Dive Brief:
- Direct-to-consumer healthcare apparel brand Figs has partnered with digital health technology company Eko Health on a digital stethoscope.
- The collaboration of the Figs Eko Core 500 digital stethoscope features earpieces in four colorways that align with the Figs layering system and feature inspirational quotes, according to a company press release.
- The product is available exclusively on the Figs website and app.
Dive Insight:
Figs, which was founded 2013 and became popular for its scrubs, is expanding into medical devices through its collaboration with Eko Health.
“This collaboration unites two companies that have reinvented two healthcare professionals’ mainstays — scrubs and stethoscopes — through new technology, modern design and authentic connections with the healthcare community,” Figs co-founder and CEO Trina Spear said in an email to Retail Dive. “Through this first-of-its-kind offering, Figs is able to add a critical medical instrument with unrivaled technology to its layering system, and Eko is able to tap into Figs’ commitment to design, comfort and functionality, as well as its intensely loyal community of 2.5 million healthcare professionals.”
The Figs Eko Core 500 is the only stethoscope with a full-color screen displaying heart rate and electrocardiogram tracing, according to the companies’ announcement.
“We are excited to bring this life-saving technology to the Figs healthcare community,” Connor Landgraf, co-founder and CEO at Eko, said in a statement. “Figs has built an innovative brand and loyal community of healthcare professionals. Joining forces on the Figs | Eko Core 500 will support clinicians, advance the future of cardiovascular care, and benefit millions of patients.”
The announcement follows Figs’ second-quarter earnings report in August where the brand’s revenues increased 13% year over year to $138.1 million. Net income narrowed slightly to $4.6 million from $4.9 million in the same period of 2022. Figs’ base of active customers increased 21% year over year to 2.5 million.
Figs was faced with higher fulfillment expenses in Q2 as a result of increased storage costs, according to the company’s chief financial officer Daniella Turenshine. Spear expects those expenses will come down in the second half of the year as the company continues to move through excess inventory and make investments to improve fulfillment efficiency.
The partnership between Figs and Eko Health also comes as the scrubs space begins to attract more competition. DTC activewear brand Fabletics launched its first scrubs collection earlier this year.
