. Still, it was losing money from high shipping costs and was plagued with quality problems, according to a report from The Information. It had tried increasing prices to $9 on some products, but it wasn’t enough. SoftBank had set up its investment in Brandless so that it would only deliver all of the cash when certain markers were hit. It never in... See more

Brandless was primarily felled by a thesis that never panned out — that there were young consumers who craved a digital middle ground between dollar stores and malls. People who were price-sensitive, cared somewhat about quality, but not about brands. Walmart for hipsters. Trader Joe's for millennials.

Brandless’ proposition of good products at a great price works if they a sustainable cost. Being an eCommerce company, the CAC is a variable that grows with sales. At $3 per product and a CAC that grows along with the volume of sales, the model looks very different and inferior to ALDI’s. For the whole of 2019, as Brandless’ traffic was unravelling... See more