Food and beverage-related subscription services, where items are delivered to the customer regularly, are continuing to grow.
First, there were speciality grocers doing home deliveries of fruit, vegetables and seafood. Now, business owners are moving towards a niche market, offering sake, whisky, Japanese snacks and artisanal coffee.
Customers who subscribe to such services do it mainly for the convenience, as the items are delivered regularly or when needed.
Subscription packages for a month and up to a year are available.
And to encourage subscribers to continue with the programme, business owners may offer exclusive or limited-edition products that are unlikely to be found anywhere else.
Whisky Butler, for instance, offers subscribers four 20ml sample bottles of whisky every month. Customers who like what they try can buy full bottles from its online shop.
The service starts at $74 a month for a one-year subscription.
Co-owner Benjamin Tan, 31, says: “We want to encourage people to go beyond familiar brands.”
Similarly, Japanese snack subscription service Kimochbox sends consumers a variety of snacks every month so they can decide which ones they want to buy in larger quantities.
It costs from $13 a box for a one-year subscription.
The service is a tie-up with Japanese snack chain Yamakawa Super, which recently launched its online supermarket site.
Kimochbox founder Zhang Bun Bun, 33, says: “Our sample portions let people try a variety of snacks without worrying about wastage.”
She has plans to sell Japanese cooking ingredients, instant noodles and rice on Kimochbox.
To give consumers more freedom, Ms Faye Victoria Sit, 24, co-founder of Hook Coffee, does not tie them down to a fixed subscription. Customers decide the frequency of delivery and are charged only when the coffee is delivered. Prices start at $18 for a 250g bag of coffee.
She says Hook has shipped more than 500 bags of coffee and has more than 300 subscribers.
One of the earlier entrants into subscription services is The French Cellar, which was launched in 2013. It sells exclusive wines from France selected by sommelier Nicolas Rebut.
The French Cellar’s chief executive officer Vincent Morello, 32, says: “We are seeing a steady increase in business. We have already shipped more than 10,000 boxes containing two bottles each and launched in Shanghai at the end of last year.
“As long as a subscription service is unique and reasonably priced and has strong re-order potential, then the business has a chance.”
And things are set to get sweeter. Looking to launch a surprise box concept next month is Mr Malvin Chiam, 24, co-founder of Unicandy, a new start-up that sells candy from all over the world. The boxes are priced at $17.90, $27.90 and $37.90 for a month’s worth of sweets.
Indeed, consumers are enjoying such niche subscription services.
Teacher Low Kian Seh, 37, who signed up for fortnightly delivery of drip bags from Hook Coffee, says: “I first ordered to sample the coffee and I liked it. Ten bags cost $18 and I think it is worth it.”
Marketing manager Allan Ma, 23, who subscribes to Kimochbox, says: “I am very happy to have more than 10 types of snacks to try without worrying about wasting food.
“It’s also a nice surprise every first week of the month because I never know what’s going to be in the box.”
This article was first published in The Straits Times, March 20, 2016.