Taking heed of the adage, "if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen," meal-kit delivery specialist Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) announced Tuesday that it was pursuing a range of "strategic alternatives" to enhance shareholder value, including a possible sale of the company or a merger with an industry peer. Although Blue Apron was a pioneer in its niche, popularizing the delivery of healthy, ready-to-cook meals for time-constrained consumers, it quickly became clear that it would be difficult to keep customers coming back for its expensive packages. Moreover, as other companies entered the market -- including supermarket giants such as Kroger and Walmart, which stocked their own meal kits lines in their stores' refrigerated cases, and at significantly lower prices -- the weaknesses of a delivery-based business model became apparent. Image source: Getty Images. An orderly exit from relevance The fourth-quarter earnings results were predictable. Blue Apron's net revenue tumbled 33% to $94.3 million, the third consecutive quarter it lost a third of its revenue. Worse, it continued to hemorrhage customers, losing 35,000 in the last three months, and more than 200,000 in the past year. Incredibly, this has been by design. Management decided the company should narrow its focus to just its core customers, and in that regard, its efforts have actually been successful. Average order value rose sequentially to $58.16, the number of orders per customer increased to 4.6, and average revenue per customer jumped to $269. But transforming your company into a small, niche business is not the type of plan that attracts investors. It was almost a foregone conclusion Blue Apron would have to pursue strategic alternatives, but who if anyone might be willing to buy a company that is trying to dramatically shrink itself remains unclear. 10 stocks we like better than Blue Apron Holdings, Inc.When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source