
Photo: 800Razors.com Facebook.
At first glance, it would be easy to conclude that 800Razors.com is just a Dollar Shave Club copycat in the nearly $2 billion razor cartridge category.
But that would be wrong.
Let’s quickly set the stage for this discussion.
Category leader Gillette built a strong business via a decades-long, continuing series of product innovations that support a premium-price strategy. They kept some of the older models as part of a tiered product/pricing assortment for consumers.
An opening existed for a competitor to deliver a high-quality blade at much lower cost, and it came via a new business model. Dollar Shave Club (DSC) emerged as a disruptive player in 2011/2012, getting wide notice with a wacky video featuring its founder. Its online, recurring monthly sales model (“club”) took dead aim at the category giants selling through traditional retail channels.
Then, in 2013, 800Razors.com joined the fray, building off the DSC approach while incorporating significant go-to-market differences:

Photo: 800Razors.com Facebook.
- Buy Only When You Want. 800Razors allows single purchase. Dollar Shave Club does not. It’s an important difference because it removes a potential obstacle to trial. For example, I’ve thought about trying DSC but didn’t want to sign-up for regular monthly deliveries. Continue reading