Sarah Williams shares three ways subscription-box businesses can boost sales from existing subscribers in a week. Try a pre-renewal upsell offering add-ons, create a past-box vault of previous popular boxes as gifts, or run subscriber-only promotions like early access to sales. All three require minimal overhead and leverage customer loyalty.
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Welcome to the Launch Your Box podcast with weekly tips, tricks, and strategies to start, launch, and grow your subscription box. Now here's your host, Sarah Williams.
Welcome back to the Launch Your Box podcast. Do you want to make more sales this week without chasing down new customers? Start with the people who already said yes. That's your current subscribers. They are your warmest audience and they already love what you do. They open your boxes and They trust what you're delivering to them every month. So let's talk about how to make more sales from people who are already invested in your world. Today, I'm going to share 3 simple ways to generate extra revenue by selling more to your existing subscribers. No launch, no ad budget, no extra overhead. Let's start with strategy number 1. I love this one. You can add an upsell before their renewal. So this one's easy and effective, especially if you have a smaller subscriber base. It's a little bit harder if you have thousands of subscribers, but you can offer an optional add-on a few days before their subscription renews. The only rule is it's gotta fit inside their box with what they're already receiving. So for me, I've done this multiple times. I offered a coordinating cardigan that matched their t-shirt that they were getting that month. And so it looks like a simple email out to all the subscribers. Hey, hey subscribers, you're getting this t-shirt this month. We have a cardigan to match it. If you'd like us to add it to your box, check out here and it'll be right inside your box when you get it. Easy way to do that. You could do that with a coordinating item. So that could be an accessory, that could be anything that coordinates what you're already delivering. It could be a seasonal exclusive item. It could be a mystery upgrade item. This could be something really simple and you just send a quick email. I send a couple emails about 3 to 5 days before the renewal and I say, hey, wanna add this to your next box? It's just for subscribers. Add this before your box ships. And so they'll just put it in. So we just make a spreadsheet. Okay, these are how many people got cardigans. These are the boxes they need to go in. As we're packing, we're throwing their cardigans in on top. And it's just a simple, no-fuss way to getting more. There's no extra shipping for your customer, so that's a benefit, and it's a win for them for the bottom line. So it's a win for them and it's a win for you for your bottom line. So simple renewal add-on. Okay, strategy number 2: let's give subscribers only access to past boxes. So your past boxes are gold. So let's give them exclusive access to what's left. Now you're probably like, well, Sarah, they already have that box. This is gift-giving season right now. We are in the heart of gift-giving season. So I want you to create like a past box vault or collection, and you can send the link to your subscribers and you can just say, here's some of our most loved boxes from the past. Go ahead and purchase one to gift to someone on your gift list and just let them know there's limited supply, no restocks. And so if they've missed one, maybe they're a newer subscriber and they're like, ooh, I don't have that box, I'm gonna grab that for myself. Or this would be the perfect box to gift to my sister, to gift to my best friend, to gift to my mom. And so this is just easy access. They already know and love you. They already know and love your products. Let them go buy one of these boxes as a gift box for someone else. You move product, you clear space, they feel good about having exclusive access to this vault. All right, strategy number 3: offer a subscriber-only promo or subscriber-only perk. So you want to make your subscribers feel like they're the insiders, they're the VIPs of your business, and you want to make them feel that way by giving them offers that no one else gets. I do this with early access. So before my holiday promotions drop, I send an email to subscribers and I'm like, psst, subscribers, you get early access. Shop the sale now, 24 hours before everyone else. And so that's just a great perk. And we usually have our highest sales days on those days, even when it's day one of the promotion starting. Typically our subscriber early access is a higher volume than even that first day. You can You can also create kind of a limited edition, limited quantity, subscriber-only item. This could be— I'm thinking right now like a new Christmas t-shirt. I'm just thinking about my own business. And so I could say, I made this really— I made this special item only available for subscribers. Be exclusive. Grab this limited edition. It's available this week only. And you can send a couple emails out to your subscribers and just sell it to them. They feel very exclusive when you do that. They feel special. They feel like they got something that nobody else got, and it's an easy thing for you to do. The other thing in this that you could do is just offer them a special discount code. Say, hey subscribers, everything this week is 15 or 20% off for you. Here's your coupon code, one-time use only. It expires on Sunday, but I just want to thank you for being subscribers and let me help you with your gift shopping this season. This is just a great way to, um, make them feel special. These exclusive perks really work because they build loyalty. Your subscribers feel seen, they feel appreciated, they feel special, and that often leads to more buying and more staying a part of your subscription. So your subscribers are already paying you, they're your best customers. You don't need to find new people. To make more sales. You just need to serve your current customers well and give them more opportunities to buy from you. So this week, I want you to try one of these: add a pre-renewal upsell to their box, open your past box vault to subscribers only, or run a subscriber-only promo in your shop. Keep it simple, keep it direct, and promote it more than once. I'm excited for these because these are going to be a win-win for all subscription box owners. You've already got your best buyers right inside your subscriber list. So let's keep going. You've got this. We're in the heart of the best buying season right now, and I just want you to try one of these ideas. All right, I'll see you next week.
