A Subscription Indulgence [ THE FULL INTERVIEW LEAKED]

Our Indulge Magazine Interview before editing and publishing

Indulge:

What is the SugarPlum Box?

SPB:

*clears throat** Jamaica’s first Lifestyle Subscription Box.

Our aim is to Discover New and Exciting Lifestyle brands across the world and of course right here at home and deliver same directly to the doors of excited value driven and adventurous consumers. Buying a box of complete surprises is DEFINITELY an adventure.

Indulge:

How long have you been doing subscription boxes?

SPB:

Our first box was delivered November 2013 so that makes us *counts fingers* 2 years and 8 months ( yikes almost 3 years old ) Indulge:

What inspired you to start doing subscription boxes?

SPB:

We actually started out with a Natural Hair Products online store and a Facebook Page (Hair Honey) in 2012 and caught the Subscription Box fever from following the Natural Hair trends (Curlbox and Curlkit). We figured this would be something interesting to do. While subscription boxes were pretty accessible to Jamaicans with the advent of the ShipMe’s and other international courier services – we weren’t seeing Jamaican brands in these boxes as well as we didn’t have the luxury of the surprise element (major key) because delivery was at least 1-2 weeks behind by the time everyone in the states got theirs Indulge:

Why a Jamaican themed subscription box?

SPB:

Why Not ? Lol

I like to say we’re not a Jamaican box rather a Jamaica based Subscription Box . Most Caribbean boxes cater to the diaspora…I wanted to cater to the girl next door. I wanted her to get the excitement of seeing the Jamaica Post team dropping off a box of goodies and Getting Excited while being the envy of her co-workers and neighbours Indulge:

How do you find inspiration for each box? And how do you transfer your inspiration across to your customers, to excite them about the boxes?

SPB:

Themes help. We like to come up with exciting themes and our subscribers tend to give us tons of suggestions as well. Those help to give direction to product selections which in turn helps with drumming up the overall excitement. Imagine going to a themed party....trying to figure out your outfit the hairstyle who your date will be. Yup that’s a box selection happening right there. We keep our subscribers excited via social media and try to use as many platforms as possible. Mostly Instagram but feeling our way around Snapchat and twitter as well. We also have a very engaging website and currently working on a Youtube Channel and hopefully in the future a brick and mortar gift store.

Indulge:

How easy is it to find new products to introduce to your customers, for each subscription cycle?

SPB:

It has gotten easier with the years. We now have a pretty good idea what works and what doesn’t work so well. Like the one time we imported “Diamond Water” from Beverly Hills and delivered our 1st Valentines Day box an entire week late. Bet we never did that again. Indulge:

What would you say is unique about your subscription boxes?

SPB:

What makes us unique is the passion we have for doing what we do and the relationships we have with our customers. We honestly love to discover great products. Love helping small home grown brands get the exposure they deserve as well as supplying name brand products to the girl riding around on the bus and Snapchatting or tweeting to all her friends. We also love love love that we are able to give our subscribers 100% value for money and of course FREE DELIVERY to their doors.

Indulge:

What are your top 3 favourite boxes you've done?

SPB:

1. The Sweet Sweet Jamaica Box is dearest to my heart

2. Christmas Box or Happy You Year Box is of course another top for us because that’s just the season to be merry and festive

3. Dappa Box which is our male box is also very rewarding because guys REALLY like gifts – who would have known

Indulge:

What has been the most rewarding experience for you and your brand since starting the boxes?

Too many – waaaaay too many rewarding experiences. One that tops the list of course would have been , Sugarplum Box being the very first subscription box that featured R&B artist Kelis’s new line of BBQ sauces - pretty major and surreal at the same time. I’m a major fan from high school days so to go from a teenage fan to talking business on the phone with her and being able to help her brand (in a small way ) had me pinching myself ALOT.

But if we wanted to talk about real rewards I would say that every level that we’ve climbed in our business whether from new subscribers to new business ventures – every new achievement has been as a result of a DIRECT impact or involvement of a subscribers. They are our real rewards.