A beauty breakthrough: How bareMinerals delivered 2X subscription LTV

bareMinerals helped shape the clean beauty category with skin-friendly formulas and iconic products that customers trust. Since 1995, essentials like its loose powder foundation have earned a loyal following by delivering consistent quality.

But today’s beauty market is shifting rapidly. Customer acquisition costs (CAC) are rising, margins are shrinking, and discount-driven tactics are becoming harder to sustain. These pressures made it clear that for bareMinerals to succeed, they needed a subscription strategy capable of turning rising customer acquisition costs into long-term customer value.

The brand, now part of Orveon Global’s portfolio of premium beauty brands, adopted an integrated strategy built on Ordergroove, leveraging smarter PDP acquisition incentives, prepaid subscriptions for dependable revenue, and more sophisticated payment recovery workflows.

Together, these changes created a unified subscription engine that drove measurable improvements across acquisition, retention, and revenue recovery.

The result:

• 16% lift in enrollment
• 35% increase in payment recovery rate (YTD)
• Nearly 2X higher lifetime value among prepaid subscribers

How bareMinerals increased subscription enrollment by 16% on Shopify

When bareMinerals migrated to Shopify, the team finally had the flexible commerce foundation they needed and paired it with Ordergroove’s Shopify-native platform to create a more powerful, unified subscriber experience.

To strengthen the top of the funnel, bareMinerals rethought its PDP incentives and subscription positioning to better reflect how beauty shoppers buy: through consistent subscription routines. Clearer offers, smarter incentive placement, and sharper value messaging made subscription enrollment both easier to understand and more compelling.

The results were immediate: subscriber conversion increased by 16%.

“With Ordergroove and Shopify, we’ve seen our subscription business boom,” said Regina Booth, Senior Merchandising Manager of eCommerce at bareMinerals.

Today, subscriptions account for nearly 14% of bareMinerals’ online revenue, validating the loyalty of bareMinerals’ core shoppers and their appetite for convenience and value. 

The upgraded design also delivered operational wins. Subscription-related support tickets virtually disappeared after rolling out Subscription Manager 2.0, underscoring how intuitive the new self-service tools had become.

SKU Swap resonated strongly with beauty shoppers as well, allowing them to change shades, finishes, or formulas without interrupting their subscription.

How bareMinerals launched prepaid subscriptions with no-code tools to increase subscriber LTV

After strengthening enrollment, bareMinerals turned to Ordergroove to launch prepaid subscriptions as the next lever to deepen retention and create more predictable recurring revenue.

Prepaid appealed to bareMinerals’ loyal customer base by offering added value and convenience for products they purchase consistently. Instead of relying solely on incentives, prepaid gave shoppers a structured way to commit to the formulas they already trust.

“Our customers are pretty tried and true with bareMinerals,” Regina said. “They are not chasing the latest trend. Prepaid made sense because it gave them a way to commit to what they already love and get rewarded for it.”

To launch quickly, the team focused on rolling out prepaid for complexion and skincare products, which had well-established subscription patterns. Ordergroove’s no-code tools and Shopify-native integration enabled bareMinerals to launch prepaid quickly, without a developer. 

Customers responded immediately, validating demand for the new prepaid option.

Within the first 16 weeks:

• Prepaid subscriptions accounted for 6.7% of new sign-ups
• 58% of prepaid sign-ups came directly from PDPs, signaling new customer demand
• 42% came from existing subscribers logged into their Subscription Manager, showing prepaid’s appeal across different shopper mindsets

“We honestly did not know what to expect,” Regina said. “I couldn’t find any major competitors doing prepaid, so it felt like uncharted territory. Seeing that level of adoption so early told us there is real demand for this kind of experience.”

The financial impact was even stronger. Prepaid subscribers delivered nearly 2× the lifetime revenue and retention of standard subscribers. Based on early performance, the model is projected to contribute 10–15% of bareMinerals’ total subscription revenue over time.

“It confirmed that customers see the value,” Regina said. “They like the idea of locking in their routine and getting that extra perk or savings upfront. It is a win-win.”

Unlike pay-as-you-go subscriptions, prepaid secures upfront revenue, reduces churn risk, and provides merchants with greater predictability per customer cohort.

How bareMinerals increased payment recovery by 35%

Acquiring and retaining subscribers is only part of the equation. Protecting that revenue is just as critical. As enrollment improvements turned more customers into subscribers, bareMinerals prioritized payment recovery to prevent involuntary churn and improve revenue predictability.

Working with Ordergroove, the team enhanced recovery workflows with smarter retry logic to automatically resolve payment issues and keep subscribers active. 

These improvements drove a 35% year-to-date increase in the recovery rate, capturing more recurring revenue and maximizing the value of each customer acquired.

How a multi-lever subscription strategy compounds over time

Together, these improvements show how a multi-lever approach can compound over time to strengthen retention, stabilize revenue, and create a more efficient growth path.

“Subscriptions and loyalty are at the forefront of everything we are planning,” Regina said. “We are looking at how to bring those programs closer together, how to show love to the customers who have been with us for years, and make sure they are getting the best value and experience.”

Across the beauty industry, brands face a difficult balancing act. Consumers want more flexibility, value, and control, while operators need revenue models resilient enough to withstand rising costs and shifting acquisition dynamics.

Prepaid has become one example of that innovation in action. Customers responded quickly, embracing commitment-based options as a natural extension of the routines they trust, making it a clear sign that beauty shoppers are more open to modern, flexible subscription models than the industry has long assumed.

For bareMinerals, this innovation translated directly into business value, strengthening retention, stabilizing recurring revenue, and proving that thoughtful subscriber experiences can drive meaningful growth.

“We did not think prepaid would have this kind of impact right out of the gate,” Regina said. “It is still new, but it is already driving meaningful contribution. I am excited because we are leading the way in beauty, and it is only going up from here.”