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After relying on digital sales for a couple of years, DTC brands are back to investing in physical retail. At this year's Modern Retail DTC Summit, Brooklinen's vp of retail explains how the bedding and homeware brand is going about its store expansion.
After years of being known as an online-only bra startup that caters to millennials, ThirdLove has big plans this year to grow its brand. The biggest piece of news, announced Monday, is that ThirdLove is acquiring three-year-old startup Kit Undergarments for an undisclosed amount. In addition, ThirdLove plans to grow its store count this year, and scale its sports bra collection.
Fast growth comes with added obstacles, as many direct-to-consumer brands have shown over the years. Growing a digitally-native brand, both online and through wholesale partnerships, requires "failing fast and moving quickly," said luggage brand Béis' president Adeela Hussain Johnson.
With the increasing need to enter new channels, like wholesale and physical retail, more direct-to-consumer founders are bringing on experienced executives to take charge of operations. This month DTC brand Brunt Workwear named a new president less than two years after launching.
Modern Retail analyzed how five product categories are participating in social commerce on four of the major social media platforms to find out which platforms have the most-robust social commerce options, which ones are lacking and how various product categories are using the platforms to drive sales. Modern Retail also studied the platforms’ user demographics to determine which have the most potential for future social-commerce growth.
Founded in 2002, True Religion is best known for its premium denim and was previously sold in 140 True Religion and Last Stitch retail stores in 2017. Now with 50 stores left, the company plans to focus its strategy on becoming a digital-first direct-to-consumer brand.
Last week, inflation hit a 40 year high, according to a new report from the federal government. It’s something that direct-to-consumer executives have been preparing for over the past year. But now, as inflation only gets more urgent, brands have a new reality to consider: they are also having to rethink their value proposition as shoppers become more price-conscious.
Home goods brand Brooklinen is betting on new channels to drive sales growth in 2022. Most significantly, the company plans to triple its retail presence in 2022, opening new stores in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and San Francisco.
Celebrity-founded brands are nothing new, especially when it comes to being the face of the brand. But for early-stage startups, some companies like Kin Euphorics and Onda are bringing on a celebrity co-founder with interest in a more hands-on approach.
Shopify became an e-commerce juggernaut thanks in part to the wave of direct-to-consumer brands in the early 2010s that were able to acquire tens of thousands of customers through cheap Facebook ads. Now, Shopify is betting on influencers – whether that’s a professional athlete or a TikTok chef – to fuel its next wave of growth. Shopify is trying to do this in a variety of ways, most notably with the acquisition of influencer marketing startup Dovetale, announced today.
Product expansion is a natural step for digitally-native brands, which often expand into new categories to grow sales. However, betting on new assortment is risky. It's why fashion-focused brand Frances Valentine is approaching homeware by testing limited-edition runs with the help of its existing suppliers.
Couplet Coffee is only a few months old and is trying to enter the market with a bang. Currently, it's available online as well as at select partners like Lotto.com's Players Cafes. Founder and CEO Gefen Skolnick joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the launch.
As DTC home goods brand Parachute continually expands its product and brick-and-mortar presence, it’s now tapping new executive team members to get the job done.
When the pandemic first hit U.S. shores, sustainability-geared DTC cleaning brands took a backseat to disinfectants like Lysol and Clorox. However, executives at startups like Grove Collaborative, Blueland and Branch Basics said there have been long-tail gains from Americans' increased interest in home essentials. Now, these companies are planning for their next stage of growth.
The payments company Fast just announced that it's shutting down after raising hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital. Fast's trajectory is emblematic of the struggles that e-commerce startups may face this year trying to raise new funding rounds.
Earlier this month, resale platform Rebelstork – which buys back and sells refurbished baby gear – launched in the U.S. The Canadian startup, founded in 2019, is positioning itself as a white-glove and sustainable shopping service for parents. As resale continues to become more popular, more companies like Rebelstork are trying to corner the secondhand market in niche product categories.
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