Welcome to the e-commerce podcast with me, your host, Matt Edmundson,
Speaker:the e-commerce podcast is all about helping you deliver e-commerce.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Now I am stoked with today's guest, who is Evan Padgett from Stealth Venture Labs.
Speaker:We are chatting about everything you need to know to take over.
Speaker:Yes, with subscription.
Speaker:E-commerce Evan.
Speaker:Uh, legend.
Speaker:Let me tell you, you going to love this conversation, but before we
Speaker:jump into it, let me give a quick shout out to some of our past
Speaker:guests and past guests and episodes.
Speaker:Uh, given that we are talking about everything you need to know to take
Speaker:home with subscription e-commerce.
Speaker:So today I thought it would be good to mention my conversation
Speaker:with Richard Schnitzel.
Speaker:If you ever saw the video, Richard was the guy with the bow tie.
Speaker:It's his signature look, and we got into all things automation.
Speaker:How do you use automation to help your business?
Speaker:And the second episode, let me give a shout out.
Speaker:And actually this is not yet released.
Speaker:So you need to be subscribed to, to get access to this one.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You'll be notified when it comes out.
Speaker:It's a conversation I'm having with Cody Bramlett who built a
Speaker:subscription business in supplements.
Speaker:And so we're going to get into all of that.
Speaker:So you're not gonna want to miss that either.
Speaker:So do check that one out and to, to listen to that one day to that one
Speaker:subscribe, it's going to be awesome.
Speaker:So this episode is brought to you by the E-commerce Cohort, a which helps you to
Speaker:deliver e-commerce well to your customers.
Speaker:Now you may well have got stuck in your e-commerce business, or like
Speaker:me, you may have got siloed into working on just one or two areas.
Speaker:You know, the areas that you kind of.
Speaker:You enjoy and you kind of forget all the other stuff.
Speaker:Like we liked email marketing over here, and we liked this bit over here, but
Speaker:we forgot about all the other stuff.
Speaker:And let me tell you that was a big problem for us.
Speaker:And this is why I'm super passionate about e-commerce cohort.
Speaker:It's solves this problem.
Speaker:It's a lightweight membership group with guided monthly sprints to cycle
Speaker:through all the key areas of e-commerce.
Speaker:The sole purpose of cohort is to provide you with clear,
Speaker:actionable jobs to be done.
Speaker:So you'll know what to work on and get the support you need to get it done.
Speaker:So whether you are just starting out here.
Speaker:Or if like me, you are a well established e-commerce.
Speaker:I encourage you to definitely check out ecommercecohorts.com.
Speaker:That's ecommercecohort.com.
Speaker:It is gearing up for its founding member launch.
Speaker:It is almost there and you are definitely going to want to check it
Speaker:out because of the offers on it are incredible for the founding members.
Speaker:Uh, if you've got any questions, email me directly at Matt at ecommercepodcast.net
Speaker:with your questions, because let me tell you, I've said this before on the podcast.
Speaker:I'm super proud of it.
Speaker:I'm super proud of what's going to be happen happening with cohort.
Speaker:I wish I had it 10 years ago.
Speaker:Let me tell you, I really do so Evan Padgett is a 20 year
Speaker:e-commerce veteran with a experience in subscription commerce.
Speaker:He's also got a phenomenal sense of humor.
Speaker:He's the COO of Stealth Venture Labs and e-commerce marketing firm.
Speaker:He works with brands like Crocs, hello Fresh Factor 75 and the
Speaker:list just goes on and on and on.
Speaker:He is awesome.
Speaker:He's a legend.
Speaker:When he's not taking over the world with subscription commerce,
Speaker:you'll find him hanging out with his kids playing video games.
Speaker:But his true love is American football.
Speaker:Don't hold it against him, but he's a die hard Denver Broncos fan.
Speaker:Someone has to be right.
Speaker:Sorry.
Speaker:I have a notion that was said that that's just me poking fun.
Speaker:I'm not a Denver Broncos fan.
Speaker:I actually have a neighbor who was a really big Broncos
Speaker:fan actually here in the UK.
Speaker:Uh, but.
Speaker:I lived in Carolina.
Speaker:So I'm a Panthers fan, but there you go.
Speaker:We all have our cross to bear.
Speaker:Don't we?
Speaker:Anyway, this is not about American football.
Speaker:This is about subscription e-commerce uh, grab your notebooks, grab your
Speaker:pens, grab your cup of coffee.
Speaker:Uh, here is my conversation with Evan.
Speaker:I am here with our very special guests all the way from Colorado in the USA.
Speaker:Evan, who is a 20 year old e-commerce veteran with experience
Speaker:in subscription commerce.
Speaker:Oh yes.
Speaker:As the COO of stealth venture labs and e-commerce marketing firm, he gets to
Speaker:work with some incredible brands like Crocs for example, and Hello, Fresh.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:Really keen to dig into this and pick his brains about
Speaker:this whole subscription thing.
Speaker:When he's not taking over the world of subscription, e-commerce,
Speaker:you'll find him hanging out with his kids or playing video games.
Speaker:Uh, but his true love apparently is, uh, is, is the Denver Broncos.
Speaker:Is that right?
Speaker:Uh, Evan, you're a bit of a diehard.
Speaker:The Denver Broncos fan.
Speaker:I see diehard Denver Broncos fan diehard, kid at heart, still playing video games
Speaker:at 39 years old this year where you do the math in the industry for 20 years.
Speaker:So boom, half my life on the internet.
Speaker:So go.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:So no wonder you're playing a computer.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly is very understanding spousal.
Speaker:Yeah, very, you know what?
Speaker:Um, the other day I was on a trip to the states.
Speaker:I was in your wonderful country with my 15 year old daughter and we were
Speaker:doing a bit of a road trip and we ended up in San Francisco and in San
Speaker:Francisco, there was this place called, um, I can't remember the name of it.
Speaker:Something like Antique Arcade or something like that.
Speaker:And I said to Zoe, my daughter, I said, let's go in and have a look and maybe
Speaker:we'll see some of the, you know, some of the old sort of games and sure enough,
Speaker:you walked in and there were games like from the twenties, you know, some old
Speaker:pinball machines and it was incredible.
Speaker:And we were walking around and I heard, um, the star wars theme playing and
Speaker:I, I just grabbed my daughter's arm.
Speaker:And I was like, no, no, it can't be, it can't be.
Speaker:And she's like, what are you talking about?
Speaker:I said, it can't be because when I was a kid, when I was a
Speaker:teenager, They used to be the shop in the village where I grew up.
Speaker:And in that shop, you would rent your videos a bit like, you know,
Speaker:our own version of blockbuster.
Speaker:And, uh, they had a few arcade machines in the back.
Speaker:One of which was the star wars Atari game, which was all sort of vector graphics.
Speaker:And I spent many, many a year playing that game and that's the
Speaker:only game I've ever been good at.
Speaker:I mean, the only game I've ever been good at.
Speaker:And so when I heard the star wars.
Speaker:Uh, in this place.
Speaker:And lo and behold, there is the machine.
Speaker:I was like, I was like, Zoe c'mon, I've got, I spent hours in, he amusement a
Speaker:antique amusement arcade, and that was better than my 15 year old daughter has
Speaker:obviously grown up with computer games.
Speaker:So I still felt pretty good about myself, but that's as much as I
Speaker:can help with that whole, well, it sounds like you did the right thing.
Speaker:Get some playtime in, be perfect for subscription models and you one
Speaker:of those, uh, to your house and.
Speaker:Therefore look at the value for our plate.
Speaker:I mean, it's amazing.
Speaker:Oh, it's just incredible.
Speaker:Do you know what?
Speaker:I went onto Google and I thought, I wonder how much it costs to buy one of these and
Speaker:you don't want to do that 15,000 pounds.
Speaker:Uh, thank you very much.
Speaker:Uh, and I was like, yeah, I can't justify spending 15 grand on a computer game if
Speaker:I want to stay married, if I'm honest.
Speaker:Right, right, right.
Speaker:You have choices to make.
Speaker:Everyone's got their big choices.
Speaker:I think this is just to make him like, um, so what, why Denver
Speaker:Broncos, did you grow up in that?
Speaker:Because Denver, Colorado, I suppose, is that where you are or, yeah, so
Speaker:I'm in Colorado now, but it's funny.
Speaker:I grew up in a state called Oregon, which is north of California, about seven
Speaker:hours north of where you were in San Fran, but they didn't have a professional
Speaker:of football, American football team.
Speaker:Um, so I.
Speaker:I'm going to pick a team.
Speaker:And I happen to like this team when I was a kid growing up and then lo and
Speaker:behold, I ended up here and I was just kind of all a happy set of coincidences.
Speaker:I wasn't like, oh, now I can move to Colorado and be closer
Speaker:to the sports in my life.
Speaker:It was like, this is where I live.
Speaker:Now.
Speaker:I moved here from Los Angeles and I was like, okay, this is, uh,
Speaker:this is much better for my state of mind for family situation.
Speaker:I have three kids, um, ages two through eight.
Speaker:So now ages two through eight.
Speaker:It was just a much better move.
Speaker:And lo and behold, the Broncos play an hour away from here.
Speaker:So, uh, that works out well for me.
Speaker:Um, and then they, the kids and everything, or living it
Speaker:up and having a great time.
Speaker:But now it's weird.
Speaker:Cause I forgot about what it's like when you live in Los Angeles.
Speaker:I forgot about what it's like living in a place with seasons.
Speaker:Um, you know, like Los Angeles just kind of have varying degrees
Speaker:of spring and summer, um, with a couple of rainy weeks here and there.
Speaker:Um, but you know, we just actually no joke it's about today.
Speaker:Uh, well last week, this time it was about 24, 25 Celsius.
Speaker:Pretty toasty.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's snow.
Speaker:Saturday.
Speaker:Well, it sounds a lot like England, I'm not going to lie.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:That's what that is.
Speaker:That's just what that's like, because like, it is May 20th and we had
Speaker:21st, we had snow hitting the ground after it was 80 something degrees
Speaker:Fahrenheit in the, in the mid 20 Celsius there a few days before.
Speaker:So things are weird here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's rough.
Speaker:You know what kind of say, uh, we, we also have our own quirky weather, but
Speaker:you know, it, it, it is what it is.
Speaker:I've only been, I've been to the UK once and it was just, it seemed
Speaker:like an awesome place, but I had just a cliche seemingly normal.
Speaker:The sky is gray and everything's a little bit.
Speaker:Yeah, everything's done.
Speaker:It's just, it's great.
Speaker:And, uh, no, I mean, there are a few days when it's not as great and there's
Speaker:a bit of blue in the sky, but green becomes rapidly your favorite color.
Speaker:It's why every house in England, let's say every house, a lot of houses have this
Speaker:sort of gray or white paint as sometimes beige, but it's usually that kind of paint
Speaker:and everybody accents stuff with color.
Speaker:So, you know, it'd be like the cushions bring the color into the
Speaker:room because that's how England is.
Speaker:It's like, this is great.
Speaker:But there's a lot of green, which sort of accents, you know, the sky.
Speaker:Uh, and there's just kind of how we get corrupt.
Speaker:So if I were to go build a subscription there, then it would need to be a
Speaker:colorful box and colorful product.
Speaker:And it would probably be well.
Speaker:Yeah, and it should contain an umbrella.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:exactly.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:So let's get onto the whole subscription thing.
Speaker:Uh, you are, I said in the intro there, you're the COO the chief
Speaker:operating officer in England.
Speaker:I assume it means the same thing.
Speaker:Um, I've stilled venture labs.
Speaker:Um, now, before obviously you're in stealth venture labs, you, you seem
Speaker:to have this, this world history.
Speaker:Sort of how you got there.
Speaker:Um, but what, what is stealth venture labs?
Speaker:Um, we call it an e-commerce marketing firm, but is that
Speaker:what you guys specialize in?
Speaker:Yeah, so we are a performance marketing agency managing media dollars to the
Speaker:millions of millions per month for all of our clients, um, ranging from
Speaker:the HelloFresh of the world to small brands, just trying to spend their
Speaker:first 10 25, $30,000 in advertising.
Speaker:Um, on any platform you can manage behind the screen.
Speaker:So all things Metta, I'm still gonna, I'm still gonna call it Facebook.
Speaker:I still call it Facebook, but you know, everything Facebook instead of.
Speaker:Um, snap, Tik, TOK, Pinterest, Google being, you know, anything
Speaker:we can manage from here.
Speaker:I got a team to do it.
Speaker:Um, you know, performance marketing experts, focus on all things, funnel
Speaker:optimization as well, creative development, which has changed quite a
Speaker:bit in the past few years, especially.
Speaker:Um, and then we also have an incubator arm here at Stealth, which we call our
Speaker:Founder Lab, which is basically a place where we work with brands looking to
Speaker:expand their product line or launch a new brand and want to know what the market
Speaker:is going to think about that brand.
Speaker:So, um, about a half dozen times a year, we get these experiments where brands
Speaker:big and small, but usually they're either big privately held like family brands or
Speaker:brands you all know of that are like, Hey, we want to expand into this.
Speaker:We, you guys make an experience, a brand and do some marketing and
Speaker:let us know what that looks like.
Speaker:Um, and we do that in our founder lab side.
Speaker:So if you have an idea or if you're part of a big brand that has an idea, instead
Speaker:of buying the inventory, hiring the team, singing a million dollars into it before
Speaker:you even get it off the ground, we have brands that will come to us and say, tell
Speaker:us what that looks like first, tell us, like, what does our pricing need to be?
Speaker:What is this?
Speaker:A promotionality?
Speaker:And we spend real advertising dollars to get customers to sign up.
Speaker:And then when they sign up, we say, Hey, you're part of a beta.
Speaker:You're not going to be charged.
Speaker:We'll give you a deal when it goes, live, yada yada.
Speaker:So then we can actually say, Hey, here's the customer acquisition costs.
Speaker:Here's the pricing and the promotion and the positioning that we know
Speaker:works that backs into what should be a good model run with it.
Speaker:We'll build it for you fully.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And go on from there.
Speaker:So that's the other side of the house, but we're primarily the agency.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, that's why actually that sounds a lot of fun to me,
Speaker:that whole incubation thing.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:And we do it for our own products, our own in-house products as well.
Speaker:Like we have an idea it's like, okay, take a few weeks to launch
Speaker:it and see what it looks like.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:See what people think.
Speaker:There's a lot to be said for that actually.
Speaker:And throwing some money into things like that, rather than trying to figure
Speaker:it all out from day one, the brand that you mentioned, um, hello, fresh.
Speaker:Uh, I am familiar with here in the UK.
Speaker:This is a subscription service, which you sign up to and they deliver
Speaker:fresh produce to your house every week or every month or whatever
Speaker:timeframe you, um, you sign up for.
Speaker:Um, so when we talk about subscription commerce, Oh subscription.
Speaker:E-commerce in my head and this is what I'm thinking.
Speaker:I'm thinking things like, hello, fresh, you know?
Speaker:And it's you kind of sign up and you get a box or a, there's a beauty one.
Speaker:I can't remember what it's called now.
Speaker:The beauty box or something like that.
Speaker:Um, and yeah, Birchbox, that's someone I'm thinking of, um, where you, you
Speaker:sign it, you pay your 10 bucks a month and they send you a few bits and bobs.
Speaker:Is that what you're referring to?
Speaker:When you talk subscription?
Speaker:So to me, I look at subscription commerce as another way.
Speaker:I like to say it is a recurring revenue models, right?
Speaker:So, uh, these are models that guarantee you for better lack of better words,
Speaker:downstream revenue from your consumers at the expense of either product or service.
Speaker:So, um, now that's broadly subscription, but every business loves to have
Speaker:predictable forward looking revenue.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So, um, when I look at subscription commerce, there is what you
Speaker:mentioned, the food in the box.
Speaker:There's stuff in a box that shows up, but then there's also services.
Speaker:There's also memberships that give you access.
Speaker:Uh, one of the companies that I was a chief marketing officer for before
Speaker:joining stealth is a company in the states called thrive market, uh, which is.
Speaker:Online grocery company that worked off an annual membership model for
Speaker:like $60 a year, you get access to the best prices you're going to get
Speaker:on these organic and non GMO foods, um, that, you know, is quote unquote
Speaker:healthier for you and better for you.
Speaker:It's sometimes necessary if you have things like gluten
Speaker:intolerance and stuff like that.
Speaker:Um, so that's an annual membership model, but there's still a
Speaker:recurring revenue model there.
Speaker:Uh, so I look at subscription that's broadly, anything that provides recurring
Speaker:revenue, where customers, uh, are basically engaged in a relationship
Speaker:with you opt in or opt out, um, that creates a predictable forward-looking.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:And so, like you say, that can be products, it can be services, it can be
Speaker:a membership and it can have all kinds of different, uh, things attached to it.
Speaker:I guess if I'm the backup, uh, just a little bit.
Speaker:So if it's this sort of recurring revenue model, a predictable recurring
Speaker:revenue model, I suppose the clue is in that definition as to why maybe as an
Speaker:e-commerce entrepreneur, I should think about having some kind of subscription
Speaker:if I don't currently have one, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I always encourage people to find a recurring revenue model
Speaker:because look, e-commerce.
Speaker:Economics you want recurring revenue anyway, you're, you're not building
Speaker:an e-commerce sort of saying like, oh, I'm just going to sell one of
Speaker:these to everybody and that's it.
Speaker:Perfect.
Speaker:That's all I ever need to do.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So you're already thinking recurring revenue.
Speaker:Anyway, all I'm saying is fine.
Speaker:The, the way to expand your service, that creates a recurring revenue model
Speaker:that provides a mutual benefit, not just to you as a, as a company, uh, but to
Speaker:the customer as well, um, and creates a longer standing ongoing relationship with.
Speaker:Is the best way forward.
Speaker:Uh, so, um, again, brands and, and entrepreneurs are
Speaker:already thinking like this.
Speaker:You do not build an e-commerce site to sell one of one thing to every person.
Speaker:You, you are trying to get three to four purchases a year, well, subscription
Speaker:models kind of guarantee you that at what expense, maybe some more attrition,
Speaker:maybe subscriptions, not for everybody, but the predictability that you get, your
Speaker:ability to grow and scale and advertise because your LTVs will be higher.
Speaker:You'll make more money candidly, over the longterm in nine out of 10 situations
Speaker:or 99 out of a hundred probably.
Speaker:Um, that's why I encourage brands to sit there and sort out what would be something
Speaker:I can offer as a recurring revenue.
Speaker:And it may not be as obvious as you think, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, but that's, I always drive for that in all of our clients that come to us.
Speaker:I'm like, all right, what have you guys thought about recurring revenue?
Speaker:If they have it, like, let's just talk about that.
Speaker:We're going to still do what you needed to do, but how can we create a
Speaker:recurring revenue model for your brand?
Speaker:And you can almost always have.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Well, that's interesting.
Speaker:Isn't it?
Speaker:I mean, you, when you were talking about no one wants to sell one,
Speaker:one product, just everybody.
Speaker:The only thing that I can think of, uh, I was talking to a chap called Adam
Speaker:Pierce, who is also coming on the show.
Speaker:We were, we were having a con, we recorded his interview actually earlier today.
Speaker:Um, he was saying he's got into, uh, one of the things he's getting into
Speaker:was, um, coffins, uh, which is probably the only product that I think of that
Speaker:you could sell one time to one person.
Speaker:But if I, if I can be slightly flippant here, uh, is there space, let's say I do.
Speaker:So, you know, nice wooden caskets.
Speaker:And, um, is there a space, do you think for me to also think about recurring
Speaker:revenue, even though it's obviously a one-time sale, this is a unique one.
Speaker:Let's see what referring revenue for that coffin.
Speaker:Um, well, let's see.
Speaker:You could.
Speaker:We typically confidence got to go somewhere.
Speaker:So you could have a recurring revenue model on the plot
Speaker:of land that it's going on.
Speaker:Instead of buying the land itself, you could create a lease for it.
Speaker:There's a little bit of recurring revenue.
Speaker:Um, there's other services, so, wow.
Speaker:This is going places.
Speaker:Didn't think you're going to go to competence, but, uh, uh, you know, you
Speaker:could offer things like, um, other things you're dealing with at a, if it's your
Speaker:coffin, you're shopping for, um, our, uh, of service that could provide, um,
Speaker:support and relief to people around you.
Speaker:Cause it'll consultative services.
Speaker:Um, being able to, it sounds really schlocky.
Speaker:So don't, uh, you know, this is going to be on the internet
Speaker:forever on this podcast.
Speaker:Could you sell or potentially critter recurring revenue model on the grief
Speaker:counseling needed where Yuto to pass and be placed inside coffin,
Speaker:um, to support the ones around you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Maybe there's a recurring revenue model there taking advantage of the bereaved,
Speaker:but not in a bad way, but just from, uh, the fact that that is generally
Speaker:needed or other ends of, um, if, again, if you're the one going in that coffin,
Speaker:other things to wind down your affairs, um, that could be a once said coffin is
Speaker:filled, what would be some draws from an estate, for example, that would be
Speaker:a recurring revenue model to handle.
Speaker:Um, so you might hear a siren in the background, um, but to handle,
Speaker:uh, the end of life affairs, uh, that could be reasonable as well.
Speaker:That's a unique one.
Speaker:I mean, to be a flipper notice, I mean, Hey, we're all going to go
Speaker:through that journey at some point.
Speaker:That's just like, I have not been challenged with COVID it's
Speaker:on a recurring revenue model.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like it's just top of mind when you, you know, from the earlier conversation,
Speaker:but I, I like you, I'm sitting here thinking, well, what could I do?
Speaker:So there's the managed services, for example, you've got to maintain the
Speaker:plot of land haven't you could I create some kind of membership so that, um,
Speaker:maybe I'm in my fifties, my sixties, I'm starting to think about it.
Speaker:And so I'm, you know, I can use your services not only to pick out my casket,
Speaker:but also to plan my funeral to also host my well, you know, and you can
Speaker:help me with whatever, but the legal services side of things, what if you
Speaker:are on a plan to pay out and handle, have your affairs covered, and that is
Speaker:something similar to another policy in that, you know, that could be actually.
Speaker:When you start modeling that out, that could be a really relatively low expense,
Speaker:depending on people's life expectancy.
Speaker:This is like really weird, but, um, but like depending on their life
Speaker:expectancy, so say you're a 60 year old person, but generally in good health.
Speaker:And you're just planning ahead and getting this stuff squared away, put
Speaker:them on some plan and be like, Hey, any basic legal or end of life type,
Speaker:um, services you need are included in this package and you're paying for it.
Speaker:So you just, you know, somebody, you or somebody on your behalf picks up
Speaker:the phone and gets things handled.
Speaker:So if you're creating a will and testament, if you're creating, uh,
Speaker:establishing your estate, if you're somebody that has the ability or
Speaker:need to do that, or your, um, your finances, getting them in order and how
Speaker:that's going to look like, I suppose it would be a recurring revenue model
Speaker:that would at least come from that.
Speaker:Now does the coffin company selling that or.
Speaker:Creating a relationship with somebody else here nor there, but there's
Speaker:a recurring revenue model involved that could, they could exist.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:I think what I, I guess the point from this is it doesn't matter what you sell.
Speaker:Uh, there is with a little bit of thinking something that you can do to create
Speaker:a recurring revenue model out of it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:As long as both sides are winning, that's the part that like, like
Speaker:you don't want like love sided recurring revenue models are I think,
Speaker:um, well, one they're not great.
Speaker:That's just the easiest way to put it, but I also think that they are
Speaker:not, they, they put a bad name on the recurring revenue model industry.
Speaker:And I'll give you one example.
Speaker:That's off the top of my head right now that I I've said this on different
Speaker:podcasts before, but I'm also like, I hope that this stops as quickly
Speaker:is vehicles becoming smarter now, as they are, you start having features
Speaker:that are going to be subscription.
Speaker:Now everyone's got like a lot of new cars.
Speaker:Uh, you know, Sirius XM radio, right.
Speaker:Or they have like satellite radio, that's one subscription, but like
Speaker:subscriptions for features that are electronically blocked that could just
Speaker:be added on for like, Hey, $10 a month.
Speaker:And you want a better braking system, or you want like when autonomous
Speaker:driving comes out, if that is more of a subscription, instead of a
Speaker:one-time theory feature, those sorts of things are going to start bothering
Speaker:me a little bit if I'm being honest.
Speaker:Cause they're just like the things that you truly want are only available
Speaker:on only on a recurring revenue model.
Speaker:And we're starting to see that now I've seen more and more cars come
Speaker:out with like pay walled features.
Speaker:Um, like, I don't know I'm going to name the brand.
Speaker:Cause I wouldn't know it off the top of my head, but there was one car coming
Speaker:out that has like climate control settings that are not as advanced.
Speaker:Unless you pay for a subscription to their service.
Speaker:And I'm like, that's horrible.
Speaker:I am sorry, but that is not great because that is a lopsided, uh, one side
Speaker:is winning in this, um, subscription, but you find a mutual when you
Speaker:provide a service that they need that a normal person, what do they want?
Speaker:They want something relieved from their life.
Speaker:They need a little less gravity in their world.
Speaker:They want to not have to go to the grocery store.
Speaker:So they get food delivered.
Speaker:They want to save them time and money.
Speaker:They want something convenient that they normally have to deal with that they
Speaker:don't want to showing up, ready to go.
Speaker:And knowing that if they don't want it, they can call up and get support that they
Speaker:need or email up and make that happen.
Speaker:All you're trying to do is make people's lives better.
Speaker:And when you've got a subscription or recurring revenue model that does that,
Speaker:then you have an excellent business.
Speaker:Um, so that's, uh, not trying to crap on the car industry, but that's
Speaker:one of those things that bothers me or when the necessary things
Speaker:are put on recurring revenue model.
Speaker:That's fair enough.
Speaker:I'd be hacked off with that as well.
Speaker:And I think you are right.
Speaker:Every man and his dog is jumping on the subscription model system
Speaker:in some respects and in, and I like what you say, can't be lopsided.
Speaker:It has to be a win-win.
Speaker:Um, otherwise people just aren't interested.
Speaker:I mean, one of the mistakes, I think we made with a subscription model
Speaker:in one of our own business, Um, was we didn't we sort of went, right.
Speaker:Well, if you subscribe to this, um, these particular products, you'll, you
Speaker:know, you get them at a lower price.
Speaker:That's the whole reason we want you.
Speaker:You can buy them straight off the website, but if you want them at a low price,
Speaker:we'll send them to you every two months.
Speaker:And there was just like a box we're going to ship out every
Speaker:two months or every three months.
Speaker:Have you guys, nobody really does a subscribe and save, or they
Speaker:ask why can't I get it for this price instead of subscribing?
Speaker:Well, the issue was not so much that the issue was more,
Speaker:I've not taken into account.
Speaker:The customers that we were serving who were very, um,
Speaker:sustain sustainability savvy.
Speaker:So they're like, well, hang on a minute.
Speaker:Um, I, what you're basically did I, why can't I buy more and have
Speaker:it shipped one time, maybe twice a year, as opposed to buy less and
Speaker:have it shipped, you know, just like.
Speaker:Every month, it's the same product.
Speaker:It's the same discount.
Speaker:I still want to buy the products.
Speaker:I just want to ship it less because.
Speaker:I want to offset my carbon footprint.
Speaker:And that was something that I, I personally was not
Speaker:expecting to what I mean.
Speaker:I was, I was a bit shocked.
Speaker:I was shocked is the wrong word.
Speaker:But Jimmy was like, oh, okay.
Speaker:Surprise.
Speaker:Well, that is a more and more common thing actually.
Speaker:So you hit on something around sustainability and, um, the biggest
Speaker:rub that has now turned into sustainability once for subscriptions
Speaker:for awhile is the amount of corrugate.
Speaker:And especially if you partake in a meal at home company, you get a
Speaker:box that is lined with insulation.
Speaker:That usually also has a couple of different, um, frozen ice packs in it.
Speaker:Like there's a reasonability with the ice packs, but I mean, who needs more
Speaker:than a few ice packs in their life.
Speaker:Um, and then you have just so much core gets so many insulated boxes
Speaker:that Insulet is usually a recyclable, but it is still being produced and
Speaker:there's still a big footprint there.
Speaker:Um, so.
Speaker:Uh, you know, one of the ways that I work on I'm really proud of the former
Speaker:company I was at called thrive market.
Speaker:Like they've actually become, you know, a certified B Corp and reduce
Speaker:their footprint down to more neutral.
Speaker:They just officially their fulfillment center or warehouse
Speaker:actually got its certification to be carbon neutral, which is amazing.
Speaker:Um, but that is something that is coming up more and more.
Speaker:And actually, um, you have to be, if you're coming up with a new brand
Speaker:right now, or you're, you're creating a new market, which is certainly
Speaker:happening as well, you have to be a lot more conscious about that because
Speaker:otherwise, um, people will say like, yeah, your product's good, but I,
Speaker:what am I going to do with 30 boxes?
Speaker:Um, and why am I getting a box with boxes and boxes and stuff in it,
Speaker:depending on what you're selling.
Speaker:Um, that's a real problem that I think is going to be kind
Speaker:of coming to pass right now.
Speaker:And we'll either start getting confronted with more challenging shipping rates.
Speaker:And guess what, if shipping goes up, that cost goes to the consumer.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Or a, you know, I was thinking that there's, I don't know how to do it
Speaker:because the economics I've struggled with this one for a while, but like,
Speaker:there's gotta be some way to create a business that reclaims Oregon as
Speaker:well, because everybody suffers from this, that orders off of the internet.
Speaker:Um, well you say that there's a company that we subscribe to called Riverside,
Speaker:which is a bit like, hello, fresh they're they're, um, a fun organic, organic
Speaker:and organic farmer, uh, here in the UK.
Speaker:Um, and my wife subscribes to them.
Speaker:I, I, I have to be honest with you and I have nothing to do with it.
Speaker:It's it's all my wife.
Speaker:I just go to it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I just go to every now and again, bloody hell, babe, this is
Speaker:expensive, but she's like, no, no, it was good because of X, Y, and Z.
Speaker:But what happens is every Tuesday morning they drop off the, the latest order, but
Speaker:they pick up all the cardboard boxes.
Speaker:They've designed them in such a way that they fold down and
Speaker:they pick them up and they just reuse them until they really are.
Speaker:And we're like, that's.
Speaker:So I don't have so whenever they drop the stuff off, they pick up all
Speaker:that, all their cardboard from before.
Speaker:And I think fantastic.
Speaker:You know, I can, I can see that they've thought this through they, and it's
Speaker:one of the things that my wife loves about it is actually they've gone
Speaker:oh yeah.
Speaker:That's really, you could do that in, um, smaller markets, right?
Speaker:So like, if a company is trying to be here in the U S nationwide, they would need
Speaker:agents in regional areas to handle that.
Speaker:Um, but I've seen that actually in a similar space of meal at home
Speaker:where there's, um, Not exact seems to be it's more like the last mile
Speaker:of delivery services, say like the door dashes or whatever, um, uh,
Speaker:of the world grub hub, et cetera.
Speaker:Um, in some area, like there'll be localized versions of those that will
Speaker:actually, um, you could buy for example, um, uh, like stay hot, like bags, like
Speaker:tote bags, and they'll like swap them out.
Speaker:So like, they'll deliver your stuff hot in a tote bag.
Speaker:So it's like you pick it up.
Speaker:So they're not, so they are not having to give you, um, the, the, the restaurants
Speaker:packaging other than like the container, but they don't have to use their bags.
Speaker:They don't have to use it.
Speaker:It's stuff like that.
Speaker:And then you'll just switch out bags and then they'll, they'll
Speaker:take the one that you leave.
Speaker:You'll get a new one.
Speaker:Um, and that stuff works on like local regional markets where
Speaker:you, where you basically are in control of the last mile delivery.
Speaker:It starts.
Speaker:I would say falling apart more, even though I would say Amazon could do
Speaker:this, uh, Amazon being arguably one of the biggest corrugate providers here
Speaker:in the U S for sure to customers, um, you know, if they're doing their own
Speaker:Amazon delivery, which I see plenty of Amazon delivery trucks, not just
Speaker:the USBs and everything like that.
Speaker:I, you know, you think at some point they would try to reclaim the
Speaker:corrugate if you were able to leave it out there, but not existing yet.
Speaker:No, I think until consumer demand demands, that is going to leave it on there.
Speaker:They'll talk a good game, Amazon, but I think you're right.
Speaker:I think how complex would it be if they just made the packaging that
Speaker:I just gave back all the time?
Speaker:It can't be that difficult, but I appreciate England is a very different
Speaker:place to them in terms of sites.
Speaker:Uh, and so, you know, it's a lot easier, I think, to do some
Speaker:of these things in, in the UK.
Speaker:Um, so.
Speaker:Well, I mean, that's some of the problems, I suppose.
Speaker:So what are some of the other problems that you see in terms of
Speaker:not creating a win-win scenario?
Speaker:So we've talked a little bit about the packaging.
Speaker:Sustainability you've mentioned pine street.
Speaker:Is there anything else that sort of winds you up there?
Speaker:There's plenty of that, but when it comes to subscription commerce, um,
Speaker:I would say just the, I feel like there's a entrepreneurs think about
Speaker:subscription commerce as something they're trying to push to consumers,
Speaker:but it's actually the other way around your consumers will tell you what part
Speaker:of your product should be subscription.
Speaker:Um, and you just got to listen.
Speaker:So like what irks me is when I see subscription models, where I would say
Speaker:I'm fairly certain at this point was not backed by a data-driven decision.
Speaker:More, just like a want to be like, I want to ship you this every month.
Speaker:Nobody's going to need that much stuff every month.
Speaker:They're not going to need that much of your product.
Speaker:They aren't.
Speaker:I just, I know they're not, not enough people now, the
Speaker:other, some of every product.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But not enough.
Speaker:People are going to need your stuff every single month to do that.
Speaker:So that's one thing that irks me when I see brands doing that, where
Speaker:it's a, uh, somebody that was of the mindset of just like, I need
Speaker:to create a recurring revenue.
Speaker:So I'm just going to put two of my stuff in a box and ship it every month.
Speaker:And I'm like, either you're just going about the wrong way.
Speaker:Like you're not listening to your consumers.
Speaker:Um, so that's one thing that bothers me.
Speaker:The other one, this is like a complicated one.
Speaker:So bear with me in the sense of like, it brings out visceral emotion.
Speaker:I might cry, I don't know is subscribing safe.
Speaker:And, um, here's, it's a private save slash uh, related, I guess, is also people that.
Speaker:Amazon dependent and wind to own their own brand.
Speaker:They're like, there's a lot of similarities between the two.
Speaker:Um, but I'm going to talk about them independently, subscribe and save, um,
Speaker:subscribe and save is the one thing that a lot of e-commerce brands do
Speaker:to try to then invalidate their need or ability to create a subscription
Speaker:model, because they'll say, well, we did subscribe and save and I'm giving
Speaker:people 5% off and nobody's taking it.
Speaker:So subscription is not for our product.
Speaker:I'm like, oh my gosh, you didn't, you didn't create an experience.
Speaker:Like subscription is meant to be an experience.
Speaker:It's not enough these days to just say my stuff's in a box
Speaker:and you're going to get it every month, whether you like it or not.
Speaker:Th th that was like subscription 10, 12, 15 years ago.
Speaker:And I trust me, I was there for that, like that, that's really what that was now.
Speaker:About creating a service and an experience for the consumer
Speaker:that makes them feel special.
Speaker:Like it was curated for them that addresses their problems more directly.
Speaker:Um, and that, you know, is now effectively a monthly or quarterly
Speaker:or whatever frequency bill on their, you know, bank statement.
Speaker:You can't just say, like, I'm just gonna put two of my stuff in a box
Speaker:and call it a subscription now.
Speaker:Or I'm just going to do subscribe and save and say, oh, that's my subscription
Speaker:model because people want people there there's enough data that shows that
Speaker:people want flexibility and they'll pay a lot more for flexibility.
Speaker:Therefore you're working against yourself there, but if you curate
Speaker:that same experience, if you say we're going to send you my skincare
Speaker:product, but because of that, tell me a little bit more about your skin type.
Speaker:Tell me a little bit more about.
Speaker:Other skin problems or health and wellness problems you're having.
Speaker:And then what we're going to do is send you our, our hero product,
Speaker:which is what we are known for.
Speaker:But we're also going to send you two or three other products that are
Speaker:either experimental or curated for you.
Speaker:Um, and now, now that makes me feel like, oh, you're thinking about like my skincare
Speaker:regimen or my dietary preferences.
Speaker:So you got to make it special.
Speaker:Um, and that is one thing that bothers me is like people that just try to go
Speaker:off of like the subscribe and you get 5% off or 10% off or what, like, that's
Speaker:not, you're not winning people with that.
Speaker:That's what Amazon does though.
Speaker:Isn't it?
Speaker:That's what everyone sort of copied it is.
Speaker:So now talking about Amazon, you have, this'll make a deal with
Speaker:several times a year at stealth.
Speaker:I get, I had run these conversations not more than a week ago.
Speaker:A brand comes to me saying, Hey, we do X on Amazon, you know, hundreds of thousands
Speaker:of dollars in monthly sales and this.
Speaker:You know, they want to do, they want to own their site now they want us, they
Speaker:can't, they don't want to say, oh, we're still an Amazon business, but now we're
Speaker:going to make blah, blah, blah.com.
Speaker:And we want to run some advertising there and we want to sign up our own customers.
Speaker:And we have our own warehouse for other, for, you know, for our main product and
Speaker:other products, it's subscription or not.
Speaker:It's just not going to work how you think it's going to, because every
Speaker:dollar you spend on advertising, people are going to look you up and
Speaker:then boom, they're going to buy on Amazon because you have a history.
Speaker:There you have four-star five-star reviews, right?
Speaker:You're on prime.
Speaker:Uh, Amazon's got that clout, whether you like it or not.
Speaker:So brands, brands and brand owners will be like, I want my cake and I want it.
Speaker:I want to have my cake and eat it too.
Speaker:So to speak, they want to say, I want to keep my massive growing
Speaker:Amazon store, but I also want to send people directly to my website
Speaker:and they expect to what beat Amazon.
Speaker:No, it doesn't matter.
Speaker:What kind of subscription or deal you offer.
Speaker:The security to know that they buy an Amazon, they're
Speaker:going to be taking care of it.
Speaker:That's all people are going to need.
Speaker:Now.
Speaker:I'm not saying it's the right decision to, for you to kill, kill your Amazon store.
Speaker:But out of all, my 20 years doing this, I have not seen that work perfectly.
Speaker:That any, how anyone wants it to work ever now doesn't mean
Speaker:you can't have your own store.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:You can get repurchasing there and everything.
Speaker:But if you, if you maintain a strong Amazon presence, you're
Speaker:going to pay advertising to feed and improve your Amazon presence.
Speaker:That's the one that bothers me.
Speaker:Maybe a slightly controversial that yeah, my might not, I don't think it is at all.
Speaker:And I think you're right.
Speaker:I think if people say to me all the time, you know, what platform
Speaker:should I use to do my business on?
Speaker:I'm like, you want to go where your customers are going to.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And you, it's not rocket science.
Speaker:If your customers are on Amazon, go to Amazon.
Speaker:If they're on Etsy, go to Etsy.
Speaker:If they're on the web, build your own website.
Speaker:Now yes, you should have your own website and yes, you should
Speaker:build your own email list.
Speaker:And there's a lot of reasons why that's a good idea.
Speaker:And we've had guests on in the past talking about that.
Speaker:Um, but fundamentally you go where your customers are buying, right?
Speaker:Like when you're fishing, you put the hook where the Fisher.
Speaker:No, but it, so that's a really great point.
Speaker:Like I am not, I have known several people that have made
Speaker:awesome businesses on Amazon.
Speaker:Now you ride the ebb and flow of Amazon in a vertical and you have to compete
Speaker:for it and everything, but you can no joke make, you know, several, I
Speaker:know people that have made several.
Speaker:Five to 10 hour workweek type businesses, basically just supplying
Speaker:their stuff to Amazon, make a great brand and it'll do well for a little
Speaker:while, and maybe it falls off.
Speaker:But at that point you've made a couple million dollars in
Speaker:gross revenue off that brand.
Speaker:Or you sell it to another company and make them deal with it.
Speaker:You are you, you have a decision to make when you're launching a brand.
Speaker:And I think a big part of that decision is do you want to build
Speaker:your brand on Amazon or do you want to build your brand yourself and
Speaker:then maybe consider Amazon later?
Speaker:There are very different cost benefit analysis pieces there because
Speaker:bootstrapping a business is, guess what not cheap capital markets right now,
Speaker:not necessarily lending out money, uh, at this exact point in time in history.
Speaker:Um, but Amazon businesses can be a creative more quickly.
Speaker:You know, you, you still have to buy inventory, but marketing is a lot less,
Speaker:that's all, it comes down a little bit more to brand, uh, compared to
Speaker:acquisition marketing and building your own brand from the ground up.
Speaker:But, you know, it's sort of like a, you're also, I mean, this isn't necessarily an
Speaker:Amazon podcast, but in this particular case, but you're kind of beholden to
Speaker:how well and your capacity is on Amazon.
Speaker:Because if you want to transcend that and say, I'm going vertical myself,
Speaker:That is a challenging uphill battle, um, at a certain point, depending on your
Speaker:brand and what you own and what you, you know, what could be copied, right?
Speaker:Um, because the, the rub with an Amazon is they see, oh, this is
Speaker:how skincare is doing right now.
Speaker:Or this is how mixers and alcohol and spirits are working right now.
Speaker:And as soon as like you take your revenue away, somebody is going
Speaker:to come up and take that spot.
Speaker:Or they're going to, you know, Amazon will develop their own products in
Speaker:many cases and do it themselves.
Speaker:Um, so point being bottom dollar, there is, as you're bringing a product to
Speaker:market, anybody listening to the, to this, bringing a product to market, come
Speaker:in with a plan that, that separates.
Speaker:If you want to build an Amazon product first, or you want to
Speaker:build your own brand and experience first subscription or not candidly.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No, very good.
Speaker:And very good.
Speaker:Very good.
Speaker:Thanks.
Speaker:Trying to understand, um, can I just circle back a little bit, like you
Speaker:said, about a subscription service, it's not about subscribe and save.
Speaker:You've got to make it special.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, I thought that was quite phrase I've double underlined it in my notebook.
Speaker:Uh, Evan is right though.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:why is these principles, which I think we so often miss and they're,
Speaker:they're not rocket science, this is old school marketing.
Speaker:You've got to make the experience special.
Speaker:So what are some of the things that we can do or should think about,
Speaker:um, in terms of it's a lot here, a lot of that comes down to your CRM.
Speaker:So if it's how you're emailing and how you're doing text or SMS, if that's
Speaker:part of which I think it should be to anyone out there that's not doing SMS.
Speaker:Um, but making sure that you like above all establish a relationship with the
Speaker:consumer, and that is a one, one that talks about your brand, your email
Speaker:presence, your organic social presence.
Speaker:If people are experiencing you there, that, that, that all lines up, but
Speaker:people sleep on organic social.
Speaker:Some, some brand owners sleep on organic social.
Speaker:That's a place where.
Speaker:There that the free advertising, in the sense of having an awesome organic
Speaker:social presence, we'll get you extra eyeballs with your biggest fans.
Speaker:Um, pretty much free, as long as you're maintaining that, like free as in, you're
Speaker:not having to pay for the ads behind it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, so you got to develop a relationship.
Speaker:That's really what it is.
Speaker:The subscription is, is built upon a relationship and the things
Speaker:that strengthen a relationship are the things that strengthened
Speaker:the relationship and human beings.
Speaker:So if I'm being honest, it's, it's good communication.
Speaker:Um, it's making sure that needs are being met by both parties.
Speaker:You're giving a company money, you're expecting a quality of service.
Speaker:And if that expectation is missed, then you need to address that with the company.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And if the company is going to change the way it's delivering on its expectation,
Speaker:in a way you don't like it, then you, you break off that relationship.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So I look at a subscription, like an e-commerce product can just be.
Speaker:Supply and demand.
Speaker:It's the most basic principle of you got a thing I want, I have money.
Speaker:Take my money.
Speaker:Give me the thing.
Speaker:Okay, great.
Speaker:We'll send you a receipt.
Speaker:You want a receipt?
Speaker:Cool, great.
Speaker:See you later, you know, come back in if there's anything else, but
Speaker:subscription, that is a bill that is an ongoing relationship that
Speaker:doesn't end after that first order.
Speaker:And it only ends when either party namely the consumer, but candidly,
Speaker:when either party decides it's over.
Speaker:Um, and as a consumer, you have an expectation and that you have, it needs
Speaker:to deliver on a few different things.
Speaker:And if it doesn't, um, it's going to fall flat.
Speaker:So some of the tactics, I always recommend engaging.
Speaker:Non-sales communications, talking about your company, talking about
Speaker:the brand you're building the impact you're trying to make in the world.
Speaker:All those things to the right audience.
Speaker:They're not detractors.
Speaker:No, there's very few people that are going to be like, man.
Speaker:I buy from this company and what they're trying to save whales, like
Speaker:they're a bunch of jerks, like, you know, so like, you know, find a
Speaker:little cause find something about your company that people bring up to you.
Speaker:Cause like there's a, there's a K factor component here that with the
Speaker:right amount of stuff that brands are sometimes doing anyway, they'll talk
Speaker:about like, Hey, do you buy brand X?
Speaker:And the people would be like, no, like, well, you know, so I get my coffee from
Speaker:them and it turns out that they are giving like some money back to the coffee farmers
Speaker:or the privately owned farms from these families and Columbia or whatever, right.
Speaker:Like, oh, wow.
Speaker:And then it creates content for you organically with people.
Speaker:Um, so that's really important.
Speaker:So having engaging non sales driven content, organic email, SMS, um, curation.
Speaker:Taking if your, if your product can, if you have variations of it, a meal at home
Speaker:company is the easiest, easiest example.
Speaker:Every meal at home company out there, HelloFresh factor, green
Speaker:chef, anything you name it, they ask you a handful of questions.
Speaker:What's your dietary preference?
Speaker:Do you have allergies?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So if you're like, I don't eat fish and you open up and you get nothing
Speaker:but fish dishes, you're probably not going to be pretty stoked about that.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So the same thing goes with, if I'm a, if I'm ordering clothing
Speaker:and I say, Hey, my, my shirt size is this my, you know, whatever.
Speaker:I wear a size 42 shirt around the shoulders or whatever.
Speaker:And you're giving me stuff that is way too large or way too small, or one size
Speaker:fits all, but it doesn't work for me.
Speaker:That's not living up to my expectation.
Speaker:That's not curated, but.
Speaker:Give me the product I want.
Speaker:And I know that there's multiple sizes of it also include a little print out in
Speaker:there saying like, Hey, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:We pick this for you and Evan.
Speaker:We know you're going to like this because you love summer and you
Speaker:love colors and you love the beach.
Speaker:So here's our product for the beach.
Speaker:We think you're a beach going, you know, whatever ocean guy, I'm a
Speaker:marketer, absolutely like say whales.
Speaker:Um, but like you, you curate that experience.
Speaker:Make it something that feels special makes it feel like, Hey,
Speaker:somebody over there cares about me.
Speaker:Even if it's just an illusion, even if it's just AI and BI
Speaker:making those decisions, whatever.
Speaker:It feels unique and that is, and that's what people want
Speaker:to do too, in a relationship.
Speaker:You know, if me and my wife wouldn't get along, if she was just like, oh, it's you?
Speaker:And I'm like, Hey, yeah, it's you.
Speaker:And then like, we have kids.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They're over there.
Speaker:What are they doing?
Speaker:I don't care.
Speaker:Like that one works.
Speaker:It takes a little bit, it takes a little bit more than that.
Speaker:Um, so that's, that's the other thing you, so you curate something.
Speaker:If you make customers feel special and if you engage with them real in
Speaker:a, in an actual, like relationship building manner and let them know
Speaker:about your company, let them know about the challenges you're having.
Speaker:You'll find that.
Speaker:Hey guess what?
Speaker:You might have to raise your prices someday, but because you've
Speaker:been transparent about them, but with the customer all the way
Speaker:throughout the way, and you give them, Hey, you want to opt in.
Speaker:We don't want to raise the prices without your permission.
Speaker:We could, but we're not going to so stay here.
Speaker:And here's what we'll do.
Speaker:We're going to give you 10 free gift on your first couple of orders.
Speaker:Once you do that, you'll find that people will trust you and people are looking
Speaker:for reasons not to trust the company.
Speaker:You remove, you create trust.
Speaker:They will stay your customers forever and they will find you 10 more.
Speaker:Yeah, no, that's very, very true.
Speaker:Good point.
Speaker:Is there, um, is that, I see what you're saying in terms of, you know, the
Speaker:building, the relationship, that's also going to build loyalty and obviously the
Speaker:whole thing about recurring revenue is you want them to pay the subscription
Speaker:on a fairly regular basis, right?
Speaker:You, there's not a one-off transaction, but is there a way, you know, you being
Speaker:the marketing guy, uh, is there other things that I need to think about.
Speaker:Where it comes to acquire and subscription customers.
Speaker:This may be a little bit different to acquiring normal or non-subscription yeah.
Speaker:One, your first order economics.
Speaker:Um, that's the biggest difference when you're a e-commerce company you're
Speaker:focusing on ROAS and you gotta make, you're never gonna, you're never
Speaker:gonna buy a customer and acquire a customer with paid advertising
Speaker:dollars and lose money of that gate.
Speaker:Um, but with subscription, if you plan it and you understand what your LTV
Speaker:could, should, might be based off of modeling and things like that, you acquire
Speaker:customers, most subscription companies.
Speaker:In fact, I can't really even recall what I've ever worked on out of hundreds.
Speaker:That entirely makes their customer acquisition costs back in margin
Speaker:dollars on that first order.
Speaker:So you are losing money on that first order.
Speaker:Or break even before your team and salaries and everything at best.
Speaker:Um, but you know that you're going to get 2, 3, 5 more orders
Speaker:throughout the rest of the year.
Speaker:And every single one of those is margin rich.
Speaker:You're not requiring them.
Speaker:You're not having to spend a dime and they come back.
Speaker:Um, but that's very uncomfortable.
Speaker:That's very counterintuitive to a lot of businesses, even, even
Speaker:subscription businesses that have been around pre-internet the gym,
Speaker:your utilities, things like that.
Speaker:They don't, they, you don't, you're not expected as a consumer to,
Speaker:you know, lose money out the gate.
Speaker:So why would you think that way as a business owner, the utility company,
Speaker:isn't going to give you, Hey, don't worry.
Speaker:We're just going to let you have free power for like a few weeks
Speaker:until we figure billing out.
Speaker:So don't even worry about like, no, they're billing you
Speaker:the minute you're out there.
Speaker:Um, but you have to be ready for that.
Speaker:Now with proper planning, proper financial planning and analysis, pro
Speaker:forma modeling, all the things you should do, you know what to expect.
Speaker:Um, because subscription businesses are, um, higher, frequently, higher LTV,
Speaker:more purchasing, more product, moving out the door, more transactions, um,
Speaker:have the ability to grow and continue to keep growing beyond most e-commerce
Speaker:companies in a predictable manner.
Speaker:But what you need to do is invest into it and you gotta have a grip on your numbers.
Speaker:And when you're a product that's selling, you know, you're like, Hey,
Speaker:I have a hundred dollar t-shirt.
Speaker:I gotta get a four row as on it on an e-commerce perspective, which means I
Speaker:can't buy a customer for less than $25.
Speaker:But if you're a t-shirt of the month club selling t-shirts for $75, but
Speaker:maybe every month or every other month, knowing that that LTV is going.
Speaker:300 to $400 a year.
Speaker:And your, your margin, maybe it's 50%, which in fashion, if the margin is
Speaker:way better than 50% for easy numbers.
Speaker:So the LTV is $50 or a 50%, excuse me, LTV is $400 margins, 50%.
Speaker:You're making $200 per customer.
Speaker:You acquire all of a sudden, even if you paid a hundred dollars for that customer
Speaker:seems like it wouldn't make sense, but annualized, it does, you're making 25%
Speaker:profit margins after your advertising.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, but it's uncomfortable and you have to have capital to do it, and that's
Speaker:not easy, but that's like probably the, the backside entrepreneurial mistake
Speaker:that I seen made is you just can't be expected to make your money back
Speaker:if you're paying in the advertising game, uh, out the gate with that.
Speaker:Yeah, no, that's a very good point.
Speaker:And I, uh, I like that thinking that actually, which is why, I
Speaker:guess, um, if you do think that way.
Speaker:You can be a little bit more creative with a slightly more expensive
Speaker:marketing strategy to get the customers in a w like promotions.
Speaker:Like you have a lot more.
Speaker:Promotionality like, I, especially in certain verticals, I won't name
Speaker:which ones, because I have clients in these, but a lot of brands
Speaker:are like, we never do promotions.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I hear you.
Speaker:I hear you.
Speaker:But like, look everybody that's on social that they're taking a
Speaker:chance on you for the first time they need something that shows you
Speaker:as a company have skin in the game.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Does it make my job easier and more doable?
Speaker:Candidly, if you have like a first order of 25% off, instead of first
Speaker:order buy a bunch of stuff and you know, and be happy about it.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:But like it also shows the consumer that you're willing to risk
Speaker:something and say, Hey, my product is normally worth a hundred dollars.
Speaker:Per quarter month, whatever it doesn't matter.
Speaker:But today you can try it for 50, because I want you to be, feel happy about it.
Speaker:I don't want you to pay full price if you don't, if you're not sure, because we're
Speaker:new to you in the future, we're going to be a hundred, but we're going to show you
Speaker:that that's the value every single time.
Speaker:And that is kind of just table stakes for a lot of advertising.
Speaker:It's not enough.
Speaker:The promo is now marketing is now convincing people.
Speaker:It's not just the discount used to just be who has the bigger discount
Speaker:and I'm going to go with them.
Speaker:It's actually showing a discount is our commitment to saying price
Speaker:is not going to be an issue.
Speaker:We're going to eat a little bit as a company to show you
Speaker:that price is not an issue.
Speaker:And now we can also get more fun with marketing and say, Hey, your first nine
Speaker:meal, or you have, you know, nine free meals over your first, you know, three
Speaker:shipments or four shipments or whatever.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So it's just really important not to be stuck in.
Speaker:The perception that a brand, that discounts is a cheaper brand.
Speaker:That's not entirely true, but things like fashion sometimes fall into that
Speaker:things like beauty products and things that are, you know, about aesthetics
Speaker:tend to fall into that category, which we just try to say, Hey, at least do
Speaker:something like free shipping on an order of X or more, or, you know, free
Speaker:overnight shipping or free two days.
Speaker:Like give people something that make them make some feel like a
Speaker:deal is coming because everyone also loves a deal on the internet.
Speaker:And every so many websites just have deals.
Speaker:Like that's just the internet brings deals.
Speaker:I didn't start it that way, I guess.
Speaker:But it is.
Speaker:Yeah, no, that's very good.
Speaker:That's very good.
Speaker:Um, Ryan, lots of notes now.
Speaker:Um, so.
Speaker:What do you, um, what do you see the future of all this?
Speaker:Where's this subscription commerce thing going?
Speaker:I think subscription commerce is going a few different ways.
Speaker:There's um, If I think what'll come next is the evolution, the continuous evolution
Speaker:of consumer and company communications and flexible subscription models that
Speaker:are triggered by, like, let's say SMS or opt out via SMS or SMS shopping.
Speaker:I'm pretty bullish on long-term.
Speaker:Um, something that's saying like, Hey, by the way, you know
Speaker:your product's coming next week.
Speaker:You're good with that.
Speaker:Yes, no.
Speaker:Uh, if no, then when, um, because you want it to be, people want
Speaker:a little bit more on demand, a little bit more flexibility there.
Speaker:So I think that'll continue to evolve a subscription commerce.
Speaker:Um, I think advertising and like, I mean, um, not just in the vein of subscription
Speaker:commerce, but there's a major shakeup.
Speaker:If anybody who's running advertising right now knows that like the past
Speaker:two years have been a wild ride.
Speaker:Pandemic driven success and, uh, privacy changes with good old apples and Facebook.
Speaker:And I'm now a real struggle to find scalable growth advertising,
Speaker:which I've been refocusing in.
Speaker:Yeah, you gotta be a lot more data literate than you needed to be
Speaker:because in platform metrics are unreliable at best, but you also gotta
Speaker:be more creative with your brand.
Speaker:This is like, and I think that there's a really fun stage of 10 years ago, 15
Speaker:years ago, you could have a still image with a little Starburst that says today
Speaker:only 25% off and be like, I'm crushing it.
Speaker:This ad's crushing it.
Speaker:What'd you do?
Speaker:I changed the Starburst from a, a light orange to a darker orange like,
Speaker:Aw man, like that was crushing it.
Speaker:Now you gotta be storytelling with your creative.
Speaker:You have to be creative production, more native for the platform.
Speaker:It's the ads don't work the same as Facebook ads don't work the same
Speaker:as snap tick-tock or Pinterest.
Speaker:Um, so using the platforms and what people are interested in on these
Speaker:platforms to speak to them, um, you know, on the platform that they're on.
Speaker:So don't, you don't talk to somebody that you're trying to acquire on Facebook, the
Speaker:same way you talk to them on Tik TOK, you will not get scale on, on the platform.
Speaker:You're making creative for it, or you're not making creative for.
Speaker:So creative is now shifted to much more of a storytelling mechanism.
Speaker:Your brand's got to stand for more.
Speaker:Um, you gotta be focused on creating a valuable relationship for the
Speaker:consumer a lot more, um, and then be smart about your marketing.
Speaker:So there it's harder to get data these days.
Speaker:You're never going to get the same data picture we used to get two years ago,
Speaker:three years ago at this point, but.
Speaker:You can still understand your total business economics.
Speaker:You could still understand the influence a channel has from advertising, um,
Speaker:by running structured incrementality tests saying, Hey, we're on
Speaker:Facebook, IG and Google right now.
Speaker:Common trio for most right.
Speaker:I want to add Tik TOK.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So here's what I do is I run tick-tock at this budget for this period of time.
Speaker:Look at what that does to my overall traffic.
Speaker:Look at what that does to my CAC.
Speaker:Look at what that does to my order volume and say, okay, when I run on Tik TOK
Speaker:with these ratios, don't take away budget from the other two, but running out these
Speaker:ratios, this is the kind of lift I get.
Speaker:Now I optimize the whole.
Speaker:I optimize same.
Speaker:Now I take some Facebook budget, move it to Tik TOK.
Speaker:And does my cat get better or worse?
Speaker:You have to do things a little.
Speaker:You have to slow down a little bit because the instant
Speaker:gratification isn't there anymore.
Speaker:I can't do anything about it.
Speaker:I wish I could, but that's, that's what it is.
Speaker:But where you can do is still understand the influence because, um, you know,
Speaker:I always tell people that like, yes, your Facebook has, has, and will always
Speaker:continue to drive people to Google.
Speaker:You will see, somebody will see your ad and then Google you and
Speaker:then purchase on your Google ad.
Speaker:Does that mean you don't want to pay for that Google app?
Speaker:You probably still want to pay for that.
Speaker:Does that mean you're mad that you paid for that Facebook ad?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:You're happy to pay for it, even if it led to them searching on Google.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So get ahold of your numbers as best you can, um, do not make mistakes.
Speaker:Brilliant.
Speaker:Listen, ever know.
Speaker:There's so many questions I have and so much I could get into, but I
Speaker:want to be respectful of your time.
Speaker:Uh, and, um, I, if such, like I say, lots of notes, the balloons,
Speaker:the, and everything, squares stars.
Speaker:Do you know?
Speaker:I mean, we've got it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Boxes and boxes are the critical ones.
Speaker:Uh, so thank you so much.
Speaker:If people want to know more, right.
Speaker:They're going to have questions.
Speaker:Can they reach out to you?
Speaker:How do they talk to you?
Speaker:Uh, go ahead.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:First place.
Speaker:Find me on LinkedIn.
Speaker:Evan Padgett, not too many of us, uh, especially ones that have
Speaker:big beards and stuff like this.
Speaker:You'll find me there.
Speaker:Uh, you can email me evan@stealthventurelabs.com
Speaker:or evanpadgett@gmail.com.
Speaker:I'll throw out my personal one that I check most frequently, because why not?
Speaker:I love talking about this stuff.
Speaker:Um, and then also just check out our company@stealthventurelabs.com.
Speaker:See what we're up to.
Speaker:There's a form there.
Speaker:I see every form that goes through.
Speaker:So if you're trying to get to me, that's another good way.
Speaker:Um, and just see what we're up to.
Speaker:We also have a really fun thing that I like talking about
Speaker:too, which is our impact lab.
Speaker:Uh, the last part of our three labs is one where we, um, actually run a 501 C3,
Speaker:a nonprofit organization, uh, enabling inner city kids, young entrepreneurs.
Speaker:We built an academy for them to actually learn how to build a brand, launch
Speaker:it, uh, set up the advertising for it.
Speaker:And then we actually fund them, uh, the first five to $10,000 in advertising
Speaker:to, to bring their product to market.
Speaker:So, um, because we believe in building out this next layer of entrepreneurs
Speaker:and starting it at a young age with, um, kids, I may not have that opportunity.
Speaker:I'm looking for ways to help there.
Speaker:We're always looking for more thought leaders or people that want to donate
Speaker:or donate their time or just help out.
Speaker:That's also really awesome.
Speaker:So find me anywhere there.
Speaker:I'm happy to talk about this ad at all times, because this industry is fun.
Speaker:And again, it's been half of my life at this point, so here we are.
Speaker:And that would probably be the next top of your life.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, now we're starting to get to the two thirds of it.
Speaker:You know, I'm working on that one third, two thirds, which is scary,
Speaker:I guess, but, you know, 80 20 rule.
Speaker:Go for that one.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:80% of my life on the internet to get 20% of what.
Speaker:Oh, anyway, we'll figure that out later.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:You can work it out.
Speaker:That'd be a spreadsheet which will help.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Listen, Evan.
Speaker:Uh, seriously, huge.
Speaker:Thanks to you for coming on the show.
Speaker:We will, of course link to.
Speaker:Uh, links that you gave in the show notes and people can get ahold of you
Speaker:that way, uh, do reach out to Evan.
Speaker:Uh, it'd be great to hear from you.
Speaker:I have no doubt, but Evan, uh, love to get you back on the show at some
Speaker:point, such a lot of good stuff there really appreciate it, man.
Speaker:Thank you so much, Matt.
Speaker:Thanks for having me.
Speaker:And any time I'm going to get more boxes.
Speaker:This is my goal.
Speaker:Now, now that I know there's a hierarchy boxes, so there you have it.
Speaker:What a fantastic conversation.
Speaker:Another fantastic conversation here on the e-commerce podcast, a special, huge
Speaker:thanks to Evan for joining me today.
Speaker:No doubt.
Speaker:Evan will be back on the show in the future.
Speaker:Look out for future episodes with Evan by subscribing.
Speaker:And if you are new to the show and you haven't gone through the back catalog yet,
Speaker:you can find it all on our newly revamped website at www.ecommercepodcast.net.
Speaker:There's even a little search feature.
Speaker:So you can go and look through some of the past episodes.
Speaker:Uh, don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from.
Speaker:As I always say, we've got some great conversations lined up and you're not
Speaker:going to want to miss any of them.
Speaker:And just in case, no one has told you today, you my friend.