Author: Qian Yi
Editor: Gu Yan
How special must a pair of sneakers be to become popular in Silicon Valley and gain many celebrities and influencers as their fans?
can be directly thrown into the washing machine and made of pure natural raw materials such as wool, eucalyptus , sugar cane and crab shells. "The most comfortable shoes in the world"... These keywords come from the American innovative shoe brand Allbirds. Since its inception, Allbirds has been based on the concepts of nature, sustainability, and environmental friendliness, and has achieved the ultimate in environmental protection in a pair of minimalist-looking sneakers.
In just 6 years since its establishment, Allbirds has sold more than 8 million pairs of shoes to more than 4 million users around the world. Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio , Apple CEO Cook , NBA star Andre Iguodala , former US President Obama , British actor Emma Watt Celebrities such as Mori are all loyal fans of Allbirds.
htmlOn August 31, Allbirds officially submitted a prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and planned to list on NASDAQ through the issuance of Class A ordinary shares, with the stock code "BIRD". According to the updated prospectus document disclosed by Allbirds on October 25, this IPO plans to issue approximately 19.23 million shares, with an issuance range of US$12 to US$14 per share. Calculated based on the upper limit of the issuance range, the valuation of this public offering will be at most to $2.2 billion.
On November 3, Allbirds officially landed on Nasdaq. The issue price was US$15, and the opening price was US$21.21, an increase of 41.4% from the issue price; the intraday increase reached 116%, touching US$32.44; then the increase fell back, closing at US$28.89, with a market value of US$4.135 billion.
From 1 crowdfunding project to 4 million users
Allbirds started as a wool shoe startup project on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.
In 2014, New Zealand Former national football player Tim Brown (Tim Brown) observed the lack of natural, sustainable and innovative raw materials in the shoemaking industry, and came up with the idea of making sports and casual shoes using Merino wool from his hometown as raw materials. . Soon, Tim Brown launched a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter website, and successfully raised $120,000 in start-up funds in just four days. Then he hit it off with the recycled materials scientist Joey Zwillinger. , the two co-founded Allbirds.
The environmentally friendly label and comfortable wearing experience are enough reasons to convince the first batch of users. In 2016, Allbirds' first product, Wool Runners, became a hit as soon as it came out. It was rated as "the most comfortable shoe in the world" by the American "Time" magazine. NBA star Andre Iguodala and Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio not only became Allbirds' "fans", but also invested in Series A financing and strategic financing respectively, becoming investors in Allbirds successively.
Tree Dashers series, picture source: Allbirds official website
In addition to celebrities “bringing goods”, Allbirds’ capital lineup is also strong. The A-round financing of US$7.25 million was led by the well-known venture capital Maveron, and the B-round financing of US$17.5 million was led by Tiger Global Fund ; well-known fund management companies Franklin Templeton, Rockefeller Fund , and the century-old Investment management company Baillie Gifford & Co, U.S. asset management giant Prudential Group and other well-known investment institutions have also made bets in subsequent financing.
In October 2018, Allbirds completed a US$50 million Series C financing transaction and its valuation reached US$1.4 billion, successfully joining the unicorn club. At that time, Allbirds only opened 3 offline stores.
Before the IPO, Allbirds completed a total of 6 rounds of financing, with a cumulative financing amount of more than 200 million US dollars. According to PitchBook data, Allbird was valued at US$1.7 billion after completing its latest round of financing in September last year.
Allbird also repaid the trust of these capitals with impressive sales results.
Since its establishment in 2015, Allbirds has sold 8 million pairs of shoes to 4 million customers around the world, nearly 90% of which are from the United States.
As of June 30, 2021, Allbirds is sold through a localized multi-language digital platform and 27 offline physical stores, covering 35 countries or regions around the world. In 2020, Allbirds' online channels accounted for 89% of its revenue, and physical stores contributed 11% of its revenue.
Driven by both digital channels and physical retail channels, Allbirds’ net sales in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were US$126 million, US$194 million and US$219 million respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 31.9%; gross profit margin It also increased from 46.9% in 2018 to 51.4% in 2020.
What’s even more eye-catching is that Allbirds has a group of “die-hard fans”. prospectus data shows that since the first quarter of 2019, Allbirds' NPS (Net Promotor Score, Net Promoter Score) has remained at 83, and the NPS in the first half of 2021 reached 86. High NPS values reflect excellent user reputation and satisfaction, which is quite important for DTC brands. About 53% of
's net sales in 2020 were contributed by repeat purchase users; during 2016-2019, 43% of users purchased the brand's supplies again before December 31, 2020, and 50% of users purchased the products again after the second purchase. Choose the third purchase, and 55% of users continue to purchase after the third purchase.
Allbirds penetrates and captures users’ minds from specific scenarios and segmented groups. This emotional value transmission path is very similar to the high-end yoga clothing brand lululemon. Lululemon once surpassed Nike and Adidas with its ordinary-looking yoga pants that cost around 1,000 yuan and became the new standard for the middle class. In the 14 years since its listing, its market value has increased from US$1.6 billion to nearly US$60 billion today.
The rapid growth of Allbirds has also aroused industry expectations - is Allbirds likely to become the next lululemon?
"The most comfortable shoes in the world"
As Allbirds emphasized in its prospectus, this listing will adhere to the concept of environmental protection and conduct the first "sustainable public offering" (SPO) in the United States. Previously, ISS ESG, an international professional sustainability rating company, has completed a review of Allbirds' ESG commitments and practices and confirmed that Allbirds meets the SPO listing standards.
“Sustainable”-related words—sustainable, sustainably and sustainability—appear more than 200 times in the Allbirds prospectus.
According to the official website of Allbirds, its wool series products save 60% of energy than using synthetic materials, and eucalyptus series products save 95% of water resources and reduce carbon emissions by half; the sole material comes from Brazilian sugar cane, and the insole is made of wool and Processed from natural castor oil, the shoelaces come from recyclable plastic bottles, and the shoe boxes and packaging are also made from 90% recycled cardboard.
DTC (Direct To Consumer) sales model is also a keyword that Allbirds puts heavily in the prospectus.
The so-called DTC means that the product goes directly from the manufacturer to the consumer, eliminating the dealer link and compressing the premium space of intermediate channels as much as possible. Compared with the cumbersome business model of the traditional apparel industry, this model is particularly flexible and efficient in terms of collecting user data, responding to user feedback, and adapting to market changes.
Allbirds International President Erick Haskell once said that after learning that a new product in Tmall flagship store received comments from Chinese consumers that it was "too hot to wear", the company quickly convened a team to evaluate and improve based on market feedback to adapt to different needs. Regional climate and consumer preferences, "this adjustment usually only takes 2 months."
Under the DTC model, on the one hand, social media content operation and online platform interaction have become Allbirds’ after-sales service positions. Social fission has enabled the brand’s private domain traffic pool to quickly accumulate; on the other hand, Allbirds can accurately reach and collect High-value crowd information resonates with product positioning and brand value. Thanks to this, Allbirds has a core user group with high stickiness.
A large number of early users have become Allbirds "wild spokespersons". In addition to paying for their environmental protection concepts and brand resonance, the most important thing is due to Allbirds' superior wearing experience.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Brett Jackson, who once worked for Crocs, said on Twitter that during a 10-day trip to Spain, he walked 270,000 steps wearing Allbirds shoes. Joey Zwillinger, co-founder of
, has publicly stated that the brand will not compromise on product quality due to environmental protection concepts. “The reason that attracts customers to buy the first pair of shoes should not be the environmental protection concept, but the comfort and functionality of the product itself. sex".
The high praise rate is not limited to the first product Wool Runner. User reviews such as "feeling like stepping on shit", "machine washable without deformation", "like walking on cotton", "good fit with bare feet" cover the entire range of Allbirds shoes. Taste.
Currently, Allbirds’ footwear products include eight series: Runner, Dasher, Lounger, Skipper, Topper, Runner-up, Breezers, and Pipers. The main materials are South African eucalyptus and New Zealand wool. The Chinese official website sells prices. Between RMB 729 and RMB 1,029.
In addition to casual shoes, Allbirds is also entering the field of accessories such as sportswear, underwear and socks, and the common feature of all its products is still derived from environmentally friendly and sustainable production materials.
Some Allbirds product styles, picture source: Allbirds official website
Environmental protection concept is also a product premium
Whether it is lululemon or Allbirds, they can stand out in the extremely mature and cramped sports shoes and apparel track, and they do not rely solely on providing product value itself to create Brand value and matching the emotional value needs of the target audience are the key.
For emerging consumer brands, the value proposition itself is part of the moat.
"Consumer products cannot be a winner-take-all business. There is no need to focus on the 1.4 billion consumers in China. It is enough to build brand value and accurately locate user groups." According to Li Qianling, founder and CEO of Beixi Investment, being willing to contribute to the concept Paying for brand value is a distinctive feature seen from the new generation of consumers. "Without brand recognition, all you earn is the price difference in the supply chain."
For Allbirds, which takes "sustainability" as the foundation of its brand culture, it is the right person who has become a fan. They are high-net-worth and new urban middle-class people who have strong environmental awareness, a sense of environmental responsibility, and the pursuit of comfort and quality.
From the perspective of consumers, wearing an environmentally friendly product derived from natural and sustainable materials, or receiving the identity of an "environmentalist", or gaining the emotional experience of "contributing to the environment" is a personal value in itself the embodiment of claims. Therefore, the pursuit of environmentally friendly values has become not only the special added value of Allbirds products, but also the core of its brand premium.
More importantly, Allbirds' focus on "sustainability" coincides with the stage when environmental protection calls are increasingly rising. Energy conservation and emission reduction, achieving carbon peak , carbon neutral are the propositions of today's times.
As an environmentally friendly company committed to achieving carbon neutrality, Allbirds uses a "carbon footprint" to record the carbon dioxide equivalent emitted in the production process, and will produce the carbon emissions of each pair of shoes "like the nutritional label on food packaging." "marked on the insole. "Because understanding your carbon footprint is the first step towards a zero-carbon future." Allbirds official website writes.
The carbon dioxide emissions of a pair of Allbirds Wool Runner, source: Allbirds official website
For a long time, commercial production prices low, chemically synthesized materials and their production methods have been one of the original sins of the deterioration of the ecological environment and severe climate problems. Increasingly The more people are aware of environmental impact and social responsibility, the more behaviors that focus on ecological environmental protection and drive product design through technological innovation are being practiced.
Achieving carbon neutrality is the first step for companies to take responsibility for their environmental impact.
According to the Allbirds official website, the company has achieved zero carbon dioxide emissions in 2019, that is, carbon neutrality, by investing in carbon offset projects to offset the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced by its products, offset the remaining impact and neutralize the "carbon footprint".
In addition to Allbirds, many clothing brands are focusing on environmentally friendly, sustainable and recyclable materials. As early as a year ago, Adidas cooperated with Allbirds on the development of high-performance and sustainable sports shoes, committed to producing products with zero carbon emissions, and jointly released low-carbon running shoes FUTURECRAFT·FOOTPRINT.
FUTURECRAFT·FOOTPRINT with a carbon emission of 2.94kg per pair of shoes, source: Adidas official
In 2018, Rothy's, an environmentally friendly women's shoe brand in San Francisco, USA, appeared at Shanghai Fashion Week . Its upper material is fiber made from recycled plastic bottles. ; In 2019, Everlane, an environmentally friendly women's clothing brand with a valuation of over US$2 billion and recognized as the "premium version of Uniqlo ", opened a Tmall flagship store; in recent years, more and more full-size, gender-neutral sustainable clothing brands are also emerging globally.
Clothing brands and technology companies cooperate to develop new fabrics that take into account environmental protection and functionality, which has become a new trend in the clothing industry.
For example, Anta cooperates with DuPont on environmentally friendly materials. DuPont provides Anta with Sorona (fiber made from biological fermentation of plant sugars) and other high-performance materials with sustainable concepts; Hermès cooperates with the start-up MycoWorks. Sustainable leather bags will be launched after developing a leather alternative called Sylvania (a leather-like product made from mushroom mycelium).
Many people, like Allbirds co-founder and CEO Tim Brown, are subtly guiding people to deeply reflect on their possible impact on the environment and take action to awaken society to make more environmentally friendly choices.
