For Harlem Small Business, Subscription Services Are The Way Forward

By Bretton Love

Harlem is personified by its multitude of vibrant small businesses, but growth usually lies in diversification. For many of these businesses, this means finding a new set of consumers, and subscription boxes offer one route to this; as outlined by the Financial Post, 67% of Gen Zers are interested in subscription services, along with 54% of millennials. Setting up a service can be a great way for Harlem business to find new revenues – how?

Presenting and purchasing your product

There is a huge variety of products available on the subscription market, so it’s important to establish your niche. Use Harlem imagery to provide a distinct identity to your product and link it to the history and culture of the area. Funding is also an important part of getting your product set up in the first instance; there are plenty of opportunities to secure this in Harlem, with Chase one of the most notable banks to get involved in community banking. If your product is well-presented and has a clear hook, you’ll have a good shot at getting funding.

Retaining your customers

Customer churn is a big challenge to all subscription box services. Customers may decide they can’t afford the product anymore, or experience a delivery they find underwhelming and cancel their service. This process, known as ‘churn,’ can kill a subscription service. Payments experts GoCardless recommend creating a fully-featured customer experience to tackle this, essentially giving a professional and comprehensive way for customers to interact with your business.

Turning subscribers into full-time customers

Subscription services can have a far-reaching impact, with many services noting extensive purchasing from abroad. This is an invaluable opportunity to get the Harlem culture and message transmitted to a far wider audience, and also helps the area itself. As noted by one editorial in The Nation, the local community is crucial to the business success of Harlem, and if your subscription service can attract new customers to local business it will be to the benefit of not just your small business but many others too.

Subscription boxes are not a curiosity. They are a powerful marketing and customer retention tool that your business can deploy to great effect. Using a subscription service gives you the opportunity to show off your unique product and culture to an audience far beyond that in your local community, and perhaps bring customers in from further afield.