In today’s busy environment convenience is in ever higher demand. Delivery and subscription-based products and services are the newest retail answer to consumers’ needs for immediacy. An exciting twist to convenience is the addition of luxury. “Curated” and “hand-picked” beauty, food, beverage, and fashion items are the latest offerings in subscriptions.
Beauty in a Box: Sampling beauty products has never been easier and consumers can sign up for a monthly or seasonal subscription to receive specialty products sent in unique packaging. For $10.00 a month, Birchbox “delivers a curated box of 4-5 luxe beauty samples that range from skincare to makeup to cult beauty tools, from well-known brands as well as emerging gems.” Black Box “is the most trusted name in quality men’s care products, which delivers five hand-picked brands every month for $12.00.” For the eco-friendly conscious, Eco-Emi offers “five green samples wrapped in a chic, earth friendly package” and BlissMoBox features “organic & eco-friendly products.” For seasonal products delivered four times a year, TestTube™ by NewBeauty magazine encourages consumers to provide their opinions about the products they tried and Beautyfix uses expert panel recommendations based on an individual‟s beauty profile.
Personal Chef: For foodies or individuals who don‟t want to cook, there are a variety of sophisticated prepared food services available. San Francisco‟s Gobble “is an online marketplace for fresh meals from neighborhood chefs with an emphasis on creative, fresh, healthy and ethnic food” while Turntable Kitchen features a “Pairings Box: a curated food and music discovery experience, delivered to your door, every month for $25.00.” For students at George Washington University, GW Bites “is a small food business that offers GW students healthy, affordable, and convenient alternatives to food options on campus or in the city.” For those who like fresh fruits and vegetables but don’t have time to shop, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms are gaining popularity. These subscriptions (shares) allow consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from the farm, which is delivered weekly. Urbanites can participate by finding a nearby CSA farm at sites like http://www.localharvest.org/ or https://www.justfood.org/. This model applies to other farm fresh products such as meat, cheese, raw milk, and even pie subscriptions. NYC‟s 19 Charles Street is “a members-only gourmet meal provider” that shops for and delivers high-quality ingredients and food with a recipe card for customers who love to cook but don‟t have time to shop.
Thirst Quenchers: Just like prepared foods, there are a variety of niche subscription beverage services. Pressed Juicery in Los Angeles offers a “home delivery service of 16 juices each month for $130.00 or $70.00 per day for a three or five-day cleanse.” Brooklyn’s Craft Coffee selects premium coffee from artisan roasters and sends a monthly “tasting box” and Wine Library’s Gary Vaynerchuk features a Monthly Wine Club with three different wine subscription options.
A Little Bit of This: For New Yorkers who live downtown and are in need of a little bit of everything, MaxDelivery “is the ultimate convenience store – a grocery store, drugstore, gourmet foods store, and a video store all in one…delivered to you in minutes.” For the curious, Candy Japan is a candy subscription, which delivers Japanese candies every two weeks while Not Another Bill is a UK subscription, which sends a monthly surprise gift such as art, trinkets, and jewelry.
Male Call: Male-centric subscriptions with a focus on fashion basics are emerging. AlwaysHave “is a subscription-based clothing service for the professional of today” similar to Manpacks, which specializes in an automated service to deliver underwear and socks every three months. For the more fashion conscious, Trunk Club “personally hand select[s] a trunk ‟of clothes” of eight to ten items based on an individual’s preferences.
Trendsetters: For the female fashionistas there is an array of fashion subscriptions with celebrity stylists who personalize each month‟s selection through a style quiz. ShoeDazzle, a shoe, handbag, and jewelry subscription features Kim Kardashian and JewelMint, a jewelry subscription is designed by Kate Bosworth and Cher Coulter. For the woman who needs her bare necessities, Hoseanna offers “hosiery, health & beauty, feminine care and intimacy products” with a tagline of “shop, click, auto-ship.”
Dust off your doormat and make room for products and services delivered to your doorstep. You will never have to leave your home again as new luxury beauty, food, beverage, and fashion products are personally selected for you.
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