Hi everyone,
I’ve been a member of this community for about a year now and I must say some discussions and posts have been quite insightful and have helped me in one way or the other especially to stay focused on my work no matter what. What I have been working on for the last 8 -10 months has now taken shape and I am happy to share it with you all.
Cosset is a period subscription box service that delivers period essentials to women along with goodies to pep them up during their time of the month. Our box is delivered 2-3 days before their period due date.
Why?
While juggling between work, home and social commitments I often forgot to stock up in advance and had to rush (or make the husband rush) to the medical store just before my periods. I realised the need for having such a service in place that delivers not only your monthly requirements but also pampers you during your time of the month. Cosset was born out of the need for today’s smart urban woman to indulge herself and rightfully so.
What?
There are two variants Basic and Indulgence- The Basic Cosset box contains period essentials and occasional treats and gifts whereas the Indulgence Cosset box contains period essentials, pampering items, comfort foods, intimate essentials and surprise gifts in every month’s box. We have tied up with quality brands to get their products on board in our first few month’s boxes. One can pick up to 2 packets of their choice (3 if they experience heavy flow) from trusted brands like Whisper, Stayfree, Carefree, Ob tampons and Sofy. One can pick from various price plans that we offer for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. Apart from the period essentials, the goodies keep changing every month keeping the surprise element alive.
Where?
We are based out of Mumbai (Thane to be precise) and are shipping to all major metros. We are in the process of tying up with Delhivery. For local deliveries, we have approached Russsh and Scootsyit.
How?
We have tried to keep it as simple as possible for the user. Just 3 steps and the box will be on its way
1) pick your period essentials
2) pick the type of box
3) pick your plan (how many months) – the longer you subscribe for, the easier on your pocket.
4) Enter your period and cycle details
Who?
The idea and the execution of the idea is entirely done by me. I take care of the operations and business development part. I took help from Softpulse Shopify experts for some custom coding of the website and the logo and banners etc were done by a friend and freelance artist Pooja Dholakia. The digital marketing is being managed by Boldkiln out of Delhi.
When?
We launched last month on Menstrual Hygiene day and have been trying to create an online presence esp on twitter by running contests etc.
More…
We are in the process of finalising our partnership with NGO Aakar innovations that manufactures and distributes low-cost, compostable sanitary napkins in slums and villages around Mumbai. They also create awareness about menstrual hygiene in these areas. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to Aakar for the commendable work that they are doing.
Questions:
–There seems to be reluctance in going for longer subscriptions. This could be due to upfront payment. But there is no other option right now. Any thoughts on how can this hurdle be overcome and how we can convince subscribers to subscribe and not just try us for a month.
–If there is anything that you’d like the box to have, what is it?
–We want to get freebies such as vouchers for ice creams, pizza etc from established companies but finding it difficult to convince them. Any ideas how to go about with this?
–Anyone else using shopify for their ecommerce stores, are there any apps that you strongly recommend? (especially for referral marketing or exit intent popup)
–Also if there are any small business owners here who think their products could be a good fit for our boxes- please get in touch. I would love to hear from you 🙂
Lastly I request all Rodinhooders, do give our service a try. If you like it please spread a word and if not, do give us your critical feedback.
Do check out our website and give us a shout on twitter, facebook and instagram (@Cossetbox)
asha chaudhry
hi gunjan,
so a lot of people have tried this kind of venture – and i honestly think there is room for more!! abhik’s and his friend did something a few years back called deeah. i think they didn’t have the bandwidth to continue with it.
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/startup-ideas-for-aspiring-entrepreneurs
(btw both russsh & boldkiln are rodinhooders!)
to answer your q’s about long term – i think people like to first try it out for a couple of months to figure out whether it’s worth it.
also some women have date issues (not regular – so you would need to cater to their needs accordingly!)
GIVEAWAYS – you could also give away homejoy/home beautician vouchers where someone could come home and give you a head massage/facial/manicure/pedicure etc – or you could tie up with a chain of beauticians.
tie up with women-related ventures (limeroad or buttercups – arpita is a rodinhooder) – they could give away a 3 month subscription as rewards to their loyal customers.
again, for freebies – get in touch with folks who want to target women!
yoga classes, zumba classes – any folks that want to ensure women remain healthy 🙂
let me ping puneet of nirogam.
the ngo partnership is awesome! have you met the menstrupedia folks?
have you got in touch with SHEROES?
will think more and get back to you!
good luck!!
Gunjan
Thanks asha.
The date issues can be handled but we do not have the functionality to do that from our website. It is a bit tedious- writing to us and letting us know etc- which may put off women with that problem. But I was talking about the rest who have a pretty regular cycle.
Giveaways- yes, we gave out Kaaryah vouchers in our first box and are talking to other brands about it. Limeroad didnt respond yet but Arpita (buttercups) and I have a conversation going. Homejoy etc is a good option- thanks for recommending.
Sheroes- yes. Sairee is a friend and we are going to do something together soon.
I will be happy to speak to Abhik about deeah and know his inputs!
thanks!
Deeti Dave
Why do you need someone’s period starting date? Don’t label explicitly, you can rather ask: what date you would like to receive the box, and at every how many days. In my opinion, that is probably the resistance point i can see. If you were to ask me these details for a this subscription, when the same thing i can get at my door step within 1-3 hours with a simple phone call with an added loyalty discount from apollo pharmacy, sorry, I am not subscribing to your box, apollo doesn’t ask me what is my start date and how long is my cycle.
Gunjan
Hi Deeti
Thanks a lot for taking time out to visit our website and going through the steps. 🙂
The idea behind asking the last period date and cycle details is for the subscription model. That way we can keep track of the 2nd, 3rd and future month’s box delivery dates too. Instead of asking the customer every time this seems like a convenient option. I do agree that some may find this intrusive. So your suggestion of asking expected date of getting the box and after how many days is nothing but asking the same details in a different way, is that right?
asha chaudhry
gunjan, i read this in the morning and thought of you!
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Saina-backs-feminine-health-startup/articleshow/52947679.cms
i’m not saying run after celeb investors 🙂
but perhaps you could look for brand ambassadors who women look up to!
another thing, i had a brief look at your fb page. if you do have a social media savvy team member, you could either start making the posts more interactive by engaging with your followers.
– start asking people their opinion on certain things
– or ask them to share relevant links on a particular topic or just ask them questions
– or ask them related topics on which they would like read updates, or need info
and slowly you can create a cosset community over fb where you could share lots of relevant content and have experts talk on a topic etc.
– have a live chat on twitter or a google hangout where you can get an expert to talk to women on anything they want to discuss…
it need not even be period related. it could even be a discussion on health, exercise and diet etc etc.
all the best!!
Deeti Dave
yup, i would ask gently without explicitly asking the same details 🙂
All the best!
BTW, you might want to check this out: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/saina-backs-feminine-health-startup/52948434
Gunjan
Sure. Creating a community and getting conversation started is what we are aiming at doing. Brand ambassadors will have to wait. not something I can afford 🙁
Deeti Dave
you can tie up with them, since they are new, you can co-market your concept with them if they agree to.