• Source: Thinx Instagram
    Source: Thinx Instagram
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American period-proof underwear label Thinx recently accepted a $25 million investment from personal care business Kimberly-Clark. 

The business, which has had a digital presence in Australia via its own website, made its first physical foray into the Australian market via pop-ups in Sydney and Melbourne in 2018.

After the pop-ups proved successful the brand then signed a partnership with David Jones, giving it a permanent presence in physcial retail locations across Australia. 

Interested to know how the Australian market is responding to the brand and how Kimberly-Clark's funding will impact business in Australia, Ragtrader spoke to Thinx CEO Maria Molland to find out more. 

Thinx’s first physical foray into the Australian market was via pop-ups – why did you decide to enter the market in this way? What were the metrics of success for these pop ups?

Thinx, Thinx (BTWN), and Speax have always been available to Australia via our website.

In fact, Australia was our third highest performing country in terms of sales – behind the US and Canada – so it was a natural fit to go to Australia for a physical pop up based on that data.

Not only did Australians already love our product, they are also particularly interested in health and wellness, protecting our environment and ending the use of single use plastic.

Regarding the metrics of success for our pop-ups, we looked at sales, influencer activity and press coverage, all of which beat our projected expectations last year. 

How did the partnership with David Jones come about?

When we made the decision to expand the business to select partnerships, premium retailers like Selfridges, Nordstrom and David Jones were always high on our list.

Given the early success with Selfridges in 2018, we believed the product would work just as well at David Jones, so we reached out to them at the end of last year.

Their team has been incredible in terms of supporting the brand, adding it to 17 of their top locations for the launch.

How are Australian consumers responding to the brand?

We’ve had tremendous response from Australians.

A recent survey revealed that 9 out of 10 Australians care about sustainability and our product delivers one of the most sustainable solutions for managing periods and bladder leaks.

Not only do we deliver a premium product with fashion forward colours, silhouettes, and prints, but they are also are washable and reusable across all three ranges and I think that aspect is particularly appealing to Australians.

Additionally, our customers in Australia seem to lead very active lifestyles and our products provide comfortable solutions for the many activities they enjoy, from hiking to running to football.

In fact, when we were in Sydney a lot of mums were seeking the product for their daughters to wear when playing football and field hockey.

 Are there any differences in popular styles/purchasing habits of Australians v. Americans?

Style ranks/popularity are similar in the US and Australia, with the top three styles ranking exactly the same. Our brand marketing works really well in Australia because of the commitment to sustainability and protecting the environment.

Why did you decide to launch both in-store and online with David Jones? Which channel is proving stronger in terms of sales?

As a relatively new product category and a concept that requires education, being in physical retail is a huge opportunity for us.

We also know that customers want to touch and feel our product pre-purchase, so naturally going in David Jones stores was a priority.

We also understand that department stores are omni-channel and as a digitally native brand, it makes a lot of sense to us to support David Jones' online business as well.

Currently, the sales are coming mostly from David Jones retail stores, but as we grow awareness of the partnership, we do expect that to change.

thinx-purple.jpg
Source: Thinx Instagram

How do you market the brand to Australians? Which channel is strongest for engagement?

We haven’t created a different ad strategy for the Australian market and like the US, Facebook and Instagram are strong channels for us in Australia.

In fact, Australia is our fourth biggest audience on Instagram, behind the US, UK and Canada.

We also saw a sizeable lift in followers from Australia after we hosted our first-ever pop-up in Australia in 2018.

Interestingly, Melbourne is also our fourth largest city following Thinx on Instagram, behind NY, London and LA.

You’ve accepted investment from Kimberly-Clark, how will this investment impact your operations in Australia?

With this new funding, Thinx will be able to accelerate its growth, cementing its role as the industry leader in period and bladder leak proof underwear not only in the US but also abroad.

This funding enables Thinx to continue to scale at a faster rate through broader brand awareness, third party validation from celebrities and influencers, expansion via distribution including premium and mass retail, and continuing to innovate around our product.

Our goal is to innovate around our product and continue to drive social change, and we plan to bring all of this Australia in the months and years to come.

What are some long term goals (in the next 5 years) the brand hopes to achieve?

Our goal is to become a $500m company in the next eight years by creating a global brand.

We plan on doing that in a few ways; continuing to innovate and broaden our product portfolio beyond underwear; expanding our retail partnerships; and, creating more brick and mortar experiences.

For example, in early 2021, we’ll be launching a lower price product for Thinx and Speax for mass retail i.e. drugstores, supermarkets, and pharmacies.

Because one of our goals as a company is to create social change, we want to continue to be a leader in sustainable period solutions and make our product more accessible to more customers and be in the same places as disposables.

Additionally, we will continue to expand our wholesale business globally including mass retail and premium points of distribution.

Based on the performance of the pop ups, we will consider opening stores in the US and will have more physical pop ups around the world, so we can continue to have in-person interaction with our customers.

At the moment, our products are sold at over 60 boutiques and department stores around the world including with Selfridges and John Lewis in London and online, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Nordstrom and Kohl’s in the US, as well as on Asos.com globally.

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