USA, the pioneer of subcoms, has almost 500 different boxes offering diverse range of products. Some of the categories are: food (snacks, bakery items), fashion (cosmetics, jewellery, and accessories), adult products, books/games, children’s activities, stationery etc.
A subscription box works because it is generally a win-win
for all stakeholders. The customer gets to sample a company’s products
conveniently and within budget. Especially in case of expensive products like
luxury cosmetics, getting access to samples can help the customer make a
decision about purchasing full size products. Even if they never want to buy
those products, a subbox allows them to sample a variety of brands and products
that they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. An added factor is the mystery – customers
generally do not know fully or partly what to expect in their boxes and the
process of discovery, makes people try out new things, which is usually a
success and appreciated.
It works for the
company or brand because it helps them reach out to potential customers in an
effective and targeted manner, especially those customers who live in rural or
remote areas, reaching out to whom would be very expensive for a company. It
also helps reduce costs as brands don’t need as many outlets and warehouses
thanks to the online fulfilment nature of subboxes. It works for the subbox service providers as
they are able to get excellent commercial deals where they get many products
from brands for throwaway prices or sometimes even free.
There are caveats though, subbox companies need to
constantly innovate to avoid getting repetitive and lose customers. Customers
may get products they don’t like. Brand risk bad publicity of their products
are not packaged and delivered in perfect condition. However, it seems the
benefits outweigh the problems and thus the industry continues to boom.
Here is a rundown on some of the categories and names of
subboxes available in India. This list is only indicative, not exhaustive, and
includes only those subcoms who have a website and monthly subscriptions. There
will be a follow up post with details on each box!
1.
Food: From Bakery products to tea, from organic
gourmet food to snacks, there is a box available for almost everything!
Bake box, Nibble box, Tea box, Gourmet box,
Snack experts, Eatelish
2.
Fashion and Lifestyle: These boxes cater to
mostly women, though there are some options for men too. Boxes typically
include clothes, accessories and other lifestyle products
Sugar box, Lady Raga, Pincbox, Mystery Box
3.
Beauty: These boxes are probably the most
popular. They provide customers with a mix of beauty, makeup, perfume, bath and
body care products, in both regular and luxury segment.
Nature’s Co Beauty wish box, Scent box, Happiness
caged, Fabbag, MSM box, Oh cute box, Globox
4.
Jewellery: Another fast growing segment is the jewellery box which comes
with latest trinkets as per your budget, as per the ongoing trends.
Little
bauble box, Embellishment box, My envy box, Zotiqq, Bling bag
5.
Ladies Box: Made just for the ladies, usually
these boxes cater to sanitary needs, and throw in samples of soothing teas,
yummy treats and bath/body products for an extra dose of pampering for those
days.
High tide, Being Juliet, Happiness in a box,
La coffer box, Cosset box,
6.
Education: Primarily targeted at kids from ages
3-12, these boxes come with a variety of activities for youngsters to keep them
busy and away from gadgets. From worksheets, to craft supplies, books to games,
there is a wide variety of stuff available to engross the little ones.
Flintobox, Magic Crate, Xplorabox, Ivykids,
Crafty chimp, Small brown box, Little reader’s nook, Cocomoco kids box
7.
Miscellaneous: There are a variety of other
subboxes available for various hobbies and pets too!
Paper plane Magazine Subscription, Originone
Stationery box, the Book box, Woof box, Wag box
