In the YouGov survey, shoppers cited potential drawbacks of using subscription services. The greatest concerns included spending more money than otherwise intended (53%), not getting the right number of products at the right time (52%), and shipments not arriving on schedule (34%). This skepticism explains, at least partly, why shoppers are not ready to offload their weekly shopping responsibilities to third parties.
For marketers, creating a valuable subscription means understanding the difference between what consumers want and what they need. Is the subscription going to complement or replace established shopping habits? A good place to start is by looking at various niches of consumer behavior and reasons for buying.
Last year, McKinsey & Company published an article in which it segmented ecommerce subscriptions into three categories: replenishment, variety and curation and exclusive access. In the case of replenishment subscriptions, timing is everything. For the average shopper, no two weeks are exactly the same, meaning the supply of household goods is constantly in flux.
How can subscription box services keep up with those evolving shopper needs? The ability to do so would more likely manifest as a personalized shopping assistance program than as a traditional subscription box.