If you have a Shopify store and are looking to increase your sales, we have a simple trick to get more orders.

Sell subscriptions. Yup, it’s that simple!

Let’s deep dive and get into the nitty-gritty of what it means to really sell subscription products online.

Increasing Shopify Sales – 1 Simple Trick

It’s been proven subscription companies earn 5x more money than non-subscription businesses.

If you want to increase your Shopify sales, selling subscriptions can get you there.

Offering subscription products on your store is a great way to make more money.

Earn loyal customers. Get repeat orders. And earn recurring revenue.

In this article, we’ll teach you exactly how to 3x your Shopify sales by implementing a subscription business model.

This means you’ll need to offer a product as a recurring order.

Don’t worry if this all sounds like jargon, we’ll go over everything step by step.

We’ll guide you on which types of stores can easily transition to a subscription model.

Also we’ll teach you what types of subscription products sell the best!

Topics to Be Covered:

• What are Subscriptions?
• Can I offer Subscriptions on my Shopify store?
• Why subscriptions?
• Can I sell subscriptions on my Shopify store?
• Can Selling Subscriptions Increase my Shopify Sales?
• What types of products make good subscriptions?
• 5 Tips for Increasing Your Shopify Sales with Subscriptions
• Shopify Sales Success Tricks
• Apps to Increase Shopify Sales
• Shopify Sales Recap

What are Subscriptions?

Subscriptions are repeat orders.

A customer agrees to receive ongoing deliveries of the product on a regular basis, and gets charged automatically.

Subscriptions are also known as:

• Recurring orders
• Recurring billing
• Recurring payments
• Recurring transactions

It’s all the same thing.

A subscription product can be pretty much anything a customer wants to buy again and again.

It can be dog food, candles, chocolates, or even socks!

How can I Offer Subscriptions on my Shopify Store?

To offer subscriptions on your Shopify store, you need to use an app.

We recommend using our Shopify app, called Ongoing.

Ongoing helps you turn your regular products into subscription products.

Customers can view different subscription plans and choose their preferred delivery frequency.

You can also offer subscription discounts with Ongoing, which encourages customers to opt for a subscription instead of a one time purchase.

Your customers will also be able to agree to a recurring charge at checkout, and gain access to a customer portal once they’ve finished their order. The customer portal is a nifty dashboard for your customers to view, track and manage their subscriptions.

Why Subscriptions?

With subscriptions, customers get a lot more purchasing options and convenience.

If the customer selects a subscription plan, they can sign up to receive that product shipped automatically to their door.

The customer is agreeing to become a long-term customer and order repeatedly which is great for your business.

These repeat sales help increase your overall sales because the orders are constantly being processed.

Repeat sales also means recurring revenue (money earned on a regular basis automatically from selling subscription products).

The customer also gets a lot more flexibility and can choose their delivery frequency (how often item is delivered). Some customers might want a bag of coffee delivered every week while others might want it every month.

Shoppers can also choose how they get billed (either pay per delivery or prepaid).

Prepaid subscriptions lets the customer pay upfront for a couple shipments of the product.

Can I Sell Subscriptions on my Shopify Store?

Do you sell a product your customers would want to order on a regular basis?

For example, you’ve noticed customers re-ordering a specific product on a monthly or quarterly basis.

If you answered yes, then you are in luck.

Selling subscriptions on Shopify would be a good fit for your store.

Can Selling Subscriptions Increase my Shopify Sales?

When someone visits your Shopify store and looks at a regular product, they are limited with their purchasing options.

They can buy the product once. That’s it.

If they want to buy the product again, they’ll have to go to your website again, enter all of their details in and checkout again.

But with subscriptions, the customer gets the option to place a recurring order.

Once they’ve ate or used up the product you gave them, they get another package delivered to their door just in time.

Since subscriptions generate recurring orders, this helps you gain more income.

By offering subscriptions you can also automate the billing for customers.

The customer only has to enter their credit card once for the initial order, and then from then on the recurring charges will be automatic.

What types of products make good subscriptions?

If you sell a product customers tend to do re-orders on, that’s a good sign!

This means your customers want or need your product on a repeat basis.

You can help them get your product delivered more frequently by offering subscriptions.

Below I’m going to cover the top products that make good subscriptions.

REFILLS

Refills are products your customers use and then need more of. These are everyday products that you use around the house or in the office. Refill subscriptions has been gaining in popularity because it saves people a trip to the store. It’s convenient. And saves them money.

Some examples of refill subscription products include:

• Toothpaste
• Diapers
• Candles
• Lotions
• Razor blades
• Shampoo
• Body Wash
• Deodorant
• Skin Care

Bite is revolutionizing the toothpaste industry with their carbon neutral products. They are the perfect example of a refill subscription company using Shopify as their platform. The way they increase their Shopify sales is when you click on a product, you are given the option to choose a one-time purchase OR a subscription. Most people will select the 4 month subscription because it’s whopping 38% cheaper.

CONSUMABLES

Consumables are products your customer eat, drink or ingest. Consumable subscription products are items you would fill your pantry with and always need more of.

Some examples of Consumable subscription products include:

• Coffee
• Tea
• CBD Tinctures
• Dog Food
• Snacks
• Fresh Meat
• Spices
• Cookies
• Cereal

Magic Spoon makes childlike cereal for grown ups that’s grain free and high in protein. People eat cereal every morning so this makes the perfect consumable subscription product. Since they have a unique product that’s healthy and diet-friendly, they are able to charge $10 a box. This high end pricing works well with a subscription model in which they sell 4 boxes of cereal for $35 on their website. Customers are encouraged to opt for ongoing deliveries to save 10% (but only if they subscribe).

Literally almost any product can be subscribe-able. As long as your customers want it on a repeat basis.

SUBSCRIPTION BOX

A Subscription Box is a variety of handpicked products. These are usually artisanal products, but can really be anything you put in a box and send to a customer. A subscription box can be filled with consumable or refill products.

Some examples of Subscription Box companies include:

• Book Club
• Comic Books
• Tea Club
• Stationary
• Cookie of the Month
• Candy
• Wine
• Socks
• Jewelry

Rowan is a subscription box filled with hypoallergenic earrings for young girls. Their subscription box offers three different subscription plans. A monthly subscription and 3, 6 or 12 months. We love how they show what’s inside the box. For example, I didn’t know there were mindfulness cards and a surprise gift included with every order (that’s a plus!) The way Rowan increases their Shopify sales is they don’t just have a marketplace with earrings for sale, but they also offer this earrings subscription box. They make more money when people subscribe than if a customer only purchased an item once on their site.

5 Tips for Increasing Your Shopify Sales with Subscriptions

1) Ask your customers Questions

Rocksbox is an unlimited rental of designer jewelry. They ship 3 pieces at a time and charge on a monthly basis for their service which means they have a subscription business model. Having a little questionnaire on your homepage is great way to snag some info because who doesn’t love being asked questions about themselves?!? This can help you customize the subscription box preferences based on the information shoppers give you about themselves. Once your customers answer a couple questions about themselves to personalize their experience, they can sign up for a subscription box.

2) Showcase Subscription Savings

Doodle Crate is an art subscription box for children. They prominently display the total subscription savings on the ordering page. With a monthly subscription box, you can save $9.95 per month. But if you buy a 12 month subscription you can save $155.40 per total! This encourages customers to opt for the longer commitment of 12 months so they can save more money. They also point out it’s the “best value.” Customers who sign up for a 1 month subscription can just cancel the next month. However, a 12 month subscription guarantees they will have to pay 1 year upfront. This tactic increases the overall cart value. It also really is the best value for the customer because of the savings. A win win situation.

3) Show a Sneak Peak of What’s Inside

Lovevery sells subscription boxes filled with Montessori-inspired toys. What makes them different then their competitors selling baby toys is they are sustainably-made and designed for child development. What we love most about this subscription business is they show a sneak peak of what’s inside their box. This takes out the guess work for the shopper. If they know exactly what they’re going to get, and like what they see, they’re most likely going to click “Subscribe Now”. We think it’s also pretty nifty how they display gifs of the toys in action to give a better idea of how to use it with your child.

4) Discount Code on Product Page

Honest has a subscription company based around diapers. Parents with babies need diapers all the time, so a subscription makes sense! What we love most about this company is they explain exactly what comes in their package with easily scannable icons. In the box, parents can expect to receive 7 packs of diapers and 4 packs of wipes. They also have a discount code on their product page which incentivizes a new shopper to checkout. Discount codes make the customer feel like they are getting an even better deal, which equals higher conversions. Lastly, we really like how they showcase various ethnicities in their product photos which really makes it feel like an honest company.

5) Good Branding Can Increase Shopify Sales

Hello Products sells a dental care subscription box. The branding is on point! Their products and packaging are neatly branded with their company name “Hello.” Having a level of polished professionalism can go a long way for your Shopify store. Especially if you’re a subscription business, people want to know that you’re going to be around for the long run. Why? They’re committing to buying your products long-term, so they want to know you’re a stable company and not going under. This is where good branding comes in and can help. Key takeaways are focus on creating beautiful packaging and product designs.

❤️ Check out our awesome guide on How to Start a Subscription Box Company in 8 Easy Steps

Apps to Increase Shopify Sales

The best app on the market for increasing your Shopify sales is Ongoing.

Ongoing gives your store the ability to sell subscription products. This is extremely powerful.

Now instead of getting one-off sales, you can start processing repeat orders.

Customers “set it and forget it” while you start earning recurring revenue (repeat income).

We recommend giving Ongoing Subscriptions a try and see if it can improve your store’s sales!

Shopify Sales Success Tricks

In this section, we’ll cover a couple tricks for increasing Shopify sales and earning 3x more per month.

1.) Offer Subscriptions

Subscription products are products your customers can order again and again. This helps increase your Shopify sales, and earns you recurring revenue. Offering and accepting recurring payments is a great way to capture more customers looking to for ongoing deliveries with AutoPay.

2.) Create Discounts

Everyone loves a sale or a deal. Shoppers feel more motivated to purchase a product if it has a discount price. We recommend offering subscription discounts as well which lets the customer “subscribe and save”. Discounts are a great incentive for customers to opt for a higher priced item such as a Prepaid 3 month subscription (where they have to pay more upfront but saves them money in the long run).

3.) Email Newsletter

An email newsletter is one of the most underrated marketing strategies. Collecting emails is important so you can reach out to prospective customers and let them know sales or new product launches. You can also use your email newsletter to get feedback from your current customers and ask their opinion on products you’re thinking of creating/offering.

4.) Show Customers Love

Your customers are the life-force of your business, so why not show them a little extra love. Hand written thank you cards or including a surprise extra goodie in the package goes a long ways. Short on time? A thoughtful mass email to your customers letting them know about any new exciting updates with some personal flare thrown in is also a good option for companies with a larger customer base.

5.) Don’t Ignore SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is how you appear on Google search results. Let’s say Jimmy sold cat subscription boxes. If Jimmy searched for “Cat subscription box” in Google, would he show up on the 1st page or 100th page of results? This is called Ranking. Where you rank matters. Most people don’t click through to the second page of Google, so that’s why it’s so important to be on the first page. We recommend checking out Get Clicked SEO, an app made specifically for Shopify stores.

Shopify Sales Recap

Thanks so much for reading our guide to the best Shopify sales tips and tricks for increasing income and customer loyalty.

We hope you’ve learned a thing or two about how important and impactful subscriptions can be.

Adding subscription products to your online store can make a huge difference in your income.

Having subscriptions on your Shopify store is the very best way to earn more and create long term relationships with your customers.

As a merchant, what’s the best way you’ve found for increasing your Shopify sales? Leave a comment down below.