Overview:
‘Build-a-box’, also known as bundling, is a subset of subscription or recurring revenue-based business models. In build-a-box, a customer is allowed to literally build their own customized box of products or services and check them out together, as a bundle. The same bundle is delivered on a recurring basis to the customer! Some of the well-known and successful examples of build-a-box models are Stich fix (apparel and fashion), Dollar Shave (grooming), and Hello Fresh (food). What started as an innovative business model idea to build customer loyalty and lasting relationships about a decade ago has grown at a stellar rate! The IMARC group estimates the worldwide size of the subscription box market at approx. $18.8B (as of 2020), with a 20% YoY CAGR. That is just astounding!
In this help doc, we will be walking you through the steps to set up a build-a-box, or bundling, model in your store using Appstle Subscriptions.
Creating a build-a-box subscription using Appstle
Create a Subscription Plan: The first step in creating a build-a-box plan is creating a regular or traditional subscription plan.
To learn more about creating a regular subscription plan, please click on this link.
In your dashboard, go to Build-a-box > Configure. Then click to Create Build A Box.
Toggle General Settings on.
Choose from one of two types of Build-a-box, Classic or Mix and Match.
In the Classic type, any products you have already associated with subscription plans will be the basis for the products your customers will be able to add to their boxes. You can view the different subscription plans you have created through Appstle in Subscription Group dropdown menu. Feel free to select the plan that meets your needs.Set the minimum product count, as well as the minimum and maximum order amounts customers' boxes need to be with numbers that make the most sense for you in the appropriate fields.
Finally, select where the bundle (accessible through a link you will receive once the build-a-box is finalized) will redirect upon opening. It is the cart page by default, but it can be configured in the dropdown to also be either the checkout page or a custom page on your website (with an appropriate URL).
Finally, there is the option for Tiered Discounts.
Minimum quantity is the minimum amount a customer needs to spend to be eligible for the aforementioned discount. Just below that is the Discount percentage. Type in whatever discount value works for you. If you wish to offer additional tiers of discounts for either spending more or for purchasing more products, click the Add button to add additional conditions.
Then there’s the Single Product type. Like with Classic, Subscription group remains the same, which is where you can view your subscription plan and select one to use.
But unlike with Classic, single product does not have any fields that control for order amounts, only for product quantities.
Select the products you wish to enable with the single product build a box in this last section on the right to view a pop-up menu with all of the different products available in your store, as shown below:
If you wish to allow different types of products for different minimum and maximum product counts, click to Add Settings on the bottom right to add more of these sections. So for example, you can have 10 products available for the build a box for between 1 and 5 products, 20 products between 6 and 10, 30 products between 10 and 15, etc.
Subscription Bundle Link: To generate the subscription link, click save and re-open the subscription plan. A subscription bundle link will be automatically generated. You can click on the highlighted 'document' icon to copy the subscription bundle link.
Build-a-box menu: To make the build-a-box, a part of your product page and Shopify admin page, go to Shopify Admin - Online Store - Navigations. Click on open Main Menu
Click on Add Menu Item. The 'menu item' here refers to the bundle subscription you just created.
Name the 'Menu item' and Paste the Subscription Bundle Link that you copied in Step 4.
Click on save. When you go to your online store, you will see the Build-a-Box Menu.
Customization: You can customize the build-a-box page to best suit your store, theme, and industry, by using our Subscription Bundling CSS)
If you want to learn more about strategizing the build-a-box model, please visit our blog article.
Don't hesitate to reach out to us
Irrespective of whether you are someone who already has a box subscription business, or are exploring the option, we hope this process explanation was useful to you. If you have any questions on build-a-box or need any help, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at subscription-support@appstle.com. Our 24x7x365 available experts will be happy to assist you further.