Box The Party, Chat Commerce, and an MVP
A few weeks ago, I announced the pre-launch of my new retail business, Box The Party. As the landing page says, I want to help people eliminate Pinterest party fails and create Instagrammable everyday celebrations at home. This is a concept I started contemplating when I led Nordstrom Weddings several years ago and a problem that resurfaced for me when I planned a party last year.
Box The Party will be a platform for people to find party ideas and easily buy the whole party in a box. This solves the challenge of having a vision - from Pinterest or elsewhere - and needing to track down all the supplies from different sources and figure out how to put everything together. Our initial focus is on the home entertaining space (e.g., kids' birthdays, showers, holidays, etc.), where hosts can't stop their lives for every celebration but don't want to invest in event planners.
One may or may not literally start on Pinterest to research party ideas and may or may not aspire to a brag-worthy Instagram post following the event. But, more often than not, a celebration starts with some type of idea that requires execution. Box The Party will bridge the gap between vision and reality by styling creative sets of tableware, decor, and more. Today, we shop high/low for our closets and we don't dress head-to-toe in any one brand. So why are our main party goods options to buy a matching set from one brand or to spend a significant amount of time (DIY) and/or money (professional planner) to achieve a different look?
I've written before about my adventures in chat commerce (part one and two). Despite the chatbot hype, I believe there's an opportunity in human-to-human interaction. So it's no coincidence that Box The Party's minimally viable product - which launched last week - is all via SMS, powered by Bottle.
While events are highly visual and I'm eager to unveil an e-commerce platform for people to shop, we can now start helping party hosts with a recommended package for the event they need to host and the budget and ideas they have. Personal Party Stylists can be reached via text at 917-336-6593. Our mission is to help people spend more time celebrating and less time shopping.
