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After a year in stealth mode, personal care brand incubator Arfa was primed for its first launch on March 17. Early indications suggested it would easily win D2C bingo:
- Cofounders include ex-Glossier President and COO Henry Davis and Broadly Publisher Ariel Wengroff.
- Like Deciem or Iris Nova, Arfa is developing several standalone brands under its umbrella.
- Arfa raised at least $7 million in seed funding from a group including Forerunner Ventures—the VC behind Birdies, 11 Honoré, and, yep, Glossier.
But there was a twist. At other D2Cs, “community” refers to loyal Instagram followers. At Arfa, “community” refers to The Collective, a focus group that determines a) which products Arfa sells and b) how Arfa markets them.
- Collective members are also stakeholders, splitting 5% of the company’s overall profits.
- Arfa’s first release: Hiki, a line of sweat solutions from deodorant to body wipes.
Along came coronavirus
Last week, COVID-19 cases in the U.S. climbed and several states mandated nonessential workers stay home. So the fledgling company made an only-in-2020 call.
Instead of launching its Hiki products for sale, Arfa decided to give them away for free.
- Hospital and medical facility workers can get any two Hiki items for free as long as they pay $2.50 to cover part of credit card processing, packing, and shipping costs.
- Everyone else can earn two items for a $5 charge by sharing a positive message on social media and tagging #todayimfeeling and @arfabrands.
“While we are a startup with limited resources, what we do have are Hiki products ready to ship and a fundamental belief in the power of empathy to help people feel better,” Arfa said in a statement.
- The underlying goal: Posts from shoppers who aren’t spending now build brand awareness for later.
My takeaway: Results depending, Arfa’s alternative launch could be a road map for other companies that’ve hit pause on product rollouts.