International Subscription Selling and Delivery - Overcoming the Common Challenges

In today’s e-commerce landscape, subscription boxes are becoming increasingly popular as businesses in North America seek to boost repeat sales and enhance brand loyalty. Products such as vitamins, supplements, cosmetics and books are sold directly to customers via subscription according to a regular delivery schedule. Maintaining the timely flow of products is essential to building customer trust and satisfaction. Ensuring the right parcel is delivered to the right person, on the right day, to the right address is fundamental to a positive customer experience.

Unboxing a new subscription delivery is a critical touchpoint between your brand and your customer, it requires a precise and consistent approach across packaging, messaging, and delivery. Succeeding in the subscriptions market involves ensuring your fulfillment and delivery experiences live up to your brand promise, every time.

While subscriptions help make consumers’ lives easier, recurring shipments create specific challenges for ecommerce businesses. Here are some of the main challenges to overcome.

Challenge: Customs complications

Consider a subscription box containing a variety of products – such as a shaving kit. Each item in the box may be subject to different customs regulations. Declaring these accurately to customs authorities can be confusing and time-consuming, while missteps in the process risk significant delays, additional costs, and compliance issues.

Some products, such as pet food, can be subject to stringent regulations. Unlike human food, pet food requires specific licenses and permits to be shipped internationally. Businesses can struggle to navigate these requirements, leading to shipment rejections or delays, which can hamper operational efficiency and result in a poor customer experience.

Solution:

Working with trade services experts familiar with handling such products cross-border can be particularly valuable. They should be able to offer guidance on how to navigate the complex customs landscape. Accounting for both the specific needs of customers and the regulatory landscape in each market ensures a consistent standard of customer experience, regardless of the complexities at play.

Challenge: Ensuring timely delivery

Reliability in delivery schedules is essential. In the case of regular, 30-day vitamin subscriptions; the next batch should always arrive before the current one runs out. If this doesn’t happen, consumers will naturally feel let down and worse still, potentially cancel the order entirely.

Take the example of a grandparent who buys a book subscription for their grandchild's birthday, they want to know the book will arrive on time every month. If this doesn’t happen, the experience for both people becomes a disappointing one. Missed deliveries can cause upset and could end with a regular customer becoming disengaged forever.

Solution: An effective, scalable delivery partner

The need to meet customer demands means seeking out a partner who can offer the right scale and flexibility to handle large order volumes at peak seasons and lower order volumes in between. Consistent delivery performance creates a reputation for reliability and will keep subscription revenue coming in.

Challenge: Maintaining your brand promise

Customers expect their subscription orders to arrive safely packaged and in perfect condition. The unboxing moment is the ultimate ecommerce customer experience, which means a fulfillment operation that is not up to scratch risks disappointing customers and fuelling a host of negative reviews.

Solution: Taking care in fulfillment

The unboxing moment is also the culmination of a series of important stages in the fulfillment process. These include inventory management, pick and pack - often with custom packing materials and added branded message inserts, labelling, cross border shipping and final mile delivery to the customer. The box contents should be packaged with the utmost care to prevent any damage in transit. An experienced, reliable fulfillment partner will have attention to detail embedded in its processes and ensure your brand promise is delivered to your customers every time, whether once a year or every month.

Landmark Global is a proven partner for subscriptions delivery, compliance and success

We use our proprietary technology, extensive infrastructure, scalability and expertise to help subscription businesses manage their shipping and ensure a positive experience for their customers at every touchpoint. For businesses dealing with diverse subscription boxes, or stringent product regulations, we provide cross-border guidance and expertise to keep shipments flowing smoothly. We ensure delays and penalties are avoided, handling the whole delivery process from pick up to fulfillment, cross-border to final mile delivery into your customers’ hands.

Our trusted, low-cost logistics services give you the capacity to ship fluctuating volumes at a cost that enables you to scale without compromising on quality or your brand promise, whatever the frequency. Our final mile capability means businesses trust us to deliver a seamless experience and uphold their brand promise right to the customer’s door.