Website Closers® presents an eCommerce company that has demonstrated the power of subscription services, and in a field very important to parents: youth sports.
A business that started out as a side project to finance the current owner’s time in minor league baseball has grown tremendously and led to the creation of proprietary sports products that people love and consider valuable. In exchange for a subscription, a young baseball player gets a Baseball Subscription Box filled with goodies every month, and usually 6-8 new items each time.
With kids loving the products they’re receiving, these subscription boxes have turned a lot of parents into loyal subscribers – so much, in fact, that the company is shipping a whopping 6,000+ packages each month, with 89% of their customers being long-term subscribers.
Those loyal parents are important for another reason: they talk to family, friends and neighbors about the boxes, and word travels fast. Today 30% of their new subscribers come from word-of-mouth referrals.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who makes note of the fact that the youth sports industry is booming today. While the primary purpose of youth sports is to enable the kids to have a fun time, parents love it because it keeps their kids healthy, enables them to learn about team building and related skills, and can even help prepare kids to become professional athletes.
The commitment of parents and businesses that cater to youth sports leagues has turned the global youth sports market into a $24.9 billion industry, poised for significant growth as travel teams become more popular. Youth sports is a $19.2 billion market in the U.S., comprised of segments that include travel, equipment, team membership, facility construction and venue rental, all very profitable segments.
At the same time, this company has demonstrated why the subscription model has become so popular – and profitable – with eCommerce companies. Once an eCommerce company has discovered a product or service that their customers have a passion for, the subscription model can give them a vibrant stream of recurring revenues that can last for years.
Let’s take a closer look at how this company found its audience and gave the kids products that became instant winners with both the team players and their highly appreciative parents.
Initially launched in 2015, the concept caught on so quickly that the original owner turned it into a full-time business in 2018. The company has been able to develop the concept into a private label for sporting goods, offering a monthly box filled with gear related to baseball including training aids, apparel, snacks, and accessories inside.
It was successful enough that the company then launched another box, this one with soccer gear. The company manufactures all the training aids used in both boxes, and today 97% of their sales come from subscriptions to these boxes. The additional 3% comes from their online marketplace, where customers can purchase some of their products individually. They now have 60 products to offer.
This subscription-based model has worked exceptionally well for them, and the company gets most of its new subscribers during the holiday season and then around baseball season between March and July.
Subscriptions are so strong that the company now ships 6,000+ orders each month from their 3PL, and to keep their customers happy, they stock about $500,000+ worth of inventory, with new inventory orders placed each month. Their boxes are manufactured for them and sent directly to their 3PL.
Many of the company’s tasks are managed by an experienced and skilled team that includes a full- time customer service representative who also handles procurement and logistics, a full-time content creator and videographer, and a contract customer service agent.
Their orders are fulfilled on a daily basis, and the team works closely with the 3PL to store, manage, pack and ship their orders.
With an Average Order Value of $130 for their subscriptions, sales remain vibrant as customers come to look forward to getting their monthly box.
The company uses content creation to attract new subscribers, which includes social media marketing with 151,000+ Instagram followers and an additional 12,000+ on Facebook. This has helped to bring them 62,000+ monthly visitors to their site.
With 100,000+ subscribers in their email database, the company effectively uses email marketing to engage with their customers, and it’s working. Currently, a whopping 89% of their customers have made repeat purchases.
They also engage in video marketing on TikTok and YouTube, and maintain partnerships with influencers, while offering giveaways to help grow their community of athletes. The company has been at the forefront of popular social media trends to drive sales and is a leader within their industry in this.
The company is not only providing its own unique products, but is operating with no competitors that offer a similar youth sports subscription box. With sky-high customer referrals helping to drive sales and the fierce loyalty of their customer base, this company has a strong and active future.
This Recurring Revenue Digital Business is Represented by:
WebsiteClosers.com
Technology & Internet Business Brokers
WC 2974