IN THE
SEAT How Boxed.com’s new model for private brands can thrive in the era of online retail BY GINA ACOSTA In a leafy suburb about 15 miles outside of New York City, there’s a roundabout near where the Garden State Parkway meets Interstate 78. Down the street, a nearly 145,000-square-foot building emblazoned with the word “Boxed” in blue sits on a hill, towering above residential homes and commercial buildings. If you’ve never heard of Boxed.com, you might drive right past the property, oblivious to the fact that the warehouse is home to one of the most efficient and advanced private brand retail operations in the world. On a recent Thursday, the New York City-based company’s Union, N.J., fulfillment center was a whirlwind of activity, with workers loading trucks full of private brand toilet paper and sparkling water destined for homes across the country. Since its founding in 2013, Boxed, which sells bulk private-branded and branded groceries online without charging a membership fee, has grown into a $600 million company by creating a new pathway for the future of grocery retail. At a time when established food retailers are struggling to figure out what consumers want 10 years from now or even today, Boxed has seemingly cracked the code with its customized warehouse technology and nimble digital prowess that has attracted the attention not just of consumers but also of retailers. “We always thought it was a race — could technology folks like us figure out retail before retail figures out technology?” said Boxed CEO Chieh 14
Store Brands / July 2019 / www.storebrands.com