Recharge Case Studies
This guide highlights the ways Recharge merchants have used Recharge, both out-of-the-box and with custom solutions. The case studies are separated into sections based on the primary topic, though many case studies highlight multiple subjects and approaches to subscription models.
All of the examples below can be found on our Case Studies page.
Memberships
Memberships are quite a popular subscription model where you are able to offer your subscribers first access to new items, a percentage discount off of all products, free shipping, and monthly store credit just to name a few examples. Though not an out-of-the-box solution, merchants have leveraged the Recharge API and custom front-end work to build membership models.
Fresh Clean Tees
Fresh Clean Tees offers a subscription option to club members, which allows them to set up recurring product orders for $44. Along with this offering, they also enable one-time purchases of their products for those who are not quite ready to commit to a long-term subscription.
Siren Marine
Another example of a popular subscription model is digital subscription memberships where we have Siren Marine who in collaboration with their development agency, Alpha Omega, created a digital subscription membership to its IoT “Connected Boat” technology (think Nest + OnStar, but for boats). They are also an example of an API-driven headless commerce solution where the front end is decoupled from the back end allowing for optimized sales of their digital subscription offerings.
Kopari
Kopari created a subscription program that would seamlessly integrate with an existing loyalty program (Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals), which rewards customers with points each time they make a purchase.
Clearly Filtered
An example of a store that offers VIP membership.
Custom checkout flow
Depending on the subscription model the custom checkout flow can greatly improve the customer experience. Having one product page for multiple products with varying shipping frequencies or offering bundling of products to customers has proven to be a successful model.
Verve Coffee
Verve Coffee created a build-a-box service for coffee lovers. Customers can choose their favorite roast, grind, frequency, and more.
Lovevery
Lovevery's business model is a bit different from the traditional Recharge subscription models since their subscription service has nuances such as shipping dates being tied to birth date rather than a steady frequency between charges.
API-driven solutions
For a long time, the complexities of recurring billing for Shopify sellers have left merchants feeling limited in what they can and can’t do.
But that’s no longer a problem, thanks to Recharge’s Application Programming Interface (API).
Developers can build out their own integrations with the Recharge API to solve problems and to create highly customized processes.
Hubble
Many customers want to test a product like contact lenses before hopping on board with a long-term subscription — and Hubble helped their customers do just that, thanks in part to the Recharge API. By creating a free trial that only charges shipping and handling and that auto-converts into a regular, full-priced monthly box after two weeks, they make it much easier for customers to feel comfortable with their recurring purchase.
Art of Sport
Art of Sport used the Recharge API to redesign and optimize their customer portal.
Custom user-experience
Enable customers to manage every aspect of their subscription through a completely customized UI. If you are a Recharge Pro merchant and have a developer with experience modifying Shopify Liquid files, you could be eligible for access to the Recharge Theme Engine. This feature allows you to modify the default portal and update the styling so it matches the branding and style elements of your store.
If you’re seeking a custom customer portal there are quite a few agencies that specialize in creating customer portals for Recharge that can be found on the Recharge Agency Partners page.
Dr. Axe
Dr. Axe wanted to improve their customer portal and post-purchase experience for subscribers. This included enhancing their existing customer reward point redemption process utilizing LoyaltyLion to maximize efficiency and minimize costs. First, they implemented the Recharge Theme Engine which allowed them to gain full access to the customer portal, consolidating Shopify Plus, Recharge, and LoyaltyLion without sacrificing functionality.
This was significant because each of those three platforms, in addition to Dr. Axe itself, had their own UI which could be confusing for subscribers to navigate. Creating a unified customer portal experience reduced friction and satisfied their customers’ post-purchase needs.
Battlbox
Working to improve UI/UX on their site, this subscription retailer used the Recharge API to modify the look of the customer portal so that the top three most-used activities were spotlighted. This is a major improvement to the usability of the site and accommodates customer behaviors in a subtle, visual way.
Other examples
Below are just some of the success stories of merchants who successfully implemented subscription models.
