Birchbox

Birchbox is a New York City-based online monthly subscription service that sends its subscribers a box of four to five carefully selected samples of makeup, or other beauty related products on a monthly basis. These products include skincare items, perfumes, organic based products and various other high-end cosmetics.[1]

History

Birchbox was established in September 2010 [2] by two young women, Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna, both graduates of Harvard Business School.[3] In October 2010, Birchbox's initial funding began with $1.4 million in seed funding from investors including First Round and Accel Partners.[3] In August 2011, Birchbox received $10.5 million in Series A Funding.[4] Birchbox is a rapidly growing company with approximately 45,000 members and 25 employees as of June 2011. It is expected to bring in $7 million in revenue between subscriptions and product sales for the year of 2011.[3] In April 2014, Birchbox raised $60 million in Series B funding, led by Viking Global Investors, and saw participation from First Round Capital, Accel Partners, Aspect Partners, and Consigliere Brand Capital. The company is currently valued at $485 million.[5][6]

Membership

Birchbox, since its establishment, attracted 22,000 subscribers by April 2011. Birchbox's incentive is that the consumer will choose to purchase the full-sized product of whatever sample they've grown to like from the Birchbox website afterward.[7]

After subscribing to the Birchbox service, the customer takes a survey called a "beauty profile" that serves to customize the future selections featured in Birchboxes to better suit their preferences.[8]

Birchbox Points

Birchbox points are points that are awarded for purchasing full-size versions of samples, participating in answering survey questions for each monthly box and/or the referral of others to the subscription based service. You earn 1 reward point for each dollar you spend. The exchange rate is currently 100 rewards points for a $10 credit that expires in a rolling 365 day period.

Social Commerce

In October 2014, Birchbox partnered with Soldsie to launch their first ever Instagram shop. The shop allows Instagram users interested in Birchbox products to purchase directly through Instagram by leaving a comment on a photo with the hashtag #birchboxcart.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". BIRCHBOX. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  2. ↑ Wortham, Jenna. "Birchbox Aims to Simplify the Business of Beauty". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Rubin, Courtney. "Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp, Founders of Birchbox". INC.com. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Zelman, Josh. "(Founder Stories) Birchbox: On The Second Wave Of Ecommerce". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Perez, Sarah. April 21, 2014. Techcrunch "Birchbox Raises $60 Million"
  6. ↑ Fiegerman, Seth (April 21, 2014). "Birchbox Raises $60 Million to Shake Up the Beauty Industry". Machable. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Cohen, Deborah. "Makeup startup thinks inside the box". Reuters.com. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Nape, Denise. "Birchbox lets you give new high-end cosmetics a trial run". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Burza, Pawel. "Birchbox letting consumers shop through Instagram". Evigo. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

External links