The latest episode of our Make Business Better livestream
Five years ago, Boxed CEO and founder Chieh Huang was building an e-commerce business out of his garage. Today, the digital shopping club has hundreds of employees in facilities across the US that deliver wholesale goods directly to members’ doors. This ascent has led Forbes to name Boxed one of the next “billion-dollar startups” and Goldman Sachs $GS to cite Huang as one of its 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.
Dialing in from the floor of his New Jersey fulfillment center, Huang talks with Quartz CEO Zach Seward about Boxed’s mission, which is more than just shaking up the wholesale industry.
In this episode, Huang shares his philosophy on fair pricing, including ways Boxed is beating back the “pink tax,” both a legislative policy that taxes feminine hygiene products at different levels than men’s toiletries and a widespread marketing practice of upcharging for objects simply by their color.
This battle against the pink tax is now one of the top five reasons women shop on Boxed—the only retailer in the US who’s taken up this cause.
As he, like so many other leaders, balances the moral obligations and financial realities of running a business, Huang also offers his methodology for making these tough decisions and weighs in on consumers’ growing expectations around supply chain transparency.
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