The number of services and consumer goods that can arrive at your doorstep nowadays is downright astonishing.
Want to update your wardrobe without spending the day at the mall? Done.
Need some new meal options for the family? Also done.
Are you obsessed with wearing fun, decorative socks? Changing your nail polish every week? Having your vet come straight to your home to relieve Fido’s angst? Filling your wine rack with the click of a computer mouse? Done, done, done, and sure, there’s an app for that.
The 21st Century has ushered in a new retail model fueled by the explosion in online technology. It has resulted in home delivery services popping up everywhere, and consumers making more and more purchases from the comfort of their couch.
“We already live in a service economy, but this is a certain kind of service economy,” said Jean Kujawa, an associate professor of business for Lourdes University. “The typical trend started years ago when we had people cut our lawns. It started when plumbers came, appliance repair people came.
“Think about it: pizza delivery has been around forever. Now we are just expanding it to other kinds of things. The trend started [a long time ago] but it’s really this technology, this current web model that has worked so quickly.”
That model is enticing consumers to get on their mobile phones, tablets, and computers, choose an app, answer a few questions, and wait for their products or services to arrive.
Pick your poison; there’s a way to have that item or service come straight to your door. And if there’s not, someone will think of it soon.
Birch Box markets itself as a company that will take care of everything from your skin to trendy home gadgets in its box of beauty products dropped at your residence.
Young companies such as HelloFresh, Plated, and Blue Apron are competing for consumer attention in the world of meal kit home delivery services.
“Deliciously simple. Fresh organic ingredients. Healthy, flavorful meals. Right at your doorstep,” offers Green Chef, another young online food company offering weekly or monthly meal kits.
“I see this pretty massive change going on in society of people gravitating toward a service like this because it makes your life easier,” said Michael Joseph, CEO of Green Chef. “It truly adds convenience; we’ve outsourced the planning and the shopping for you. And some of the sous cheffing. You can truly make a gourmet meal in 30 minutes.”
Mr. Joseph declined to give sales numbers, but said since he and a partner launched Green Chef in Boulder, Colo., to serve the western U.S. states in September 2014, the business has blossomed today to employing 250 full-time employees, and serving “tens of thousands of customers.” They launched nationally in January.
To deliver or not?
Amber Stark, 38, of Perrysburg signed up for a home delivery from Dia & Co. earlier this year. That company — as do a lot of the other clothing delivery services — asks its customers to go through an extensive questionnaire online, then assigns a personal designer who sends five items a week, based on the answers.
Customers go through the box when it arrives, keeping what they like and dropping items they don’t back in the mail using a provided envelope.
“I think it’s a really fun way to try new products that you might not have around here. And it kind of pushes you out of your box a little bit. They sent me a sweater last time that I never would have tried on in the store,” Mrs. Stark said.
Doorstep services are also getting in on the action. In some of the major cities, you can take advantage of Washio, an on-demand dry cleaning and laundry service.
Washio staffers will come to your door, pick up your laundry, and return it washed and folded.
For an additional $185 house-call fee that covers mileage, time away from the office schedule and driving liability, Total Pet Care, which has offices in Maumee and Toledo, will send a vet and a vet tech to your home.
“We have a few that it’s more that convenience factor,” said Dr. Brent Couts, medical director at Toledo Pet Care. “[But] for some of our clients they may have a hard time getting the dog in and out of the car; there may be anxiety. We have some older couples who have big dogs.
“Usually, it’s a much more relaxed environment. The [animals] tend to be more comfortable, and we see the environment they live in which helps us get a better sense of what they deal with.”
This world of convenience shopping might not be for everyone.
Emily Wilcheck, 36, of Rossford, tried Stitch Fix, which sends clothing and accessories such as jewelry and purses, in a similar manner to Dia & Co.
While she agreed the “process is really fun, and the packaging was beautiful,” she was less impressed with pricing vs. quality, and her designer’s perception of her style, based on her questionnaire.
“I opened the box and it was all dark, jewel tones. I spent all this time doing the survey and it didn’t match,” she said. “It was kind of one of those things I regretted. The jeans were $60 or $70. For that kind of money I would rather go to the store.”
These are what some people would think of as a sensible product line, like Stitch Fix or Green Chef. Then there are the highly specialized, or slightly off the wall.
Lucky Tackle Box caters to the serious fishermen, sending a monthly box of bait and tackle to walleye, bass, saltwater, fly and ice trollers, complete with video and an explanation of each item.
Julep Maven sends the latest in nail polish color.
Divebarshirtclub.com sends monthly a T-shirt from a “dive bar” somewhere in the United States.
The Sock Club, started in 2012 by two friends, promises a quality pair of socks every month that will “surprise our members, make them smile, and remind the recipients they are loved.”
And if your best furry friend wants in on some of this mail order goodness, BarkBox is catering to that need: “Tell us how big your dog’s bark is. We’ve got goodies for every dog size,” its website touts.
And so it goes.
Only the strong survive
With so many businesses saturating the market, experts say service and unique sales angles will be what drives the survivors.
In his column, Uber-All Economy, J. Walker Smith, a consumer trend analyst and executive chairman of The Futures Company, writes that this new consumer marketing brand pits dozens of companies against each other.
“While these companies’ services and producets differ in form from those of traditional competitors, the startups and their investors believe that their value propositions will prove to be more satisfying, so they are coming hard for customers, market share and profits,” he writes.
Amazon was a major catalyst to this marketing particular brand, Professor Kujawa said. The online company’s net sales skyrocketed from almost $8 ½ billion in 2005 to more than $107 billion last year.
“You can sit home in your pajamas and order all types of varieties from one site. How convenient is that instead of running around all over the place and hoping it’s in stock when you get there?” she said of the appeal.
Companies, such as Uber and its online taxi service, that play off Amazon’s convenience concept will succeed if they are able to provide quality and unique selling points along with the customization, Kujawa said.
“Remember, when retail stores all start they don’t all succeed. When franchises start, they don’t all succeed. There’s going to be a fallout of those who can’t build a substantial business,” she said.
“Those that will succeed will be the ones who deliver a product that is needed, and then the service quality will be consistent, and they will need to develop a reliable customer base. It’s going to be the one that does the best job and the changes have to be quick and efficient, because the competition is going to be intense.”
Entrepreneur Joseph said he recognized that Green Chef had to set itself apart — and continue doing so in the future — to survive the market saturation.
Currently, they are doing that by offering certified organic products through the FDA, offering specialized meal lines such as paleo or gluten free, and trying to cut down the customer’s time in the kitchen by having sous chefs prepare sauces and marinade meats before boxes are shipped.
“I personally think there is a really big industry evolving here. It may not be exactly like this in 10 years, but there are going to be some strong players who come through,” Mr. Joseph said.
“We weren’t the first meal kit delivery business in the U.S., and I don’t think we are even close to being the last.”
Contact Roberta Gedert at: rgedert@theblade.com or 419-724-6075 or on Twitter @RoGedert.
First Published March 20, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
