Indie beauty conversation with Ohi
4 Nov 2021 --- Working with direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands to help them grow their businesses by enabling memorable and engaging post-purchase experiences, Ohi strives to offer a premium, environmentally responsible and instant delivery service.
Click to EnlargeBen Jones has a need for delivery speed. Source: Ohi.On 13 October, the instant commerce platform announced it will use the US$19m from its recently completed Series A funding round to expand its US operations. Engaging in growth throughout the country will enable Ohi to bring its near-instant consumer packaged goods (CPG) product delivery service to consumers.
New York-based venture capital and growth equity fund Palm Drive Capital led the funding round, with participation from Los Angeles–based venture capital firm JAM Fund, which is headed by internet entrepreneur Justin Mateen. Skin care brand SolaWave is among the brands using Ohi’s platform as it strives to increase conversion, customer satisfaction and repeat purchases.
Let’s hear more from Ben Jones, Founder and CEO at Ohi.
How is Ohi doing delivery differently?
We provide ultrafast delivery, including a service that can deliver in under two hours, through our micro-fulfilment strategy. However, it’s important to understand that Ohi isn’t a delivery company; we’re an instant commerce platform. For us, that means empowering brands through the entire post-purchase experience.
We’ve built the whole platform around enabling our ecommerce customers to extend their brand from checkout all the way to box opening, including touchpoints like branded tracking pages and text updates to brand-first packaging and post-purchase interactions. We help brands connect the joy of instant delivery with all those other positive brand experiences, enabling our brands to win and retain more customers.
The results are clear. Instant delivery via Ohi increases repeat purchase rates by up to 120% versus standard UPS/FedEx services.
What was missing from the mainstream delivery market that Ohi seeks to provide?
Amazon and other marketplaces are constantly pushing the envelope of what’s possible from a delivery speed and convenience perspective, as they recognize that providing faster delivery increases top-line revenue and customer loyalty.
To this point, it’s been impossible for brands that sell D2C to match Amazon’s delivery speed and convenience, because traditional logistics networks are just too slow. With Ohi, the power of instant commerce is available to all brands, including those that sell D2C from their own branded websites.
What are beauty and personal care (BPC) consumers and CPG brands demanding from the delivery of products?
Brands recognize that their consumers are demanding more convenient and faster delivery options. The COVID-19 pandemic initiated a paradigm shift in terms of consumers’ delivery speed expectations, and large companies in these categories are already making moves to enable instant delivery. For example, Sephora just announced two-hour delivery, and Target has also invested heavily in two-hour delivery. Other brands are seeing these plays as they happen and are turning to Ohi’s instant commerce platform to stay competitive with those larger brands.
Click to EnlargeHyper-local supplies are key to quick delivery. Source: Ohi.How is Ohi meeting these demands with its new platform?
Our platform is based on a micro-warehousing network. We recognized that the only way to enable instant commerce is to have inventory hyper-local to the end consumer, so our platform enables our operator partners to set up very small (less than 2,000 square foot) warehouses within major metropolitan areas.
Ohi’s technology manages inventory allocation and replenishment across the network and connects through to last-mile services - such as DoorDash, Uber, AxleHire - to deliver to the end customer. The result is a plug-and-play platform that enables an instant commerce experience in 75% of a brand’s key markets.
In the case of BPC goods, many consumers like to sample products before buying and as a result digital sampling is providing a solution here. Do you anticipate Ohi will resonate with these consumers?
We have quite a few brands using our platform to send samples to consumers. It’s a powerful proposition for beauty brands to have someone receive a sample so quickly because it sets the brand apart and demonstrates from the outset that they really care about customer happiness.
The return on investment data proves the value of the platform to beauty brands; for example, one brand has seen a 111% increase in their repeat purchase rate since they started working with us.
How does Ohi plan to remain competitive within the delivery space, and compete with brands like Amazon?
Unlike Amazon, we provide instant delivery and incredible post-purchase experiences for brands that really care about selling D2C and want to maintain control of their brand.
In contrast to the Amazon experience - which is designed to emphasize and grow the Amazon brand at every touchpoint - our brands see an on-brand, distraction-free post-purchase experience as critical to maximizing brand loyalty and growth. Amazon is not and cannot be competitive with Ohi in that regard.
By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Correspondent
