Flashback to a decade ago and the term “subscription box” was essentially non-existent. At a time when the majority of retail existed through local brick-and-mortar stores and home delivery from postal-mailed catalogs, the explosion of online shopping has since transformed the industry, giving way to entirely new retail sub-industries, including the rapid emergence of the subscription box industry.
Something happened this past holiday season that retailers have never seen before. Consumers retreated in record numbers from stores and malls to shop online from the comfort of their home – and retailers took notice.
For the first time in history, online sales outpaced in-stores sales. Take a look at the stats: Cyber Monday was the biggest day in U.S. online shopping ever; e-commerce revenues were up 16.4% from 2014. Conversely, brick-and-mortar sales decreased 10.4% from 2014, according to ShopperTrak.