Birchbox

Birchbox is a New York City-based online monthly subscription service that sends its subscribers a box of four to five selected samples of makeup or other beauty-related products. The products include skincare items, perfumes, organic-based products, and various other cosmetics.

Since 2023, it has been owned by Retention Brands.

History
Birchbox was established in September 2010 by Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna, both graduates of Harvard Business School. In October 2010, Birchbox's initial funding began with $1.4 million in seed funding from investors including First Round and Accel Partners.

In August 2011, Birchbox received $10.5 million in Series A Funding. In April 2014, it raised $60 million in Series B funding, led by Viking Global Investors, and saw participation from First Round Capital, Accel Partners, Aspect Partners, and Consigliere Brand Capital.

In July 2014, the company opened its first brick-and-mortar store in New York's Soho neighborhood. As of 2014, Birchbox was valued at $485 million. In October, it partnered with Soldsie to launch its first Instagram shop. The shop allows Instagram users interested in Birchbox products to purchase directly through Instagram by leaving a comment on a photo with the hashtag #birchboxcart.

In 2015, Barna stepped down from the co-CEO role at the company and joined the First Round Capital firm as a venture partner. In January 2016, the company cut 15% of its staff.

Five months after raising $90 million, it had a minority stake acquired in October 2018 by Walgreens, whose stores began offering its service. However, Birchbox cut 70% of its staff of 230 employees in January 2020.

After being purchased by start-up FemTec for $45 million in October 2021, the online subscription service was acquired in 2023 by Retention Brands.

Business
As of Jan 2021, Birchbox has 300 thousand subscribers and 500 thousand active customers. Birchbox's incentive is that the consumer will choose to purchase the full-sized product of whatever sample they've grown to like from the Birchbox website afterward. As of 2021, about 5% of box subscribers went on to make full-size purchases.

After subscribing, the customer takes a "beauty profile" survey that aims to customize their future selections to suit their preferences better.