The subscription-based retail model is a tried-and-tested format for fashion consumption, giving consumers curated product assortments and the hands-off benefits of a regular shipment. But increasingly, companies that offer subscriptions have been expanding beyond their original offerings.
For example, Curateur, created by The Zoe Report founder and editor Rachel Zoe, was launched in 2020 to offer more comprehensive services and products than its predecessor, Zoe’s Box of Style. According to Zoe, who spoke at the Glossy Fashion & Luxury Summit in June, adding new categories was a way to address a lingering need among customers.
“It’s the daily questions of: ‘I don’t know how to do my makeup,’ ‘I don’t know how to entertain people,’ ‘I don’t know what to wear to a meeting,’” Zoe said. “It’s these things that made me think beyond the [original] Box of Style. I wanted to create a woman’s entire lifestyle membership. I want to curate every aspect of your life.”
Subscriptions took a hit at the beginning of the pandemic, with Zoe’s Box of Style seeing a 20-30% decline in subscriber growth last spring. However, CEO Rodger Berman told Glossy last May that subscribers were quickly bouncing back. In 2020, overall fashion subscribers, on average, paid around $64 per month for fashion subscriptions, according to data from Statista.
But as subscriptions rebound from the pandemic, fashion companies need to keep finding ways to keep customers engaged.
Watch the video below for the full conversation with Zoe, which breaks down her take on the strategy.
