When picking digitally native brands for their shelves, wholesale retailers have recently found health is wealth. Lola, the period care brand, expanded its partnership with Walmart to reach 2,900+ stores last year. Across the strip mall, labels from Thinx (menstrual underwear) to Care/of (vitamins) have joined Target’s shelves in recent months.
Ro’s choice: Walmart. The DTC telehealth and pharmaceutical unicorn exclusively told Retail Brew it’s taking its men’s health and wellness products line, Roman, to 4,600+ Walmart stores beginning May 1. 4,600+ locations = roughly 97% of all US Walmart stores. FYI, Ro made $230 million last year, but isn’t yet profitable.
- George Koveos, COO at Ro, told Retail Brew 41% of Ro patients already shop at Walmart for personal care needs.
- “We see expanding into retail as an entry point to the Ro platform” for healthcare services, Koveos said.
Easy pills to swallow
Instead of sprinkling products across several aisles, Ro will cross-merchandise seven men’s sexual health products and vitamin supplements on one end cap. Koveos told us the layout ensures Walmart shoppers are intro’d to categories they may not have discovered online—and reduces stigma around products typically shipped home in unlabeled boxes.
Looking ahead...Walmart didn’t respond to our comment request, but its health and wellness sales are rising, alongside DTC pharma competition. We’ll keep an eye out to see if it’s courting additional brands in Ro’s category. — HL
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