Welcome back to our subscriptions industry blog series.
If you missed the last two articles, check out 5 beauty boxes you can subscribe to (and learn a thing or two) and 8 top coffee subscriptions that are waking up the industry (in 2020).
Today we are going to quench your thirst for subscriptions knowledge by looking at 6 top-rated beverage companies that are crushing it in the recurring revenue department. These companies are all actively growing their business using a subscriptions model.
Need a refresher on subscriptions before we dive in? Click the link below to read our free ebook. Otherwise, let’s see what we can learn from these 6 leading beverage brands.
1. DripDrop
DripDrop oral rehydration solution (ORS) wasn’t invented by a big beverage brand or pharmaceutical company. It was invented by a doctor to treat people suffering from life-threatening dehydration.
Oral rehydration solutions aren’t always easy to get down, especially for kids. This led founder, Dr. Dolhun, to ask “what if the solution could taste good?”
Born from a relief mission, Drip Drops ORS is now available to all.
Because thirst is never quenched for good, DripDrop offers a subscription option for their product.
The benefit for the customer is they get to save 25%. On their site they do a nice job of laying out the benefits of subscribing. Customers get the best value, the flexibility to customize their order, and the convenience of having it delivered to their doorstep in regular intervals.
An easy-to-follow onboarding experience makes it a cinch for customers to set up and customize their order. The savings they are getting as a result of subscribing are calculated and displayed before they checkout.
Key takeaway: If you have an interesting or inspiring brand story make sure it comes across in your onboarding experience. Be sure to highlight the benefits of subscribing over making a single purchase.
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2. Evive
Evive sells delicious and energizing blender free smoothies. Customers can mix the ingredients in their favourite cup or travel mug and take their breakfast or afternoon smoothie snack to go.
Evive boasts a beautiful, colorful website and build-a-box interface. Customers can pick their fruity bundle with the flavors and ingredients they want. An easy to use sidebar lets them pick between 12 and 24 items, and set the duration of their delivery frequency.
Once they have finished filling their box, a pop-up screen directs them to checkout. This is a nice way to gently encourage the customer to increase their average order value, providing the option to fill a 24 item box instead.
Key takeaway: Remember to appeal to your customers sense of aesthetics when crafting a delicious-looking subscriptions onboarding experience.
3. Liquid Death
This canned water company will be the first one to tell you that their product is a “completely unnecessary approach to bottled water.” Other unnecessary things these heavy-metal beverage bosses like include: smashing a guitar on stage and lighting it on fire, jumping over 14 greyhound buses on a vintage motorcycle, cat videos.
There point is this: why can’t drinking water be as fun as slugging back a craft beer at your favorite music venue?
Thier entertaining brand story is backed by high-quality design, cutting-edge copy, and a bunch of other brilliant marketing tactics perfectly crafted for their metal-head/punk rocker audience.
Subscription customers can sign up for their Auto-Death club, which gives them a promo code for a free t-shirt. Just like their product, the merchandise they sell is far from ordinary. Check out this sweet t-shirt design:
Upsell offers at checkout attempt to up the AOV by showing the customer cool add-ons they might be interested in, like a mesh cap, or Liquid Death can koozies. This is a company that knows it target customer inside out and is pulling out all the stops to create the kind of brand loyalty that really converts.
Key Takeaways: Customers are looking for some kind of incentive to subscribe, but it doesn’t always have to be a discount off your product. Keep your margins high by giving away a rad t-shirt or piece of branded merchandise that turns subscribers into brand advocates.
4. Gainful
Nothing is more personal than your diet. From your tastes and preferences to the specific dietary needs that keep you going, the food each person decides to put in their body is a unique part of their identity. Gainful understand this, and tailor a solution specific to each customers needs, tastes, and goals.
Starting your onboarding process with a quiz can be a bit polarizing. Many customers will love you for your attention to detail and showing you care, but some might opt out of a lengthy quiz and go elsewhere looking for the product. Gainful have a good grasp of their audience though, and know conscience folk tend to appreciate a more personalized approach.
Before the customer even gets to the type of smoothy they are going to be drinking, they are asked a series of personal questions, from height and weight, to various fitness habits and goals. They make sure to allow the customer to indicate any allergies or dietary restrictions or preferences. Anyone with a gluten allergy, or who lives a vegan lifestyle, will appreciate these options.
Once they have filled out the survey, the customer is prompted to receive their personalized product with the option to subscribe.
Key Takeaways: If you’re going to offer a personalized product, make the onboarding experience all about your customers. Asking them too many questions can get tedious, but the right amount shows them you really care and aren’t just serving up a generic product to meet their complex needs.
5. Jones Soda
Most people will recognize these colorful pop bottles from the beverage aisle of their local grocery store. A major B2B wholesaler, Jones Soda also offers direct to customer sales with some nifty customization options, such as a build a box feature and custom label designer.
That’s right you can put your friend of family member’s most meaningful — or embarrassing — photo on their favourite pop for a fun surprise.
Customers can pick and choose from a variety of fun flavors to build their custom beverage box. Then they can hit “subscribe & save” for a 10% discount.
The ability to pick and choose from a fun list of exclusive flavors that may be more difficult to find in the store, makes this subscription offer extra delicious.
Warheads Extreme Sour Black Cherry Soda sounds fun!
Key Takeaways: Combine a quality product with a lovable brand and customers will reward you with brand loyalty and recurring revenue.
6. Kencko
Kencko provides a “rainbow range” of smoothie powders, packed with essential nutrients and free of artificial additives and refined sugar.
Each hand-picked smoothy kit comes with a personalized greeting and a colorful assortment of the flavors.
Their onboarding flow combines strong personalization with a smooth and easy to follow user interface that isn’t overwhelming. Customers pick the amount they would like to order, then choose from a variety of delicious flavors, each boasting different health benefits such as “brain boost,” “mental focus,” or “anti-inflammatory.”
The customer can choose whether to make a one-time purchase or sign on for a subscription. The savings they will get if they subscribe are calculated and displayed within the selection window. They also run a special “3 for 2” deal, giving their most loyal customers a chance to get the products they love with some serious savings.
Key takeaways: Get creative with promotions when it comes to your subscription business. Their 3 for 2 deal puts them outside of the box of the typical % off or free gift with a subscription deal.
Looking to replenish your revenue?
There’s one more secret that all of these top beverage brands have in common.
You guessed it. They are all powered by Bold Subscriptions, our popular recurring revenue app for Shopify.
Try Bold Subscriptions now for FREE!
Having a best-of-breed beverage subscription idea is the first step. But you need the knowledge to back it up. Check out our FREE ebook, 7 Subscription Models to Master, to learn everything there is to know about 2020’s most exciting business model.
We highly recommend that anyone who downloads Bold Subscriptions use this as their official playbook.
Are you ready to become a subscriptions master? Follow the link below:
This article originally appeared in the Bold Commerce blog and has been published here with permission.
