• by Leah Garner , Op-Ed Contributor, December 1, 2015

Think of the iconic snowy Christmas morning, when children wake up earlier than dedicated baristas on a typical Monday at Starbucks, rousing their bleary-eyed parents whose headaches from all the Christmas Eve eggnog are kicking in. The children race each other down the stairs, eager to see what treasures the perfectly wrapped boxes under the tree hold inside. This innocent, pure joy reflects a special part of that day: the love of surprise and the excitement of receiving.

I’m not that little kid anymore but I still get that same childlike pep in my step when I finally see the word “Delivered” on my UPS tracking link for a mysterious, yet planned package in the mail. The tension between unknown and expected, discovery and premeditation perfectly describes the new wave of monthly subscription services to a T.

Subscription services have been popping up exponentially over the past few years in many different categories. They provide excitement, variety and convenience to consumers who are looking to fill a certain need or want. Unlike subscriptions to magazines or music, in which the customer selects and orders the desired titles, you sign up and fill out a personal user profile so your order is finely tuned to your specific preferences. After committing to a monthly fee, your first package is hand-picked by a dedicated employee who has studied your profile and has chosen a variety of products that they are confident you would enjoy receiving. You know the package is coming … you watch its every move from fulfillment to shipping to delivery … but you don’t know exactly what’s inside until it reaches your mailbox. A planned mystery just for you. 

Popular examples are Dollar Shave Club (razors), Birchbox (beauty products), Stitch Fix (apparel), Rocksbox (jewelry borrowing), Club W (wine) and Barkbox (yes, even your dog can be trendy.) Consumers can change the components, upgrade as desired, sample something different every month—all while getting the experience of new, that element of surprise they are craving.

This new service trend provides marketers with a great new way to get in front of eager consumers. The many different subscriptions offer tremendous opportunity to start conversations and raise awareness with an audience who may not yet be aware of your brand. The fact that these services are usually built around a personal user profile allows your products to be perfectly aligned with the recipient, and since these services do the research and targeting for you, the subscriptions are a very effective and efficient marketing channel.

What if your brand doesn’t jive well with an existing subscription service? Given the success of this strategy, marketers can feel comfortable creating their own subscription plan based on marketing goals and consumer needs and behaviors. Instead of sitting back and waiting for consumers to order your product, you can send it to them automatically for a monthly fee. The best part is, they have completely opted in with you through their subscription. It is a great way for customers to sample your different products and find their favorites, which will lead to brand loyalty and many purchases down the road. 

There are several major reasons why I believe these services work so well: planned convenience, element of surprise, and trial and error. 

Planned convenience

Dollar Shave Club discovered that consumers needed to replace razors more often than they were doing and implemented a convenient, inexpensive way of meeting that need. This service is perfectly situated in consumers’ lives and relieves them of the hassles related to forgetting to buy a new razor on time, and being forced to use the old rusty one that’s past its expiration date. Now consumers can simply throw it away when it gets dull. They are confident that their backup razors are waiting in the bathroom cabinet, and new ones will arrive in the mail on a prearranged schedule. 

Element of surprise

Stitch Fix is a fun and low-cost way of hiring a personal shopper. Based on preferences, the stylist chooses five articles of clothing or accessories and sends them to subscribers. Customers simply send back the items that they don’t want to buy and provide feedback to their stylist so she learns more about them for the next box. Requesting feedback is a smart marketing move because it makes it easier for the stylist to complete sale conversions and engages the consumer with the brand more deeply. Stitch Fix works so well because the feeling subscribers get upon receiving the shipment is similar to that Christmas morning excitement about what the mysterious box holds inside. The element of surprise, coupled with personalized clothing, keeps people ordering and excited to see what their stylist will choose next for them. 

Trial and error

Many of these subscriptions provide a variety of sample products. Birchbox sends small sample-size beauty products in a beautifully wrapped box each month for consumers to try and buy. Aside from the enjoyment of the monthly sample surprises, variety subscriptions allow consumers to test out products in order to find their favorite staples. It’s great advertising for the partner brands because it presents a new audience with items they may not have noticed on the crowded retail shelves; it’s even better for the consumers because they don’t have to buy a full bottle of face wash, only to find out it gives them a rash.

Whether you are interested in being a user or an entrepreneur for one of these subscription services, now is the time to join the party. The competitive pricing makes it attractively affordable for consumers and the monthly fee means consistent income for business owners. Subscribe to a service yourself to see how it could work for your brand.