When you sell meal kit subscription boxes, every touchpoint counts. From the first website visit to ongoing customer support, each interaction shapes whether a potential subscriber becomes a loyal customer or switches to one of many competitors.

We recently mystery-shopped six meal kit companies — from industry leaders to private-equity-backed players — to understand what drives subscription success. 

Four were fully evaluated in our study. The other two dropped off early due to signup friction, a common (and costly) risk in the subscription business model.

And when customer lifetime value (CLTV) can span months or years, losing a subscriber at the very first touchpoint destroys customer acquisition cost (CAC) efficiency and results in lost revenue.

So, what UX pitfalls stopped us from subscribing, and how can CX leaders in subscription-based businesses avoid them?

Poor UX and CX Left Us Looking to Competitors

Two meal kit subscription services didn't make it into our mystery shopping study because their UX and CX prevented us from completing purchases. 

Broken Checkout UX and Multiple Support Failures

One subscription service had the most broken ecommerce checkout flow we’ve ever encountered, followed by support interactions that only made things worse.

We couldn’t complete the checkout process because our billing and shipping zip codes did not match, but the site didn’t offer a field to enter a separate billing address. 🚩🚩🚩

As a result, our card was repeatedly declined with vague error messages and no way to resolve the issue.

We contacted support and received a baffling “solution.” The agent instructed us to place the order using our billing address as the shipping address and promised to manually update the delivery address after the order went through.

For a company already struggling with basic checkout UX, expecting customers to trust a manual fix for something as sensitive as shipping information felt risky — but for the sake of the experiment, we agreed.

The conversation was so absurd that, rather than summarizing it, we’re sharing it word-for-word below with the agent’s name redacted.

Surprise: We waited a full 24 hours to try again, but the “solution” didn’t work. And we never received an email.

We connected with support again. Once again, the conversation speaks for itself, so we’ve shared the full transcript below, with identifying details removed.

Both agents promised to email us. Neither did. We checked our inbox and spam folders repeatedly. Nothing.

At every step, the experience was fragmented and frustrating. The underlying problem — a critical gap in the billing workflow — was never addressed. And the workaround offered by support was just as broken as the system itself.

After multiple failed attempts and two failed support interactions, we abandoned the process and chose a competitor instead.

You Have Mail but No Meals

Another platform made us provide personal info and set a password, only to reveal they don’t serve our zip code. 

Instead of a clear opt-in to join their waiting list, we were automatically enrolled and began receiving marketing emails from their third-party advertising partners. It left us feeling manipulated, like the goal was to capture data, not customer trust.

Customers shouldn’t have to hand over personal info just to learn you can’t serve them. A simple zip code check before account creation could’ve prevented unnecessary friction. And once it was clear we weren’t eligible, a permission-based waitlist offer would’ve built trust.

5-Star UX and CX Moves for Subscription Services

The right first impression builds trust fast and prevents customer erosion. Here’s what could’ve kept us engaged with the brands we abandoned:

Build Systems That Work Without Support Intervention

If placing an order requires talking to support, you're losing customers. Most shoppers won’t reach out when something goes wrong, they’ll just leave.

Run regular checkout tests, including error scenarios, to catch roadblocks before your customers do. Embed help directly into the flow using FAQs, tooltips, or a smart chatbot so users can fix issues without starting over or switching channels.

Explain Errors Clearly

Vague error messages leave customers guessing, and more often than not, they’ll give up.

When checkout fails, show which field caused the issue and give clear, actionable steps to fix it. That includes real-time prompts for things like zip code mismatches or missing fields.

To reduce common errors even further, proactively address high-friction scenarios in your FAQs and in-line help, especially ones tied to billing vs. shipping info.

Let Users Opt In Rather than Forcing Opt-Outs

Auto-enrolling customers in marketing emails, especially after denying them service, erodes trust fast.

Give people a clear, respectful choice to join your list. Permission-based opt-ins show you take customer privacy seriously, and they tend to boost engagement by keeping uninterested users out of your funnel.

Equip Support Agents with the Tools for Success

Customer support teams need systems that enable both first contact resolution (FCR) and reliable follow-up on complex issues. If agents can’t assign tasks or track after-call work (ACW), even helpful conversations can lead to dead ends.

Train agents on common checkout issues and equip them with clear workarounds, especially for challenges in the subscription workflow. And give agents CX tech tools that support presence and human connection. 

Follow Up When You Promise To

Twice, customer support agents told us they’d follow up about our checkout issues. Neither did. 

Ghosting customers after they’ve already reached out undermines trust and puts the burden of persistence on them. Most won’t bother trying again. 

Support teams need systems that make follow-up easier and more reliable. Tools like NinjaAI Notetaker can help by capturing next steps automatically, syncing with CX platforms, and prompting agents to close the loop.

Stop CX and UX Issues Before They Impact Your Revenue

Every touchpoint in your customer journey should build trust and drive conversion. Even small signup friction can jeopardize the full CLTV of a meal kit subscription.

SupportNinja's full-lifecycle CX strategy is designed to protect every stage of the customer journey, from first interaction to long-term retention, so no revenue gets left on the table.

Curious how the other brands stacked up? We mystery-shopped four major meal kit providers to uncover the CX moments that left a good taste, and the ones that left us burned.

Dive deeper into our meal kit mystery shopping experience.