The margin on this business must be very thin. I assume they are just buying the tampons wholesale and then reselling them on a subscription basis. At the same time the barrier to entry for this type of business seems very small which ultimately means that the margin gets squeezed even more.
It would be interesting to know what value added services they can provide to increase their margin.
the barriers to entry are not as you may think. Yes, anyone can set up an etsy/ebay store, with some paypayl express check out thrown in. But if you'd notice, it's not often that women complain about the price of tampons (though they are getting more and more expensive), it's really the entire experience that is dreadful.
To actually bring forth a useful subscription product that's delightful, and always delivered on time requires thoughtful design and implementation. Every woman is different, they require different numbers of tampons each cycle, of different absorbencies, and in their preferred brand. They don't want a backlog of products in their own bathroom that takes up room for months at a time, only to run out unexpectedly when they most need it.
This may seem like a laughable or even trivial issue to tackle, but half of the population has periods and everyone complains about them, why not do something to improve that situation?
Comments
The margin on this business must be very thin. I assume they are just buying the tampons wholesale and then reselling them on a subscription basis. At the same time the barrier to entry for this type of business seems very small which ultimately means that the margin gets squeezed even more.
It would be interesting to know what value added services they can provide to increase their margin.
the barriers to entry are not as you may think. Yes, anyone can set up an etsy/ebay store, with some paypayl express check out thrown in. But if you'd notice, it's not often that women complain about the price of tampons (though they are getting more and more expensive), it's really the entire experience that is dreadful.
To actually bring forth a useful subscription product that's delightful, and always delivered on time requires thoughtful design and implementation. Every woman is different, they require different numbers of tampons each cycle, of different absorbencies, and in their preferred brand. They don't want a backlog of products in their own bathroom that takes up room for months at a time, only to run out unexpectedly when they most need it.
This may seem like a laughable or even trivial issue to tackle, but half of the population has periods and everyone complains about them, why not do something to improve that situation?
If it has a UPC, Amazon will beat you. Amazon is already in the business with "Subscribe and Save".
The dollar shave club may be sustainable because they have managed to make no-name blades appealing through a viral video.