4 Big Charts From The Blue Apron S1

Blue Apron, which ships pre-portioned meal kits directly to consumers, announced Friday its intention to issue an initial public offering.

The impending investment opportunity may entice investors encouraged by sequential annual revenue growth above 100 percent ━ and other promising factors.

Here are some of the statistics Blue Apron highlighted in its S1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Target Client

Blue Apron has seized the millennial palate, with more than one-third of its customers (36 percent) between the ages of 25 and 34. Meanwhile, 35 to 44 year olds comprise the next largest cohort (25 percent).

Source: Customer email survey of Blue Apron account holders, November 2016, with 1,804 respondents.

In its present capacity, Blue Apron’s greatest market is California, which accounts for 15 percent of customers. New York (8 percent), Texas (7 percent), Florida (5 percent) and Illinois (4 percent) are the company's next largest markets.

Source: U.S. households data from 2015 U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey. Blue Apron Customers as of December 31, 2016.

Expanding Reach

Recognizing opportunity to increase its share of the $1.3-trillion grocery sector, Blue Apron has committed to expanding its reach through more aggressive marketing strategies.

The food delivery service increased annual marketing expenses by 929 percent between 2014 and 2016, and the present fiscal year is on pace to exceed last year’s $144 million spend. First-quarter allocations rose 144 percent from 2016 to 2017.

The company has also been more strategic in its marketing channels according to S1 charts, shifting its investment emphasis from a customer referral program to media-based outreach.

Notably, the firm sees great potential in non-Internet opportunities. Annual offline media expenditures saw the greatest two-year growth at 3,200 percent, from $2 million to $66 million. That outpaces online media spending, which grew 760 percent from $5 million to $43 million.

The shifts correlated with linear increases in cumulative net revenue per customer against a cumulative marketing cost per customer of $94.

Blue Apron's increased marketing costs corresponded with no visible trends in new customer revenue. Cumulative net revenue throughout a customer’s first six months was $402 in 2014, $451 in 2015 and $387 in 2016.

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