Subscription Commerce Models
With recurring orders, customers sign up to receive the same shipment of particular products at regular intervals. The customer is typically incentivized to commit to the subscription because of a lower price. Amazon's Subscribe and Save program, for instance, offers a discount of 10 percent or higher plus free shipping when customers sign up to receive monthly shipments of household staples or items that typically run low, such as office supplies, coffee, household goods, diapers, razors, and paper towels. As customers subscribe to more items, their overall discount rises.
The appeal to customers is clear: savings and convenience. They can save a hefty amount of money on purchases they'd likely make anyway, and it's more convenient to sign up for recurring delivery than to remember to restock those items as they run out. Yet recurring subscriptions are also a big win for ecommerce sites. Knowing that you can count on that future order makes inventory management easier and more efficient. Guaranteed future revenue that doesn't require an outlay for remarketing is the ultimate win.
Examples:
Amazon Subscribe & Save - https://www.amazon.com/Subscribe-Save/
Dollar Shave Club - https://www.dollarshaveclub.com/
Craft Coffee - https://www.craftcoffee.com/
The Honest Company - https://www.honest.com/
With a curated subscription customers sign up to receive a collection of products around a common theme, such as beauty products, pet supplies, coffee, wine, art, clothing, and lifestyle items. Ecommerce sites typically offer subscriptions of varying lengths (three months, six months, one year, etc.), with a lower cost-per-month over longer terms.
Savings aren't typically the main driver of these subscriptions, though. Instead, product discovery is the most appealing factor of curated subscription models. Busy customers seem to delight in discovering new products they might not have time to shop for otherwise.
Examples:
Birchbox - https://www.birchbox.com/
Stitch Fix - https://www.stitchfix.com/
Trunk Club - https://www.trunkclub.com/
A knowledge membership website allows unlimited access to information, works best in a niche market where experts are hard to find. For example, if you have in-depth knowledge and experience in the field of financial markets, then you could create a site with unique content in the form of videos, articles, forums and webinars, etc. All of this would be hidden behind a paywall to get customers to pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to access valuable insider knowledge.
A buffet content website, for example streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, works best when new and diverse content is added regularly. These services are enticing because they give you access to an unlimited amount of music, videos or movies from a buffet of content.
Examples:
Audible - http://www.audible.com/