Subscription packaging is redefining the way customers return to businesses. Customers commit to their subscriptions month after month (or season after season), and creating packaging that engages and wows can help build customer loyalty. Let’s go over some of the ways this is achieved!
The Unboxing Experience
As e-commerce becomes more and more popular, creating a memorable unboxing experience can enhance the way your customers interact with your business. Most brands will only focus on the initial unboxing in hopes that the experience helps generate repeat customers.
However for subscriptions, the unboxing doesn’t just happen once! For subscriptions, the goal isn’t one big wow moment, it’s a series of consistent experiences that spark joy. Packaging for subscriptions, like other e-commerce businesses acts as a touchpoint for customers to interact with the brand beyond their online experience.
Creating Anticipation
Creating anticipation and hype around your subscription packaging can also drive customer loyalty. Receiving a subscription can become part of a ritual, something for customers to look forward to. This is achievable in a number of ways, including:
- Seasonal packaging: using seasonal themes and designs for limited edition campaigns. This gives your clients something extra to look forward to as their subscriptions progress–what designs will you think up for the season?
- Interactive elements: adding fun, interactive elements to your packaging like tearaway portions, puzzles and hidden messages can help your customers get excited about their delivery before they can even open their pacakge.
- Themed designs: for new product launches and collaborations, using innovative custom packaging is a simple way to amp up the anticipation!
Tailoring Packaging for Individual Subscribers
Going custom does more than just look nice. Creating custom packaging also gives off a more bespoke feeling, like the subscription is uniquely tailored to the individual customer. Some subscriptions offer different tier levels with different products, making custom packaging the perfect option to accommodate each customer.
You can also add personalization to your packaging tailored to each customer, either through custom inserts like cards, or using variable data printing. Variable data printing is a type of digital print where some of the content can be different depending on a pre-set database of information (but more on this at a later date ;)). This reinforces that bespoke, “just for you” feeling that some subscription services strive for.
Integrating QR/NFC for Enhanced Engagement
As technology advances and we spend more of our time online, many of the connections we make are made and maintained in the digital space. In a previous blog post, we talked about the different ways you can use NFCs in your packaging. For subscriptions, this can be used to access subscriber-only exclusive content, behind the scenes content, games and more!
If NFCs feel a little too high-tech, a QR code is a slightly more simple option that performs a similar function! Where NFCs use programmed stickers, think of QR codes as fancy links that you can scan with your phone’s camera! Especially since a large portion of today’s consumers are digital native, creating packaging that bridges the gap between the digital world and the physical world can keep your customers more connected to your brand!
Brands Nailing Subscription Packaging
Not sure what you’re looking for or where to start? We’ve gathered three brands that we think are nailing their subscription packaging:
FabFitFun
FabFitFun is a lifestyle subscription service that allows customers to try a variety of products from premium and emerging brands. The subscriptions arrive seasonally, filled with products that each customer has selected. Since the boxes contain products from other brands, their main packaging are their shipping and mailer boxes! Their packaging design changes to reflect every season. This creates anticipation while also making a more memorable unboxing experience!
Fishwife
Fishwife is a tinned fish company reimagining the way people perceive canned seafood. Tinned fish might not seem like the most exciting product, but this is where Fishwife enters the chat. They offer subscriptions for added savings (if you’re cracking into a lot of tins) that arrive in the classic brown kraft shipping box printed with the company name, fun illustrations and custom tape!
@alissasmagic cutie @Fishwife unboxing!! use ALISSA10 at checkout for 10% off your order ❤️🐟 #unboxing #unboxingvideo #unboxinghaul #pr #tinnedfish ♬ Swan Lake "dance of four swans" – Kohrogi
The packaging for their tins is bright and punchy, so using the standard brown base for their shipping box helps the product stand out. Additionally, they offer bundles (like their cookbook bundle!) which come in unique packaging.
Lovevery
Lovevery creates developmental stage-based toys for children ages 0-4. The boxes are offered on a subscription basis OR as individual boxes depending on what works best for the customer. The packaging design is simple, but each stage’s box shares the same colour variant and a paper insert in the lid showing parents what’s coming in their box.
