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Why Subscription Boxes Flopped in China

Both global players and local upstarts have failed to make the business model work in a market obsessed with product discovery, but a different kind of box is making waves.

Beauty subscription box. Shutterstock.

By

Zoe Suen

27 April 2021

BoF PROFESSIONAL

In 2015, Birchbox was looking eastward. The New York-based beauty start-up was at the fore of a subscription box boom: it operated across six countries, formed relationships with a million users and was valued at $485 million the year before. China was a potential goldmine.

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About the author

Zoe Suen is a contributing writer at The Business of Fashion. Suen is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant who writes about luxury fashion and beauty.

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