Men’s Health Jumps on the Subscription Box Bandwagon with Box Just for Men

Men’s Health, the world’s best-selling men’s magazine, is jumping on the subscription box bandwagon, reports WWD. The quarterly box will include a selection of

Men’s Health, the world’s best-selling men’s magazine, is jumping on the subscription box bandwagon, reports WWD. The quarterly box will include a selection of fitness, food, tech and grooming products for men. This will be in addition to Men’s Health’s other offerings which include a website, print magazines, books, and events. With 13 million readers, Men’s Health, a Rodale-owned publication, might be onto something.

Subscription news: Men's Health Jumps on the Subscription Box Bandwagon

Source: Men’s Health

According to WWD, Men’s Health signed a three-year agreement with The Box Out Group, also new to subscription boxes, in exchange for a revenue share. The subscription box which will run subscribers $89.99 each, or they can save 10% with a year-long subscription for $323.96. The first box will ship in April. It is valued at $280 and includes 11 items curated by the magazine’s fitness director BJ Gaddour and food/nutrition editor Paul Kita:

  • Zing Socks
  • Clinique SPF 21 Moisturizer
  • Recipe for Men Under Eye Gel
  • Fatman’s Beef Jerky Sweet & Spice
  • XD Aluminum Handle jump rope

Why a subscription box? While the subscription box market is saturated with cosmetics and beauty products for women, few services exist in the men’s space. Men’s Health will compete against Birchbox’s subscription box for men, but with different price points and products, Men’s Health will be able to differentiate itself. Because the price points vary so much (Birchbox is only $20 a month), the two boxes will appeal to different audiences.

If Men’s Health is successful with its subscription box, it is likely that other Rodale properties like Women’s Health and Prevention might also get into the mix.

Insider Take:

If this were a women’s publication, we’d be skeptical that another subscription box could adequately compete in that space. However, looking at the few offerings for men (Birchbox, Gentleman’s Box, Dollar Shave Club, Trunk Club), Men’s Health has a decent shot at succeeding. We are concerned that the price point is pretty high, so the quality of the products and the exclusivity factor needs to be there to convince someone to part with his hard-earned cash to become a subscriber.

Men’s Health is smart to partner with a company to manage this part of their business, since Rodale’s expertise is in publishing. It is also smart to try a quarterly box to test the market. In between shipments, Men’s Health can research its success, or lack thereof, and tweak it as they go. We wonder why Rodale signed a three-year agreement though. That seems like a pretty big commitment for something they don’t will work.

With so many readers, Men’s Health does have an eager audience though. The question is how many will shell out $90 four times a year for a curated subscription box. Time will tell.

 

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