Dollar Shave Club
Parent Unilever | | |
Website | dollarshaveclub |
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Dollar Shave Club, Inc.
History
Dollar Shave Club was founded by Mark Levine and Michael Dubin. The pair met at a party and spoke of their frustrations with the cost of razor blades. With their own money and investments from start-up incubator Science Inc., they began operations in January 2011 and launched their website in April 2011.[6][7][8][9]
Dollar Shave Club was backed by a variety of
On July 19, 2016, Dollar Shave Club was acquired by Unilever for a reported $1 billion in cash.[14]
On October 26, 2023, Unilever announced it would be selling most of its stake in Dollar Shave Club to Nexus Capital Management, keeping a 35% stake in the company.[15]
Membership
Dollar Shave Club offers three membership plans, which can be upgraded or downgraded at any time.[16] The membership service first launched March 6, 2012, via a YouTube video that went viral.[17] The YouTube video attracted an unanticipated amount of traffic, which crashed the company's server in the first hour. Once Dubin got the server working, he enlisted a team of friends and contractors to help fulfill the 12,000 orders that arrived in the first 48 hours of launching the video. The orders were initially packed by hand in a warehouse in Gardena, California, before the company moved their warehouse and fulfillment to a third-party logistics center in Kentucky.[3]
As of 2016, the company has acquired 3.2 million subscribers.[18] Although the company primarily markets its products to men, approximately 20% of its customers are women.[19]
Products
Dollar Shave Club offers three plans: "The Humble Twin" (two blades per razor, five razors per month, $4 per month), "The 4X" (four blades, four razors, $7) and "The Executive" (six blades, four razors, $10).[20] Each subscription comes with a compatible handle.
Most of the razor handles and blades are not made by Dollar Shave Club, but rather are re-sold Dorco products.[21][22]
The company also sells related accessories, such as shave butter,[23] wet wipes,[8] and moisturizer.[24]
In late 2012, the company launched its program in Canada and Australia.[25][26]
In 2015, the company expanded its product line to include hair care products, called "Boogie's".
In May 2015, the company began hiring writers and editors for a new website,
In December 2015, Gillette brand owner Procter & Gamble filed a patent infringement lawsuit that claimed Dollar Shave Club used its patented formulas to manufacture copycat blades.[32][33]
In February 2018, the company launched in the United Kingdom.[34]
Promotion
On March 6, 2012, the company uploaded a YouTube video entitled "Our Blades Are F***ing Great" featuring CEO Michael Dubin, delivering his speech in a nonchalant and sarcastic manner.[35] The video prompted 12,000 orders in a two-day span after it was released, and has received over 27 million views as of November 2020.[4][36]
The video won "Best Out-of-Nowhere Video Campaign" at the 2012
On June 4, 2013, Dollar Shave Club released a second video on YouTube called "Let's Talk About #2", which again starred its CEO and promoted One Wipe Charlies.[8] The video won the Shorty Award in 2014 for best use of Social Media.[40]
In 2014, Dollar Shave Club and its One Wipe Charlies teamed up with the
See also
References
- ^ "DollarShaveClub.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
- ^ "Dollar Shave Club, Inc". OpenCorporates. December 16, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Dahl, Darren (April 11, 2013). "Riding the Momentum Created by a Cheeky Video". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ a b Naziri, Jessica (August 16, 2013). "Dollar Shave Club co-founder Michael Dubin had a smooth transition". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ "Man Trades Clothes for a Razor in Dollar Shave Club Spot". AdAge. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Glazer, Emily (April 12, 2012). "A David and Gillette Story". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ "Dollar Shave Club: A Start-Up's Viral Ad for 'F***ing Great' Razors Is a Big Hit". Time. March 12, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ a b c Colao, J.J. "Dollar Shave Club: Breaking The Razor Blade Monopoly". Forbes. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ Jewish Daily Forward: "Jewish Buddies Who Founded Dollar Shave Club Cash In With $1B Unilever Deal" by Laura E. Adkins July 20, 2016
- ^ O'Dell, J. (March 6, 2012). "Dollar Shave Club's blades are "so f*cking great" they just raised a round for 'em". Venture Beat. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ Chapman, Lizette. "Dollar Shave Club Picks Up $10M to Grow Beyond Razors". Dow Jones. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ Truong, Alex. "Dollar Shave Club Raises $12 Million to Offer More Grooming Products". Fast Company. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ Dave, Paresh (June 22, 2015). "Up to 2 million members, Dollar Shave Club worth $615 million, investors say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
- ^ "Unilever Buys Dollar Shave Club for $1 Billion". Fortune. July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ Bitter, Alex (October 26, 2023). "Unilever is selling Dollar Shave Club after 7 long, awkward years of trying to make it work". Business Insider. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
- ^ Sadasivam, Krishna. "Review: The Dollar Shave Club". The PC Weenies. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Janjigian, Robert. "Small beauty renegades make headway amid giants". Palm Beach Daily News. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Colvin, Geoff; Derousseau, Ryan. "Power Sheet: How P&G Missed Out on Dollar Shave Club's Rise". Fortune. Time Inc. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
- ^ Stock, Kyle. "Dollar Shave Plots to Take Over Your Bathroom". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ "Blades". Dollar Shave Club. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ Pash, Adam (April 20, 2012). "Forget Dollar Shave Club; Buy the Same High Quality Razors for a Third of the Price". Lifehacker.
- ^ Wolff-Mann, Ethan (July 20, 2016). "Here's How to Buy Dollar Shave Club Razors for Less Money on Amazon". Money.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021.
- ^ Carney, Michael. "Not just razors anymore: Dollar Shave Club introduces wet wipes for your other sensitive areas". Pando Daily. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ Neff, Jack (May 20, 2014). "Dollar Shave Club Goes 'Upscale' With $9 Moisturizer". Ad Age. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Mitroff, Sarah (November 2, 2012). "$10 Million Shave Club: Discount Razor Service Is a Hit With Investors". Wired. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ Mitchell, Sue. "'Our wipes are f***ing great': How Dollar Shave Club's Michael Dubin plans to 'own the man in the bathroom' with $US12m in new funding". BRW. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ Ha, Anthony (March 25, 2015). "Now Dollar Shave Club Sells Hair Gel, Too". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
- ^ "Dollar Shave Club Adds Hair Care". Happi. March 25, 2015.
- ^ a b Perlberg, Steven (November 11, 2015). "Dollar Shave Club Launches Men's Interest Editorial Destination Called 'MEL'". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Marshall, Jack; Perlberg, Steven (May 14, 2015). "Mattress Company Hires Journalists". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ^ Guthrie Weissman, Cale (August 15, 2018). "Dollar Shave Club's men's magazine 'Mel' grows up". Fast Company.
- ^ Woolhouse, Megan (December 18, 2015). "Gillette sues Dollar Shave Club for patent infringement". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
- ^ Harwell, Drew (December 18, 2015). "Gillette's lawsuit could tilt the battle for America's beards". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ^ Williams-Grut, Oscar. "Dollar Shave Club is entering the cutthroat world of UK razors: 'We like competition'". Business Insider. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ Kaye, Kate (June 24, 2013). "Why YouTube Darling Dollar Shave Club Is Buying TV Ads". AdvertisingAge. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ "DollarShaveClub.com - Our Blades Are F***ing Great". YouTube. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ "Google Takes Top Honors at Viral Video Awards". Ad Age. April 17, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ "Webby Awards: Fashion & Beauty". Webby Awards. May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ "Webby Awards: Consumer Packaged Goods". Webby Awards. May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ "Best Use of Social Media for Retail or E-Commerce". Shorty Awards. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ "Dollar Shave Club". Colon Cancer Alliance. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "We Reached 23 Million People!". Dollar Shave Club. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ Neporent, Liz. "Man Live Tweets His Colonoscopy". ABC News. Retrieved May 1, 2014.