Subscribe-and-save discounts for coffee brands

A subscribe-and-save offer for coffee brands on sourced costs: first-order and renewal margin, and profit per subscriber at three retention rates.

First order

Revenue $32.00 to contribution margin $0.20 (0.6%)
Revenue
$32.00
Cost of goods
−$16.00
Pick and pack
−$3.20
Extra picks
−$0.48
Shipping label
−$9.29
Card fee per order
−$0.30
Refunds
−$1.60
Card processing
−$0.93
Contribution margin
$0.20

1 declared kind costs nothing on this option

One-time, full price

Revenue $49.29 to contribution margin $20.61 (41.8%)
Revenue
$49.29
Cost of goods
−$12.00
Pick and pack
−$3.20
Shipping label
−$9.29
Card fee per order
−$0.30
Refunds
−$2.46
Card processing
−$1.43
Contribution margin
$20.61

2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option

First order, renewal and one-time, per order
OptionCustomer paysShipping chargedCostsMarginMargin %
First order$32.00$0.00$31.80$0.200.6%
Renewal$36.00$0.00$27.63$8.3723.3%
One-time, full price$40.00$9.29$28.68$20.6141.8%
Expected profit per subscriber over 12 orders, at three retention rates
Subscribers who take the next orderProfit per subscriberPasses a one-time buyer at
50.0% take the next order$8.57not within 12 orders
70.0% take the next order$19.34not within 12 orders
85.0% take the next order$39.69order 5

Every figure is computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from the costs below.

What the numbers say

20.0% off the first order ($32.00) with a mug in the first box, then 10.0% off every renewal ($36.00), shipped free. The first order keeps $0.20 and each renewal $8.37. A one-time buyer at full price, paying $9.29 for shipping, keeps $20.61.

If 70.0% of subscribers take each next order, a subscriber earns $19.34 over twelve orders, and never passes the one-time buyer in that time. Retention decides the offer: the table shows three rates.

Free shipping is part of the offer's cost here: every subscription order pays its $9.29 label. The welcome gift, a mug with a unit cost of $4.00, is paid once, on the first order only.

The cost structure, and where it comes from

Price$40.00, a bag of coffee. Offer Suite's dev store catalog
Unit cost$12.00. “Single Bag: price 40.00, unit cost 12.0 · mug gift: unit cost 4.0, compare-at 18.00” Offer Suite's dev store catalog
Pick and pack$3.20 per order and $0.48 for each extra item. Fulfill.com, 3PL pricing benchmarks (The Fulfillment Advisor 2025 survey of 600+ warehouses), read 23 September 2026
Shipping labelUSPS Ground Advantage, commercial, Zone 5, by weight rounded up to the pound: 1 lb $9.29 · 2 lb $10.50 · 3 lb $12.12 · 4 lb $13.89 · 5 lb $14.53. Packed weight is an assumption: 0.8 lb per unit. USPS Notice 123, USPS Ground Advantage Commercial, Zone 5 (effective 4 October 2026), read 13 October 2026
Card fees2.9% + $0.30 per order: Shopify Payments' online rate for a standard card on the Basic plan in the United States. Higher plans pay a lower rate, and premium cards a higher one. Shopify's pricing page for the United States, online standard card rates, read 12 October 2026 Rates by plan and country
Refund reserve5%, Offer Suite's default assumption for consumables. NRF's all-category figure for online sales is 19.3%, but consumables are rarely returned; use your own rate.
GiftA mug: unit cost $4.00, retail $18.00. The dev store's mug gift: unit cost $4.00, compare-at $18.00.

The offer, as an agent writes it

An agent writes this offer as one document for Offer Suite's API, validated against the offer schema. Below is one option of it: what the buyer gets and the price it promises. Offer Suite checks with a real cart that checkout charges exactly the prices above.

Show one option 2 options · excerpt
{
  "key": "subscribe",
  "display": {
    "title": "Subscribe and save"
  },
  "lines": [
    {
      "role": "main",
      "quantity": 1,
      "purchase": {
        "type": "subscription",
        "intervalDays": 30
      }
    },
    {
      "role": "gift",
      "quantity": 1,
      "purchase": {
        "type": "one_time"
      }
    }
  ],
  "pricing": {
    "promise": {
      "firstChargeCents": 3200,
      "renewalChargeCents": 3600
    }
  }
}

How Offer Suite validates, versions and publishes a document like this one: offer documents.

Questions

Is subscribe and save profitable for coffee brands?

On these costs the first order keeps $0.20 and each renewal keeps $8.37. If 70.0% of subscribers take each next order, a subscriber earns $19.34 over twelve orders, against $20.61 from a one-time buyer.

When is a subscriber worth more than a one-time buyer for coffee brands?

At 50.0% retention, not within twelve orders. At 70.0% retention, not within twelve orders. At 85.0% retention, from order 5.

See what your own offers earn.

Offer Suite opens to Shopify brands a few at a time. Join the waitlist, or ask for a free profit audit of your past orders: realized profit per item and per offer option, what each costs you, and where margin leaks.