Birchbox – Gifts From Me to Me
My wife got her first Birchbox delivery today. In case you have not heard about this great little company, it’s worth having a look around on their site. The site works like this:
- You pay a fee every month
- For that fee, you get samples of the latest and greatest beauty supplies being used by those in the know.
- If you like the products, you can buy them on the Birchbox site and get discounts.
That’s the what. But it does not tell the story. No, not at all. When my wife found out about this company, she signed up immediately. I believe her words were something like “It’s like a gift I give myself every month.” She walked into the office today and said, very excitedly, “Guess what we got in the mail!” I was hoping it was a check or something, but no. It was her first Birchbox. As she unwrapped the package, she was giddy as a schoolgirl. This is what the unveiling looked like:
First, the box:
Then came a note from the founders about what was inside. The note had a great Mother’s Day theme, along with instructions about where to find more information on the products inside and other nuggets.
Then, the gifts themselves. Yes, she called them gifts even though she paid for them. Notice the wrapping paper and bows, and the packaging. Simply brilliant.
Then, at the bottom of the box, instructions on what to do next. Try it, then buy it. Notice they put this at the bottom of the box, not on the top. It’s not a crass sales-y message. Just a subtle note at the bottom of the box, after you have experienced all this joy, about how to spend more money with them.
The founders of the company met at Harvard Business School and, from their website, “created Birchbox to help women cut through the clutter of the beauty world to find products that really work for them.”
This is, quite simply, one of the best products / companies I have seen in a long time. Check them out on Twitter at @birchbox or at birchbox.com online.
What other companies have you seen that are doing things similar to Birchbox?