Store Inspiration11 min read
Shopify Subscription Examples: 10 Brands and What They Built
After launching subscription programs for 20+ Shopify stores, we share 10 Shopify subscription examples, their models, results, and retention lessons.
Published on: October 17, 2026
Last updated: October 17, 2026
Last updated: October 17, 2026
Key takeaways
- Product page design influences subscription sign-ups. I and love and you reported 25.6% year-over-year subscription revenue growth after making subscriptions the default purchase option.
- Self-service options help reduce subscription churn. Oats Overnight reported 29% lower churn after improving its subscriber portal with flexible delivery management.
- Cancellation flows can retain subscribers. LOLA saved 23% of attempted cancellations by offering alternatives to cancelling.
- Subscription functionality can be built into a new Shopify launch. craftberry launched Midi Health's supplement store with Skio subscriptions in four weeks, while a broader storefront redesign for Doctor Mi delivered a 14% increase in conversion rate.
- Replenishment products are a natural fit for Shopify subscriptions. Consumables such as supplements, coffee and pet food suit recurring deliveries, while one-off purchases may benefit more from memberships or loyalty programs.
What is a Shopify subscription?
A Shopify subscription lets customers pay for products on a recurring schedule, such as weekly or monthly, without placing a new order each time.
Merchants can manage subscriptions using Shopify Subscriptions, Recharge, Skio or custom integrations built on Shopify's subscription APIs.
The right subscription model depends on what you sell, how often customers reorder and how much flexibility they need.
10 Shopify subscription examples and what each one teaches
1. Midi Health: launching Shopify subscriptions in four weeks
Model: Replenishment. App: Skio. Shopify partner: craftberry.
Midi Health, a US women's healthcare provider, launched a supplement line and needed a Shopify store with subscriptions built in from day one.
In just four weeks, craftberry designed and developed the Shopify Plus storefront for three supplement products, integrating Skio subscriptions, ActiveCampaign, referral and loyalty tools, and A/B testing infrastructure.
The project also included UX strategy and guidance on health-related compliance requirements.
Lesson: Subscription functionality should be planned alongside the storefront, not added after launch. Even a small product catalogue needs clear purchase options, reliable recurring billing and subscriber management.
2. Doctor Mi: making subscriptions part of the skincare journey
Model: Replenishment. Shopify partner: craftberry, in collaboration with HelloVlad Design Studio.
DOCTOR MI! is a German medical skincare brand founded by dermatologist Dr. Miriam Rehbein.
Working from HelloVlad Design Studio's creative direction, craftberry developed a bilingual Shopify storefront combining product education with clearer purchase options.
We built interactive galleries with clinical statistics, a skincare quiz and visually distinct one-time and subscription purchase options. The goal was to help customers understand the products and skincare routines before choosing how to buy.
Following the launch, Doctor Mi recorded a 14% increase in conversion rate, according to Shopify Analytics, as reported in our Doctor Mi case study. This was a store-wide result, not a subscription-specific uplift.
Lesson: For skincare subscriptions, product education and purchase options should work together. Customers need to understand the routine and its benefits before committing to recurring deliveries.
3. Carista: selling software subscriptions alongside hardware
Model: Access subscription with hardware. App: Appstle. Shopify partner: craftberry.
Carista, a European automotive technology brand, sells diagnostic scanners alongside PRO software subscriptions with 1-, 12- and 24-month plans.
On the Shopify Plus storefront we built for Carista, we tested a dedicated landing page explaining what PRO unlocks before customers choose a plan.
The A/B test increased conversion by 55%, with revenue per visitor also improving.
Lesson: For software subscriptions bundled with hardware, clearly explaining the features and benefits customers unlock can be more effective than relying on discounts alone.
4. Oats Overnight: reducing subscription churn by 29%
Model: Replenishment with bundles. App: Recharge.
Oats Overnight sells ready-to-make breakfast oats, with subscriptions accounting for 90% of its revenue, according to Recharge.
The brand customized its subscriber portal to let customers adjust deliveries, introduced dynamic bundles for mixing flavours and used subscriber analytics to personalize offers.
Recharge reported 29% lower churn, 41% longer subscription durations and 152% more recurring orders.
Lesson: Give subscribers control over their deliveries. Flexible order management and personalized bundles can support retention without requiring customers to contact support.
5. Wildgrain: reducing churn with build-a-box subscriptions
Model: Build-a-box. App: Recharge.
Wildgrain delivers frozen bread, pasta and pastries through a subscription service. Its rotating product catalogue required flexible subscription management.
The brand used Recharge's API, subscriber portal and Bundles feature to let customers customize recurring boxes and manage changing product selections.
Recharge reports 17% lower churn and more than 40,000 subscribers.
Lesson: For brands with rotating catalogues, giving subscribers control over box contents can help keep recurring deliveries relevant.
6. LOLA: saving 23% of attempted subscription cancellations
Model: Replenishment. App: Recharge.
LOLA, a women's personal care brand, introduced targeted offers within its subscription cancellation flow.
Using Recharge's Cancellation Prevention feature, the brand tested different retention offers and adjusted them based on customer behaviour.
Recharge reports that LOLA prevented 23% of attempted cancellations and reduced overall churn by 22% year over year.
Lesson: A cancellation flow should address why someone wants to leave.
Relevant alternatives, such as changing delivery frequency or pausing a subscription, can give customers another option.
7. Fire Dept. Coffee: subscribers spend over 4x more
Model: Replenishment. App: Recharge.
Fire Dept. Coffee uses Shopify and Recharge to sell coffee through recurring subscriptions.
Subscribers place more than seven orders in their first year and spend over four times as much as one-time buyers.
The brand also uses retention and upsell tools to support repeat purchases and increase order value.
Lesson: Products with predictable consumption cycles, such as coffee, are well suited to replenishment subscriptions.
Track repeat purchase frequency and customer lifetime value alongside initial subscription sign-ups.
8. I and love and you: 25.6% subscription revenue growth
Model: Replenishment (pet food). App: Skio.
Pet food brand I and love and you worked with Softlimit to improve its subscription funnel after identifying friction on product pages.
The redesigned product pages made subscriptions the default purchase option and highlighted savings. The brand also introduced intent-based cancellation flows and easier subscription management.
Skio reports 25.6% year-over-year revenue growth, alongside improvements across the purchase funnel.
Lesson: Subscription conversion starts on the product page. Make recurring purchase options, pricing and savings easy to understand before customers reach checkout.
9. Instant Hydration: subscriptions generating 58% of revenue
Model: Replenishment. App: Skio.
Instant Hydration introduced subscriptions in September 2024, ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The brand implemented Skio with self-service subscription management, allowing customers to skip deliveries and adjust their orders without contacting support.
Within one quarter, Skio reports that subscriptions accounted for 58% of total revenue, with active subscriptions increasing more than threefold.
Lesson: Launch subscription infrastructure before major sales periods. Checkout reliability, self-service management and the ability to handle higher order volumes should be tested before peak demand.
10. CrunchLabs: scaling to 100,000+ subscribers in six months
Model: Curated subscription boxes. App: Recharge.
CrunchLabs, founded by engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober, delivers curated STEM building kits for children.
The brand used Recharge to manage recurring deliveries, prepaid SKU swapping and a customized customer portal.
According to Recharge, CrunchLabs reached more than 100,000 subscribers within six months.
Lesson: Curated subscription boxes work differently from replenishment. Customers subscribe for new experiences and products, so the value of each delivery needs to remain clear over time.
Shopify subscription results at a glance
Results are reported by the brands, their subscription app providers or craftberry. Sources and implementation details are linked in the individual case studies above.
What do the best Shopify subscription programs have in common?
The Shopify subscription examples above show that retention depends on more than the app.
Successful programs make the subscription value clear, give customers control and reduce friction throughout the subscription experience.
- Make subscription options clear from the start. Midi Health launched with Skio subscriptions built into its storefront, while Doctor Mi made one-time and recurring purchase options easier to distinguish. For Carista, we tested a dedicated landing page explaining the benefits of PRO access.
- Give subscribers control. Oats Overnight, Wildgrain and Instant Hydration invested in self-service portals that let customers adjust deliveries without contacting support.
- Offer alternatives to cancellation. LOLA prevented 23% of attempted cancellations through targeted retention offers. Skip, pause and frequency changes can address customers' reasons for leaving.
- Match the offer to the product. Replenishment subscriptions suit consumables such as supplements and coffee, while access subscriptions like Carista's provide ongoing software features.
- Test subscription incentives. At craftberry, we typically recommend starting with a 10–15% subscription discount for suitable replenishment products, then testing its effect on conversion and retention rather than assuming a larger discount performs better.
Which subscription app should you use on Shopify?
The best Shopify subscription app depends on your subscription model, catalogue complexity, retention requirements and integrations.
Shopify Subscriptions suits straightforward recurring orders, while Recharge, Skio and Appstle offer more advanced options for bundles, subscriber management and retention.
When is a subscription model not a fit?
Subscriptions work best when customers need recurring deliveries or ongoing access to a product or service.
For infrequent purchases, such as furniture or flooring, a recurring delivery may offer little value. Loyalty programs, memberships or post-purchase offers may be better alternatives.
Before launching subscriptions, also address major checkout issues and make sure customers can easily manage their plans. A recurring payment model will not compensate for a poor shopping experience.
How to launch a subscription program on Shopify
- Choose the subscription model. Match replenishment, build-a-box, curation or access subscriptions to your products and customers.
- Select the right app. Compare Shopify Subscriptions, Recharge, Skio and Appstle based on billing, bundles, subscriber management and integrations.
- Design the subscription offer. Make pricing, billing frequency, benefits and purchase options clear on product pages and in the cart.
- Set up subscriber management. Allow customers to skip, pause, change or cancel subscriptions where applicable, without contacting support.
- Build retention flows. Use renewal reminders, payment recovery and relevant cancellation alternatives.
- Test and optimize. Measure subscription conversion, churn, retention and customer lifetime value. A/B test offers and purchase flows when traffic allows.
If you're migrating an existing subscription business to Shopify, plan the transfer of subscriber records, payment authorizations and renewal schedules before launch.
How we chose these examples
We selected 10 Shopify subscription examples covering replenishment, build-a-box, curation and access models. Each demonstrates a specific implementation, retention strategy or reported business result.
The first three examples, Midi Health, Doctor Mi and Carista, are craftberry projects. The remaining examples draw on case studies published by Shopify, Recharge and Skio, with results attributed to their original sources. Store-wide results are distinguished from subscription-specific performance. We checked each figure against its live source in October 2026 and review them every six months.
Figures reflect the reported results of individual brands and should not be interpreted as typical outcomes. craftberry provides Shopify subscription development services and has prioritized its own projects in this article.
Build your Shopify subscription program with craftberry
craftberry is a Shopify Premier Partner with 30+ in-house specialists and 800+ Shopify projects delivered since 2015. We've implemented subscription solutions for 20+ Shopify stores, including Innermost, Arthrofill and Carista.
Our Shopify subscription development services cover subscription UX, Recharge, Skio and Appstle integrations, custom purchase flows and subscriber management. We also handle Shopify migrations for businesses with existing subscription customers.
The bottom line: Losing subscribers you've already won?
We've built subscription programs for 20+ Shopify stores, including Innermost, Arthrofill and Carista.
Our Shopify subscriptions team handles everything from subscription UX and app integrations to custom development and subscriber migrations.
Let's review your subscription setup and identify opportunities to improve conversion and retention.
Written by
Preslav Nikov is the Founder and CEO of craftberry, Shopify Premier agency. A developer turned enterprise strategist, he has guided 800+ successful digital storefront launches and migrations since 2015, driving over $450M in client sales. Recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, his frameworks power global leaders like vivo, Shelly Group, Pepper, and Midi Health.
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