When you’re an entrepreneur who sells his products all around the world, you must need a delightful and appealing package according to your target market. But all this delight and appeal should not break your back, in terms of finances. An ultimate choice might be a customized subscription box to meet the needs of your niche. Using the research tools, this piece happens to have all the details that you might want to consider before placing an order for subscription box.
What are subscription boxes? And why should you choose them?
Subscription boxes have been around for quite a while now. Initially, they took the cosmetics industry by storm and every other cosmetic company started selling their products in it when they saw the format working in the market.
Two self-professed women introduced the subscription beauty box via their company Birchbox, in 2010. Look around in the market now, every other company is using subscription boxes for their niche. This sounds like a lightbulb moment!
Subscription boxes are mainly popular amongst the fashion industries. Various cosmetic brands use these to deliver products to their customers. But it’s not limited to this one stream anymore; magazine companies, food and beverages, detergents and soap, clothing, stationary and these sorts of businesses use subscription boxes now.
That’s not all, there’s so much more to subscription boxes other than affordability and convenience.
Research shows that 15 percent of online shoppers have signed up for one or more subscriptions to receive products on a recurring basis, frequently through monthly boxes.
How are they designed?
When it comes to designing a subscription box, this is where all the fun lies, let’s delve into it.
Beautifully designed and customized subscription boxes can take your brand or products to the heights of success and make your subscribers feel valued and special.
Its size should fit all of your products comfortably. However, it shouldn’t be too small that your box looks like it is about to explode or too big that it makes rattling sounds with the goods in it.
From product placement to the effective box design, everything should be clean, tidy and well organized. Preferably, double walled front tuck-end boxes and different sorts of slotted containers (Regular slotted container/overlap slotted container/half slotted container/full overlap slotted) are used for subscription boxes.
The types of boxes that you can utilize as subscription box
There are three other common types of subscription boxes – Kraft, White and Kemi white boxes.
The cheapest of them, Kraft (brown) material is probably the one you’ve seen the most, as it is the most common one used for subscription boxes. Kraft is perfect if you wish a ‘recycled’ look for your box. Kind of vintage and ‘using cardboard but loving the environment’ style.
Using Kraft material could work as a great marketing move as well, just in case your target market loves the words such as ‘environment’ or ‘eco-friendly’.
The second option, White, is a little expensive as compared to the Kraft, however, it gives remarkable results of digital printing.
So, if you have a wonderful design that deserves to be displayed at the surface of the box, you might want to give it a shot. Oyster and Bleach white boxes are other types of White boxes.
Kemi White is also a type of white box, but how is it different then? Kemi boxes, also called ‘white top boards’, are usually used by business who are already into the game of subscription boxes and have more than a thousand of subscribers. They use it to make them stand as it has better surface for printing.
To be specific, Kraft is the cheapest, but if you’re a visual perfectionist, you might want something more to satisfy your vision. The second, White kind, looks nicer when printed, but it is relatively expensive. And, Kemi white is the queen of subscription boxes, also with a significant price attached to it.
The bottom line is, the look and feel of a subscription box matters almost as much as what lies inside that very box.
It’s your brand’s first impression with new subscribers and one of the main ways to retain existing subscribers.
Another important factor in designing the effective subscription box is the measurement and dimensions of the box. It has a significant impact on your budget.
It is usually advised to use the smallest possible box so that you can be preventing the risk of having empty spaces in your box. However, it is applicable only when you know the accurate size of all of your products that are to be placed into the box. Consider the following question to brainstorm before you actually decide the size of the boxes.
- What is the quantity of the usual products that I may want to put in the subscription box?
- How fragile or sensitive are my products and will I use fillers?
- What is going to be the weight of the usual package?
- How much capital can be invested in packaging?
- What is the scope of leaving some free space in the box, to avoid ordering again if my product goes through some sort of modification and enlarges as a result?
- What are the exact dimensions of my products?
Since the size of the box influences the shipping cost, so one of the most effective means of shipping is USPS Cubic Pricing. offers discounted rates to its high-volume shipping customers that ship heavy and small packages. In order to be classified as high volume customer and hence be eligible for cubic pricing, customers must ship over 50,000 packages a year.
A package weighing less than 16 ounces could be classified at First Class mail, which is fruitful for better shipping rates for your business.
For the reference, you might want to check out Blue Apron which is a company that sends tailored recipes along with chosen ingredients to their subscribers. Since they send different kinds of pre-measured ingredients, there is a high risk of them getting mixed, so they carefully wrap them to retain their freshness and individuality. In addition to this, they make sure that the ingredients are shipped fresh and undamaged, so they use corrugated boxes to bear the weight of wine bottles and ingredients like meat.
Branding as a tactic to connect with your subscribers
You can also use some branding techniques, because it’s time for a reality check; you have got competitors. At this point, you might want to think how the voice of your company can be and be aligned with the products that you sell.
So, how can you stand out in this huge pool of subscription businesses? Well, the answer might not be very simple, however, the key lies within the branding.
You can try to make your brand unique, memorable, something that people can connect with and anxiously wait to see at their doorstep every month. Asking questions like “which style of voice is best aligned with the products I am offering? “ to yourself while brain storming might be helpful. You could use either personal or influential. Or it can also be humorous. Choice is yours.
Once your brand story is integrated into your packaging, it will make the marketing easy and the entire experience more enjoyable for everyone involved. Eventually this will become the opportunity for you to connect with the subscribers and keep them on your subscribers’ list.
Already feeling like a custom packaging pro, yeah? I know the feeling is great, however, projecting your ideas on a brown box is also a very crucial part of custom packaging.
This is where the printing comes into play. The three main printing types that are commonly used for subscription boxes i.e., Flexographic, Lithographic and digital printing.
Pro-tip: Digital printing is suitable for you only if your order is not too big. Although for 1000 or more than 1000 boxes, it is better to pick either flexographic or lithographic printing. Flexographic is still the relatively economical option amongst all, but if you wish a tidier, more professional and high-resolution effect, then you might want to opt for the bigger quantities with lithographic printing.
Subscription boxes and marketing
Forbes have endorsed the use of subscription boxes;
“Subscription boxes may not make sense for every retailer, the reasons they are doing well are relevant to the entire industry. Tapping into the psyche of today’s shopper, whether it’s feeling overwhelmed by too many options, or the enjoyment of being surprised, is a best practice that every retailer can embrace”.
This quote by a forum as well-known as Forbes, emphasizes how important it has become to follow this trend of subscription boxes due to the guaranteed outcomes. No second thoughts in it, guys!
You can also use your subscription box as an acquisition tool by various techniques.
Imagine, you receive a box of new products in the post each month, while being unaware about the specifics of what’s inside. Surprise! Surprise! Sounds thrilling, no? So, surprise and delight are the two key components as to why consumers continue to renew your subscription.
For example, Snack brand MunchPak relies upon this approach, they offer consumers a package of different snacks from around the world. The package contains a booster of excitement for unusual and exotic snacks, making the subscribers delightful with a new and different experience each time.
Referral program is another tactic that falls into the category of digital marketing of your subscription box. It basically rewards subscribers for telling their friends. It’s also a top-notch branding scheme.
Why? Well, the answer is self-explanatory! Because, the consumers are four times more likely to believe a friend rather than an advertisement. Furthermore, the reward motivates the referrer to continue the cycle of advocacy and build loyalty to the brand.
For example, Dollar Shave Club, an American company has been cashing this strategy. They incentivize the sharing of their products. The incentive is $5 credit. While this is not the biggest or best example of a reward, the site’s easy-to-use form and Facebook plugin makes it super easy for users to do so.
Social media influencers are growing in umber day by day. So, you might as wellutilize them for the exponential growth of your subscription box. You can, essentially, find the influencers on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter is essential. Look them up and see if they have been doing promotional stuff for various products on their profile. Even if they don’t, it never hurts to ass. You can be their first client.
For the starters, just DM (direct message) an influencer that’s well known in your box’s industry and offer to send them a box in return for an honest review.
So, now you know the different avenues to think about for your entrepreneurship venture of subscription boxes.
We have come a long way, from the idea of starting a subscription box to the marketing techniques that you might need after you have the box in your hand. Wow, that sounds like a huge progress! Now you can utilize this guide to brainstorm your business strategy. Thank me later.
