Harry's launches Flamingo women's shaving brand

Dive Brief:

Men's grooming site Harry's on Tuesday launched a new women's body care brand, Flamingo, which has its own standalone site, the company told Retail Dive in an email.
Products are geared to various hair removal methods, including razors, handles, blades, wax kits, shaving gel and body lotion, with each priced under $20, the company said.
Led by Allie Melnick and Brittania Boey, who have worked at Harry's since launch, Flamingo is the first brand to emerge from Harry's Labs, which supports entrepreneurs building and scaling CPG brands. The lab was announced in February at the same time the company revealed its latest funding round, which totaled $112 million.

Dive Insight:

With its Flamingo brand for women, Harry's is going well beyond changing the handles of its razors and the labels of its lotions to pink.

"Flamingo embraces women's natural bodies (bumps, dry skin, body hair, and all), dispelling the myth of 'feminine perfection,'" the company said in its press release. "The brand is committed to understanding nuanced relationships with body care routines and has created a judgement-free space made for education and candid conversation, where nothing's taboo."

Starting with razors, which the company says were designed to accommodate a woman's curves and, with a rubber grip that serves as an acknowledgement that women shave in the shower, products were developed to address some of the more frustrating aspects of hair removal for women. More intimidating methods like wax removal come with step-by-step directions, the company said.

The launch is also acknowledgement that women represent a market that Harry's has so far ignored, but has been tapped by subscription startup Billie, which launched about a year ago and in April finalized a $6 million seed funding round.

With retail sales through legacy retailers like Target and Walmart, Harry's may also be able to sidestep the challenges of subscription retail, which was its initial position and remains the bulk of its sales. Customer acquisition and retention are problems for such services, even in the replenishment segment where Harry's and Flamingo operate. Nearly 40% of subscribers of any service type cancel, with more than a third canceling in less than three months, and over half within six, according to a report from McKinsey and Co. published earlier this year.

In fact, replenishment services can be annoying to customers who need items before their box is due to arrive, or end up with more than they want, according to Luke Starbuck, vice president of marketing at customer care automation firm Linc. "The subscription sounds convenient, but the consumer experience of a subscription can be frustrating and feel like control of purchase decisions has been lost," he told Retail Dive last year. "Worse yet, customers end up with back-stock of product in the cupboard. And that's why customers cancel."