瞄准吃货的创业点子：快递美食

    募集的资金也将用来建立在线商城，顾客可以直接购买当月食盒中的食品。这一步模仿自最成功的订购销售初创公司之一Birchbox。该公司有80万订购者，在最近一轮筹资中估值达4.85亿美元。Birchbox有30%的收入来源于用户的直接购买，其余则来自每月的礼盒订购。

    几年前，订购销售成为了初创公司流行的一种商业模式。该模式由Birchbox（化妆品）等发起，随后服装公司ShoeDazzle、BeachMint和JustFab等对此进行了借鉴。Barkbox（宠物狗用品）、Dollar Shave Club（剃须刀）和Blue Apron（食材）等都进行了大轮融资。而其他公司如Lot18（酒类）、Caskers（精美工艺）和Craft Coffee（咖啡）也通过引入新的特色产品打出了自己的品牌。如今，从调味品（如Ship and Dip）到大麻配件（如The Happy Crate），几乎所有物品都有提供每月订购的公司。甚至还有一家名为Blush Box的公司提供性感内衣和情趣玩具。

    这类服务并非没有失败的前车之鉴。ShoeDazzle、BeachMint和JustFab都苦苦挣扎一段时间后被合并了。（BeachMint在本月初与Lucky杂志合并前，曾经缩减规模，而JustFab和ShoeDazzle两家在2013年底进行了合并。）其他的，比如借助名人效应的12Society实现了软着陆。而酒类订购服务TastingRoom则被Lot18收购。两家情趣玩具订购店BoinkBox和SpiceGuides（之前叫做Dejamor），也暂停营业了。

    沃洛托瓦称，她注意到了订购销售的一些缺点，意识到订购销售每个月都需要提供超值服务才行。她表示：“你必须为订购者创造某些价值，连同着那些可以分享并迅速传播的兴奋和体验。”Try the World在盒子里提供的商品分量都很足，因此顾客不会认为没得到足够的价值。

    缺点是什么？Try the World的盒子中只有包装好的食品，因为这样才能被装运。此外，盒子里也只包含美国食品和药物管理局许可的物件。这意味着美食旅游的一些最诱人的食品——比如非法的西班牙火腿，或是未经高温消毒的法国乳酪，这在美国比买到枪支还要难——仍然需要出国才能享用。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    The money will also go toward building an online marketplace, where customers can directly purchase items from the monthly boxes. That move follows the footsteps of one of the most successful subscription commerce startups, Birchbox, which has 800,000 subscribers and was valued at $485 million in its latest round of funding. Birchbox gets around 30% of its revenue from direct purchases and the rest from monthly box subscriptions.

    Subscription commerce became a trendy business model among startups several years ago, led by startups like Birchbox (focused on cosmetics) and followed by the apparel companies ShoeDazzle, BeachMint, and JustFab. Subscription companies like Barkbox (for dog supplies), Dollar Shave Club (for razors), and Blue Apron (for meal ingredients) raised large rounds of funding. Others including Lot18 for wine, Caskers for craft spirits, and Craft Coffee for coffee have made their mark introducing foodies to new specialty products. Now there are monthly subscription services for just about anything, from condiments (Ship and Dip) to marijuana accessories (The Happy Crate). There’s even one for lingerie and sex toys called Blush Box.

    The category has not been without its failures. ShoeDazzle, BeachMint, and JustFab have struggled and ultimately consolidated. (BeachMint scaled back before merging with Lucky magazine earlier this month; JustFab and ShoeDazzle merged in late 2013.) Others, such as celebrity-infused 12Society, found soft landings. TastingRoom, a subscription wine service, sold to Lot18. Two subscription sex toy services, BoinkBox and SpiceGuides (previously known as Dejamor), have put operations on hold.

    Vorotova says she’s observed some of the shortcomings of subscription commerce and learned that subscription commerce needs to over-deliver every month. “You have to create some kind of value for the subscriber, along with excitement and experience that is shareable and essentially becomes viral,” she says. Try the World includes large portions of each product in its boxes, so customers don’t feel they’re not getting enough value.

    One drawback? Try the World’s boxes only feature packaged foods, since that’s what’s shippable. Further, the boxes can only include FDA-approved items. Which means that holy-grail items of foodie tourism—illegal Spanish ham, say, or unpasteurized French cheese, which is more difficult to purchase in the U.S. than a gun—still requires a trip abroad.

    Update: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Try the World’s co-founders were ex-Google employees. They were participants in an incubator at Google.