Subscriptions are big business in ecommerce. From stores specializing in curated boxes to brands offering monthly product top-up deliveries. Any store that sells subscriptions understands the importance of having an excellent customer experience and the impact this can have on loyalty and churn.
Subscription gifts are growing in popularity. In one survey, 63% of consumers said they'd consider giving a subscription as a gift, and 70% said they'd like to receive one. In the UK, spending on subscriptions purchased as gifts increased by 121% between 2017 and 2020.
So, why do so many offer a less-than experience when that subscription is purchased as a gift? Let's look at why having a gift option for subscriptions is essential and how to offer gift subscriptions for your Shopify store.
Why you should offer a gift option for subscriptions
Whether a customer wants to purchase a subscription for themselves or someone else, the experience should be as easy and smooth as possible. Without a specific gift subscription experience, your customers are left with few options to buy their gifts.
Usually, the gift buyer has to purchase the subscription as if they were a regular customer. This means they have to create an account using either their details or their recipient's, then pause the subscription, so it doesn't start shipping until they have a chance to give the gift. They then must work out how to hand over that account to the recipient. This is, of course, a messy experience and not one which will encourage retention.
If instead you have a specific product and experience for gift subscriptions, you'll provide a much better customer experience. After all, your customers deserve the best experience, whoever they're buying for.
Having a gift option also gives customers more flexibility and choice in the gift-buying process. Rather than a gift card or sending a product as a gift, they can choose to spend their budget on a subscription. This gives them additional options if they have a specific budget but need help deciding what to purchase for their recipient.
If you offer subscriptions, whether that's curated, replenishment, or any other format, it makes sense to give gift buyers and recipients the same fantastic experience as any other subscriber. This will help to reduce churn, as the recipient will manage their account with their details. It will also help the original customer's perception of their experience with your brand. Rather than something potentially frustrating, it's straightforward and fast for them to purchase a subscription as a gift.
How to sell gift subscriptions on Shopify
If you're looking to sell gift subscriptions, the easiest way is to use Govalo's integrations with Recharge and Bold Commerce. Rather than requiring a custom workaround, Govalo is easy to install and set up, allowing you to start offering subscriptions as gifts quickly.
Here's how the experience looks for customers:
- - The customer purchases the subscription as a gift
- - The customer is prompted to select how many cycles or deliveries they want to add to the gift, e.g., one delivery, three deliveries, etc. If applicable to your product, they can also select variants, e.g., size, style, etc.
- - They also add the recipient's details, including name and email address, plus a gift note. They can also select the date to send it on.
- - The recipient receives an email letting them know they've received a gift, with a link to activate/redeem the subscription.
- - The recipient is prompted to enter their details for their subscription, as well as payment information if they want to carry the subscription forward.
This process keeps things simple for both the gift buyer and their recipient. There's no account handover, and the recipient can go through any onboarding experience you may have, such as quiz flows and automated emails. You'll then immediately have two potential leads for retention, as you'll have the details for both the buyer and recipient. This offers unique opportunities to get creative with incentives and messaging.
To get started with Govalo's gift subscription features, you'll first need to be using either Recharge or Bold to power your subscriptions. From there, you can integrate your chosen subscription platform with Govalo. This process is straightforward to manage once set up. To learn more about the integration with Recharge and how to set it up, click here. And to learn about the Bold integration, click here.
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In ecommerce, customer experience is everything. Whether a customer is buying for themselves or someone else, that experience needs to be easy and put their needs first. By adding the ability to buy a subscription as a gift with its own customer-focused experience, you can ensure every customer leaves satisfied and ready to purchase again.