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Men's skincare brand Huron recently found success from a "build your own bundle" feature on its website. At the end of July, tied to the anniversary of Huron's third year in business, tied Huron released the BYOB feature, offering customers various incentives based on how much they spend. On the day that Huron released the BYOB feature to its full customer base, the company generated more sales than it did on Black Friday.
Founded in 2021, Spritz Society sells sparkling cocktails infused with fruit flavors, which are priced at $17 for a four-pack. Its influencer founder often reaches out to his followers, asking for their feedback on various aspects of the brand from packaging design and brand messaging to flavors and alcohol percentage.
Call them influencers, creators, or whatever your buzzword of choice is: founders with large social media followings are increasingly launching their own e-commerce companies, and starting to follow the traditional retail playbook more closely. The latest example is YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, whose coffee brand raised $7 million in part to expand its retail presence.
With more direct-to-consumer brands entering retail, they face the challenge of standing out on a shelf instead of social media feeds. That's why DTC brand Omsom, known for its East Asian and Southeast Asian sauces, rethought its packaging and look for its first major retail debut at Whole Foods.
While e-commerce startups are still struggling with the fallout from last year’s iOS14 update, it’s been a boom for attribution vendors, who are increasingly finding themselves in demand. In particular, two early-stage attribution startups: TripleWhale and Northbeam have commandeered a lot of interest from younger brands. They, along with more established multitouch attribution vendors like nine-year-old Rockerbox, say that they’ve seen an uptick in new clients last year.
Three-year-old aperitif startup Haus is hoping to sell itself after a recent funding round fell through, underscoring the difficult fundraising environment e-commerce startups face right now. Now, Haus is looking to go through what's called an ABC, or Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors. It's an alternative to bankruptcy, which founder Helena Price Hambrecht hopes will help Haus live on as it puts its business up for sale.
These days, brand founders are trying to find authentic ways to connect and engage with potential customers. One brand foregoing the now-standard digital advertising tactic in favor of word-of-mouth Reddit buzz is Short story. The styling service specializes in petite women's fashion, and uses forums to talk about their products and fit.
CPG startups are constantly trying to get creative with their marketing. One brand, Aura Bora, is taking a page out of the playbook of fast food chains by offering its most loyal customers a secret menu of limited-edition flavors like banana bergamot and mango chili.
Affiliate marketing has long been a staple in online marketing, with many brands utilizing reviews and gift guides to create brand awareness and sales. But with digital advertising going through growing pains, more DTC brands are considering the channel as a cheaper alternative to social ads.
After years of operating exclusively direct-to-consumer brand, Glossier is branching out into wholesale. As part of this new direction under new CEO Kyle Leahy, the company is also restructuring internally to better support wholesale and retail expansion. This week, Glossier laid off about two dozen employees as it ramps up hiring of new positions that specialize in supply chain and wholesale distribution.
Building a community has long been a holy grail goal, albeit a nebulous one, for DTC startups. Some startups, like Thousand Fell, Mejuri and August, are turning to a new chat tool called Geneva to do so, which just launched out of beta this year, and has a number of ties to the DTC world.
Curie — which offers products like deodorants, body washes and detox masks — announced this week that it is launching a Juniper Eucalyptus Full Body Deodorant Spray with high-end gym Equinox, which will then be available at all 105 Equinox Clubs this summer as a complimentary amenity for members. This tie-up follows its partnership with fitness company SoulCycle last summer.
Blueland officially made its entrance into the personal care products in May when it launched a body wash. Now, its new facial cleanser will follow a similar format to other Blueland products by coming with a reusable bottle and dissolvable powder that transforms into a gel once mixed with water.
In its third year in business, DTC underwear brand Parade is rapidly expanding its products and retail footprint. This week, the company announced its new retail partnership with Urban Outfitters, marking its first distribution partnership with a third-party retailer.
Despite Instacart's softening revenue, brands continue to bet on grocery delivery. Several CPG startups spoke about how they're utilizing Instacart Ads and the challenges of gaming the platform's algorithm.
Despite grappling with the impact of excess inventory and shifting customer spending, Walmart reported that it is steadily resolving some of the issues impacting its bottom line. The retail giant is battling headwinds on several fronts, but thanks to value propositions, experts said it is able to weather the storm.
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