Barkbox: the way to your dog’s heart
Who is BarkBox?
In 2012 Matt Meeker, who also co-founded MeetUp.com, co-founded Bark along with Carly Strife and Henrik Werdelin. The company is devoted to making dogs and their people happy with the best products, services and content. Bark offers a monthly subscription service called BarkBox, which delivers treats and toys to your pup. BarkBox sends you a curated collection of doggy treats, toys, and accessories each month to delight your dog! When it comes to BarkBox toys, they are tested by the BarkBox team’s own puppy squad, so your Barbox-delivered dog toys and treats are guaranteed to delight your four-legged pal.
What makes them unique?
BarkBox is unique for several reasons! They only provide treats and toys from trusted, reliable vendors who use the highest quality ingredients. When signing up for a subscription, you include your dog’s size so that they can provide the appropriate toys and treats. You can even request an allergy-free box if you have a pup who needs special accommodations. Customers can have the option to choose their Super Chewer subscription if their pup is the king or queen of destroying toys. Barkbox creates a monthly theme for their boxes, so all toys and treats will be new each month. Another thing that makes this company special is that they work with rescues to provide discount codes for adopters as well as they give 10% of all profits to shelters. Lastly, they also have a shop so if your dog especially loved a certain toy or treats that came in a box, you can purchase more from the shop.
Who is their target market & how to reach them?
The target market for Barkbox is of course dogs and their owners! But not just any dog owner. Barkbox wants to reach those owners who treat their furry friend like a family member, those who see the value of giving different toys to their pups, those who use treats, and as well and most importantly, those who will commit to the subscription service. As Nicholas Jasinski describes, more Americans are becoming pet owners, and many of them are treating their dogs like members of the family. BarkBox hopes to ride that craze by tapping into the biggest trends in retail: direct-to-consumer, online, and subscription.
“The eight-year-old company has seen a 58% surge in subscriptions in 2020, to over 1 million as of December.” Bark designs more than 90% of its SKUs, and the retailer has a manufacturer produce them. One of the co-founders, Henrik Werdelin, shares that Bark designs about 10–20 products a month. That means consumers can’t shop around and find the product elsewhere, such as on Amazon.com or pet stores, if they want it. Instead they have to wait for the new toys to be debuted in the monthly subscription box. Bark also does an amazing job with their social media. They don’t just post constantly about their subscription boxes. They share tons of memes and funny dog-related posts to engage their followers.
Bark has not only figured out who their target audience is, and how to market to them, but they also listen and take feedback to make improvements. When they learned that shoppers wanted products that were not always selected for their box, or they wanted to replenish a toy they had received in a box (for example, because their pet had destroyed the toy), they created their Bark Shop. They also have tons of user generated content by encouraging their customers to use their hashtag #BarkBoxDay, making their customers feel engaged with the brand.
With the unique shopping experience Bark offers their customers, and how they engage using social media, it is no wonder BarkBox is so successful!
Resources:
BarkBox Review: Is Bark Box Worth It?
BarkBox Has More Than a Million Subscribers. Now It’s Going Public Via a SPAC.
Case study: BarkBox’s path to $150 million in sales — and profitability
