A closeup of Oura’s Gen3 Horizon ring and its sensors.
Oura
Oura will now sell its smart rings on Amazon, its latest retail expansion because the health and wellness wearable space continues to grow.
Starting Thursday, Oura may have its full collection of rings and accessories available to U.S. shoppers on Amazon through its own brand store. It is going to even have sizing kits on the market, helping customers find the fitting fit after which providing them with a reduced price reminiscent of the fee of the sizing kit.
Oura’s latest e-commerce approach with Amazon builds on the partnership it announced with Best Buy last 12 months to offer the corporate its first U.S.-based large scale retail opportunity. Previously, the corporate largely sold its products on to consumers through its website.
“Amazon is a natural step for us,” said Oura chief marketing officer Doug Sweeny. “It’s an unlimited ecosystem and by way of product reviews and search, it’s really vital.”
Sweeny, who joined Oura in October 2022, said the corporate has had success with word-of-mouth marketing and when consumers discovered the product at retail locations. Moving onto Amazon’s platform, Sweeny said it has worked with the e-commerce company to make sure there’s “education, experience and storytelling in regards to the product and the advantages.”
While that doesn’t suggest a giant change from Oura’s existing marketing approach, Sweeny said the two-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company recognizes that having its products on Amazon opens it as much as “a really, very wide demographic of people that wish to be proactive and interesting with their health.”
The move also comes as Oura faces a latest challenge from Samsung within the smart ring category, in addition to other wearables adding more health advantages.
The Galaxy Ring, Samsung’s latest wearable, is anticipated to launch this 12 months with health-tracking features including heart rate and sleep monitoring while also giving users a rating of their readiness for the day.
Apple has also been adding more health features to its Watch series, while Garmin has continued to see growth as more consumers search out more ways to trace exercises and their fitness levels.
Amazon had been among the many competitors directly within the device space targeting people’s wrists, fingers and other body parts. However the market, while value billions, has seen a shakeout lately. Amazon discontinued its Halo wearable in April of last 12 months, citing a crowded segment, amongst other reasons. Early wearables leader Fitbit was acquired by Google years ago and integrated by Alphabet right into a Google Pixel Watch.
Oura has separated itself from other wearables prior to now with a heavy emphasis on sleep-related data. Nevertheless, the corporate has expanded well beyond that lately into other biometrics. The rings are equipped with research-grade sensors to trace all the things from heart rate to temperature to sleep cycles. That data is then analyzed to offer insights regarding activities and exercise, stress levels and overall health status.
Multiple million Oura rings have been sold thus far, based on Oura. The corporate has raised greater than $148 million in total, reaching a $2.55 billion valuation in April 2022.
Having Oura rings on Amazon will help the corporate higher educate consumers in regards to the product and the health advantages of tracking these metrics, in addition to why a ring-based wearable in comparison with those which are worn on the wrist is preferable, Sweeny said.
As for Samsung’s potential entry right into a ring, Sweeny said Oura is viewing it “as a positive thing.”
“It is a validation of the category,” he said. “We’re very relentless on the experience side to essentially create the very best product, but we welcome Samsung into the category and ultimately we see it as a extremely symbolic point in our time.”
