OURA
Oura is letting shoppers get more hands-on with its smart ring.
The latest: Oura partnered with Best Buy, making its rings available in the retailer’s 850+ stores and website.
Best Buy shoppers will gain access to in-store sizing, with ~50 locations featuring a more experiential pop-up for product interaction.
Putting A Ring on It
While this isn’t Oura’s debut in-store effort, it is the first large-scale, nationwide rollout for the Finnish ring maker, one which Oura CEO Tom Hale called “a natural next step” in acquiring more users.
Of note, Oura officially entered third-party retail last fall through a two-way partnership with Therabody, but as it seeks to both sustain and grow its 1M+ memberbase, its recent developments are more than just window dressing:
- Last summer, it partnered with Strava to enhance activity tracking while integrating with period-tracking app Natural Cycles.
- In December, Oura launched its corporate wellness solution for sleep optimization.
- This March, it debuted its chronotyping sleep management feature.
For its part, Best Buy gains yet another connected health and fitness partner, with Oura joining brands like WHOOP, Hydrow, Hyperice, and others selling through the electronics retailer.
Retail therapy. A growing trend, last fall, Peloton struck a deal with DICK’S Sporting Goods to sell its Bikes, Treads, and other accessories at 100+ stores.
Meanwhile, DTC wellness brands are also in the mix, with Gainful and Ritual stocking supplements for Target and CURE Hydration going after grocers.
Punchline: For every ring Oura sells in store, that’s one less mail-order sizing kit and three fewer postage fees they’ll need to worry about.
