Following a report this morning that Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has filed a trademark application on a phrase that refers to prepared food kits, shares of Blue Apron Holdings. Inc. (NYSE: APRN) tumbled as much as 12% to $6.51, — 35% below the company’s initial public offering (IPO) price of $10.
Blue Apron’s IPO came just a few day after Amazon announced its agreement to acquire Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) for $13.7 billion.
Amazon filed a trademark application on the phrase: “We do the prep, you be the chef.” The e-commerce giant said the phrase covers “Prepared food kits composed of meat, poultry, fish, seafood, fruit and/or and vegetables and also including sauces or seasonings, ready for cooking and assembly as a meal,” according to a report at MarketWatch.
Amazon’s massive customer base, including some 85 million Amazon Prime subscribers, could punch a serious hole in the plans of Blue Apron and other startups seeking to play in the meal delivery business.
The big problem is customer acquisition costs. It’s a marketing truism that keeping a customer you already have is much cheaper than drumming up new ones. And while Blue Apron reported in its IPO filings that it had 1 million subscribers averaging just over 4 orders each, the average order value fell from $59.28 in the first quarter of 2016 to $57.23 in the first quarter of 2017.
Now that Amazon appears poised to enter the meal-kit market, Blue Apron faces a truly formidable challenge. It’s worth noting, however, that companies frequently file for trademarks they have no intention of using, either because they changed their mind or because it was just a nuisance filing aimed at keeping a competitor away from the golden words.
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Recent APRN News
- Form SC 13G/A - Statement of acquisition of beneficial ownership by individuals: [Amend] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 02/08/2024 10:52:23 PM
- Form 15-12G - Securities registration termination [Section 12(g)] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/24/2023 02:00:11 PM
- Form EFFECT - Notice of Effectiveness • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/20/2023 05:15:22 AM
- Form SC 13D/A - General statement of acquisition of beneficial ownership: [Amend] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 09:30:42 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 09:30:35 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 04:14:22 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 03:55:55 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 03:50:49 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 03:37:06 PM
- Form S-8 POS - Securities to be offered to employees in employee benefit plans, post-effective amendments • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 02:17:00 PM
- Form POS AM - Post-Effective amendments for registration statement • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 11/13/2023 02:08:23 PM
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