Razor-blade model disrupted by Razwar’s convenient subscription service

The new business Razwar of the company Growth Bridge fights directly against the big boys in the razor blade market. Instead of using the traditional bait-and-hook principle as it’s being used by Gillette or Wilkinson Sword, this e-shop brings the subscription service concept to the razor blade business. After buying a start kit of € 7.50, users subscribe in order to receive razor blades on a regular basis. For the fixed annual fee of € 27.50 Razwar will deliver 30 razor blades 3 times a year. Straight-forward but innovative in its sector.
razor-blade model subscription service razwar
This is a good example of a so called blue ocean strategy. Instead of focusing on the traditional value parameters in this market (more blades, less irritation,…), razwar tries to change the rules of the game by focusing on convenience and price transparency. In this case, they offer a service to the client instead of regular product sales. Nowadays many commodities are being sold in a similar way. Monthly Socks, Monthly Boxers or Subscription Condoms are good examples. What other concepts do you know?

More revenue model examples and inspiration:

5 Comments »

  • David Hachez said:

    Thank you for the post. All the team is very proud of being showcased on your site.
    regards;

    David

    # 1 July 2009 at 20:16
  • Philippe said:

    Hi David, congratulations with your new project. Do you plan to apply the subscription model to other products in the future? How has the initial feedback been since the launch? Looking forward to meeting you at a next Belgian event.

    # 2 July 2009 at 07:55
  • David Hachez said:

    Stay tuned. That’s all I can say for now. There is more to come for sure. ;-)

    # 2 July 2009 at 15:44
  • Dr. Brian Glassman said:

    Interesting this would work great with electric razors, lets call it maintenance free, if the electric razor gum’s up or stops working you get a replacement the next day, and just ship the old one back.
    Yes Razwar is a nice use of Blue Oceans, and I would be interested to see who their ideal customer is. Is it a executive, who like clean blade, or more psychographic like a person obsessed with personal hygiene? Plus why stop at razors, why not all bathroom accessories!
    Very interesting
    Dr. Brian Glassman
    Ph.D in Innovation Management from Purdue University

    # 31 July 2009 at 18:17
  • Top 10 Popular Business Models | Bizzmodels said:

    [...] Razor-blade model disrupted by Razwar’s subscription service Instead of using the traditional (Gillette) bait-and-hook model, Razwar markets razors as a convenient subscription service. [...]

    # 3 May 2010 at 10:59

Leave your response!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.