Swedish retail giant H&M tests a new retail subscription model that works on a membership basis: For a monthly fee Singular Society offers essential products at cost price–and gives up the margin.
By building the business around a monthly subscription fee, Singular Society understands its assortment as a service to its members and therefore bets on sustainably produced, high quality and design goods including apparel, beauty products and home accessories. The intention is to expand the assortment with new categories over time, to fulfill the needs and preferences of the brand’s members.
Fashion subscription and membership models in different variations are certainly not new to the retail world (think VeePee, Outfittery or Modomoto), still, for H&M it is the first try with the soft launch of Singular Society.
As of now, Singular Society is by invitation only and wants to grow “in a controlled way” to guarantee the service level for all members. To join, customers need to sign up to a waiting list. After they have been accepted, they will receive an invitation to their email to sign up for a membership.
There is a ‘Base’ and a ‘Plus’ membership plan, each on a monthly or on an annual basis. For example, the ‘Base Monthly’ membership starts at SEK95 (€9,50) per month and allows buying five products per month. The fees for the Plus membership models are somewhat higher and allow inviting friends to join Singular Society.
All plans run on 12 months from the date of payment, with 30 days opt out (as long as the member has not purchased anything). The membership can be upgraded at any time, but it is not possible to downgrade within the 12 months plan.
Retail prices for actual products are only visible for members. For now Singular Society only ships within Europe.
In addition to the web store, which is operated via Shopify, a physical store was opened in Stockholm at Gamla Brogatan 28.
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