However, across the world, the retailing landscape is changing in all sorts of different ways and it is becoming much more fragmented and diverse, so if you are to reach the end-user, the ‘same old’ is just not good enough.
But even if you are using social media to engage with end-users it is no longer enough just to be online on a few social media platforms. The end-user expects more: such as instant feedback, personal touch and only want to receive relevant communication, so they want to belong to a community on platforms they want to use.
This is where subscription services come into play. It seems there is very little we cannot have delivered to our doors in a surprise-loke box, as the industry has ballooned well beyond clothing and razors to delivering everything from dog treats to toys, plants, and even crystals, directly to consumers.
Subscription e-commerce services offer consumers—often younger, affluent urbanites convenient, personalized, and, often a lower-cost way to buy what they want and need.
But one thing is consistent: the success of subscription boxes is driven by understanding every consumer’s unique needs, whether it’s taste, style preferences, size, cost or even psyche.
Adopting a data-driven culture is crucial to succeeding in the subscription economy. Customer data allows for a far more personalised service, and as you gain more information on the customer and their behaviour, you can better streamline your subscription model to meet their requirements either through cost-effectiveness and convenience of not having to deal with the task of buying ad-hoc (replenishment), range of products and personalised suggestions (curation), or exclusive experiences (access).
The success of subscription models is therefore underpinned by behavioural data. Content may be king, but out of the correct context, it can undermine the strategy that it is plugged into. Take a customer that has purchased the latest iPhone. They are unlikely to want to receive communications on new smartphone models any time soon.
Jeff and Andy say they “created Harry’s because they were tired of overpaying for overdesigned razors, and of standing around waiting for the person in the drugstore to unlock the cases so they could actually buy them. When they asked around, they learned lots of guys were upset about the situation too, so they decided to do something about it.”
But there is more, Harry’s donates 1% of the sales to charitable organisations supports bringing quality mental health care to men everywhere.
The founders, both in their early 30s with a background in private equity, say they formed Harry’s because existing razors were too expensive and over designed.
They built the company rapidly, with such initiatives as a collaboration with upmarket clothing retailer J. Crew and using brand ambassadors such as England football captain Harry Kane.
The razor giant Gillette now also offer a subscription service, all driven by, a one-off saving of £10 and a few free razors in the subscription duration, no community and social goodness.
Harry’s have now entered the retail brick and mortar route as they are now listed in Boots, which again confirms that there can be more than one route to markets
The company that really has taken its domestic-based subscription model worldwide is Hotel Chocolat
First Hotel Chocolat shop opened in London in 2004 and today, they operate 100 shops+ as well as cafés and restaurants. They have a franchisee operating three shops in Copenhagen and they own a hotel on their own cocoa plantation in the Caribbean.
2. A clear purpose for your community
3. Stay relevant
4. Know your customers
5. Learn from your customers
Good luck; it can be done using more than one traditional route to markets.