What made this list so interesting? For starters, among these 25 companies, nearly a third focus on products with ingredients that have healing properties or promote, or at least take pains not to hinder, wellness—like alcohol-free cocktail maker Sun Chaser (#1 on the list) and organic spice brand Loisa (#3). An additional 16 percent focus on sustainable, eco-friendly, and/or biodegradable products and materials, like shoe-and-bag maker Rothy’s (#25) and swimwear line Jade Swim (#6). These two consumer focuses—wellness and sustainability—are an obvious result of pandemic-induced behavioral and mindset shifts. We’ve spent the past few years with health at the forefront of daily conversation, the great outdoors as our safest option for socializing, and a brief reprieve from our climate crisis thanks to dramatically reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. So it’s no wonder that across industries, shrewd brands are capitalizing on the desire to take better care of ourselves and our planet.
Another important metric in looking at this list is the age of the companies surveyed. Across the board, the top companies are relatively young, with the majority launching within the last five years. The youthfulness of these brands correlates to a sales approach that resonates with younger consumers, including shoppable social media and sites that offer extensive personalization options—like the customized health advice you get from home-based lab kit startup Base (#17) and the access to landscaping experts that comes with purchases from Patch Plants (#12) and Sunday Lawn Care (#2). Clearly, consumers want the individualized attention that used to be available only through a brick-and-mortar store experience.
We at Astound were keenly aware of that consumer desire when launching a Shopify Plus site for haute couture brand ELIE SAAB—a site that has earned us both a 2022 Gold w3 award in the Fashion & Beauty category and a 2022 eCommerce award for Best Fashion Website. From the start of the project, our mission was to create an immersive and rich customer journey that beautifully replicates the experience of shopping at the brand’s retail boutiques—and we succeeded. Our experts also know that you don’t have to be a startup to experience extreme D2C growth. Witness our shared success with iconic footwear brand Skechers: our Salesforce Commerce Cloud implementations of individual ecommerce sites in multiple countries around the world helped drive the company’s global expansion and a corresponding 30 percent increase in its D2C sales.
From award-winning experiences to data-driven sales strategies, Astound’s innovative solutions across all retail categories drive business growth at every stage of a brand’s digital journey. Like the innovative young companies on that Top 25 list, we know how to build the digital presence that wins you customers. And if you’re interested in working the same magic for your brand, we’re ready to connect.