How Shinesty boosted subscriber revenue by switching to Ordergroove

The challenge? The apparel brand needed a subscription solution that was robust and flexible enough to handle their complex subscription offering. They also required their next platform to be able to seamlessly migrate their six-figure subscriber base and offer APIs that would let their eCommerce agency, Scoutside, build a custom subscriber dashboard using their app called Portal by Scoutside.

Switching to Ordergroove

After evaluating several subscription platforms, Shinesty migrated to Ordergroove and saw immediate success. After three months with Ordergroove, the apparel brand enrolled thousands of new subscribers. They also increased their average order value (AOV) by 5%, a significant lift in revenue given the popularity of their subscription offering.

Shinesty selected Ordergroove because of the subscription platform’s:

• Seamless and reliable migration process to ensure brands retain their most valuable customers
• Flexible APIs that enable bespoke subscription experiences
• Partnership with Scoutside, one of the most prominent and award-winning eCommerce agencies
• Upsell capabilities to boost AOV
• Prepaid subscription support to increase customer lifetime value (LTV)
• Transparent pricing that protected their bottom line

A seamless and successful migration

Subscriptions are a significant part of Shinesty’s business, so much so they couldn’t afford a troubled rollout. Not only did they require a platform capable of migrating a large and complex subscription experience, but they also needed exceptional customer support to guide them through the process and ensure they collected the recurring revenue they forecasted.

“When talking to other eCommerce brands and interviewing people about their experience with subscription platforms, one thing that kept coming up was how abysmal support can be,” said Jens Nicolaysen, CMO and co-founder of Shinesty. “With the size of our subscriber base, I kept thinking there could be any number of small things that could impact thousands of our customers.”

Through Ordergroove, Shinesty gained access to the experts they needed. Working hand-in-hand with Shinesty, Ordergroove’s customer success team guided the apparel brand through the important process of migrating their most valuable customers.

“The support from Ordergroove has been awesome,” Jens said. “Even from the early days, it was clear that customer service was part of Ordergroove’s culture in a way that it’s not with other platforms we talked to.”

As for Shinesty’s launch with Ordergroove, it exceeded expectations.

“We wanted to migrate our six-figure customer base and start collecting revenue immediately,” Jens said. “Subscriptions are a huge part of our business, and we couldn’t afford a difficult switchover. But something better happened. We actually generated more revenue.”

Delivering a bespoke subscriber enrollment experience

Shinesty offers one of the most customizable subscription experiences in eCommerce today, with over 40,000 possible product combinations.

When subscribing, consumers can select recurring orders for men’s, women’s, or couple’s underwear. Subscribers can also choose their preferred underwear style, print, number of pairs they want to receive each month, and whether to prepay for a year.

However, what makes Shinesty subscription unique is that subscribers are guaranteed never to receive the same design twice.

“People love our subscriptions because no one really wants 12 pairs of underwear with an eagle on them. They want 12 different pairs,” Jens said.

With Ordergroove’s flexible APIs, Shinesty kept the bespoke subscriber experience their shoppers have come to love.

Among the factors that contributed to Shinesty selecting Ordergroove was the subscription solution’s experience migrating and powering subscriptions for well-known enterprise brands like Peet’s Coffee.

“There were a lot of start-up-level subscription apps that weren’t as sophisticated as Ordergroove,” Jens said. “They don’t have a history of being scalable and reliable.”

Partnering with Scoutside to deliver a custom dashboard that reduces subscriber churn

When enrolling in a Shinesty subscription, consumers are prompted to select a print theme that ranges from classic colors to off-the-wall styles. Each month, subscribers receive a pair of underwear from their theme that is guaranteed to be different from past products they’ve received.

Because of the complexity of Shinesty’s subscriptions, they wanted to partner with an eCommerce agency to develop a highly customized subscriber dashboard.

Enter Scoutside.

An INC 5000 award-winning agency, Scoutside specializes in building unique customer experiences for subscription-first brands. Using their proprietary app, Portal by Scoutside, the eCommerce agency developed an easy-to-use subscriber dashboard that lets shoppers swap their underwear theme.

Ordergroove integrates with Scoutside’s app, ensuring that no matter how often a subscriber changes their theme or swaps underwear, they’ll always get the correct order delivered to their doorstep.

Since launching Ordergroove and Portal by Scoutside, Shinesty’s subscriber retention improved by 1.5% to 2%, a “hugely material” amount, representing thousands of subscribers per month.

Boosting AOV with Ordergroove’s Instant Upsell

In addition to powering their sophisticated subscription experience, Shinesty sought new capabilities to boost their AOV. They found it with Ordergroove’s Instant Upsell.

Instant Upsell increases AOV by letting subscribers easily add items to their upcoming orders as a one-time delivery or a new subscription.

“If subscribers want to add a second subscription or another matching subscription for their partner, it’s now possible,” Jens said. “Collectively, we saw a 4 or 5% increase in revenue from those upsells out of the gate.”

Supporting prepaid subscription to drive higher LTV

Shinesty sells premium-quality products that are priced higher than traditional underwear. To ensure cost-conscious shoppers have access to their products, Shinesty lets shoppers prepay for their subscriptions. In exchange for paying a year in advance, subscribers receive 52% off their orders.

Shinesty is willing to offer such a steep discount because the lifetime value of their prepaid subscribers is 100% greater than pay-as-you subscribers.

Transparent pricing that protects their bottom line

In today’s challenging business environment, brands must understand the total cost of their subscription solution. During their search, Shinesty discovered that most platforms hide the total price of their subscription solution behind transaction fees.

Some even charge fees for one-time product purchases if they’re added to a subscription order.

“The nail in the coffin for the other big Shopify player in the space we look at was they wouldn’t let go of their fixed percentage fee per order. Even a couple of cents per order is a killer,” Jens said.

Ordergroove offers transparent pricing that aligns with an eCommerce brand’s growth goals.

Unlocking success by migrating to Ordergroove

Shinesty’s migration to Ordergroove enabled the apparel brand to deliver the one-of-a-kind subscription experience their subscribers had come to love and the capabilities to combat churn and boost revenue.