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Thursday Throttle (Ep 1)
This week, I dive into @italic.
Italic is reinventing retail by selling luxury quality goods direct from the manufacturer.
That means they can offer the exact same quality as Gucci, Prada or Burberry for 80% off.
How do they do it?
Let's dive in
This week, I dive into @italic.
Italic is reinventing retail by selling luxury quality goods direct from the manufacturer.
That means they can offer the exact same quality as Gucci, Prada or Burberry for 80% off.
How do they do it?
Let's dive in
1/ How @italic works...
Italic goes directly to the same manufacturers that make the goods for "household name" luxury brands (e.g., Gucci, Prada, Burberry, etc).
They buy products directly and then sell them to customers at cost.
Luxury brands mark up the same goods up to 5x!
Italic goes directly to the same manufacturers that make the goods for "household name" luxury brands (e.g., Gucci, Prada, Burberry, etc).
They buy products directly and then sell them to customers at cost.
Luxury brands mark up the same goods up to 5x!
2/ How can @italic afford to do this...
They operate on a Costco-like model for apparel and home goods.
If you have an active Italic membership, you pay $10/month ($120/year) and then can purchase any of their products.
Here's 5 reasons why Italic is exciting
They operate on a Costco-like model for apparel and home goods.
If you have an active Italic membership, you pay $10/month ($120/year) and then can purchase any of their products.
Here's 5 reasons why Italic is exciting
3/ 1. Gives access to luxury items for a fraction of the retail price.
This is the obvious one, but can't be overlooked.
Traditional discount retail was designed to make low-mid quality items more affordable and typically sacrifices price, quality and experience in the process.
This is the obvious one, but can't be overlooked.
Traditional discount retail was designed to make low-mid quality items more affordable and typically sacrifices price, quality and experience in the process.
4/ Italic is able to offer the exact same products for less.
That means the products are identical quality minus the luxury brand logos.
In other words, they've democratized access to luxury.
More people can enjoy the quality they want at a price they can afford.
That means the products are identical quality minus the luxury brand logos.
In other words, they've democratized access to luxury.
More people can enjoy the quality they want at a price they can afford.
5/ 2. Their brand is category agnostic.
Isn't it the worst when you find a brand you love that makes one thing, but you struggle to find a similar brand experience with equivalent price/value ratio in another category?
Me too.
Italic is building a brand to span all categories.
Isn't it the worst when you find a brand you love that makes one thing, but you struggle to find a similar brand experience with equivalent price/value ratio in another category?
Me too.
Italic is building a brand to span all categories.
6/ This means that you don't have to find different brands for cookware, sweaters and ski goggles.
If you like the Italic value prop (premium quality for up to 80% off) you don't have to run around comparing multiple brands.
If you like the Italic value prop (premium quality for up to 80% off) you don't have to run around comparing multiple brands.
7/ 3. They're giving manufacturers a way to reach customers directly.
After discovering Italic, it made me wonder why manufacturers weren't selling directly before?
Why were they selling to brands that were marking up their products 5x and keeping the majority of profits?
After discovering Italic, it made me wonder why manufacturers weren't selling directly before?
Why were they selling to brands that were marking up their products 5x and keeping the majority of profits?
8/ Manufacturers weren't designed to build/manage customer relationships.
With italic, there's an opp for manufacturers to start selling directly.
It's semi-analogous to how Shopify gave ecommerce sellers the ability to sell directly vs have to sell wholesale through retailers.
With italic, there's an opp for manufacturers to start selling directly.
It's semi-analogous to how Shopify gave ecommerce sellers the ability to sell directly vs have to sell wholesale through retailers.
9/ Although Italic doesn't currently offer a way for manufacturers to have a front-end store, there's lots of potential.
There's also room for Italic to split more of the profits w/ manufacturers than they were getting from luxury retailers
Italic becomes the preferred partner.
There's also room for Italic to split more of the profits w/ manufacturers than they were getting from luxury retailers
Italic becomes the preferred partner.
10/ 4. They're able to build a community differently than traditional retail.
When you buy a single product from one brand and another from another brand, it's hard for brands to protect customer loyalty & community.
People often value shop and will pick a brand based on price.
When you buy a single product from one brand and another from another brand, it's hard for brands to protect customer loyalty & community.
People often value shop and will pick a brand based on price.
11/ Italic not only has the best price in town, but also has a membership model that inherently builds community.
If you're a Costco member, you're proud of it and you go there for everything.
Italic will be the same.
If you're a Costco member, you're proud of it and you go there for everything.
Italic will be the same.
12/ 5. They can be nimble with adding/removing products.
Because Italic is not going through the entire product lifecycle from scratch for every single product, they're able to scale up different verticals more quickly.
Because Italic is not going through the entire product lifecycle from scratch for every single product, they're able to scale up different verticals more quickly.
13/ I'm sure they work with factories to tweak and customize different SKUs, but they aren't starting from a blank page.
This saves them time & money and means they don't have to take big bets whether or not a certain product will work.
Experimentation drives innovation.
This saves them time & money and means they don't have to take big bets whether or not a certain product will work.
Experimentation drives innovation.
14/ If you can't tell, I'm super bullish on what @jjeremycai and the @italic team have built.
Only way from here is up
https://italic.com/ https://twitter.com/kallawavy/status/1352428773497581568?s=20
Only way from here is up
https://italic.com/ https://twitter.com/kallawavy/status/1352428773497581568?s=20
