Does a subscribe & save discount pay off?
What does your subscribe & save discount earn you?
Enter your own numbers. The calculator starts on the worked example further down this page.
All results are estimates from your inputs, not figures from your store.
How does the subscribe & save calculator work?
It compares one customer buying one-time with the same customer on a subscription, over a year:
- Margin per one-time order = price − cost per order.
- Margin per subscription order = price × (1 − discount) − cost per order.
- Margin a year = margin per order × orders a year, once for a one-time buyer and once for a subscriber.
- Extra margin per subscriber = a subscriber’s margin a year − a one-time buyer’s margin a year. Below zero, the discount costs you more than the extra orders bring.
- Break-even orders = a one-time buyer’s margin a year ÷ margin per subscription order: the orders a year at which a subscriber earns as much as a one-time buyer.
- Highest discount that still pays off = (margin per one-time order − a one-time buyer’s margin a year ÷ a subscriber’s orders a year) ÷ price.
What does a 10% discount cost on a €30 order?
Example (made-up numbers): €30 per order, €12 cost per order, a 10% subscription discount, a one-time buyer who orders twice a year and a subscriber who orders 6 times a year.
| Result | Calculation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Margin per one-time order | €30 − €12 | €18 |
| Margin per subscription order | €30 × (1 − 10%) − €12 | €15 |
| Margin a year from a one-time buyer | €18 × 2 | €36 |
| Margin a year from a subscriber | €15 × 6 | €90 |
| Subscriber orders a year to break even | €36 ÷ €15 | 2.4 |
| Highest discount that still pays off | (€18 − €36 ÷ 6) ÷ €30 | 40% |
| Extra margin a year per subscriber | €90 − €36 | €54 |
At 20% off in this example, a subscription order earns €12: the subscriber then needs 3 orders a year to break even and brings €36 more margin instead of €54. The discount you can afford depends far more on how often subscribers order than on the discount itself.
What does the estimate leave out?
- Customers who only buy because of the discount. The calculator compares the same customer buying one-time or on a subscription. A discount can also win customers who would not have bought at all.
- Fixed costs. Rent or salaries don’t change with the discount, so they stay out of the cost per order.
- Cancellations during the year. Count them into a subscriber’s orders a year, or the margin comes out too high.
How does Zubs show the discount?
In a Zubs subscription plan, you give each delivery frequency its own discount, as a percentage or a fixed amount. The Subscribe & Save widget shows the saving on the product page, and the cart offer shows it in the cart. A different discount per frequency lets you test what your margins can carry.
If the highest discount that pays off is close to the one you offer, don’t go deeper. A gift at a later order, added with Sequential Flows, costs you once instead of on every order.
Bottom line
A subscribe & save discount pays off when a subscriber’s margin over a year beats a one-time buyer’s. How often subscribers reorder decides what discount you can afford, so work out the break-even before you pick the number.
Frequently asked questions
- What goes into the cost per order?
- The goods, packaging, payment fees and shipping you pay for one more order. Leave out fixed costs such as rent or salaries; they don't change with the discount.
- Why does the calculator say "Not reached"?
- When the discount leaves no margin on a subscription order, no number of orders makes up for it, so there is no break-even. For the highest discount, it means subscribers order no more often than one-time buyers, so any discount costs margin.
- Where do the order counts come from?
- They're your own estimates. A subscriber's orders a year follow from the delivery interval and how long subscribers stay; a monthly delivery is at most 12 orders a year.
- Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
- No. The calculation runs in your browser, and nothing you enter leaves the page.