Selling more: Business Idea 001 – Gift Box Subscription Service

Business Idea 001: Fragrance / Scent Gift Box Subscription Service

Nice hand made cushions
I’d love to get one of these with the post!

Selling gifts can be tough. There are many big retailers on- and offline who compete. There’s always someone around the corner who sells things bigger, better, cheaper. Wait… not always! If you got the right idea, selling gifts can be fun. My theme as a b2b company is “If you sell good, I sell good!”. Therefore one thing I can do to help you to sell more, is to give you some ideas!

The Idea:
A box that is being sent out monthly or quarterly, which includes a range of gift items and / or use-able products chosen by the seller, that are prepared and wrapped very nicely.


The Customers:

  • Companies who need gifts for their business partners or clients on a regular basis.
  • Small companies who have a certain quantity of consumables like food, incense, candles, …
  • People who like to make gifts but:
  • Do not have enough time to chose gift by themselves OR
    not a good feeling for good gifts.
  • Want trendy gifts to be chosen for them.
  • Are willing to pay a little more for the sourcing.
  • Are probably business people who have enough money to pay for luxury gifts.
  • Want everything to be as smooth as possible (automatic).
  • Want to be able to reorder certain gifts individually.
  • Want the service to be able to fulfil special orders or wishes, if necessary.
  • Want to try out new products and want to know the newest trends.
  • Are “gurus” in their niche, but want to be up to date with less work (outsource to you).

The Gift:

  • Is trendy, universal, not too funky or difficult, a bit luxury or exotic and can be funny as well.
  • Contains as many consumables as possible (Food, Incense, Candles, Aroma Oil, Cosmetics, Nice Diary, …)
  • One box (depending on the chosen size) includes 2-8 gifts.
  • Is being sent out monthly or quarterly.
  • The price of the box includes the shipping costs to their home or office.
  • The customers can choose from different themes such as “Geeky”, “Green”, “Jewelry”, “Handmade”, “Useables”, “Handmade”, “From India” or “b2b”.The chosen box theme can actually be really broad, in the U.S., there are boxes ranging from vintage magazines, cat toys, craft beer, cosmetics, vegan food, “Mini-vacation-feeling-stuff-from-Florida”, Nail Polish, Temporary Tattoos, Cocktail ingredients, Nerdy Star Wars stuff, Panties (yes!), Toothbrush, Snacks (Choclate Bar, Beef Jerky, …), Craft Coffee Beans, T-Shirts, Creative Arts, Letterpress Cards, Artisan Craft gifts, Jewelry, Knitting Wool, DIY craft and art supplies, …
    I think you got the idea! (which is: pretty much everything ;))
Essental oil in lovely wooden package
That’s what I’m talking about!

The Presentation / Packaging:

  • Includes handwritten cards, depending on the chosen theme.
  • Every Gift is wrapped nicely and individually.
  • Each gift has an explanation flyer for the person who gives it away.
  • Some of the gifts have leaflets with “stories” about the products.
  • The box has a unique packaging which already makes it clear for the receiver, that it includes the gifts.

The Pricing:

  • If possible, customers can choose between different box sizes.
  • Also, customers can preferably choose from buying single boxes up to “infinite” time.
  • The price per box ranges between 15-45€ (includes delivery).
  • The price per item ranges between 6-30€ per piece.

The advantages of a subscription system:

  • Repeated orders monthly or quarterly = steady flow of money.
  • You choose what you sell – no overstock.
  • Little turnaround time and little to no warehousing costs.
  • You buy big quantities = lower buying prices.
  • Gives you the opportunity to offer special in-store sales for one product.
  • Gives customers the opportunity to try out things they would never try by themselves – and maybe makes them come back for a “out-of-the-subscription-box” order in your shop.

How to start a box subscription service:

Start with one specific theme. Do NOT start with all the given examples!
Check out one good going gift niche that has many new products coming out each year.

You can check out if things will sell with Google Keyword Planner. If there are more thann 6.000 monthly searches for your very specific keyword, go for it. Preferably chose some consumable item. For example, the German word for Incense “Raeucherstaebchen” has around 6.000 monthly searches on Google. This could be an idea for a gift themed box. But the gifts included would not only include Incense itself. It could also be Incense Holders, Fragrance Oils, Raw Incense, Charcoal, Oil Burners, Fragrant Soap, … Everything around scent – but always some Incense.

Incense Sticks on display
There’s enough variety, that for years of boxes, each one will have a different kind of Incense inside.

Make a simple landing page. There are many wordpress themes around, that can help you for very little money. If you already run an online shop, make a hover-over field, when customers visit your website, to promote this new service. Make a give away on your newsletter list. Or just make it as easy as possible and ask a customer you have customer, who buys a certain item repeatedly from you, if they would be interested to have it be shipped regularly to his home – but with the agreement, that he’ll take the service for a year.

If you’d like to try this out, but you’d like to get some help, just send me a message!

This business idea works and has been proven many times. And that is a good sign for you! Just check if there’s already a big supplier in your area – if not, give it a try. I am sure there are people who could use, for example, a box including two small candles, two boxes of incense, one roll of charcoal, one box of vintage lighters, one small bottle of Rose aroma oil and a small lavender cushion every month. They would use these items within this month. And next month, the package would be a bit different. Don’t forget the advantages of your fragrance subscription box service.

Papillon Premium Incense from India
100% natural Masala Incense. Papillon Premium Incense from Malchus Kern Wholesale. Hopefully in your box soon 😉

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