Hey there, savvy shopper! If you haven‘t heard about Boxed yet, you‘re missing out on one of the smartest ways to stock up and save money on all your favorite grocery and household essentials. I‘ve been using Boxed for over a year now and I‘m absolutely hooked.
In this ultimate Boxed review, I‘m diving deep into everything you need to know about this game-changing service. I‘ll share my personal experiences, compare Boxed to other popular bulk retailers, and reveal insider tips to help you get the best deals. Trust me, by the end of this post, you‘ll be ready to ditch the store and start boxing up your life!
π¦ What Is Boxed?
In a nutshell, Boxed is an online bulk delivery service that brings the warehouse club experience right to your doorstep – minus the giant carts and crowded aisles. They carry a curated selection of top-selling grocery, household, health, and beauty products in large sizes that help you save money versus buying smaller packs.
What I love about Boxed is how easy it makes buying in bulk. No membership fees, no battling for parking, no worrying about fitting oversized items in your car. Just load up your virtual cart, check out, and voila – your super-sized essentials show up in a tidy, well-packed box.
Boxed was founded in 2013 by a group of tech entrepreneurs who wanted to disrupt the traditional bulk shopping model. They‘ve grown like crazy since then by offering awesome prices, fast & free shipping, and top-notch service. In fact, Boxed has raised over $200 million from investors and earned rave reviews from loyal customers like me!
π How Does Boxed Work?
One of the things I love most about Boxed is how intuitive the shopping experience is. Trust me, if you can order a pizza online, you can definitely handle Boxed! Here‘s how it works:
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Create a free account: Signing up for Boxed is quick and painless. Just head to their website or download the app, then register with your email or sign in with Google/Facebook. No credit card or commitment required!
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Browse & build your box: Boxed has a streamlined, easy-to-navigate interface that makes filling your cart a breeze. Browse by department, search for your favorite brands, or filter by categories like organic, vegan, gluten-free, etc. One handy feature is the ability to sort by unit price so you can easily see what offers the best bang for your buck.
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Stock up & save: Since Boxed specializes in bulk, most items come in larger pack sizes than your average grocery store. For example, instead of a single jar of marinara sauce, you might purchase a 3-pack. Or rather than one jumbo pack of toilet paper, you‘d get 24 rolls. The bigger the size, the more you typically save – I‘ve scored some epic deals this way!
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Check out & choose shipping: Once your cart hits the $49 minimum, you‘re ready to check out. Boxed has a few shipping options depending on how fast you need your order:
- Standard (3-5 business days): $6.99 flat rate or free over $49
- Express (2 business days): $11.99 flat rate
- Overnight (1 business day): $16.99 flat rate
- Boxed Up members get free shipping on orders $79+
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Unbox & enjoy: Within a few days, your Boxed delivery will be on its way! The items come securely packed in a sturdy box with minimal plastic bags (yay environment!). You also get the packing slip that details everything you ordered plus the unit price savings. It‘s so exciting tearing into your box and seeing all the goodness you get to enjoy.
π Boxed By The Numbers
To give you a better idea of Boxed‘s explosive popularity and growth, check out these fascinating stats:
- π 118% year-over-year growth in 2020
- π 7 million registered users
- πΊπΈ 48 states shipped to across the US
- π’ 1.5 million sq ft fulfillment center
- β 4.5 star customer rating based on 12,000+ reviews
- π¦ 25 lb average weight of a Boxed order
- π€ $100 average savings per year versus supermarket prices
(Sources: Boxed Press Page, Built In NYC, Supermarket News)
π What I Love About Boxed
Now that you know the basics, let me gush about all the things that make Boxed my go-to for stocking up:
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π Awesome prices: I‘m all about a good deal and Boxed consistently offers the lowest prices around, especially compared to regular grocery stores. By buying in bulk and scouring for digital coupons, I easily save 20-40% every time I shop.
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π Quality products: Even though the prices are low, Boxed doesn‘t skimp on quality. They carry a great mix of premium national brands like Tide, Dove, Kellogg‘s as well as unique indie brands to discover. I‘ve found the product sizes, packaging, and freshness to be top notch.
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π± Easy ordering: The Boxed site and app are both a pleasure to use. I love how simple it is to find what I need, see my savings, and check out. It literally takes me 5 minutes to place my monthly restock order. Plus, they make it easy to reorder items and save my favorites for next time.
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π Fast & free delivery: Waiting is the worst, so I appreciate that Boxed gets me my goods fast without breaking the bank. Their free shipping threshold is low ($49) and I usually get my box within 2-3 days, even with standard shipping selected. The option for overnight delivery has been a lifesaver, too!
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π Stellar service: One area where Boxed really shines is customer service. Their team is super responsive, friendly, and genuinely wants to help. Anytime I‘ve had an issue (which is rare), they‘ve promptly made it right, either through a replacement, refund, or account credit. It‘s clear Boxed truly values its customers.
π€ Things to Consider With Boxed
While I‘m obviously a huge Boxed fan, I‘ll be the first to admit no service is absolutely perfect. Here are a few things to keep in mind with Boxed:
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π Bulk sizes can be tricky: Buying in bulk can bite you if you don‘t have adequate storage space or if you buy too much of something that goes bad before you can use it. When I first started shopping Boxed, I went a bit overboard and ended up with a dozen boxes of cereal and way too many snacks. Now, I‘m more strategic about only stocking up on what I know my household will go through.
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π₯ Limited fresh grocery: If you‘re looking for a one-stop shop for all your grocery needs, Boxed may not cut it. They offer a good variety of shelf-stable foods and pantry staples, but don‘t carry many fresh items like produce, meat, or dairy. For those, I supplement with trips to my local grocery store or farmers market.
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π Potential shipping damage: Because of the large sizes and heavy items Boxed deals with, there‘s always a small chance your order could arrive with dented, punctured, or broken packaging. While it hasn‘t happened often for me, the times it did, Boxed customer service was quick to send a replacement or refund.
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π° Upfront costs: Even though you usually save money in the long run buying bulk, the upfront costs can add up quick, especially if you‘re trying to meet the $49 free shipping minimum. Budget-conscious shoppers may need to pace themselves and prioritize the most essential Boxed items.
At the end of the day, I still firmly believe the pros of Boxed far outweigh the cons. It may not be the perfect fit for every household, but for most, it‘s an amazing tool to save time, money, and headaches when it comes to grocery and essentials shopping.
π How Boxed Compares to the Competition
Boxed isn‘t the only bulk shopping game in town. Here‘s my quick take on how it stacks up to a few other big players:
Boxed vs. Costco
Costco pioneered the modern day warehouse club and is still the biggest name in bulk. I‘ve been a Costco member for years and love it for certain things, but I‘ve found myself actually preferring Boxed for a lot of my stock-up trips. A few key differences:
Boxed | Costco | |
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Membership fee | None | $60-$120/year |
Delivery | Included | Requires $7-10 fee |
Shipping speed | 1-3 days | 5-7 days |
Average savings | 20-40% | 20-40% |
Accepts manufacturer coupons | Yes | No |
Selection | 1,600+ items | 4,000+ items |
While Costco does offer a slightly wider variety, I‘ve found that Boxed carries 90% of the essentials I typically buy in bulk. The fact that I can shop Boxed without an annual fee, have my order delivered quickly for free, and use coupons gives it a clear edge in my book. That said, I still think both options can complement each other well.
Boxed vs. Amazon
I order a TON of stuff on Amazon, so I was curious to see how Boxed measured up. Amazon does offer bulk groceries and essentials through Prime Pantry, but I‘ve found the experience to be hit or miss.
With Boxed, bulk shopping feels like the core focus: the site is very curated and it‘s simple to find the supersized items and compare unit prices. On Amazon, I often feel like I‘m sorting through a jumble of random 3rd party sellers and it‘s hard to tell if I‘m actually getting a good deal for buying bigger.
The other key difference is the shipping cost and speed. On Boxed, I can easily meet the $49 threshold to unlock free shipping and get my order in a few days. With Amazon, I have to mess around with adding $35+ of Pantry items to a box, then pay a $6 shipping fee per box on top of my $119 annual Prime membership. And even then, the Pantry box takes 1-4 business days to arrive.
For me, Boxed is the better bet when I know I specifically want to stock up on larger sizes of grocery and household items. I still use Amazon for ordering smaller one-off purchases.
π‘ My Top Tips for Boxed Shopping Success
To wrap things up, I want to share some insider tips I‘ve learned to help you make the most of your Boxed orders:
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π Always compare the unit price. Boxed makes it easy to see the price per ounce, pound, roll, etc. on every product. Use this to quickly determine which size offers the best value. You may be surprised that buying the biggest package isn‘t always cheapest!
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π·οΈ Clip those digital coupons. Boxed releases new coupons and promo codes all the time that can be stacked on top of their everyday low prices. Get in the habit of checking the "Coupons" section before you check out. The extra savings add up fast!
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π Set up a subscription for items you always use. If you know you consistently go through things like paper towels, coffee, or snacks, you can subscribe to get them delivered at a regular cadence (every 1, 2, or 3 months). Subscribers save an extra 5-10% and never run out of the essentials.
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π± Get the Boxed app for bonus perks. The Boxed app is free and loaded with extra features to save money and time. You can enable push notifications for things like price drop alerts, new coupons, and delivery updates. Plus, you collect "Boxed Cash" on every order that can be redeemed for account credit.
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π Create Different profiles for personal & business. One cool thing about Boxed is your account can have multiple "shopping profiles" with different addresses and payment info saved. I use my personal one for household stock-ups and a separate one to quickly reorder breakroom and office supplies for my small business. It‘s so convenient!
I hope this Boxed review has given you the full scoop on why this bulk delivery service has become such an essential part of my life. I honestly can‘t imagine going back to the old way of schlepping to the store and overpaying for smaller sizes. With Boxed, I can sit back, relax, and let the savings come to me. π
If you‘re ready to revolutionize the way you buy groceries and household essentials, I highly recommend giving Boxed a try. Use code BULKBABE to save $15 on your first order and see for yourself what all the hype is about. Trust me, once you go Boxed, you‘ll never go back! π¦π