This week we caught up with Lee Thomas, founder of men's grooming subscription box - The Urban Gent's Swagger Box. Designed and created 'for bearded men, by a bearded man', every month subscribers receive a unique selection of 100% natural & organic beard oils, waxes and balms to help them keep their beard in tip-top condition!

Today we had the pleasure of speaking with Kate Dunant, founder of the popular coffee subscription box, Perkulatte. Each month, subscribers can look forward to receiving a delightful package of artisan roasted (whole bean or ground coffee) from independent farmers around the world.

This week we have the pleasure of catching up with Daniel Humphrey, founder of The Summerton Club, a monthly subscription box for spirit lovers. Every month, club members can look forward to receiving a premium bottle of aged spirit including whiskies, rums and brandies from producers around the world.

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Daphnee Hocquard, the founder of the university student's wellbeing box, The Unibox. Each month, student subscribers receive a selection of exciting pick-me-ups in the shape of luxurious treats and practical essentials to help with the unique challenges and stresses of student life, away from home.

Today we speak with Prity Limbochia, founder of specialist home baking subscription box - All Things Baked. Offering both gluten-free and vegan-friendly home baking options, each month All Things Baked provides subscribers with all the essential ingredients and recipes to bake tasty treats from the comfort of their own home.

The Meg Rivers Artisan Bakery: Cake Club is a charming monthly subscription box for those with a sweet tooth! Each month, subscribers enjoy a beautifully baked cake, delivered directly to their door, what more could you ask for? This week, we got the opportunity to catch up with sales director, Jessica White, to learn a little about their business.

Today we had the pleasure of catching up with Louise Hartle, the founder of children's activity subscription box - I DID IT! A themed monthly subscription for kids aged between 5-11 years of age, the I DID IT! Activity Box helps parents with their children's learning as they explore subjects such as science, art, maths, technology and engineering each month - willing on those delightful 'light-bulb moments'.

This week we interviewed Claire Osborne, founder of personalised gifts company - A Few Home Truths and pet-loving offshoot - PETure Perfect - a bespoke monthly subscription box where subscribers are treated to a surprise personalised gift adorned with their very own furry friend. Offering both a dog and a cat box, PETure Perfect customers receive unique products such as mugs, coasters and even chopping boards!

Today we caught up Sarah Prudames, founder of Mimic Gifts & Soakbox - a monthly bath bomb subscription for those looking to enjoy a some special, scented 'me-time' from the comfort of their bath! Each month, subscribers are treated to an indulgent selection of six unique, mixed fragrance and colour bath bombs - all free from SLS, parabens & microbeads and 100% vegan-friendly! What more could you want?

This week we’re talking to Tom Ashley, Client Services and IT Director at ILG, a fulfilment and delivery company based in Sussex. ILG turns over approximately £25 million and employs 220 staff across seven warehouses. They fulfil orders for more than 100 clients, all with slightly different needs, including a number of high-end fashion and beauty brands.

Today we’re chatting with Louise Verity, owner, maker and designer of monthly book subscription box, Bookishly. Delivering literary delights to your door each month, Bookishly offer a range of classic and vintage book subscriptions - some even teamed with a packet of luxury tea or coffee - so subscribers have everything they need to enjoy their new favourite read!

This week we have the pleasure of speaking with Joey Ceunen, founder of health supplements subscription box, Upplement, who provide a month’s supply of science-based, all-in-one vitamins, minerals and probiotics. Split into four ‘protocols’: essential, beauty, balance and brain - Upplement is designed to deliver subscribers a monthly dosage of essential nutrients, ensuring they have the nutrients their bodies need to function, improve immunity and maintain energy levels.

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Bryan Hatton, co-founder of Letterbox Lab! - a children’s subscription box based on exciting science experiments delivered direct to your door. Split into two different series, the ‘Explore’ and ‘Investigate’ boxes, young subscribers get to build knowledge, skills and lab equipment over time as they work their way through each.

It’s that time again! In this week’s installment we catch up with Mary Wright, co-founder of Spotlight Stationery, a monthly subscription box that treats customers to a regular, mystery selection of premium and artisan stationery products, or in other words “pens, pencils and paper paraphernalia”! Stationery addicts, come this way...

This week we talk with Adam Pollard, co-founder of The Willoughby Book Club, a personalised book subscription box, that treat subscribers to a new, hand-selected book every month. Fuelled by a team of literary experts, The Willoughby Book Club handpick a brand new read for you each month, tailored to your own reading tastes, and beautifully wrapped with a personal message. From children’s picture books to contemporary classics, they’ve got you covered.

TheVeganKind is a monthly subscription box that exclusively features the diverse range of vegan products out there. Today, we speak with Scott McCulloch, co-founder and sales & marketing director. Offering both a lifestyle box; which contains vegan food, drinks, household and toiletries, plus a beauty box; with skincare, makeup and other beauty products, TheVeganKind guarantees subscribers a surprise mix of cruelty-free treats each month.

This week we catch up with Roz Harvey, founder of nature-inspired children’s subscription, Willow & Wild Box. Created for children aged 3-8 years old, the monthly Willow & Wild Box is packed full of growing, crafting, cooking and outdoor activities for kids to play and learn about nature. Following the adventures of characters, Willow the butterfly and Wild the cheeky little worm, children learn about how things grow, the changing seasons, healthy eating and animal/plant life cycles - inspired learning and fun!

Today we sit down with Saira Foden, the owner of ten year old Lewes-based haberdashery and fabric store, the-stitchery, and the creator of the-S box - a monthly craft subscription box packed full of themed creative goodies to inspire you to get making. Describing themselves as your very own ‘personal craft shoppers’, each month the passionate team at the-S box handpick a generous selection of items to get you crafting, sewing, knitting, doing and making - no idle hands here!

It’s that time of the week again! This week we sit down with Peter Donoghue of monthly retro subscription box, The Retro, offering a variety of boxes spanning vinyl, cassettes, comics and gaming from the 70’s, 80s and 90s. Based up in Glasgow, Scotland, The Retro delivers a monthly box of nostalgia, enabling you to easily relive the classics of years gone by! Every box is handpicked based on your preferences and accompanied by a handwritten note explaining why The Retro team believe you’ll love it. Now, where did we leave our office Megadrive?

Today we sit down with Emma Jewell, founder and ‘head of glitter’ at craft subscription box, The Glittery Hands Box. As the name might suggest, you can expect glitter, and a lot of it! The Glittery Hands Box is a monthly subscription packed full of subtly-themed surprise craft supplies and, of course, a serving of hand mixed glitter! Designed to help you discover your creativity, each box provides the inspiration to get crafting and making!

This time around we catch up with Chris Borrow, founder of The Dram Team, curators of out-of-the-ordinary whisky tastings delivered direct to your door via a monthly subscription box. Featuring a selection of five 25ml miniatures of top-end whisky, plus a special 10ml ‘sixth dram’ of a super-premium bottling, The Dram Team box is perfect for individuals looking to try lots of high quality whisky without needing to commit to purchasing expensive full-sized bottles!

Today we talk with Tom Ellum, founder of Storimarket, an online platform which connects smallholder farmers directly with customers who want ethical, healthy food conveniently delivered by means of a subscription box each month. Created for socially conscious consumers and ethical producers, where positive social impact takes precedence over price. The natural and healthy products featured in the Storimarket box are all sourced from developing countries throughout Africa.

This week we catch up with Debi McCormack, creative director of Boxcitement, a monthly box of exclusively designed stationery, accessories, jewellery and homewares. Or in their words, “it’s a gift shop in a box!” Perfect for those looking for something ‘a little bit different’ or as a unique gift, each month subscribers receive a selection of limited edition items that have been exclusively designed for Boxcitement through a combination of modern and traditional techniques - an exclusive collection of surprise products!

This time around we catch up with Jon Butt, co-founder of Blue Coffee Box, the speciality coffee subscription box that aims to introduce you to the world’s best coffee, all ethically sourced direct from single-origin and microlot farmers. The team at Blue Coffee Box work with the top 20 of the UK’s 300+ leading roasters to acquaint you with new flavours and coffees from the top coffee producing countries from around the world. One thing’s for certain, you’ll find no instant coffee here!

Today, we chat with Christina Armstrong, founder of Geo Journey, the educational kids subscription box and 2018 Made for Mums Gold Award winner. Designed for kids eager to learn about different countries and cultures, Geo Journey guides them around the world through the exciting tales of adventurous characters, Atlas and Geo!

The life cycle of a subscriber considers how someone is feeling about their subscription at a given point within their repeat billing duration. The better a company understand their subscriber life cycle, the more equipped they will be at retaining their subscriber base.

Phillip Agnew of world-leading social intelligence platform, Brandwatch, illuminates the power of social media, both positive and negative, and how the average subscription box customer is interacting with retailers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Demonstrating the impressive growth in online conversations surrounding subscription boxes in recent years, Phillip also shares the part emojis are playing in this online chatter and what Brandwatch are deriving from it! You can watch Phillip’s full talk in the video or check out the full transcript below.

The age old notion that it’s - ‘cheaper to retain customers than acquire new ones’ - have never been so prevalent for subscription box businesses. Stacey Cann, independent subscription marketing expert and trainer, explains the importance of retaining existing customers, the typical customer lifecycle and shares her top tips on how to encourage loyalty and avoid churn. You can catch Stacey’s full presentation in the video or read the full transcript below.

Matthew Read of leading digital marketing agency, Jellyfish Connect, presents the sizeable and untapped opportunities across the online landscape for subscription box businesses. Matt explains how retailers looking to engage and win customers through the awareness and interest stages of the conventional marketing funnel can win online! How many prospective customers are you ignoring? You can watch Matthew’s presentation in the video or check out the full transcript below.

Jellyfish Connect's Subscription Director David Toon panels a discusion with Janis Thomas (Birchbox Marketing Director), Dan Bridgewater (Buckt owner), Virginie (Toucan Box founder) and John (Graft Gin Club co-founder) about building a profitable subscription box business.

Becky Postlethwaite of competitive intelligence and consumer insight experts, Hitwise, shares the key trends that they are witnessing in one of the fastest growing verticals within the retail sector, the subscription box industry. In this talk, Hitwise chart this sustained success, help identify the typical subscription box customer and demonstrate the cross-sell opportunities through collaborative marketing. You can watch Becky’s full talk in the video or check out the full transcript below.

As part of a series on how to start a subscription box, this article aims to answer some of the fundamental questions around why starting a subscription box can be a strong and viable commercial proposition for both existing retailers and businesses, as well as entrepreneurs looking to launch a new service. We take a look at some of the key advantages of the subscription box model, the latest trends in the industry, current opportunities and finally some of the key considerations when starting up a subscription box business.