Little Sleepy is a children’s pajamas and playwear made of bamboo cellulose.
Bethany Taylor, 27, the mother of a five-month-old boy in Spring Hill, Kansas, knows she likes Little Sleepy. “But I don’t know if I’m brainwashed on it,” she said.
There are many things that discerning parents like. This material is hypoallergenic, antifungal, deodorant and protected from natural UV rays. Items are offered in thousands of patterns and designs, and the company releases them weekly. Instead of offering all these options on the company’s website, as most retailers do, Little Sleepies “drops” these baby pajamas at specific times.
A 12-18 month sleep set is like Nike’s latest sneaker. For example, the “Stars & Stripes” jama, best suited for July 4, was available at noon on Tuesday in mid-May. A few days ago, a camp pattern with a bear cub and a hut fell. The company advertises when the drop will take place on social media with over 100,000 followers.
Each collection is a limited edition. That is not enough for everyone. Some products sell out within 5 minutes, so Taylor, the insurance company’s manager, has taken special steps to get what he wants.
“I set an alarm when I knew a drop was coming,” she said. “Some other mothers preload their gift cards into their accounts so they don’t lose their items if they take too long to check out.”
Pajamas are a better fit than any other brand Taylor’s son has tried. “My son is very tall and fits longer than I buy in the store,” she said. “I also like bamboo as a good UV protectant. I can’t put sunscreen on my boy yet, so I think I can take him outside.”
Second, there is the undeniable appeal of hype.
“It’s kind of like a mob spirit,” she said. “You see them posting these new prints, and every mom on Facebook loves them.” I also love this and the number is limited, so before it’s sold out. You need to get it. “
Different companies in different categories, large and small, use “drops” to release a small number of limited edition items at specific times. Some companies that opened during the pandemic sold their products only this way. More established companies are adopting this strategy by shifting from more traditional sales models, such as releasing seasonal collections or having stores with consistent products.
Marketing and behavioral experts say there are several reasons why it works, especially now.
“What I like about product drops is that they give them an element of surprise and rarity,” said Sylvia Berezza, a marketing professor at Columbia Business School. “I think it excites many consumers.”
She said she was particularly vulnerable to this type of entertainment during a pandemic where customers were bored at home. “The interesting question is a year or two later, is this a permanent change in the business model, or is it going back to a more seasonal sales model?” She said.
It will also change consumer behavior, said Abigail Sasman, a behavioral scientist and marketing professor at the University of Chicago Booth Business School. “It changes the decision that you can postpone-maybe you buy something later or not at all-to something you have to buy now,” she said.
For small businesses, selling a certain amount of inventory at a particular time means less overhead.
Prior to the pandemic, Brooklyn-based Miriam Weiskind quit her job as an art director in pursuit of her passion for making pizza. Her dream, like many of her chefs, is to open a restaurant, but its economics are daunting. Meanwhile, she started the Za report. Using the drop model, she sells pies twice a week at breweries and street fairs.
She announced where she was on Instagram a few days ago, and usually a line is waiting for her when she opens. She sells 70 to 120 pies at a time, and on some days she sells out within an hour.
She likes the low overhead and believes that this sales model will allow her to sell pies at higher prices (range between $ 18 and $ 24). “It keeps demand high and supply low,” she said. “Each pie is special because I don’t make that many pies, so I can charge more.”
Bearwalker in Daphne, Alabama makes pop culture-themed skateboards like Pokemon and Marvel Comics. He releases one collection every six weeks. There are only 250 boards in each collection.
By creating rarity, Walker said he could make his product desirable. “These are high-end, handmade and difficult to make,” he said. “If someone gets it, I want them to know that it’s a special piece and an item on the bucket list.”
Some of his drops sold out within 45 minutes and what he sees happens live. “The office has a big screen with a map of the globe, where you can see people go to the website and make purchases,” he said. “I usually sit there for a few hours and just look.”
Madison Tompkins, 28, a software developer in Coolbell, Iowa, said the drop was just as exciting for consumers.
When the skateboard drop is set to take place, she blocks two hours from work to ensure she gets the item she wants. “You also need to know how to do that. If you refresh the page every 10 to 15 seconds, the system will consider you a bot and block it,” she said. “It happened to me once. It was refreshing because I wanted a board right away.”
More established companies are also trying to embark on the trend of shortage.
Kate Quinn, a children’s clothing company like Little Sleepies, has been in business for 16 years and is seasonal on the website with almost no fanfare before starting to use product drops in 2018 as part of a new model that sells directly to consumers. I was releasing a limited collection. Since then, the business has grown significantly.
The company began to completely darken its website hours before its release. This evokes excitement. “People who know how to shop at Kate Quinn know how it works and are ready,” said Paul Waynestein, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Says. “These drops can confuse new customers. The first 10 minutes are nuts, as if the item was sold out within minutes. So it’s like” I don’t know what happened. ” It’s a feeling. (There is also a second-hand market for these products.)
Weinstein said the advantage of Drop is that it provides endless social media content.
“There is always something new to discuss,” he said. “We are constantly announcing new prints. We always have new styles, new collections and new drops.”
Bellezza of Columbia Business School said one of the drawbacks is that it encourages more consumption, especially at the moment when parts of the industry are promoting “slow fashion,” while consumers “reduce purchases.” , Buy better. “
“Drop does the opposite. They are educating consumers to keep buying, and from a sustainability standpoint, I don’t think it’s great,” she said.
And she sees this kind of consumption growing. For example, the Four Seasons Hotels in Philadelphia offers a “Night of Indulgence” package that can only be purchased once a month.
“It’s like many different companies trying to get on the wave,” Bellezza said. “People are talking about drop culture now.”
Companies that have tried dropping products in the past are now much easier to accept their audience.
The Scotch Malt Whiskey Association sells a limited edition of unique Scotch whiskey every month. Rare bottles are not sold in stores. These are only available to members (36,000 worldwide) who purchase online or by phone on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ben Diedrich, the company’s senior director, previously had to spend a lot of time explaining the sales model to new members. “They couldn’t figure out why they couldn’t always sign on and buy things,” he said.
Now those conversations rarely happen. “People now have it,” he said. “They understand that consumerism has changed.”
