Ridge CEO Sean Frank likes to throw around nine-figure numbers. He remembers telling his chief marketing officer, Connor MacDonald, that he wanted to grow Ridge Wallets’ revenue to $100 million. Connor was in disbelief.
With strategic growth tacticsHowever, Ridge ultimately achieved this goal. Ridge’s wallet business alone now generates more than $100 million in revenue annually and captures 1% of the global wallet market. This year, Sean aims to join the league of accessory giants like Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and other fashion and leather goods brands.
“The company’s current roadmap is simply to make it a modern American accessories brand,” says Sean, explaining that the company is expanding its product line and international offerings to more encompass the category.
Are you looking to grow yours? direct to consumer brand? Ahead, Sean shares his tips for successful growth.
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4 Growth Tips for Direct-to-Consumer Businesses
Sean ran an advertising agency before joining Ridge as CEO. Its expertise therefore lies in e-commerce and marketing. Here’s what’s on Sean’s checklist when considering launching a new product or entering a new geographic region.
1. Target a growing market
Sean’s first consideration is the growth potential of a new product. “It’s much easier to capture a small portion of a large, growing market,” he says, than to capture a large portion of a slow-growing market.
Ridge used this tactic during its expansion into men’s rings. Sean drew inspiration from his own personal experience when purchasing a wedding ring. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many men have turned to online shopping, and jewelry stores were not as quick to capture the market.
Ridge jumped at the opportunity to fill this gap. “Rings didn’t exist for us in 2022. And in 2023, it was an eight-figure business. He expects revenue from the ring business to double in 2024.
2. Consider logistics
Sean recommends considering logistics to bring a product to market before entering a new category. Something heavy may not be a good candidate for selling online. A country that is expensive to ship to may not be the first place you should target in your international expansion.
Canada is an example of a large country where shipping costs can eat into your margins. “It’s more expensive to ship goods from Toronto to Vancouver than to ship anywhere in the United States,” says Sean. US-based businesses might instead consider expanding to the UK or Australia, where logistics might be cheaper.
3. Price with a healthy margin
Men’s rings are also a good expansion product for Ridge because the margins are high. “I think before, you could run DTC at 60 percent margins,” says Sean. “Now I think there needs to be a minimum of 80 percent margins.” With customer acquisition costs increasing with Meta and Google ads, you’ll be happy to have a bigger cushion.
4. Give customers a localized experience
The old adage “meet people where they are” applies here. If you are expanding into a new market, consider Commercial Partners this can help you capture demand related to in-person shopping.
If you are creating a separate website for another country, use a Shopify app to translate your website. Sean says you risk missing out on a large portion of shoppers if you don’t give online shoppers the option to pay in their native language and currency.
To learn more about how Sean grew Ridge into a nine-figure business, listen to his full interview on Shopify Masters.
