LIM COLLEGE FACULTY BLOG KIDBOX- RETAILING 2020
Branded apparel at value prices delivered to your door. A surprise in every box chosen especially for your child with the added benefit of charitable giving that provides a learning opportunity for children. The proverbial cherry on top is the unpacking moment when the package arrives at home with its multiple social media applications and word of mouth benefits. This is retailing in 2020, but here today!
I recently met with the Kidbox executive team, an assembly of talented seasoned retailers and marketers with impressive CVs including stints at Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, Chico's FAS et al at a Connected Conversations dinner hosted by Andrea Weiss of the O Alliance. Kidbox CEO Miki Berardelli spoke to the competitive advantages and the driving soul of Kidbox, a VC (venture capital)-backed startup that launched in 2016.
Kidbox is the first kid's style box to use a machine learning algorithm to deliver a personalized selection of quality brand-name apparel. Brands include Puma, Diesel, 7 For All Mankind, New Balance, Bebe, Reebok, DKNY and many more quality national labels. The box contains 6-7 items and moms (dads and kids too) have 7 days to decide on the purchase. Kidbox isn't a subscription, rather an on-demand service, driven by when kids need new clothes and parents too busy to shop online or instore.
Convenience and Charity: A Breakthrough Shopping Experience
Miki and her team are providing a breakthrough shopping experience for busy parents, that creates opportunities for quality time shopping with kids in easy digital way that intrigues them. In addition to convenience, Kidbox is a one-for-one program, whereby for every Kidbox purchased the company donates an outfit to children in need via its partnership with K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers. Personalized assortments, convenient shopping, and value pricing with a social mission, this is disruptive retail.
The shopping process begins with an interactive quiz that both parent and child can participate in to generate a style profile. Using proprietary technology an assortment is created by the algorithm with the final touch provided by human stylists. Kidbox says the ratio of data science to human factor is 80/20.
When asked what was the most powerful thing the Kidbox team has learned since its inception, Miki responded, "The importance of giving back and its pursuit of clothing one million kids in need."
Kidbox is helping apparel brands too. With its growing assortment of brands, Kidbox is the vehicle bringing brands literally over the threshold of a home and providing the opportunity for brands to become part of the consumers consideration set. Amidst the growing number of store closures as well as the endless aisles of ecommerce, Kidbox is an attractive solution for kid's brands trying to seek new customers and new distribution channels.
Topics: fashion industry, retail, Fashion News