The Pros and Cons of a Subscription-Based Model

While a subscription-based model works across many sectors including entertainment, media, and consumer goods, there are pitfalls when it comes to local food and drink businesses. After all, stocking your fridge and pantry is more circumstantial and dynamic than retaining the ability to read articles, stream movies, or brush your teeth.

That’s why Bottle was built to maximize reorders without boxing your customers into a subscription. Before we get into why, let’s dive into the pros and cons of subscriptions.

Pros

• Convenience for the customer, who has pre-paid and automatically arranged for regular deliveries
• Sales and marketing efficiency since your focus is mostly on customer acquisition
• Guaranteed revenue for the business

Cons

• Lack of choice and flexibility for the customer
• Subscription fatigue due to the drastic rise of the business model in every facet of consumer life
• Solidified customer expectations, leaving you little room to innovate and adapt your offerings

Bottle utilizes an alternative solution that incorporates the pros while eliminating the cons. Instead of requiring your customers to sign up for a subscription, Bottle empowers you to capture reorders easily and often. Here’s how it works:

1. Keep track of customer orders to get a sense of frequency and preferences
2. Text automatic nudges to encourage reorders
3. Customers can skip, swap, or see what’s new via a one-click ordering link—or message you back with any questions
4. Send curated carts with special items and upsells