Dive Brief:
- Direct-to-consumer razor brand Billie began rolling out products at Walmart.com on Monday and will enter 4,000 Walmart stores in February, its first brick-and-mortar partnership, according to a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
- Walmart shoppers will be able to purchase various Billie shaving products such as the Billie Starter Kit and the Lavender Whipped Shaving Cream, per the release.
- The announcement comes a little over a month after the DTC brand was acquired by Edgewell, the maker of Schick, for $310 million in cash.
Dive Insight:
Billie was launched in 2017 with the Billie razor on the idea of offering products that simplify women's daily routines, per the release. The brand has since expanded its offerings to include products like lip balm, dry shampoo and face wipes. "Since day one, our intention has been to create high-quality products at an accessible price point for all of womankind," Georgina Gooley, co-founder of Billie, said in a statement.
Now Billie is joining the list of digitally native brands teaming up with big-box retailers to make products available for purchase offline.
Though DTC brands were built on the concept of bypassing the middleman, the high cost of marketing goods online has made physical stores like Target and Walmart a popular avenue for growth.
Target has expanded its collection of DTC brand partnerships in recent years, teaming up with brands like Function of Beauty, Lively, Native and Quip. Just last year, Grove Collaborative, a sustainable home essentials brand, teamed up with Target for its first physical store debut. Walmart has made several DTC partnerships too, including Gen Z skincare brand Bubble, healthcare startup Ro and feminine hygiene brand Lola.
"Walmart has been ultra-focused on bringing customers the high-quality products they already use and love to our store shelves, making it even more convenient for them to shop their favorite items during their weekly shopping trips," Shawn Townzen, merchandising vice president for personal care at Walmart, said in a statement. The Billie partnership, Townzen added, is a recent example of its growing product assortment.
