Ntwrk CEO Aaron Levant discusses the evolution of livestream shopping in the U.S., highlighting the platform's strategy of leveraging celebrity and brand partnerships for exclusive product drops. The episode explores how Ntwrk has expanded beyond its initial focus to include retailers and professional resellers, all while maintaining a curated, B2C environment. Levant also offers insights into the future of mobile-first commerce in the U.S. compared to more mature markets like China.
Key takeaways
To build an audience quickly and cost-effectively, leverage existing relationships with influential figures or brands for exclusive product launches, creating FOMO and driving initial engagement.
Diversify your marketplace beyond initial 'shiny object' attractions (like celebrity drops) to include a wider range of sellers, such as professional resellers and retailers, to sustain long-term engagement and revenue.
Differentiate your platform by maintaining a curated, B2C model rather than a peer-to-peer approach, ensuring quality control and fostering direct relationships with established brands and creators.
Acknowledge that niche markets, even with significant growth, may take time to reach mainstream adoption in the U.S., especially when compared to mobile-first commerce trends in countries like China.
Monitor and adapt to global trends in mobile-first technology and super apps, as these often indicate future directions for domestic e-commerce and consumer behavior.
Bedding brand Sunday Citizen first started in 2018 as a small side hustle. In 2018, Mike Abadi was living in China and helping connect entrepreneurs with product suppliers. The owner of a boutique hotel asked him to make a soft yet hearty blanket. Abadi met the request and realized he had stumbled upon a pretty great product.
A year later, that blanket became the beginnings of the brand Sunday Citizen. And today, Sunday Citizen has grown into an eight-figure business that makes blankets, pillows, bedding and more. It's sold online, in stores like Nordstrom as well as in its own store in New York City. Abadi joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about the company's growth and expansion plans.
In many ways, Sunday Citizen is a very traditional DTC brand. It chose to be online-only from the beginning, despite having a product intended for business purposes. According to Abadi, this is because of his background in brand building and digital marketing.
"I felt comfortable at the digital advertising game -- acquiring customers online," he said. "And my wife, her background was also on the website side of things. So we both felt that that's where we felt a little bit more comfortable."
This online-only strategy worked and helped it stake its claim as a premium bedding brand. In fact, he said this helped Sunday Citizen ink wholesale customers. "Most of the wholesale partners that we've had, they've come to us," he said.
But now the company is hoping to grow beyond its online roots. While wholesale represents only about 5% of its business, "the wholesale business is growing faster than our website business at this point," he said. And with its new store, which opened in December of last year, the hope is expand its customer base even more.
The secret to growing the brand, Abadi said, was in creating a product that people would remember. "The way we've always developed product has been: we start with engineering," he said.
What does this episode say about influencer & creator?
To build an audience quickly and cost-effectively, leverage existing relationships with influential figures or brands for exclusive product launches, creating FOMO and driving initial engagement.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Diversify your marketplace beyond initial 'shiny object' attractions (like celebrity drops) to include a wider range of sellers, such as professional resellers and retailers, to sustain long-term engagement and revenue.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Differentiate your platform by maintaining a curated, B2C model rather than a peer-to-peer approach, ensuring quality control and fostering direct relationships with established brands and creators.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Acknowledge that niche markets, even with significant growth, may take time to reach mainstream adoption in the U.S., especially when compared to mobile-first commerce trends in countries like China.
What does this episode say about influencer & creator?
Monitor and adapt to global trends in mobile-first technology and super apps, as these often indicate future directions for domestic e-commerce and consumer behavior.
