In class, we frequently talk about identifying customer pain points and how to alleviate that pain to cause a disruption in a certain market. With Dollar Shave Club, Michael Dubin did just that.
He noticed the process of buying razors is filled with pain points: razors are too expensive, you have to drive to the store, and then get an employee to unlock the display in which they are kept. Dollar Shave Club aims to fix this in their subscription based business model. Each month, they will send you new razor blades for only $1.
Today, the business was bought by Unilever for $1 billion, and have expanded their product line to include many other grooming products to improve the overall user experience.
Sources: http://fortune.com/2015/03/10/dollar-shave-club-founding/
Isn’t it crazy how a company can offer such an inexpensive item and yet make so much off of it? Definitely true here. Good work to Dubin for recognizing that pain and creating a great enterprise to make it happen!
DSC is probably one of the largest pioneers of viral marketing in the 2010s. I personally know dozens of guys who signed up for the service simply because of how incredible their initial advertisement was.