Two Harvard graduates, Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp, started a business called Birchbox. Their idea was to get women to subscribe monthly to boxes of beauty products that get mailed directly to their homes. These boxes contain four or five sample size products for the women to try!
This business offers a unique experience and service for consumers. People who subscribe get to try new products and and to replenish products that they already love. This business also allows founders to connect new consumers with a variety of brands and products.
Birchbox is a very popular business. Few women want to purchase a lot of products in search for their next favorite brand. Sifting through products and trying new products can be expensive and time consuming. Birchbox provides women with the opportunity to try a variety of products that are trusted and popular already.
To get their business off the ground, Birchbox founders emailed beauty product manufacturers for sample size products to send to people during a beta test. While this was a difficult task, the hard work paid off! The company has grown greatly, there are currently 500 brand partners, 400,000 paid subscribers, and about 150 people working for Birchbox.
This is not a random experiment for beauty products. Customers put in their preferences or needs- dry skin, curly hair, etc. These preferences are taken into account and then the samples that are shipped are particular to their needs. Also, Birchbox subscribers can shop at the website! It really is a full service business.