For awhile it seemed like every business and every individual with a passion or a dream was starting a subscription box. There seem to be fewer of them coming out of the woodwork now, and if you check any sites that collect them you’ll find that many are even long gone. However, there are still plenty of them with devoted subscribers.
From boxes full of stuff for geeks and ones filled with dog and cat goodies to boxes filled with makeup and fashion goodies, with a little research you can find a subscription box for about anything. If there’s something you’re passionate about and you haven’t been able to find the right box for you, you may have thought about starting your own. This can be a good idea for business as well, as a way to get products out there. Here are some things to consider when it comes to starting this kind of service.
The Website
You definitely need to have a website for this, and an e-commerce one at that. It needs to be setup so that people can see what is offered in your boxes, what the rates and box, styles are, and they need to be able to directly order right then and there. You’ll need a shopping cart, a secure checkout, and you’ll need plenty of product photos in order to make the sale.
You also want to have some stuff on the business end of things, like investing in a good billing software. You need to keep track of your sales and who those packages are going to, so you need the proper system in place.
The Products
What are you offering to people and what makes your subscription boxes better than what is already out there. You also need to consider the cost of putting the box together compared to the cost of the items in it. The concept behind a subscription box isn’t just the ability to get a menagerie of new and fun products to try out, it’s also about getting more bang for the buck.
You’re not going to want to fill a box with items that you bought at retail cost or you might start losing money instead of making it. You need to be able to get wholesale or at least sale prices. You also need to come up with something new and unique if you want to make your way in the market.
Take some time to investigate the subscription boxes that are out there. Don’t just look at the listicles, but actually click on the links and make sure the ones that catch your fancy are still in existence. Then start determining what is missing from the subscription boxes out there and use that to make your plan!