Subscription Ecommerce in a Nutshell
Ecommerce Platforms that Support Subscriptions
You’ve probably encountered plenty of subscription ecommerce websites. Amazon offers its customers “subscribe and save,” on a whole host of products:
There are hundreds of subscription only ecommerce websites from gin, to plants and even dog treats!
There are sites that are dedicated subscription and others that adopt more of the model we’ve seen on Amazon – whereby users can buy products as one off, but equally have the option to subscribe for regular deliveries. Subscribing for regular deliveries is often incentivised with savings compared with the one off purchase price.
This is an absolutely amazing way to enhance customer lifetime values and demand for subscriptions has soared in recent years. So if you’re looking to get in on the action, here’s a quick rundown of the ecommerce platforms that can help.
Ecommerce Platforms That Support Subscriptions
Getting setup selling subscriptions online isn’t as complex as it may sound. Honestly, the harder part is the bit you’ve probably already done – considered delivery, fulfilment and suppliers. And, of course, coming up with a unique subscription model idea in the first place.
The quickest and simplest way to get a website setup to sell is through an ecommerce platform that supports subscriptions.
There are a number of options on the market, so let’s take a look at some of them.
There’s a summary of them below, with further information on each platform within this piece.
| Platform | Minimum Price Per Month | Extra App/Plugin Required for Subscriptions? |
| Shopify | $29 (USD) | Yes |
| BigCommerce | £29 | Yes |
| WordPress |
No fee for using WordPress itself but subscription functionality would require a plugin such as WooCommerce Subscriptions incurs a fee of $199/year. Hosting costs and so forth would apply too with a self hosted option |
Yes |
| Wix | £17 | No – standard functionality on business unlimited plan upwards |
| SquareSpace | £30 | No – standard functionality on the Commerce Advanced plan |
Selling Subscriptions on Shopify
Shopify is a powerhouse of an ecommerce platforms with millions of merchants using it. But that doesn’t make it flawless. here are the pros and cons of Shopify for subscription sales as of January 2022.
Pros
- With millions of merchants comes a lot of developers. If you have a site on Shopify, finding developers who can help manage it is easier than with some other platforms
- Many of the third party apps for managing subscriptions can also migrate you from an existing provider
Cons
- Subscriptions are not a part of the core Shopify product so it requires additional apps, which incur additional costs. The main player in the space is ReCharge, whose monthly fees for the pro plan start at $300 and then there's transaction charges on top
Shopify Subscription Site Examples
Want to see some websites using Shopify for subscriptions?
- Doisy and Dam: Vegan chocolate available to buy as a one off or upgrade to a subscription
- Huel – a well known meal replacement shake brand offering one off purchases or subscriptions
- John’s Crazy Socks – monthly sock subscription that has garnered a ton of press
So, Shopify can support subscriptions and very much does. It’s not out of the box functionality and it’s unlikely to be, I think. Bear in mind that many of the apps that facilitate subscriptions have been critically important to Shopify as a business. So it seems unlikely that the platform would veer from its core offering at the risk of destroying the subscription businesses reliant upon Shopify customers.
Selling Subscriptions on BigCommerce
BigCommerce is another big hitter in the ecommerce space. But what’s it like for subscriptions?
Pros
- Again, there are a lot of merchants on BigCommerce and a lot of agencies and consultants supporting it, meaning you have the security of knowing that if one provider doesn't work out, you can probably get support from somewhere else.
Cons
-
Subscriptions are not a part of the core BigCommerce product so it requires additional apps, which incur additional costs. Amongst the options available is ReCharge - the Shopify favourite. At the time of writing, ReCharge does offer a standard plan with no monthly fee, but the charges per transactions are 1% plus $0.10. This could add up, of course, and needs factoring in to any cost considerations.
BigCommerce Subscription Site Examples
A few examples of ecommerce subscription sites using BigCommerce:
- Arbor Teas – selling tea (unsurprisingly) with subscription offerings available
- CapitalTeas – another tea company which has a monthly “Tea Flight” subscription
- Mogalixe – compostable rubbish bags and other items like straws
So, in short, BigCommerce sites can indeed sell subscriptions. But this isn’t out of the box functionality and will very much require one of a number of add on options available.
Selling Subscriptions on WordPress/WooCommerce
WordPress started life very much a blogging platform, but is now a go-to for ecommerce too. WordPress doesn’t have out of the box ecommerce functionality AT ALL. But plugins like WooCommerce (and there are others available too) facilitate online selling through the platform. But what about subscriptions?
Well, in short, you can sell subscriptions through a WordPress website. But given that ecommerce functionality at all isn’t a part of the core offering, it won’t surprise you to read that this is again functionality that will require additional plugins.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of WordPress for subscription ecommerce:
Pros
- WordPress has so many developers, plugins and theme options already made because its existing millions of websites. So there's a lot of knowledge already out there when it comes to WordPress.
Cons
- Ecommerce itself isn't a part of the core functionality with WordPress. So neither are subscriptions and additional plugins will be needed
- If you're looking after your own WordPress site and you don't install updates frequently, you leave yourself open to security issues. This becomes a big concern when your site processes payment details
WordPress Subscription Site Examples
Here are some examples of subscription ecommerce websites using WordPress:
- Skinny Fit – detox and wellness products
- Worthy Flavors – Fresh food delivered to your home from local farms
- Truly Free – refillable and eco friendly laundry detergents
Selling Subscriptions on Wix
Wix is an incredibly accessible website builder often praised for its ease of use. And with a number of improvements over the last year or two, some of the limitations people may have previously complained about are no more.
Unlike Shopify, BigCommerce and WordPress, ecommerce store owners using Wix have subscription ecommerce built in. It’s out of the box functionality for users on the Business Unlimited Plan or a higher plan. In other words, you can have subscription functionality from as little as £17 per month (plus transaction fees as is the case for any ecommerce site).
But there are some big potential negatives to consider too. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.
Pros
- Wix is an affordable option for people looking for a platform to get up and running on fast.
- Easy to DIY build an ecommerce site on Wix too so you could probably get up and running with no developer if that's something you're looking to do
Cons
- You cannot ever migrate your site easily anywhere else. This is an issue for retailers who "outgrow" Wix and look to move onto more enterprise centric platforms. While you can export up to 5,000 physical products, you can't export the whole site or content. So if you think you will ultimately end up on a different platform in the long term and want to be able to have this ability to migrate, bear this in mind from the outset
- You cannot access or modify the code on a Wix site.
- Once you've chosen a template for your site, you almost need to practically rebuild the site from scratch to change it. So in many ways, once you get up and running with Wix, it's hard to make full scale design changes
Wix Subscription Site Examples
A few examples of subscription ecommerce websites on the Wix platform:
- Gypsy Teas – A tea subscription offering
- Mummy Wine Club – A wine subscription ecommerce offering
- Dynamize Coffee – coffee subscription
Selling Subscriptions on Squarespace
Squarespace is a website builder somewhat similar in nature to Wix insofar as it’s renowned for its ease of use and enables those with no coding or design experience to put a website together themselves. Squarespace supports subscriptions out of the box for users on its Commerce Advanced Plan and who are also using Stripe to process payments. It supports subscriptions for physical products only – not things like digital downloads.
So let’s take a look at the pros and cons:
Pros
- Squarespace is an affordable option for a DIY ecommerce store builder and it doesn't require any design or coding experience to get set up
Cons
- There's no way to export a back up of your website easily, again making it difficult should you ever decide to replatform
- Difficult to set up a particularly deep navigation structure. So if you have a site with lots of products, categories and subcategories, it might simply not be a suitable option
Other Things to Consider When Setting Up a Subscription Ecommerce Website
The Types of Subscriptions
- Replenishment: This is those regular loo roll deliveries! It’s just about having something you buy frequently on subscription so you never run out and it turns up when you need it. A great example is Amazon’s subscribe and save on day to day products
- Curation: On the other hand, curation is a motivator for many too. Imagine someone packing up a box of surprises for you every month? Imagine them delivering this hand curated box of loveliness to your doorstep? As someone two years into a Craft Gin Club subscription, I cannot tell you how wonderful this is. But the element of surprise is the key thing here
- Access and Perks: Another perk some are motivated by is access to unique products only available on subscription or perks that only subscribers get.
Which type is yours?
It matters to consider this from day one because it changes the language with which you might speak to your customers and audience and it should play into your marketing.
Other Core Functionality to Think About
Make sure that whichever platform you use (or whichever combination of platform and plugin) you have all the functionality you need to offer, manage and fulfil your subscriptions.
Some things to ask any new provider about:
| Frequency | Can you choose the frequency with which people get deliveries? Is it flexible enough for your product? |
| Self management | Can users manage their own subscription? Things like updating their payment detailing, changing frequency, pausing or skipping a delivery and cancelling altogether? |
| Gifting | Can people buy subscriptions up front and have them delivered as a gift? If this is important for your offering ask about it from the start |
| Fulfillment | Check out what your admin area would look like. Will you have all the information you need readily available enough in order to see what needs picking, packing and delivering and when? |
| Transaction Fees | Transaction fees will apply whichever payment provider you use. Make sure you know what they look like in advance so you can fully scope out the cost of running the site and taking the orders |
| Incentivise | For replenishment subscriptions in particular, I’m a big fan of the Amazon-esque “subscribe and save.” Does your platform of choice allow you to inventivise people to subscribe to receive what migh otherwise be one off purchases? So, for example, “buy it for £10 or subscribe to receive one a month and save 10%.” |
What you need from an ecommerce platform to sell and fulfil subscriptions (and absolutely delight your customers) will depend very much on the specific nature of what you want to sell. So as with anything at all, read around, check out demos, ask to see examples of sites already using that platform for subscriptions and do your research first!
