Tackle The Rise In Customer Acquisition Costs Head-On With this “Secret” Recurring Sales Model for Ecom Stores  

A current (and urgent!) problem nearly everyone who sells physical products is facing:

Rising Costs For New Customer Acquisition

Whether your call it CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) or CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost); you’ve probably noticed it’s been going the wrong direction lately. 

Lower barriers to enter your market have increased competition over the years.

Data clampdowns have made it a lot more expensive to buy customers from the major ad networks.

On top of that, a growing percentage of consumers have tightened their discretionary spending.

Major external factors keep pushing costs higher….

….and these factors are outside of your control. 

It might feel like your hands are tied, but……

*Wafts away the dark cloud of negativity from these past 7 sentences*

What if there’s a “secret” trend that’s been fast on the rise and that will enable you to counter rising CPAs by getting more sales, more often?

You see, there’s a type of ecommerce recurring sales model you can plug right into your current product, cart, and checkout pages.

You might already know about it. You might have seen it on other ecom stores.

But what you might not know is that the market for this “new” ecommerce sales model is set to DOUBLE in size this year — to $38BN in sales.

The earlier you adopt this model into your store, the better both your immediate and your long term results will be.

And this model is easier to set up than you might think…..

Think it’s worth a shot?

Join us in today’s Deep Dive section to explore this growing opportunity.

What else is ‘appening this issue?:

• Ezra Firestone Has Built Email Automations For You (And They’re in Your Shopify Account)

• Forget China! How To Find USA Wholesale Suppliers AND Skip Tariffs

• The 17 Most-Trending Shopify Products in 2023….🚀

Let’s get into it!

The 17 Trending-est and Trendiest Shopify Products in 2023

The human race is going ultra Vogue this year. Some of the top-trending products are luxury switch plates (yes, they’re a thing), signage (let everybody know), matcha (it’s a fancy tea), and lip stain (not lip “stick”). If you’ve got an eye for luxury, this is your year.

2 Upsell Mistakes that Are Killing Your AOV 

The first mistake panics customers so they don’t even give your upsell offer the time of day. The second mistake is having “T-Rex” arms with your offer. Both are killing your AOV. But there are ways to fix them.

Forget China! How To Find USA Wholesale Suppliers AND Skip Tariffs

To import from China, you have to pay high shipping costs and import fees, deal with language and culture barriers, and manage long lead times. Sourcing from the US is the direct opposite.

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Don’t Fall Into Decline! — Harness this Powerful $38BN Revenue Model

A recent Shopify State of the Industry report for 2023 revealed that 35% of Shopify Plus merchants have experienced shrinking cart sizes and average order values.

And many are reporting 2x more expensive costs to acquire new customers from their top channels.

90%+ of merchants have been hit 🎯

Even if some of your competition close shop, the cost to acquire customers ain’t gonna come down anytime soon.

Why are we telling you this?

Because the merchants who simply “accept” that the cost of doing business is a lot higher nowadays have “surrendered”.

They are handing over almost all of their profit margin to the ad networks….

But if customers are spending less and acquiring a new customer is getting more expensive from the paid channels….

Then what are you going to do be able to profitably acquire new customers?

Especially if one (or both!) of these trends continue 😢

Emojis aside…that is a serious and important question to ask yourself

And that’s why we wanted to share this fast growing but still “under the radar” sales model that not enough people seem to be talking about.

Ok, enough teasing.

The ecommerce model is…

Subscriptions. If done well, subscriptions create repeat customers who spend 67%+ more than new customers who do not create a subscription.

Two Confessions:

(1) Not every product lends itself to a subscription

But we challenge you to be creative. Even if you don’t go through with it, think of a few ways you could offer subscriptions if for some reason you had to.

Like maybe if you had a rich but eccentric uncle who will leave you his entire fortune….but only if you can sell enough subscriptions to a product that people normally don’t subscribe to.

In this highly likely situation, here’s an idea to help you win Unc’s bucks:

Create a subscription that people pay a recurring amount to be “Insiders” of your store.

Each month (or quarter) they receive a “loot box” filled with your latest products, prototypes, special offers, and sample products from other brands.

In addition to the physical items, they also get some unique content that gives an “inside look” look at your operations, your team members, your future vision, your manufacturing process, new products in development, and the like.

Kind of a mix between Patreon for creators and subscription boxes for ecom.

Play it right and other brands will pay you to be included in your loot boxes because they can’t afford to buy new customers from traditional channels anymore either….

(2) On ‘Day 1’ you are going to have 0 subscribers

This probably will not be a “quick win” against rising CPA…

But it could end up being the thing that wins you the battle in the long-term if you stick with it.

Instead of plowing more money into front-end advertising without changing anything on the back end to help boost your marketing ROI…

Why not take advantage of this trending & growing revenue model?

So, how can you set it all up?

There’s an app for that.

Actually, here’s 4 (they're all in Shopify):

• PayWhirl Recurring Payments

• Bold Subscriptions

• Subscriptions by ReCharge

• Ordergroove

And remember AI from a few of our past issues?

It’s going to be your Subscription Assistant.

So let’s walk through a high-level step by step on how to incorporate this recurring sales model into your business.

Pick the Right Model

There are two to choose from.

1. Subscription Box

Typically for sellers of apparel, beauty or food products. But it can work in other niches.

These are kind of like gift boxes. You bundle 3-5 lightweight products into a box. Make sure the products complement each other and follow a theme.

Don’t mix dentures with sexy lingerie. Unless… we’ll not go there.

The goal is to make your customer feel like it’s their birthday every month. With a gift they choose (the best gift of all!)

Birchbox, Blue Apron, and Stitch Fix are the most notable brands who use this model.

2. Replenishment Model

This is a repurchase subscription. It’s best for products that are used consistently, like razors, diapers, etc.

Just offer a discount for subscribing and you have automated recurring revenue!

Following me so far?

Great! Want to know how to set it up?

You don’t even need to ask 🙂

Here’s how ChatGPT (or a similar tool) can get you rolling here:

1. Research

ChatGPT Plus will provide insights on best practices, trends, and strategies related to subscription-based ecommerce businesses.

2. Pricing Strategy

It can assist in developing a pricing strategy for your subscription offering by providing information on typical pricing models, how to calculate costs, and factors to consider when setting the price.

(We looked at these cost structures. They were pretty solid)

3. Customer Service Scripts

It can help create scripts or templates for common customer service scenarios. For example, ones related to subscriptions, like handling cancellations, addressing common questions or concerns, or guiding customers through managing their subscriptions.

4. Churn Management

It can provide strategies for reducing churn, including ways to keep your subscribers engaged, improve your offering, and address common reasons for cancellations.

5. Assistance for Your VA

If you're working with a Virtual Assistant (VA), ChatGPT Plus can assist them as well. Instead of them asking you for direction all the time, AI can provide them information, suggestions, and guidance where they can bring the best options to you. Once direction has been set, AI can create the set of tasks that your team member(s) can carry out to implement, test, and grow your subscription offerings.

Nawww. Isn’t that last one sweet?

So there you have it!

Follow this path to sell more to combat the rising CPAs we are all experiencing right now.

But don’t go telling just anyone about this secret strategy now, ya’ hear?

Let’s keep this one between us & get "the early adopters advantage” for as long as we can ;)

Ezra Firestone Helps Shopify Build New Email Automations for Sellers

If you didn’t know already, Ezra Firestone is a bit of a living legend in marketing.

He’s the founder and CEO of Boom! By Cindy Joseph, CEO of oVertone and Zipify, and the founder of Smart Marketer.

Who better to build your email funnel?

Within Shopify, you can now set up templated email marketing automations designed by the guru himself in just a few minutes:

• Welcome Series: starts with a discount email for new subscribers. Then it continues with two relationship-building emails. Followed by a reminder email to use the discount.

• Welcome Series With Brand Story: three emails that share your story to connect with new subscribers. Followed by a discount email if no purchase is made.

• Thank You Series: sent a day after the purchase. Includes a personalized message based on whether it’s the first or second purchase made by the customer.

In the announcement article released by Shopify, Ezra shares his expert tips for building the funnels.

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