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.
Photo: Dollar Shave Club website.
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
