A Look at the Rise of E-commerce Subscription Services [Infographic]

By guest author Matt Zajechowski

Across the United States, more and more people arrive home to e-commerce subscription boxes waiting at their doorsteps. These subscription boxes can contain anything from beauty products to food to niche collectives like vinyl records. The subscription-based box service industry is one that has seen incredible growth in the last few years.

According to My Subscription Addiction there are over 2,000 subscription box services in operation in the U.S. as of March of this year. A recent Hitwise report found that visits to the top subscription box web sites are up over 3,000 percent over the past three years alone. That is an incredible amount of growth in a short amount of time. Makeup and beauty boxes currently dominate the most popular subscription box services, although more and more large companies like Starbucks, Adidas, Amazon and Macy’s are trying to get in on this growing craze.

Shorr Packaging recently spent some time researching the state of the e-commerce subscription services industry. They wanted to see just how much the industry has taken off as well as which brands are leading the charge.

During the 2015 holiday shopping season, 8.6 million Americans visited subscription box websites. The average subscription box website visitor has a median age of 41 with a median income of $78,463. The majority of users (58 percent) tend to be women. The average subscriber receives seven boxes and has at least 12 on their wish list.

Check out the infographic below to learn more about the booming business of e-commerce subscription boxes. We also think you’ll find this post useful if you’re trying to determine if the subscription box model is right for your e-commerce business.

About the Author:

 Matt Zajechowski is the Senior Outreach Manager at Digital Third Coast. Connect with him on Twitter and Google+.