk of losing customers to your competitors, but as mentioned this is one of the biggest challenges that businesses face universally, so don’t let it deter you! Get creative.

Of course, you also have to consider the fact that there are some huge pre-established brands in this industry too, but you can use this to your benefit by researching what is and isn’t working for them, which can then be applied to your business as a USP.

While it is true that it is much easier to build a large loyal customer base, and have a high level of customer retention, you may struggle to recover from an increase in cancellations.

One huge downfall of subscription box businesses is the fact that they are typically one of the first services a customer will cancel when their disposable income decreases.

Tax and inflation increases quite drastically at times, and customers will look for ways to bring their monthly expenses down, which means your business can take a hit (much like any other goods/service based business)

So, it may be harder to re-build your customer base and retention should that happen, but you can always look for new ways to remain valuable and competitive to help minimise this.

At TSP we handle everything, starting with the storage, picking, and packing of your products.

We serve a range of markets so we have experience storing, picking, and packing a variety of different products, so we’ve got you covered regardless of what you sell.

Outsourcing your pick and pack with us will help free up your time, while also improving the entire process due to our highly experienced team of staff.

Regardless of whether you just do B2C or B2B, or a mixture of both, our team have the knowledge and resources required to successfully get your orders picked, packed, and shipped to your customer or chosen retailer.

While we handle your B2B and B2C fulfilment, you can focus on putting more time and money back into other areas of your business, such as your sales, marketing, and product development.

After we pick and pack your orders, we ship them too.

We ensure you get better deals on shipping and packaging by letting you leverage our buying power, meaning you can save money and put it back into growing your business.

We also partner with a range of couriers, ensuring the needs of your business are being met through a diverse choice in reliable couriers.

We are your one stop solution for all Amazon seller services, including FBA, FBM and SFP. With over 20 years of industry experience you can be assured that we are fully equipped to support you..

So regardless of what Amazon service you’re using, or if its a mix of all 3, we’ve got you covered. Check out our Amazon page for more information regarding our Amazon fulfilment services.

Our cloud-based system, MintSoft is easy to navigate and provides you with real time updates so you can always make informed decisions about your stock.

We also run our own in-house system that can provide accurate information for the following;

• Notify you of stock replenishment needs
• Notify you of when and when not to re-order
• Ability to track inventory
• Ability to automate orders
• Respond to trends

Returns are inevitable when it comes to your eCommerce business, but managing them correctly is a critical aspect on 3PL services. Here at TSP, we will handle the entire process from start to finish, helping you to main a high level of customer satisfaction.

So, never worry about handling a return again, because TSP has you covered.

Are you a sustainable business? Looking to become more sustainable? Working with us means you can do your bit for the planet too, since we are a certified carbon neutral 3PL company.

Do you sell custom bundles or kits? We’ve got you covered. Our team is trained in kitting and bundle building, so you can be assured your customers will receive their orders in an accurate, timely manner.

Do you require international shipping, or are you looking to expand into global markets? We’ve got you covered with our extensive network of couriers and global warehouses.

Explore our global fulfilment solutions page to see how we can help you dominate the global market, right from the heart of Newcastle.

Here at TSP we are one of the very few Newcastle based order fulfilment companies with a dry bonded warehouse license.

Our network of freight forwarders means you can easily utilise the power of cross-border selling, allowing you to boost sales and drive growth.