Subscription brands won new audiences during the lockdown years of the pandemic and have weathered the economic turbulence caused by shortages and inflation.
A new report says brands are doing better on five key performance indicators essential for subscription commerce, including monthly recurring revenue (MRR), average order value, and retention.
We at MailCharts jumped on this report because subscription brands are one of our top industry verticals. Our Subscription industry group has 142 brands, from the venerable Book of the Month Club to meal-kit service HelloFresh, and Peacock TV.
Many of these brands have built out significant email journeys, especially in onboarding, loyalty/retention, and win-back. We studied these brands to discover what sets them apart from other industry groups.
Here’s what we found:
1. More subscription brands push promotions
Apparel, meal kits have the highest promo rates
Promotions are a key part of email content for 51.8 percent of Subscription brands, up 7.1 percent over 2022. While apparel and meal kit brands lead the category with more than 70 percent sending promos, pet supply brands pulled back, dropping 35.3 percent, from 73 percent to 47.5 percent year over year.
Email volume, frequency are flat: Subscription brands send an average three emails a week, virtually unchanged since 2022. That puts them under the average weekly frequency of five emails in the MailCharts Index.
It also means subscription brands have plenty of runway to reach out more often, to connect with subscribers, build loyalty and retention, increase recurring revenue or whatever the brand needs to do to achieve its goals.
2. Brands build robust journeys
Journeys average 16 days, include 4 emails
If you want to upgrade your onboarding journey for new customers, research the journeys sent by top brands from onboarding to win-back.
Start with Ipsy, which sends three emails over two days and begins collecting valuable customer data right from the get-go.
Discover tactics for a strong anti-abandonment campaign: Meal kit provider Dinnerly tackles subscription abandonment with a nine-email journey that reminds subscribers of their past purchases, highlights the benefits of subscribing, and appeals to the customer’s altruistic instincts by offering free meal boxes for friends.
3. Loyalty is a major push for most brands
Subscriber retention is key to MRR
Many subscription programs are structured month-to-month or week-to-week, so they need to work harder to keep subscribers around. Dinnerly does so with emails that nudge subscribers to pick their next week’s meals.
Get inspiration to bring back abandoners: If you need fresh ideas to persuade cart-abandoners to finish what they started, look at subscriber brands. Many, like BootayBag, send enticing reminders, especially to new customers who haven’t jumped on promo offers.
4. Brands text to stay connected
Messages promote flash sales, expiring offers
Messages usually prompt new subscribers to claim introductory offers. Brands generally rely on SMS—oral care brand Quip is one of the few to send images via MMS to make messages stand out.
Texting can do more than sell: Messages can deliver brand-building tidbits, too. Boka, another oral care brand, includes brushing tips and oral hygiene info along with its purchase nudges and giveaways.
What subscription brands can learn from other marketers
Yes, many ecommerce email marketers can take a tip or two from the 142 brands in our Subscription industry group. But if you work for one of these brands, you might look at what others are doing, especially in frequency, to keep reminding subscribers about why they signed up with your brand and what you do better than anyone else.
In this age when so many brands are competing for customer attention in the inbox, you must do everything you can to stand out, and email gives you the space and access to capitalize on your special connections with your subscribers.
If you aren’t a MailCharts member yet, don’t wait another second. Sign up for free and you’ll be exploring our emails, curated email example lists, industry groups, and custom data in no time!
