To Subscribe and Save… Or Not?
I can tell whether or not a client is using a subscribe and save type of automatic delivery service with one look at their pantry, laundry room, or garage. There are 2 key clues:
There are at least 4 backups (even if you buy from Costco, it’s either bigger packages or double packs).
The products are not stored together, I find them shoved in multiple places.
Subscription to the products we use most often sounds like an amazing idea. We’ll never be without, and we never have to think about it! But there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and nothing is truly set it and forget it. There are some significant downsides to subscribe and save services:
You’ll always get the same product, in the same color/scent/flavor. For some of us, that’s great - we know what we like and we just want it keep using it. But others of us like experimenting with different things to see what works best for us.
The subscription rate is almost always too high. Companies aren’t dumb - they want to sell you more product, and they’ve calculated how much extra they can sell to you without you noticing that the quantity is off. This is fine if you’re willing to edit the subscription as you go along, whether it’s decreasing frequency or skipping shipments, but if you’re not going to remember to do that, you’re going to be dealing with an avalanche of product within months! And that’s where the stuffing behavior comes in, like I mentioned above.
Subscriptions are shipped, which means they come in boxes. For a lot of my clients, dealing with breaking down and recycling boxes is one of the biggest drags in their daily lives, and creates a lot of clutter. If this is you, think about whether or not you want an automatic flow of boxes arriving at your front door in addition to all the other stuff you order online.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use subscriptions, I’m just saying that it could be a good idea to pause and reflect for a minute about whether or not they’re right for you. And they may be right for a certain category, say paper products, but not for another category, like personal care!
If subscriptions aren’t right for you, never fear: there are other ways to manage stocking household products that are almost as easy! I love a simple app based grocery list combined with your phone’s voice assistant. As you grab that last bottle of shampoo, ask Siri or Alexa to put shampoo on your shopping list. Next time you open a cart or go to the store, just pull up your list. And don’t forget click and pick up services at your favorite retailers!
Do you use subscribe and save? Does it work for you?
LMW
