Modern Life: What are subscription boxes?
Back in 2010, US entrepreneurs Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna had a brainwave. Why not set up a subscription service for beauty products?
The punters parted with money, trusted Beauchamp and Barna to know their stuff, and each month received a box of beauty goodies. The service now has more than a million subscribers.
Little could Beauchamp and Barna have known then that they were part of a huge change in the way we get our treats.
Where America treads first, we often follow. The Royal Mail forecasts that the UK subscription-box market will be worth an eye-watering £1 billion by 2022. Some 27 per cent of us have already signed up to receive food, drink, flowers or something else.
The sheer range of choice for subscription boxes is massive. If you are a fan of rustic pasta, there is a box experience aimed at you. If you want men’s grooming, natty socks, cheese or toothbrushes, a subscription box has your name on it.
Sometimes you choose what’s in the box; at other times, the whole thing is ‘curated’ by the subscription-provider.
Why on earth are we falling in love with the magic box through the post?
Our enthusiasm is built on weariness with standard issue brands and products,
and a yearning for something that feels authentic and individual. It’s no coincidence that more than 90 per cent of subscribers paid for their own subscription. This is all about giving ourselves a treat – and who doesn’t like presents?
It’s also a yearning for the halcyon days of home delivery – it feels positively Edwardian in a modern kind of way. The internet has enabled artisan brands and niche producers to get into our hearts and to do so monthly.
There are echoes of this current movement back in the 1960s. In 1969, a young Tony Laithwaite spent his school holidays working in French vineyards. He bought an old Ford van and began importing wine and selling it direct – and yes, it arrived with his customers in boxes, and yes, they felt as though they were part of a lovely little exclusive club.
Laithwaite’s success was built on a quirky communication style and a sense
of belonging – both things his modern cousins make full use of. This year, he wrote Direct: The Story of Laithwaites, which tells how he built the biggest wine merchants in the world.
I’ve fallen willing victim to the craze.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Faced with a problem on the cooking front – I’m rubbish at it and my wife is often back late from work – I subscribed to a meal subscription box. They deliver a box with all the ingredients and recipes, and you do the cooking. What could go wrong? Well, I could. The recipes were easy enough but the ingredients were too numerous for me. After a week, I began to get confused by which ingredients went with which recipe. The fridge filled up. Boxes arrived and we began to feel oppressed by the experience. I started just chucking stuff together and hoping for the best. I made some monstrous messes.
One day, my wife looked at me. ‘Steve, why don’t you just go shopping like you used to?’
So I’m back at Waitrose. But I haven’t given up on subscription boxes – I deserve a treat.