Online-only Eucalyptus eyes growth on the store shelves
Health brand incubator Eucalyptus has unveiled plans to expand beyond its direct-to-consumer and service offerings and enter bricks-and-mortar retailers across the country.
The business, which owns and operates the Pilot, Kin Fertility, Juniper, and Software brands, has entered into a partnership with Priceline Pharmacy which has already seen Software products on shelves.
The next step, according to Eucalyptus’ head of business & product Cade Fleming, is to connect the business’ digital focus with a new physical strategy, determine what opportunities exist for new products in areas it doesn’t already cover, and to launch into new physical channels.
“Software launched into Priceline stores around three or four weeks ago, and the results we’re seeing already is pretty incredible,” Fleming told Inside Retail.
“It’s still early days, but we’re above forecasts by a pretty significant margin. So now it’s about figuring out what other white spaces or products we’re not offering that we should, based on the consumer insights we’re seeing.”
Out of the silo
Since the business launched in 2019, Eucalyptus has largely operated within its own siloed ecosystem. Employing its own medical professionals, the business’ brands have been able to perform their own consultations, and recommend which of their products made sense to each individual customer.
The benefit of this is a very clear stream of customer data, and control over how their customer interacts with the brand. This is all going to change with the move to store shelves, but Eucalyptus wants to figure out how to bring its new customers into the fold.
“We’re starting to think about how we integrate our consultations and diagnostic technology into a bricks-and-mortar experience,” Fleming said.
One way for Eucalyptus to achieve that is through a potential integration with Priceline’s pharmacy team, helping onsite pharmacists offer prescriptions for the business’ prescription products. Another is finding a way to funnel bricks-and-mortar customers onto the business’ websites.
“It’s a challenge, but we’re trying to reduce the friction as much as possible,” Fleming said.
“[Eucalyptus] is in this mindset of driving awareness, consideration and traffic to our digital platforms, but now we’ve got a different channel that interacts in a different way.”
Software is just the start
Currently, only the business’ skincare brand Software is available outside of its closed ecosystem, but Eucalyptus’ plan is to have products from Pilot, Kin and Juniper available across a variety of retailers in the health retail space.
“All of them have different distribution and channel strategies, and have different products within their portfolio,” Fleming said.
Kin Fertility, for example, plays across vitamins, minerals and supplements, as well as personal care products, whereas Pilot focuses on men’s health issues.
“That’s the unique thing that we’re doing: our brands are very targeted around who or what problem they’re going after,” Fleming continued.
The aim, according to Fleming, is for each of the business’ brands to know their audience, and speak to their audience, in a targeted, specialised way. It is also to provide solutions for specific conditions, rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
Hockey-stick growth
Eucalyptus’ broader aim is to hit $20 million in revenue through its retail distribution arm this year and to double that the following year.
The business is investing more into a physical product strategy, but for now Eucalyptus is enjoying “hockey-stick growth” in its core online business.
“There’s also the potential for an international component to the business, as well as new brand development where we do partnerships with retailers to build exclusive brands alongside them,” Fleming said.
“That’s what we’re good at.”
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