Tips for Creating Gift Subscription Box Offers

Boost 4th quarter revenue with gift subscriptions! Discover 5 tips to create exclusive, easy-to-gift offers that serve your customers and keep things simple.

Offering gift subscriptions is such a great way to bring more revenue in during the 4th quarter. The best part? It’s SO EASY! Gift subscriptions are part of my 4th quarter promotions every year. I offer either 6 or 12 month subscriptions to The Monogram Box™ and my T-Shirt Club. 

I usually run this promotion around Black Friday. It’s the only time all year these gift subscriptions are available. This lets my customers know this is a special promotion – and one that won’t be available again for an entire year. 

The week before Christmas is another great time to offer gift subscriptions. People are starting to panic and they need you to make it easy for them to cross a name off their list! 

When someone gifts a subscription, they’re doing so much more than giving a one-time gift. They’re giving a celebration every month – and showing someone they’re thought of long after the holidays are over. More than just a gift card, a gift subscription is an experience that keeps on giving. 

Gift subscriptions are a popular gift with my customers every year. They appreciate the ease of giving and how much their friends and family LOVE this special gift. Serve your customers by making gift buying easy for them with gift subscriptions. 

Gift subscriptions are one of the 4th quarter promotions I recommend all subscription box owners consider. They’re a simple way to bring in more revenue without creating much extra work during this oh-so-busy time of the year. 

I’ve got five tips for you to create gift subscriptions that will land at the top of “must-have” gift lists. 

1. Use Urgency and scarcity to drive action.  

Creating urgency and scarcity in your gift subscription offer makes people want to act right away. No “thinking about it” or “coming back to it later.” Because later will be too late! 

You can create urgency by setting limited time for purchase or limiting the quantity of subscriptions that are available. Plan and promote a 48 or 72 hour gift subscription sale. Or let your customers know you only have 100 gift subscriptions available. 

Let them know NOW is the time to take advantage of this great gift-buying opportunity. And later will be… too late. 

2. Make it a one-time purchase to keep things simple.    

Whenever possible, keep things simple. And when it comes to payments, keep things very simple. 

Nothing takes the joy out of giving or receiving like payment confusion. The last thing you want is for a recipient to email asking you where her subscription from Aunt Carol is that month when the reason it’s missing is a failed payment. Her aunt’s failed payment. The person who gave her the subscription. Awkward. 

Keep things as simple as possible for your customers and your customer service team (especially if that’s you) by setting up gift subscriptions as one-time purchases. 

Having the gift giver pay upfront for a 6 or 12 month subscription means no worries about recurring payments. 

3. Include monthly shipping in the cost of the gift subscription.  

Don’t forget to include the cost of shipping in the total price of the gift subscription. Remember, you’ll be shipping a subscription box to the recipient every month.

If your customer pays for a 6-month subscription, make sure you include 6 months of shipping costs as well. Including shipping costs lets you maintain your profit margins! 

Make it clear to your customers that the cost of the gift subscription includes everything, even shipping. They’ll appreciate the transparency. 

4. Make your gift subscription offer a no-brainer.  

Make your gift subscription offer so appealing it’s hard to say no to it. Give customers a reason to make the larger, one-time purchase instead of the monthly option. 

Considering offering: 

• Free shipping
• A bonus gift in the first box
• A free month (or two) 

I use the last option. My 6-month subscriptions are “buy 5 and get the 6th one free” and my 12-month subscriptions are “buy 10 and get 2 free.” 

Including these incentives make your premium offers feel worth the larger upfront cost. 

5. Send a welcome card to the gift subscription recipient.    

Make sure you send the recipient a card or certificate notifying them they’ve received a gift subscription from your business. 

In addition to warmly welcoming them to your subscriber community, include details about when the first box will arrive (in January), what to expect, the length of the subscription, and how to contact customer service with any questions. 

Take this opportunity to invite your new subscriber to follow you on social media. Make it fun and personal – this is your chance to make a great first impression! 

Gift subscriptions are a great  way to generate additional revenue in the 4th quarter. They’re a chance to serve your customers by making gift-giving easy for them. And, maybe best of all, they’re simple for you to execute. 

It’s easy to create and set-up a gift subscription as a one-time offer on your website. And guess what? You won’t need to pack or ship anything right away.