Marketing Strategy Birchbox

Marketing Strategy Project: Birchbox

• History of the company

Birchbox launched in September of 2010 and is headquartered in New York City. They are an ecommerce subscription company for beauty and lifestyle products. Birchbox has also gone global, acquiring international competitor Joliebox in 2012. This allowed the company to gain business in France, Spain, and the UK. The company has 400,000 subscribers and is growing. They are becoming more than just a monthly subscription service, with an online magazine allowing customers to keep up with the latest trends.

• Analysis of philosophy

The Birchbox philosophy is, “Changing the way consumers discover and purchase grooming, beauty, and lifestyle products.” This really describes what the company does in one simple sentence. They are taking consumers who usually go into stores to buy products, where they will pay full price and are stuck with the product even if they end up disliking it. Instead Birchbox is sending the consumer samples to test out products and if the customer likes them they can purchase the full size.

• Targeting

Birchbox targets women of all ages and backgrounds. Some would think the target market is young women who stay on top of the latest trends, but really it is important to target those who enjoy using the best products but don’t want to have to work too hard to find them. They target women who are not afraid to try new things. Birchbox is expanding to target men as well, with Birchbox Man. For this to be successful they need to focus on guys who actually care about their appearance and guys who also like to try new things.

• Positioning

Birchbox is different from other subscription beauty boxes. They have all new members take a survey on what they are interested in when it comes to beauty and lifestyle products. This allows for customization of boxes. They send out 20 to 50 different varieties of boxes each month. So unlike other subscription companies they are not just putting random products in the box in the hopes the consumer will like them. Also Birchbox stands out because they send make-up, hair products, treats, teas, and lifestyle products like headphones. Other boxes that would be considered competition just send make-up. Birchbox also gives you 10 points for every dollar spent on products. Once you hit 100 points that’s $10 dollars to spend in their store. This is something that needs to be stressed and marketed to give the Birchbox an edge.

• Product/ Service Attributes

One attribute that will help Birchbox earn customers is trust. They offer a 90 day full money back guarantee and free return shipping on any full-sized items purchased that you are not happy