For independent fashion brands, standing out against the big players can be challenging. Department stores or multi-brand retailers often focus more on big labels, leaving small brands without a platform to reach customers.
Wolf & Badger launched to provide a place for emerging designers to share their unique and inspiring products. With more than 700+ brands and growing, Wolf & Badger has launched brick & mortar stores in both London and New York, and seen an incredible 100%+ annual growth rate in sales.
We talk to David Walby, Head of Growth, for more.
Tell us about Wolf & Badger. What makes it special?
Wolf & Badger is a curated marketplace for independent brands, supporting collections from the most exciting emerging, ethically-conscious designers across fashion, beauty & homeware, with accessible prices & premium products.
We’ve made it our mission to provide a platform for designers, from all over the world, to thrive by reaching new audiences and we pride ourselves on selling unique, inspiring products on behalf of them.
We sell both online and in our King’s Cross London & SoHo New York stores, where events are also held regularly. In our London location, we also have a plant shop, juice bar, a mezzanine perfect for leisurely chills reading a magazine, and we even have a rooftop restaurant above with an outdoor terrace – amazing when it’s not raining in the summer.
Then finally there’s Wolf & Badger Studios, our creative studio, that work with designers on campaign and product photography, as well as a growing roster of other clients.
Who are your target audiences? How do you reach them?
Our product range is always growing and evolving, and our brands truly cater to a wide spectrum of people; our customers could be described as a stylish, yet ethically and environmentally conscious community.
We see people of all ages purchasing across our different categories, which is always reassuring knowing the brand selection resonates across the board. We see people making purchases for themselves, but also our customers tend to be thoughtful gift-givers who appreciate the uniqueness & quality of the product.
We reach our audience through Facebook & Instagram (surprise surprise!) and have a fast-growing community on Instagram. As well as this, we see people discovering our brand and designers’ products we stock through Google search & shopping, YouTube, Pinterest, affiliate programs, emails and of course the stores themselves, where events are held regularly.
We put our customers at the centre of all the decisions we make, and try to add genuine value in their experiences with us, both online and offline: from our supreme store and customer service teams who really are Wolf & Badger’s backbone, right the way through to our brands team who help tastefully curate the roster of brands we work with.
Loyalty comes from positive experiences, and that’s what the whole team is striving to create on a day-to-day basis.
How does Criteo fit into your marketing mix?
We initially started out with Criteo’s retargeting solutions, but more recently have seen amazing growth and performance from reaching new audiences, with Criteo’s formats aiding product discovery.
Criteo was recommended to us, and one of the major pluses about the platform is the ease of setup and updating creatives. As we seek to drive growth in new markets over the next couple of years, Criteo’s solutions will be an integral part of reaching new audiences.
What are some of the recent wins you’ve had? What are you proud of?
We’ve seen phenomenal growth over the last five years or so, since pivoting from a successful, mostly offline retailer to an omnichannel marketplace, with 100%+ annual growth rate in sales.
We currently stock 700+ brands and are always looking to bring on board more brands from the UK and the US, who are a natural fit with our ethically-conscious community.
