Shownotes
SKIMS has teamed up with DoorDash for its first-ever on-demand delivery partnership, making thousands of styles available from select U.S. stores in under an hour.
Chris Walton and Josh Hahn discuss whether instant delivery helps or hurts a brand whose entire appeal has been built around exclusivity and hype.
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Transcripts
Skims has partnered with Doordash for its first ever on demand delivery offering, making more than 23,000 styles from its US stores available for delivery in under an hour on average.
Speaker A:According to a DoorDash press release.
Speaker A:Skims is available on the platform from 17 stores across 11 states and Washington D.C. with nine additional stores coming soon.
Speaker A:And DoorDash is Skims first on demand delivery partner.
Speaker A:Skims is the first brand on DoorDash to offer a full range spanning undergarments, everyday clothing and outerwear.
Speaker A:Its complete wardrobe approach.
Speaker A:It's quote, complete wardrobe approach.
Speaker A:Excuse me for missing the quote.
Speaker A:Rather than a narrower category.
Speaker A:Josh does on demand delivery via DoorDash.
Speaker A:Do you think it helps or hurts a brand whose whole appeal like Skims has been built on exclusivity?
Speaker B:I'm noticing a theme today, by the way.
Speaker B:Chris.
Speaker A:I know, right?
Speaker B:Yes, there's a theme going on here.
Speaker B:So anyway, I don't, I don't think it hurts them at all.
Speaker B:No, I think DoorDash wants to expand more into general merchandise.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Most of their, their business today is obviously in the food, food area and Skims wants more distribution channels.
Speaker B:So overall, I think it's fine for both of them.
Speaker B:Like, I don't think it's going to damage either one of them.
Speaker B:I think the question is, is less about kind of the brand impact and more about the potential upside, which in my mind is pretty limited.
Speaker B:It just seems like such a specific occasion based purchase.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So for me, when I think about DoorDash, I would ask two questions.
Speaker B:It's like, how often do I need it and how quickly do I need it?
Speaker B:And to me, this doesn't necessarily meet that criteria.
Speaker B:I mean, I don't just on a whim say, oh, I need some underwear or I need a, you know, pair of shorts in like 30 minutes.
Speaker B:It just doesn't happen that often.
Speaker B:And so I think that's.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think the consumer has to be like, oh yeah, in the moment I can get skims on DoorDash.
Speaker B:And that has to be kind of ingrained in people's mind in order for it to be successful long term.
Speaker B:But for me, yeah, I would focus more if I have DoorDash, I'm focused more on consumables in the GM space.
Speaker B:Like if you run out of toilet paper, that's an emergency, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But when you need a new pair of shorts, it feels like less of emergency, I guess.
Speaker B:I guess unless you don't have any toilet paper, then maybe it becomes more of an emergency.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I think.
Speaker B:I think it's a win for the brands.
Speaker B:I don't know if it's a win necessarily for the customers.
Speaker A:So I'm curious.
Speaker A:So first of all, what is the theme you're seeing?
Speaker A:Because I want to come back to that statement.
Speaker A:What is the theme you're seeing so far, today's show?
Speaker B:Well, everybody's expanding into spaces that aren't their niche.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:That's what you're seeing is the thing.
Speaker B:That's what I'm seeing.
Speaker B:And it's kind of happening across the board today.
Speaker B:When you think about some of the headlines and that, I don't know, like, me personally, I don't like that, but I might just be, you know, a crotchety old man that's like, please stop changing things.
Speaker A:You know, your Gran Torino, get off my lawn.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:I think maybe that's what's happening.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that movie was filmed in Michigan, too, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker A:But, yeah, No, I mean, that's funny.
Speaker A:I'm glad I asked you that, because, like, for me, the theme was really just the continued move towards quick delivery.
Speaker A:But I think you've taken it up a level which is really, really smart, and it's an interesting way to think about, an interesting lens through which to evaluate all the topics we've discussed on the show.
Speaker A:So my next question for you is, do you think.
Speaker A:Do you think this is a bigger win for Skims or for Doordash that this partnership is happening?
Speaker B:I think it's a bigger win for Doordash just because.
Speaker B:Yeah, because I think that, you know, they have been more exclusive, I think, in the past in terms of what, you know, where they're selling.
Speaker B:And so I think it's a win for Doordash.
Speaker B:Gives them some brand notoriety.
Speaker B:But I think, like, ultimately, I think Doordash can do a lot more general merchandise really well outside of, like, what.
Speaker B:Outside of apparel, I guess.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:In a lot of ways, it's a great marketing move for DoorDash to signal, hey, we've got more than just restaurants, basically, right?
Speaker A:Restaurants are, you know, quick delivery, traditional quick delivery items, like you were saying.
Speaker A:I mean, like, this was probably my favorite headline of the week to talk about.
Speaker A:Like, when I saw this announcement, I was.
Speaker A:I was actually stunned.
Speaker A:I couldn't believe that this partnership was happening or the.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:That this partnership happened.
Speaker A:Because for me, like.
Speaker A:Like, I can now get.
Speaker A:If you stop and think about it, you just step back, Josh, like, to your point about, like, the themes of the show.
Speaker A:I can get shapewear and a meatball hoagie in the same order, essentially.
Speaker A:Like, I could order one and double dash the other.
Speaker A:That's just.
Speaker A:That's just crazy to me.
Speaker A:And so, like, the fact that Doordash is here in this position to be able to even be able to sell Skims, which, you know, has the Kardashians all over it, tells you something about where Doordash is trying to go with this.
Speaker A:And I've said it for a while on this show, too, that the Dash Pass is one of the more compelling subscriptions that I own, at least until Walmart copies them, which is going back to our first headline, Josh.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, you know, maybe that's the play there, too.
Speaker A:But so, you know, going back to the question that I asked you as well, like, does it hurt Skims to do this?
Speaker A:So, like, DoorDash, I think you and I both agree, big coup for them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Does it hurt Skims, though?
Speaker A:I don't think it does because.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, go ahead.
Speaker A:No, what do you think?
Speaker B:I. I don't think it does either.
Speaker B:I think it's.
Speaker B:It's hard to know, like, I. I would need to look at, like, brand equity study at Skims to know, like, how people feel and think about the brand and everything else and who the people are that are buying.
Speaker B:So it's hard to answer that question, but it feels fine.
Speaker B:Like, it doesn't.
Speaker B:Like it doesn't seem out of place, I guess, to me.
Speaker B:Because they're both so wild.
Speaker B:Yeah, because I know it is wild.
Speaker B:But Doordash is a big company, and so they're doing a lot of good things.
Speaker B:And so I can see, you know, why the partnership could work.
Speaker B:I did notice it was only like 17 stores or something that they're going to be able to fill out of out of the gate.
Speaker B:So it's a small.
Speaker B:It's more of a test, I guess, than anything.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I still think it's cool.
Speaker A:They don't have that many stories, too.
Speaker A:Yeah, this story's really interesting to me, too, as I'm listening to Talk, because it shows how much of our mind, how much our minds have changed or shifted in terms of how we think about prestige and exclusivity.
Speaker A:Because the.
Speaker A:The reason I don't think Skims has anything to fear is, as I've said, oftentimes on this show, too, is I think delivery at the end of the day is like the airline.
Speaker A:I'm curious your take on this, Josh.
Speaker A:I Think delivery is like the airline business.
Speaker A:We don't care how our packages get to our doorstep, as long as they get to us reliably with confidence.
Speaker A:And we will always choose the cheapest option when we're buying airline tickets, as long as those certain thresholds are met.
Speaker A:And DoorDash has shown that they can do that every day.
Speaker A:Every day at a tremendous scale.
Speaker A:And so the average person doesn't care?
Speaker A:I mean.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I don't care, Josh.
Speaker A:You care if your underwear is delivered by FedEx, UPS, or even Carrier pigeon?
Speaker A:As long as it gets you on time?
Speaker B:Yeah, I could care less.
Speaker B:I think that's a great.
Speaker B:That's such a good point, Chris, because it's like those brands protect the way their brand is viewed or presented in stores.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Or online.
Speaker B:They aren't protecting how their brand is delivered.
Speaker B:Like, Right.
Speaker B:You know, and.
Speaker B:And like, Doordash seems fine.
Speaker B:Like you said, FedEx doesn't matter.
Speaker B:UPS, I don't care.
Speaker B:Like, the, The.
Speaker B:The box is different colors, but it's the same thing.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Unless you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Unless you're putting on white gloves to deliver it to my house.
Speaker A:Like, you know, like, who cares?
Speaker A:Like, so that's, that's the thing.
Speaker A:I think that's what's so fascinating about this announcement to me is I think we finally arrived where that thesis has been validated, that, you know, delivery.
Speaker A:Delivery is a dime a dozen, and you just gotta get it to the people.
Speaker A:And so it's about just getting your.
Speaker A:This is omnichannel retail.
Speaker A:It's about getting your product in position in such a way where it's accessible by the people that want to access it.
Speaker A:And there may be some of those people on DoorDash, there may be some of those people on another marketplace.
Speaker A:And that's what it's all about.
Speaker A:And so, yeah, we'll see where skims goes next.
Speaker A:Like, do they start looking at Amazon as a partnership or Instacart?
Speaker A:You know, who knows?
Speaker A:But, yeah, it's really interesting to me.