If you’re not one to follow trends or stick to the norm and more of an outside-the-box junkie who loves to try new things and never sticks to one boring item or flavor, you’ve come to the right place.
This article emphasizes on adventurous people, who like to keep the ball rolling, trying new things every month and keeping things fresh in the closet or the kitchen, and we don’t mean air spray!
What are we talking about? Subscription boxes…
That’s right – if you’ve never ventured out of your comfort zone and felt the need to try something new, perhaps this read will give you that push. In the 21st century, everything is done online, and if it’s not done online, it’s not winning and the competition has run the race, won and gotten the award already… sort of like a “been there, done that, moving on” situation.
Regardless, the advent of new and upcoming consumer brands like Dollar Shave Club or Casper are here to stay according to The Future of Commerce: https://www.the-future-of-commerce.com/2019/02/08/direct-to-consumer-brands/.
There are so many new and upcoming trends that have taken over the market in last two decades, that one wonders if there is ever a chance that fresh new ideas will ever get exhausted, and yet – they never do! This brings us happiness because there is always room for more… more new things, more adventurous things… and more advanced ideas.
One of these innovative ideas began a few years ago with the simple idea of paying a monthly fee and being sent simple items such as books or music CDs and movies. This in itself was the most exciting thing ever. We couldn’t wait for our delivery and that was the best thing since sliced bread.
A century later and the idea has stayed but the targeted audience has changed vastly. From makeup, arts and crafts, to complete DIY meal kits and healthy snacks and now it’s even nail polish subscription boxes like this list online of creative boxes chosen for you every month, with tutorials of how to and all sorts of new things to try out. You can make a day out of it. What once was done in professional salons i.e. Nail Art, is now being done by you in the comfort of your bedroom and dare I say ‘professionally’– amazing or what?
The best part of all is that we receive these boxes through our post boxes. Some go as far as to send you a ‘mystery box’ that you subscribe to, and have no idea what’s going to be inside, it could be anything new that’s hit the market and you get to try it regardless.
Let’s face it, if it weren’t for advertising campaigns luring us in, with all the charmingly designed packaging and mouth-watering offerings and all the social media feeds telling us how we too can look like all those celebrities or we too can cook like Jamie Oliver, we would never have bothered with this. Alas, the silver lining is, we have this option at our fingertips…and doors. You don’t even need to go out and but the products yourself, you get them delivered to your comfort zone at home.
How Did It All Start?
According to some online sources, the advent of the subscription box began with The Book of The Month Club the genius idea of one Harry Scherman, who sought to find a way to break into the rural-book market and introduced a directory of different literature to every subscriber or customer to choose a few books from that would be delivered to them at the cost of a monthly fee, and via the concept of mail order and voila!
The concept stuck and everybody loved it. Read more about this on the online source here.
After this nothing happened for the next few decades until two entrepreneurs come up with a similar idea. Enter the idea that took over 2010 – BirchBox. The ultimate beauty box for everyone. Turns out, the curiosity of receiving a box full of surprises, was a lot more lucrative than getting just the mundane old book.
Online news source giant, ‘Forbes’ wrote about the psychology behind this idea and seem to think that nowadays it’s just not enough to give people what they want. The modern-age wants something they’re not expecting – a box full of surprises!
It’s no wonder there are over 5 million subscription box shoppers only in the US today and the demographic that’s been targeted is not few or far between. Read more about it here:
One such demographic is based on female college graduates, with an income of over $100, with children 3 to 5 years of age, but this is just one of the hundred other buyer personas that have been created to lure buyers into this trend, and it’s working.
Why Is It So Popular?
We wish we could say, that the reason it is popular is because of the reach of technology. However, this is not the case. Technology does play a part in acting as a catalyst (as mentioned above with the demographics) and in advertising and promoting the idea world-wide.
But in the Forbes article, the reason they are leaning towards, for the popularity of this idea, is that it’s more of a change-of-taste, scenario. Because retailers have changed their choices in products and subscription services listen to their customers, plus the idea of getting something in a box delivered to you via mail is like waking up on Christmas morning to find a box with your name on it under the tree, waiting to be opened! It’s exciting and plays on your emotional strings…
What’s the Future Look Like?
Even though there are so many different choices of subscription box categories, this market has not even landed yet and is here to stay. Newer and more innovative ideas are being taken upon by the creators every few months and as a result, users are increasing by the truckload too.
Even though the competition from retail and product stores is looming, this has not stopped the likes of BirchBox, Ipsy or even BlueApron, to open up their doors to an array of customers!…and the good news is, looks like everyone can be a part of it, either creating it or using it.
