Over the course of the Summer, we have been discussing various trending subscription service models in our “Summer Subscription Series.” So why exactly does this ecommerce subscription service model work so well? According to Burkhat, CEO and co-found of Recurly, a company that helps launch ecommerce subscription services, “These business models essentially trade on the attractiveness of annuity revenue and annuity economics. For businesses, it’s peace of mind; for customers, it’s a reprieve from worrying about this stuff themselves.” (Source: Entrepreneur.com) Simply put, the subscription service model makes everyone’s lives easier.
If you have been following along with our “Summer Subscription Series”, you should know now that there are many reasons why this model works so well. In our first article, we learned that this model makes it easier for ecommerce retailers to provide a personalized experience. For our second installation, we took you into the fitting rooms of your very own digital closet that ecommerce help picked out. Our social media edition, the third of the series, featured e-commerce companies who not only excel at social media, but have the community interactions to back it up. All of the companies featured in our series are able to capitalize on anticipation, provide easy shipping plans, keep choices to a minimum, and provide a simple process from checkout to doorstep.
Our final installment in the Summer Subscription Series focuses on something that all consumers purchase- food. Instead of spending hours searching through the grocery store to find niche products, these services make the process simple by selecting the products for you and shipping them directly to your front door. Bestowed, Plated, Skoshbox, and Craft Coffee are all food & beverage subscription services that offer unique ways for subscribers to discover delicious new treats!
Bestowed
Bestowed is a subscription box service that allows its subscribers to discover niche health products. Each month, Bestowed sends out seven to ten of the best healthy snacks, beverages, and lifestyle items. All of the items featured in the box are hand-picked by a team of experts lead by nutritionist Heather Bauer. Some of the previously featured brands in the Bestowed box include: Earnest Eats, Luna Bar, Numi Tea, and Justin’s Peanut Butter.
After receiving their box, subscribers can go to the Bestowed Marketplace and purchase full-size versions of the products of their choosing. To enhance the customer experience, Bestowed has a “Learn” section on their website where subscribers can explore articles on health, fitness, and food. If you are interested in discovering healthy food and beverage products, you can subscribe here.
Plated
Plated takes away the stress of grocery shopping while still allowing for the fun of cooking! Each week, seven unique chef designed dishes are featured on the Plated menu. Some of the guests on the current chef council include Phoebe Lapine, Jason Roberts, and Jess Dang. Once customers select the dish that they want, all of the ingredients needed and a recipe card are shipped directly to their front door. The box is 100% biodegradable and all of the ingredients are locally-sourced. To make cooking even easier, everything is perfectly measured so there is no worry about portions!
Plated costs $10/month plus the cost of food, and features a weekly automatic delivery service. If users aren’t ready to make a full commitment, they are also able to pay as they go. Some of the current dishes are Summer Squash Tian with Quinoa, Char Siu Chicken Wings with Sweet Peppers, and Swordfish Kebabs with a Lemon Basil Orzo. You can view the weekly menu and order anything that tempts your taste buds here.
Skoshbox
Skoshbox, perfect for lovers of Japanese culture, is a subscription box featuring a wide assortment of hand-picked candies imported from Japan for only $12 a month. The box features traditional, unique, and trendy candies that are hard to find in the USA. The July box featured items like Meiji Marble Chocolate, Kyoyo Grape Kanteen Jelly, Matcha Chokoshi, Seafood Curry Sensei, and KitKat Black. Much like other subscription services, users can also buy the full-sized version of products in Skoshbox’s online store.
If customers aren’t looking for the monthly commitment, Skoshbox Premium features a larger selection of full-sized candy on a single-purchase basis. Users who are a fan of Skoshbox on Facebook and Instagram are able to participate in a monthly giveaway, where the prize is a premium package stuffed with snacks, toys, accessories, and lifestyle goods. Skoshbox makes it easy for subscribers to discover interesting, hard-to-find Japanese products at an affordable price. Check out Skoshbox here!
Craft Coffee
Craft Coffee is the perfect way for caffeine lovers to get their fix! This subscription service delivers expert selected premium coffee beans to its subscribers monthly. All of the coffee featured in the subscription box is curated by an extremely selective taste test done by industry experts. The tasting panel tests hundreds of different coffees and it can take up to two hours to select a coffee specifically for the subscription box. As soon as Craft Coffee receives a coffee sample, they store the beans in a mason jar in order to keep them fresh. They then label the mason jar with some necessary information: where the coffee is from, how it was processed, and when it was roasted.
In order to make the box perfect, coffee is selected by roasting, packaging, and tasting notes. This rigorous tastes test allows Craft Coffee to select only the best premium coffee beans for its subscription box.
