The razor and blade business model generates recurring revenue by selling inexpensive handles and high-margin replacement blades. (1)
Finding how often people change razor blades
Both Dollar shave club (2) and Gillette (3) recommend changing razor blades every 1-2 weeks. Lets go with 10 days as the average.
Calculating the average cost of a razor blade
Taking pricing information from Boots for disposable cartridge razor blades (4), the average cost of each blade is £2.89.
Changing a blade every 10 days means you spend on average £104.04 per year on replacements.
Calculating the average cost of razor handles
Using Boots as a reference, the average cost of a razor handle that fits proprietary cartridges is £10.74 (4).
How lucrative is the razor & Blade revenue model?
£104.04 (average spend on blades per year) / £10.74 (average cost of razor handle)
= 9.7
Buying a multi-blade razor means you will spend 9.7x on replacement blades per year than the amount you spent on the handle.
References
1) Dhebar, A. (2016). Razor-and-Blades pricing revisited. Business Horizons.
2) Dollar Shave Club (2024). How often should you change your razor blades?
3) Gillette (2024). How often should I change razor blades?
4) Boots (2024). Razors and Razor Blades
