# Subscription discount on the first order: take rate 35% to 66%

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Checkout (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Subscriptions & subscribe-and-save, Pricing, discounts & savings display
- Date shared: 2014-08
- Test run by: [Conversion Fanatics](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/conversion-fanatics/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://conversionfanatics.com/increase-your-subscription-take-rate/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/cf-consumable-subscription-10pct-off-day-one/

Applying the 10% subscription saving to the first order, not just later refills, raised subscription take rate from 35% to 66%. Conversion Fanatics ran this test at checkout for a direct-response seller of a consumable shipped product. The effect on total orders and long-term revenue was not shared.

## Result

**take rate 35% to 66%**

- Subscription take rate: 35% to 66%, nearly double.
- First-order revenue per subscriber drops by the 10% discount. The agency expected rebills to make up for it, but no lifetime value data was shared.
- The effect on overall order rate was not shared.

## Control

The subscription was pitched as a 10% savings club. Shoppers paid full price today, and the discount only applied to later refill orders.

## Variant

The 10% saving applied straight away to the first order at checkout when the shopper joined the subscription.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A saving today feels more real than a saving on some future order.
- Paying full price now for a discount later can feel like a catch, which may have put people off.
- Seeing the lower price in the order total gives instant proof that joining pays off.

## Caveats

No sample size, duration or confidence level was shared. The test reports take rate only, not total orders, cancellations or lifetime value.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we apply the subscription discount to the first order instead of only to refills, then more buyers will subscribe because the saving is immediate and visible.
- Primary metric: Subscription take rate at checkout
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Subscriber cancellation rate after first order
- Guardrail: Overall checkout conversion
- Who should test it: Brands selling consumables that people reorder, such as supplements or refills. If your margins can't absorb a discount on the first order, or many subscribers cancel after one box, test carefully.

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Credit: Conversion Fanatics ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/cf-consumable-subscription-10pct-off-day-one/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.