DISCUSSION
Subscription services are moving beyond just being surprise boxes
Written by Guest contributor
Photo: Loot Crate
Klaudia Tirico
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
As more subscription box services saturate the market, several companies are moving beyond curating based on a quick personality quiz in efforts to remain relevant and top-of-mind.
Loot Crate, for instance, believes that editorial content is key. Aside from its line of 27 unique subscription box offerings ranging from themes such as Harry Potter, Marvel and Stranger Things, the company offers its community an editorial outlet called The Daily Crate, including fan films and thematic videos, promotions with WWE superstars, editorial content and event coverage. Loot Crate’s community also plays a significant role in developing new products and box themes.
“You have to realize that it’s a relationship; it’s not a transaction,” Erik Reynolds, VP of product marketing and communications for Loot Crate, told Retail TouchPoints. “That relationship — for us — needs to be a celebration of the things we love, of our fandom.”
Evolving from simply being a surprise box of a pre-fixed menu of products, some are embracing a “recurring” model that enables consumers to receive their favorite brand of, say, cosmetics (Glossier), vitamins (Care/of) and feminine hygiene products (Lola).
Said Kirk Anderson, EVP of North American Sales of Snapfulfil Cloud WMS, which provides back-end support for subscription box services, “That takes the ownership of him or her having to go to Amazon or a retail store to make the buying decision.”
Subscription services such as Stitch Fix or Trunk Club are taking further advantage of the treasure trove of customer data they’ve accumulated over the years to help create new products and target specific subscribers with the help of AI.
“They can create their own set of products and own the product lifecycle based on all the data they have about the customer — what they selected to buy, what they didn’t like, how much they paid for certain items,” said Tracie Kambies, principal at Deloitte Digital. “Then, they could watch what trends are happening more holistically and actually build their own products.”