The State of the US Direct-to-Consumer Subscriptions Industry 2022 Report 

PipeCandy and Rodeo collaborated on the most comprehensive report on the current state of CPG subscriptions. Download the entire report here. This blog post answers the question, why do consumers actually subscribe to CPG (beauty, health and wellness) products.

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By now, most e-commerce companies have gotten good at developing and maintaining a strong brand image in their highest-profile spaces, such as websites, display advertising, email, and their product packaging. 

With consistent use, these brand elements can become ingrained in a consumer’s mind. This helps keep the brand top of mind and can increase both customer loyalty and customer reach through brand advocacy. 

But brand consistency doesn’t just cover these visual elements. Any brand that leverages CPG subscriptions, product bundles, and other tactics specific to the digital marketplace needs to maintain consistency across all of those different customer experiences. 

When a customer interacts with your brand, they will have certain expectations based on your brand promise, and those expectations have to be fulfilled to keep them satisfied. This consistency matters. According to a report by Forbes, 65% of consumers would become long-term customers of a brand if it could provide consistently positive experiences throughout the customer journey. 

So how can an online CPG brand create a consistent customer experience? That’s what we’re going to find out!

How can brands create a consistent customer experience?

Understand your customers—through data

You might be thinking, “of course, that’s just basic advice.” And yes, this is indeed the first piece of advice given in any article on the subject. But it keeps getting repeated for two reasons:

1. Brands still struggle to do this consistently
2. Brands don’t go deep enough into understanding their customers (or focus on demographics and job titles more than pain points and consumer behavior) 

Brands have this tendency to make assumptions based on the hypothetical ideal customer they would like to have, and then act as through they’re real. This, it needs to be said, is wrong. 

To reliably satisfy consumer needs, brands need to dig deep into their available first-party data and use it to create accurate consumer personas. You know the people who are really buying your product. 

Your persona should answer questions like:

• What problem is the consumer trying to solve?
• How is the consumer trying to solve that problem? How do they solve it today? What happens in the moments leading up to a customer searching for and choosing to buy your product?
• How can our brand solve the consumer’s needs?

Once you’re able to answer those questions, then you’ve laid the groundwork for the next step. 

Create a coherent and unified experience

When someone you know calls you on the phone, you immediately know it’s them because you recognize their voice—even if you’re not face to face.

Your brand needs to do the same, only it extends beyond simply “voice” and into the realm of “experience.”

If you make a big deal about how easy it is to shop with your brand, then every customer touchpoint has to reflect that philosophy. Your website could include one-click purchasing options. Your Instagram posts or TikTok videos could be shoppable posts that let you buy from within the social media app. 

Even your subscription service could reflect this philosophy by empowering customers to choose the what, when, where, and how of their subscription box:

• What they’re going to get that month
• When they’re able to get it
• Where it gets shipped
• How often it arrives

If your subscription service is easy to use and manage, then it may encourage the consumer to browse the rest of what you have to offer as well. 

But “ease of experience” isn’t the only area your brand can stay consistent. Also consider what your brand believes in or stands behind. 

Say, for example, your brand believes in sustainability and ecological responsibility. What will the customer think if a consumer gets a box of yours, and it’s filled to the brim with plastic wrap and styrofoam peanuts? That goes against everything your brand is trying to communicate!

Keep an eye out for potential brand inconsistencies like this, as they may turn off customers, and even drive some away.

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes (and walk a few steps, too)

Most brands have the best of intentions when creating consumer experiences. They do their best in trying to put themselves in their customer’s situation, but suffer from a syndrome we call, “not going far enough.”

Yes, the promotional email you sent them is nice and pretty and hits all the right emotional notes. But what happens when they click the link? Will they be taken straight to the product featured in your email? Or will they be taken to the homepage and have to search for the product themselves? (A sure way to lose them, FYI.)

The customer might love your monthly box of super tasty sweet treats, but what happens if they have to go out of town for a month, or their pantries are too full? Will you let them pause/delay shipments until they’re caught up, or will you force them to cancel outright, instead?

Look beyond your side of the brand experience and put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. Imagine them reaching a journey touchpoint and then ask yourself, “What now?”

If the answer at any point is, “I don’t know,” then you haven’t walked far enough. 

Invest in the necessary tech stack

Of course, crafting a consistent customer experience doesn’t just happen at a wave of your hand. You have to leverage the right apps and systems to help bring your vision of a seamless journey into reality. 

Here are a few examples of apps that have helped other brands like yours:

Rodeo

We don’t want to toot our own horn (actually, we do), but Rodeo is one of the best tools you can use if you run a subscription service. 

It introduces unparalleled flexibility into the consumer’s subscription experience, allowing them to customize upcoming orders, receive strategic reminders warning that a shipment is imminent, and adjust their shipment dates. 

This level of consumer empowerment helps them feel more positively towards your brand, and builds a brand experience that will keep customers satisfied and pining for more.

Shopify

Shopify is famous as one of the major e-commerce marketplaces, and there are very good reasons for that. Shopify has some powerful features that can help you create consistent brand experiences.

Such features include the obvious things, like custom-designed storefronts, email templates, and gift cards. But it also includes features that can turn shopping with you into an amazingly smooth experience, such as individual customer profiles, the ability to set flexible shipping options, and shoppable social media posts. 

Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a powerful email and SMS marketing platform that can support virtually any email campaign you can imagine for your e-commerce business, whether you’re sending promotional emails, thank you messages, or account updates. 

Klaviyo also integrates with Shopify, so that you can set up consistent brand experiences across different marketing channels. 

Final thoughts

Building a consistent customer experience is most definitely a challenge, but its totally achievable with the right mix of consumer intelligence, customer-centric strategy, and technology. It’s a long-term play that will help you drive customer loyalty and increase the strength of your brand. 

Customers will notice and appreciate a consistently positive experience, even if they don’t scream it from the rooftops. They will vote with their wallets and tell friends, which is the best kind of validation there is.