Makeup companies are constantly updating their products, introducing new lines and advertising campaigns. Although every, there is really nothing like the New York-based makeup distributor, Birchbox. Founded by Harvard Business School graduates Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna, Birchbox has been up and running since September of 2010, and already has 25,000 subscribers. Consumers love Birchbox because it takes the Beauty Profiles they submit upon joining, and uses them to generate and distribute four to five-sample beauty packages each month. If users particularly enjoy certain samples, they can order the products in full size online at the Birchbox website.
But samples aren’t just from one company; Birchbox reps brands across the board like Ahava, Benefit, Bare Minerals, Marc Jacobs, Sweetriot, Suki, and Perricone MD. Founder Katia Beauchamp told us, “The great thing about Birchbox is that we launched it with the idea that there are so many different kinds of women, and there are women who think of themselves differently during different times of the day or the week, and they’re going to be changing.” With styles constantly changing, it is not unusual for women to try out new kinds of makeup several times a year. This is where Birchbox steps in to save the day; by constantly distributing new types of products, it offers subscribers an inexpensive way to find a new brand or look to embrace.
There is little about Birchbox that is traditional! Operated completely online, the business has found incredible support through social media. With accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare, Beauchamp told us that 25% of traffic to the site comes from some type of social media outlet. “We are the next wave of beauty companies,” she said, “and we need to leverage all of these different kinds of tools to interact with our audience.” Another way Birchbox is interacting with consumers? Their blog; it’s entertaining and informative about modern fashion.
From the reviews, it seems that consumers don’t mind the new approach to beauty product distribution one bit. Glowing ones like this can be found all over the Birchbox site:
Last Tuesday, April 12th, Birchbox announced the addition of Elizabeth Morollo Eckhardt as Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing and Advertising. As the former Group Vice President of Cosmetics at Macy’s, Eckhardt will be an incredible asset to Birchbox. We asked Beauchamp what she thought of her appointment, and she told us, “We are very excited…She is such an entrepreneur at heart, and she’s very energetic and eager to learn a lot about the 2.0 version of beauty shopping.”
Business School together, where they came up with the concept of Birchbox. Beauchamp told us that she thinks her education prepared for most of the challenges in creating a startup. “Harvard was incredible for giving us the tools we needed and giving us a fair sense of what the expectations were going to be,” she said. “Of course it’s impossible to convey how challenging the early years of a startup are going to be, but I feel prepared, and very thankful for going through the entrepreneurship classes via the case method. I think it teaches you to make decisions with imperfect information. Hayley and I are learning so much everyday.”
So from Harvard to New York City, Beauchamp and Barna are taking Birchbox to incredible heights. 25,000 subscribers already enjoy monthly samples which cater to women of all sorts. Make sure to check Birchbox out, and sign up to see what all of the reviewers are thrilled about!
