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If you happen to have read our last blog post on the subscription box model, you may remember one of the key elements that make the subscription box/traditional online retail model so attractive: the potential for a lower cost of customer acquisition. One thing that I neglected to explicitly state, but thought was implied, was that a well executed subscription box/traditional retail business model lends itself to lower customer acquisition costs, but the model itself doesn't just lower costs inherently. A business has to successfully execute, drive customers in, retain them, and “upsell them.” Not so easy to do and...

 Which company had a better year last year?  Company A - generated $39 million of revenue last year - 67.5% gross profit margins - grew its customer base from 10,000 customers/month to 120,000 customers/month throughout the course of the year Company B - generated $11.7 million of revenue last year - 80% gross profit margins - grew its customer base from 10,000 customers/month to 120,000 customers/month throughout the course of the year   99% of people would answer, “Company A.” 99% of people would be incorrect if provided only with the information above. Why? Well, two reasons that can be...

Over the past few years, the subscription box business model has taken off. Birchbox pioneered the model and their success has prompted a number of others to follow in their footsteps. (By the way, at the end of our series, you'll come to realize that Birchbox really isn't a subscription-box driven business...stay tuned) An interesting aspect of this subscription box model is its attractiveness from an operating perspective. Investors are pretty bullish about the subscription box model (or at least they were) and after some study and number crunching, we understand why. Over the course of the next two blog...

  If you are one of the few people who still believes that the whole e-commerce/ online retail thing is just a fad, I suggest that you open up that flip phone of yours, dial 411, and ask to be connected to the nearest Borders store. (By the way, if you really do call, let us know how what happened.) But jokes aside, e-commerce and online retail has been around for a few years and it doesn't look to be going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, there is even vigorous debate as to whether physical retail establishments will, for all...