The new consumption era, Athleisure (sports and leisure) style is widely sought after. With accompanying, more and more sports brands are from “small” to the public vision, Sweaty Betty is one of them.
Sweaty Betty was founded in 1998 in Nordillia, the London, and is a thrive of European and American feminist movements. In the same year, Canada’s Lululemon and the Athleta in the United States have been established. The former revenue has reached 4.4 billion US dollars, and the latter has become one of the most profitable brands in GAP after being acquired by GAP in 2018.
Big big game, small business. For more than 20 years, the Sweaty Betty of the Bum-Sculpting, which established its own unique brand image in the world’s fanatic sports and leisure market.
1. Retail shop starts home, tights with fashion genes
The birth of SWEATY BETTY comes from the founder’s insight against the sportswear market. “The 1998 female sportswear looks very bored, design boring, quiet, sportswear does not really talk to female dialogue, I think it is time to provide more fashionable sports clothes for women who love sports.” This is Sweaty Betty official website, its founder wrote the brand history.
The founder of SWEATY BETTY Tamara Hill-Norton and Simon Hill-Norton are a couple, and Tamara decided to create their own sportswear brands with their husband partnership after work.
The first store chooses to open in Notting Mountain, because the Nordishan in the year is like the current Shanghai Anfu Road, which is very trend attribute, and there are many Americans in the vicinity, so there is a lot of gym and all-in-one. Pilates studio. “The only employee I went on the time before the opening of the opening, so I only manage this store during Christmas. Afterwards, this experience makes me pay more attention to the consumer experience in the future.” Tamara writes in the official website.
When SWEATY BETTY is open, the positioning is not a clothing brand, but a retail store, except for its own brand, will sell Nike, Yassea and other brands of goods – interesting, Nike’s predecessor blue belt Sports is only a Japanese brand ghost tiger in the US distributor. After several years of operation, Tamara finds that the profit of other sports brand products is too low through wholesale, while their own brand sportswear began to be welcomed by consumers.
In 2008, Tamara decided not to sell other brands of clothes, strengthen Sweaty Betty products and brand creation. In 2009, TWEATY BETTY teams including design, sales and markets were formed with Simon, focusing on developing their own products.
Sweaty Betty’s core product buttocks shaped sports tights, priced at 880 yuan. As a product, Bum-Sculpting sports tights combines human engineering tailoring, making consumers to wear the hip legs with liping and probabilistic effects, because materials have high-elastic fiber elements, can provide superior shape and Support function.
Sweaty Betty Designed “God Save The Queen” series of products.
“The real shift begins with the 2012 London Olympics. The sports atmosphere of the city reached the highest point.” Tamara said that Sweaty Betty designed a series of sportswear named “God Save the Queen” (Tianyou Queen). I got Vogue, the product was immediately grabbed.
Since then, SWEATY BETTY is more focused on combining fashion styling and technical fabrics, and Sweaty Betty won the WGSN Best Sportswear Design Award in 2013. In 2015, the Sweaty Betty gave Sweaty Betty on the stage of London Fashion Week.
In the brand story, the founder of Sweaty Betty said: 2009 decision is a great breakthrough for us, so it has achieved today’s SWEATY BETTY.
2. Cooperate with high-end department stores to accelerate the development of the US market
As the starting point of sports lifestyle, Sweaty Betty naturally doesn’t want to miss it.
In 2010, Sweaty Betty exceeded 10 million in the British market, reaching 1.16 million pounds.
With the success of the British market, Sweaty Betty expansion plans aimed at the United States with the highest global fitness. In 2011, the US official website was opened. Two years later, the first store was opened in New York SOHO.
In 2015, US Private Equity Investment Corporation Catterton (2016 with the LVMH Group’s investment company L Capital is currently the consumer goods investment company in the world) found Sweaty Betty’s flash point, and purchased the latter’s minority equity in February. May, Sweaty Betty announced that the US Department Store Bloomingdale’s is joined to open the first counter in New York Manhattan, and be the first sports brand in the mall, and this also marks the strategy of Sweaty Betty starting in the US market deposit department store.
In 2018, the two founders decided to sell most equity to l Catterton. Subsequent Sweaty Betty announced in the United States to cooperate with high-end department store Nordstrom, and set up 25 physical stores and online malls to further expand the US market.
In the first in the US market, SWEATY BETTY chose relatively conservative market strategy to cooperate with local well-known luxury goods supplies, so that the brand can touch consumers faster, through the form of high-end department stores, can be effectively reduced Brand operating costs.
High-end department stores in the market, high-end department stores, help Sweaty Betty to quickly enhance brand image and benefits. When Gigi Hadid and Kate have Sweaty Betty, the brand has got good feedback in the global market.
Gigi Hadid wears Sweaty Betty’s clothes.
In addition, SWEATY BETTY established a crisis risk prevention and control strategy in 2019, and opened air transport in order to optimize the supply chain. This strategy truly resists the influence of the epidemic on the Sweaty Betty supply chain, comparing other brands of freighters, Sweaty Betty’s supply is sufficient, and the brand sales is improved.
Through the above, Sweaty Betty has grown sharply in the US revenue. According to Business Insider, 2020, US market camp accounted for 40% of the company’s total business. Up to now, all stores in the United States are in cooperation with Nordstrom, and the number has reached 100.
3. Embiguity female in healthy lifestyle such as fitness
Sweaty Betty focuses on the four aspects of the product: design, function, environmental protection and consumer experience.
Domestic and foreign media often use Lululemon’s strong competitors to describe Sweaty Betty, but Sweaty Betty China Vice President Lexie Morris said in a slut skating sports interview that the layout of the brand in the Chinese market will not compete with Lululemon.
“The Chinese market is too big, Lululemon has indeed high loyalty in the yoga market, and the yoga class in the first-tier city, you will see more than 50% of consumers wear lululemon. From the main tights, Lululemon is more Soft, and our advantage is to shape and hip. From the sports project, Lululemon was originally doing yoga, and we were all sport categories from the beginning, you can choose plastic pants, swimsuit, running clothes at Sweaty Betty. Even ski clothes. “
In essence, the nature of brand marketing process is to compete for consumers. It can be said that yoga categories are almost occupied by Lululemon, but more sports, etc. have not had brand completely occupied consumers, and this is also the opportunity to see in the Chinese market, as well as brand Slogan – – Embiguged women through healthy lifestyle such as fitness.
L Catterton’s two investors Huang Wei showed the interview with Chang Shuai interviewed the Knife Institute. Sweaty Betty product design boldly and fearless, leggings covered with various colors, and its very high product quality Self-reliant women feel that they can trust, and they are willing to pay for it.
Sweaty Betty is not satisfied with only a classic fitness pantry, but through the consumer feedback, continuous product upgrade. Because more and more people are in the fitness process, there is no attention to what is expensive, and SWEATY BETTY has increased the side jug for tights.
The intentions on the product are also active in the market. Sweaty Betty official website shows that the world will have a customer who purchase the Power series of Bum-Sculpting sports tights every 90 seconds.
In addition, SWEATY BETTY believes that the products that meet the needs of women’s customers are attractive. The design team member is currently women, Morris tells sloth sports: “Women understand women, we will consider a lot of details, such as the chest leaves a small area, because in this area, this area will be strong, usually Sports underwear will ignore this only a woman who knows. “
In addition, unlike LULULEMON and ALO YOGA, Sweaty Betty does not intend to enter the rapid growth of men’s clothing or skin care products, but more focused on their core female customer base.
In terms of community operation, Sweaty Betty not only provides more than 70 festivals over 70 knots in the British flagship store, but also in 2017, but also in 2017. Former Broadway Dancer SIMONE DE LA RUE, launched a fitness video on the online aerobic dance training, the series of video has been handed over to the B station, and the playback is close to 5 million.
In terms of environmental protection, 2020, Sweaty Betty recycled 767,000 plastic bottles, and made it makes a super-selling super sculpt tights; at the same time SWEATY BETTY is made of 41% of swimsuits using abandoned fishnet. “Although people are saying that marine plastic waste is a suction, in fact, the most plastic garbage contamination in the ocean is a fishing net. The fishing nets of the Pacific occupy more than 1/3 of the ocean plastic waste. Whether this can choose the consumer choice, we will Adhere to environmental protection. “Morris said.
4. New CEO join, promote the development of brand digital business
In order to provide consumers with a convenient shopping experience, Sweaty Betty began operational brand websites in 2000.
In the second year of l Catterton became a major shareholder, Sweaty Betty welcomed new CEO Julia Straus. Straus was previously the CEO of American Female Skincare Brand TULA with L Catterton, which is good at digital marketing. The purpose of joining is to help the brand expand its full channel influence.
Online tips test.
After running on Straus, accelerated Sweaty Betty in digital layout, launched online tights assessment tests, to allow consumers to quickly find their own sportswear. In addition, 2020 This test collects more than 13 million data, and the Sweaty Betty team found more than 150,000 customers with high waist design needs for Power tights. Based on these feedback, the brand has added high waist options in tights and listed in April this year. They also launched a full reflective Power tights in the fourth quarter of 2020 to help customers feel safer when they run outdoors. The style is sold out within a week.
With the repetition of the new crown epidemic, Sweaty Betty chose to cooperate with the supermarket Waitrose, United Kingdom Department Store John Lewis. In 297 Waitrose supermarkets, consumers can enjoy the service on the line or offline. This also attracted a large number of Sweaty Betty consumers to visit Waitrose before Christmas and improve the sales of the latter.
At present, Sweaty Betty has brought products around 250 countries throughout the official website. In order to better enhance the international consumer’s shopping experience, in May this year, the brand and e-commerce return service management platform Rebound reached a cooperation, providing international consumers with 45-day free return service, cooperation to cover the UK, the United States, Ireland and Australia. E-commerce markets to meet the consumer needs of continuous growth international customers.
Accelerated Digital layout supports the revenue growth of Sweaty Betty during the epidemic. In 2020, SWEATY BETTY reached three digits in e-commerce, and the entire brand sales increased by 60% year-on-year, reaching $ 175 million.
5. Epidemic accelerate brand globalization layout
“We have already developed a plan of the Asian market, just the epidemic accelerated this process.” Growing up in Hong Kong, and is a Chinese and English mixed-blooded Morris.
From the initial agent of other sports brands, the Sweaty Betty products include sports underwear, tights, swimsuits, ski equipment and sports accessories, etc., covering yoga, fitness, swimming, dance, skiing and running scenarios. The brand also enhances the user experience and promotes purchase behavior by line-shop courses, YouTube, blog, podcast, and sharing health recipes.
SWEATY BETTY opened the first store in Asia in 2019, followed by Rue Madame Fashion Group in Asia and settled in Hong Kong in Hong Kong. At the end of 2020, the brand opened the Chinese office in Shanghai. In early February 202, he landed in Tmall International and officially entered the Chinese market. In addition, in June will open a new store in Singapore.
“We don’t want to wait, so I will enter the Chinese market through Tmall International channels, so that Chinese consumers have established some cognitions to us.” Before joining Sweaty Betty, Morris worked in the consultation industry.
In addition to the layout Tmall, Sweaty Betty also actively carried out China’s offline activities, from the high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) experience activities from March 8 to June and Space Shanghai and Beijing launched joint hips shaped fitness courses, all marketing Events will work with SWEATY BETTY product experience. Morris said SWEATY BETTY is not a brand that focuses on photo marketing. “Indeed, the photo is very good, but the product function and comfort of the tights themselves need more attention, but by the photo, you can’t feel it, we don’t want to be treated as A good-looking brand. In addition, Sweaty Betty is very speaking for women, and most of our products will use animal textures, printing and other patterns. “
Many Chinese consumers say they don’t want to try when they see these colorful prints. However, when they put them in person, Sweaty Betty gets more feedback “It is the original color and printed costumes”.
Currently Sweaty Betty sells the best tights in China, not solid, but a tights with a print pattern. It can be seen in the “2020 Sports Leisure Clothing” report released by the famous fashion website, people are more and more willing to tries with a print pattern and a lightweight fabric.
According to the latest 2021Q1 trend of LYST, with the epidemics dissipation, the trend of sports tights has passed. But Morris did not think so, she said that the epidemic has increased people’s pursuit of healthy lifestyle, which does not decrease with the epidemic.
The “Secret Global Consumers Choice” released by Boston consultation can see that Chinese consumers are willing to try new brands.
Enter China’s 4-month SWEATY BETTY, not so worried about the inner volume of the female sports brand, but hopes to find the right partner in China as soon as possible. “China’s local business does not have the concept of Harrods or Nordstrom’s high-end department store, we are still looking for partners who can bring our brand to more consumers,” said Morris.
In the second half of this year, the brand is ready to open a fast flash in Shanghai, so that more people can experience Sweaty Betty.