How to Package Your Farm Subscriptions and Bundle Boxes
When Farmers ask “what works best to increase sales for my business,” the data tells us that Subscriptions and Bundle Boxes are the golden ticket. Why? Buyers prefer easy, convenient choices when it comes to purchasing products. And buyers eat every day, which means they want to access food products regularly – with Subscriptions.
As food shortages and inflationary concerns loom, buyers are shifting towards Food Subscriptions to lock in prices and guarantee their access to fresh food every week. Farmers enjoy regularity in sales and secure monthly recurring revenue.
Subscriptions have become so popular that Americans have, on average, nine paid Subscriptions to products they love and use regularly. Our most successful Farms earn up to 80% of monthly revenue with Subscriptions to Bundle Boxes (packaging multiple items into a single unit of sale). That’s why Farms offering Bundle Box Subscriptions drive 2x more revenue than Farms who don’t offer bundles. So, what’s the best way to offer Farm Subscriptions?
We analyzed how the most successful Farms on Barn2Door package Bundle Boxes, arrange their Subscriptions, and configure their inventories. Here’s what we found that has proven to secure buyer commitments and allay food security concerns while generating more monthly recurring Farm revenue:
Choose Bundle Box and Add-on Item Subscriptions
When Farmers sell directly to customers online with Barn2Door, any item can become a Subscription. However, not every individual product should be a Subscription! To make things simple, package your Farm Subscriptions into Bundle Boxes complemented by items that can be upsold as an Add-on Subscription.
A Bundle Box Subscription should include a mix of products that are in the same category or complement each other. Start with your staple products that will move more of your inventory and increase your average order size. Examples are a Pastured Proteins Box (e.g., grass-fed beef, pastured pork, free-range chicken), a Produce Box (e.g., fruits, vegetables), or a Dairy Essentials Box (e.g., milk, yogurt, butter). You can even offer one-time purchase Sampler bundles (various meat cuts, mixed greens, value-added products, a charcuterie box, etc.) to give customers a taste of your products before committing to a Subscription.
An Add-on Subscription Box should be a single product that can be upsold to buyers, ideally complementing a base Bundle Box Subscription. Farm products enjoyed daily or weekly are ideal add-ons (e.g., eggs, bread, flowers, value-added products). Add-on Subscriptions can significantly increase your order value and offer an avenue to upsell or source items from other producers, too.
Subscriptions are meant to be a convenient purchase option for buyers. When you package your Subscriptions to align with buyers’ needs, conversion rates will increase, and you’ll delight more customers.
Keep Your Inventory Simple
Subscriptions and Bundle Boxes do two things: streamline the process for you and your customers while increasing orders. The most successful Farms have between 3-7 Bundles in their inventory. If you offer too many choices, then buyers are more likely to suffer from “choice-paralysis” where they won’t be able to make a purchase decision (lowering conversion rates). Keeping your inventory simple is critical to moving more products and securing Farm orders.
Here are two ways to simplify your inventory and drive sales:
Only Offer Farmer Recommended Bundles: As you grow your customer base, you’ll quickly find that a Buyer ala-carte model will become overwhelming, time-consuming, expensive, and prone to error. Our most successful Farms (and those with the most significant growth) only offer Farmer-recommended Bundles (complemented by a few ala carte options). In fact, 90% of buyers will opt-in to Farmer-recommended Bundle Box Subscriptions. Why? Because they trust you!
Limit “High Demand” Specialty Products to Bundle Boxes: Instead of offering a one-time purchase of specialty items (e.g., Bacon, Rib-Eye, Huckleberries, or Morels), include them only in a Subscription format with a Bundle Box purchase. Not only will this help control demand for such products, but it will also ensure your loyal customers get the most desirable products while helping to move more inventory regularly and secure ongoing revenue for your business.
Studies show that the first 3 listings on the first page of your store reflect 60% of all orders, and 80% of all orders come from products on the first page of ecommerce shops. This means that the products you want to sell should be pinned at the top of your inventory. Farms running on Barn2Door can use the “Pin to Top” feature, choosing which items they want customers to see first. This has proven to be an effective strategy to simplify the inventory layout and drive Subscription sign-ups.
Cater to Your Customers’ Needs
Did you know that one-third (⅓) of Americans live alone, one-third (⅓) live with 2 people, and one-third (⅓) live with 4+ people? That’s why it’s essential to understand that each customer has different needs when shopping from your Farm. Farmers can easily meet these needs by providing different options for their customers. Instead of burdening yourself with a Buyer’s Choice Model, package products to fit households of 1, 2, or 4 people.
Provide different sized Subscriptions – small, medium, and large (i.e., 5lbs, 10lbs, 15lbs). The sizes you choose should reflect what one person would consume within a week or month's worth of products from your Farm. The most common examples we see are:
Protein Farms
Small: 10lbs Mixed Products
Medium: 20lbs Mixed Products
Large: 30lbs Mixed Products
Produce Farms
Small: 4-6 Items
Medium: 6-8 Items
Large: 10+ Items
Dairy Farms
1/2, 1, or 2 Dozen Eggs
1/2, 1, or 2 Gallons of Milk
1, 2, or 4 Sticks of Butter
Sticking to a consistent weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly schedule is ideal for everyone. Customers enjoy the convenience of a regular schedule to receive products, and Farmers benefit from being able to plan accordingly with consistent fulfillments.
Your buyers are creatures of habit as their weekly purchases look 90%+ the same every week. If they can receive their weekly or monthly fix from your Farm without needing to remember to place their order, they’re more than likely to subscribe to your Farm!
Regardless of your inventory mix, pricing, and fulfillments, the data is clear – Subscriptions work. When packaging Subscriptions and Bundle Boxes, convenience is king. Subscriptions and Bundle Boxes need to fit your customers’ grocery needs, and the process should be convenient for you and your customers.
Barn2Door provides an all-in-one solution for Farmers to grow and manage their business. If you’re curious to learn why successful Farmers run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.