Subscription eCommerce is a business model that’s growing in popularity for a number of reasons, and so is the health and wellness industry. Subscription services for health and wellness brands offer unique opportunities for customization and personalization in custom kitting and subscription box bundles.
In this blog, we’ll talk about why subscription services can be beneficial to health and wellness brands as well as how a 3PL partner can help with subscription box fulfillment.
3 Types Of Health & Wellness Subscriptions Boxes
Subscription boxes are product-based, offering customers a way to receive products related to their interests regularly. In the health and wellness industry, these usually feature products like scented candles, journals, books, skincare, bath salts, incense, and more. Customers are drawn to these boxes and bundles because they promote self-care and a healthy lifestyle. There are 3 main types of health and wellness boxes:
1. Curation Boxes
This is a type of subscription box often used for health and beauty products. They offer collections of products based on each customer’s individual needs and preferences. Because it offers more personalization, this type of subscription is typically higher quality and higher priced.
2. Replenishment Boxes
This type of subscription allows customers to purchase consumable products that they use on a daily basis. The products will be delivered to them automatically at set intervals, oftentimes for a discounted rate.
3. Access Boxes
These subscriptions are automatic recurring payments and are popular with customers interested in long-term savings, convenience, and a wide range of products. Users can sign up for a membership and pay fees so they can use the products on an ongoing basis.
Why Use Subscription Services For A Health & Wellness Business?
There are many reasons people choose to implement subscription eCommerce models into their business plans. The health and wellness industry is growing every day, and with the increase in demand, comes the pressure to process and fulfill orders quicker. Below, we’ve provided the benefits you can expect when using subscription services and boxes.
Improve customer experience.
Subscription boxes create a more convenient shopping experience by providing a seamless automated process. Instead of searching for health and wellness products and having to manually input their information for every purchase, their experience is simplified and overall boosts customer satisfaction.
Increase customer loyalty and retention.
According to Accenture, 57% of consumers spend more money on brands they feel loyal to. Using convenient, secure, and personalized health and wellness boxes, increases customer loyalty as well as retention.
Lower customer acquisition costs.
Customer acquisition costs (CAC) are the amount you spend to convert browsers into paying customers. Through subscription eCommerce, you can build long-term relationships with your customers allowing you to cut back on time spent trying to gain new customers and generate more opportunities for referrals.
Predict sales and revenue.
Subscription eCommerce models allow you to evaluate your profit forecast and calculate monthly revenue. With an accurate and predictable revenue stream, you’re able to simplify business decisions as well as create a financial safety net for unforeseen disruptions.
Initiate better cash flow.
Since subscription eCommerce guarantees you receive full payment from your customers upfront, the likelihood of positive cash flow increases. Similar to the point above, this helps with profit forecasting and reducing unpredictable changes in cash flow.
Simplify inventory management.
Accuracy is important for any business, and subscription services allow you to stay up to date on the number of subscribers you have. This way you’ll know how many products you need to keep in stock and you can anticipate any upcoming demands or big sales.
Build trust and grow sales.
Through subscription eCommerce insights, you can see a variety of your customers’ preferences like timing, shopping habits, and payment types. This information will help you connect more easily with each customer and optimize their overall shopping experience with your brand.
Outsourcing Subscription Box Fulfillment
When deciding if you should outsource subscription box fulfillment to a 3PL you should consider two main things: kitting and assembly.
Kitting is the process of grouping and packaging two or more similar items into a single ready-to-ship kit with a single SKU (stock-keeping unit) to be sold as a single item. Conversely, assembly is the process of merging two or more discrete components to create a single end-use object that will be shipped at a later time.
Oftentimes, the processes of kitting and assembly are combined in order fulfillment to increase efficiency and speed up production. However, the need for kitting, assembly, or both will depend on how your product is created or supplied.
How Can Partnering With A 3PL Help?
Both kitting and assembly for subscription boxes can be complicated processes that require a significant amount of time and effort. You need to ensure you aren’t underfilling or overfilling the box, or bundling the wrong items.
Outsourcing subscription box fulfillment to a 3PL gives you more time to focus on your brand. In addition, with the help of 3PL kitting services, you can expect shorter lead times, lower overhead costs, and fewer shipping and fulfillment errors.
3PL kitting services often also have different levels of customization you can choose from. Custom kitting includes specialized branding from custom inserts to packing materials like tissue paper or crinkle paper.
The Subscription Box Fulfillment Process
Before you decide if outsourcing subscription box fulfillment is the right move for your business, you probably want to know what the process looks like. Below, we’ve outlined how the fulfillment process works.
- Send your inventory. Once you send your inventory to your fulfillment company they can store the information until the recurring shipping date comes around.
- Share order details. You can share order information with your fulfillment company automatically, through an eCommerce platform integration, or manually.
- Pick and pack the right products. After the order details are sent, a picking list can be created to ensure your fulfillment company is packing and shipping the correct products.
- Customize your customer’s experience. Before shipping the subscription boxes off, you can choose to add custom materials or items to make your customer’s unboxing experience even more special.
- Shipping. Once the final touches are put into place, your subscription box will be sent to the customer. Both you and your customer can receive package tracking information to follow the shipment as it’s transported.
Looking for a 3PL partner to bring your business to the next level? Talk to our team today to see how we can help with custom kitting and more.