eCommerce Success Story: Happy Box

Let's be honest, how often have you been genuinely surprised by a gift? Rarely, right? And if that gift is corporate merchandise? Probably never.

This is precisely where the founders of Happy Box found their niche: they wanted to sell personalized and customizable gift sets for individuals or businesses with carefully selected, out of the ordinary products. You can be sure that if you choose this store, you will get a much more memorable set than if you handed out the usual USB drive or branded t-shirt.

Plus, they take care of everything, including the logistics of shipping to your office or, if you prefer, directly to the final recipient.

These are entrepreneurs who "think outside the box" (pun intended).

I personally love learning about the origin of businesses, what they are based on, and the process each online store goes through to develop their idea and product.

In the case of Happy Box, the original idea was driven by the love between two sisters. According to their story, on one Valentine’s Day, Ariel was heartbroken after her boyfriend left her.

Her sister Hanna, to lift her spirits, decided to put together a box with a few gifts small, carefully chosen items to make her feel better.

It worked, but it also sparked an idea: there was a business here.

Let’s see how this idea evolved from a single custom gift box to a successful online business that has already sold over 700,000 boxes.

The first thing that stands out is their philosophy. These sisters consider themselves the Snoop Dogg of gifts among a sea of Martha Stewarts (the quintessential middle aged homemaker in the U.S.).

But catchy phrases alone do not build a business; there has to be more substance behind it. These two sisters have focused from the start on pack customization and full-service offerings.

Regarding customization, it goes far beyond just adding a logo. While there are pre made packs for various situations, occasions, and seasonal events, the main feature is that, through their website, we can build our own box, including all the items we want and the quantity of each.

By the way, some products can indeed include a logo, in case you were wondering.

Once completed, we can continue by choosing, for example, the box itself or the card to be included (with the option of handwritten text, if desired) and the level of branding we want to incorporate in the packaging… and then buy as many boxes as needed, even if it is just one.

We also mentioned service. From a customer’s perspective, they offer something vital: they take care of everything. When we say everything, we mean creating the packs, receiving orders, picking in their warehouses, processing orders, personalizing when needed, and shipping to the final recipient.

Regarding shipping, for instance, there's an interesting aspect. They allow us to send boxes to a single address or, if preferred, provide a list of addresses for them to handle multiple shipments… without involving us at any point!

We could essentially describe it as a marketplace, because different vendors sell various products on the same platform. This is entirely transparent to the customer, at least since they don’t have to place multiple orders and everything is centralized through Happy Box.

On the platform, they inform us of the different product origins and even some characteristics or details about the companies behind them.

This product falls outside the bounds of the standard, which means they need to make an extra effort in communication to sell it.

In other words, everyone understands how to buy a sweater online, even how a subscription service works, but Happy Box is different, especially given its level of customization.

Additionally, there is another key aspect to consider: the target audience and the segmentation they focused on from the start: millennial women who shop for gifts (corporate merchandise came later).

What are these contents? Mainly:

However, thinking about their target audience, another platform probably comes to mind. Sure, they are also on Pinterest.

This network is often underused by many online stores, yet case after case shows it has tremendous potential in certain niches and segments.

In principle, it is a network that works exceptionally well for anything related to inspiration. With a relatively small follower count, their profile still manages to generate 19,000 monthly visits to their boards.

Happy Box is the perfect example of how to do things right: they identified a real need and addressed it fantastically, always maintaining clear and consistent communication.

This has not only helped them connect better with their customers but also allowed their business to grow organically.