With a mission of tackling the 85% of used clothing and textiles that end up as waste in landfills, For Days is disrupting the traditional notion of clothing donation. Unconcerned with the state of your shirt, whether ripped or stained, the brand has established a groundbreaking subscription program that breathes new life into discarded garments through their unique ability to upcycle, downcycle, and recycle textiles.

We caught up with Evans Levy, Director of eCommerce at For Days, to delve into their remarkable subscription growth and impact on sustainable clothing practices. Since launching with Smartrr less than 5 months ago, For Days has already acquired thousands of Take Back Bag subscribers and even doubled active subscriptions in the past 2 months. 

“It’s been exciting to see the takeoff of the Take Back Bag and how it’s grown as our best-selling product and the largest contributor to helping the environment. Now with subscriptions, we are able to offer it on a more regular basis and keep that consistency with our customers by building a continuous habit.”
— Evans Levy, Director of eCommerce at For Days

Eco-Friendly eCommerce 

Founded by Mary Saunders and Kristy Caylor in 2018, For Days is a sustainable brand with a mission of eliminating clothing waste in order to benefit people and the planet. For Days sells 100% recyclable clothing as well as an array of sustainable brands in their marketplace, in addition to their star eco-friendly product: the Take Back Bag. 

The $20 purchase of the Take Back Bag comes with $20 of Closet Cash to spend on marketplace brands featured on fordays.com. Customers simply fill the bag, scan the QR code to receive their Closet Cash, and ship it back. In collaboration with their recycling partners, For Days ensures that textiles stay out of landfills — accepting everything from clothing, linens, shoes, and even fabric scraps. Their eco-conscious foundation, combined with focuses on grassroots organizations and educating consumers through community events, has helped cultivate a tight-knit community — a natural fit for a loyal subscriber base.

Subscribing to Sustainability

Initially launching the Take Back Bag without subscriptions, the team felt subscriptions were the perfect pair for the product’s growth and success.

As people generally clean out their closets on a somewhat regular basis, or about twice a year, For Days offers Take Back Bags on 1, 3, and 6-month subscriptions. These 3 options have allowed the subscription to appeal to a range of consumers, from the occasional cleaner to creators working with textiles every day.

“We know that our customers return most for the Take Back Bag, so having it automatic where they only have to subscribe once is a great reminder for people. The product and subscriptions go hand-in-hand, becoming a ‘Why wouldn’t I?’ moment for customers.”
— Evans Levy

Reduce, Reuse, Recurring Revenue

Choosing Smartrr as their platform to launch subscriptions with, Evans described that, “immediately upon hopping on a call, I knew that Smartrr was the better option” compared to other apps, specifically calling out the level of customer experience and robust analytics dashboard. As the only product on their site with a subscription option, Evans prides herself on always delivering a seamless customer experience that helps form a recurring habit with subscribers and boost retention — which Smartrr has played a big part in.

“The fact that [Smartrr] is always striving to come up with the next best thing felt like a good fit with opportunities to grow as we’re growing.”
— Evans Levy

To promote their subscription program for the Take Back Bag, the For Days team announced the launch via emails and social media posts, but a majority of the growth has been led naturally through customers seeing the option on the PDP with a 5% subscription discount. In an effort to continue fueling their subscription growth, For Days is beginning to partner with creators to craft video content that educates consumers on the bag’s subscription program.

Evans called out Smartrr’s advanced analytics and backend as one of her favorite features, specifically for its ease of use and straightforwardness. In terms of measuring subscription success, the team mainly looks at the number of new subscriptions week-over-week, and the brand has already seen thousands of new subscribers in only a few months of launching with Smartrr. Additionally, in the past 2 months, For Days has doubled their active subscriptions. Acquiring easily 200+ new subscribers per week with little marketing behind it, For Days is excited to see how their marketing efforts will boost this even further.

“Smartrr’s analytics and backend are so easy to use and poke around in…Having something that’s self-explanatory and easy to use and navigate was a big factor for me in deciding on an outside app to partner with. Not having to relearn something every time is huge and super helpful.”
— Evans Levy

What’s on the Horizon

In 2022, For Days and their community of customers and retailers diverted 3 million garments from landfills, equating to 24 million in carbon emission reduction — which Evans is especially proud of. And now, less than 6 months into the year, For Days has already outpaced their Take Back Bag sales from last year.

As for what’s to come in 2023, For Days will be continuing to launch new brands every month and is looking forward to some exciting things coming in the back half of the year…