Balancing growth and retention: What One Rockwell says can be learned from Glossier layoffs
The DTC personal care market has evolved rapidly and the recent layoffs by Glossier can teach the industry how a brand can misstep and what to know going forward, says One Rockwell.
Early in 2022, well-known beauty brand Glossier announced it would be laying off around one-third of its employees, and CEO of e-commerce consulting company One Rockwell Shelly Socol told CosmeticsDesign this might be an example of a well-intentioned company pursuing growth and acquisition too aggressively.
Socol said it’s important to remember Glossier’s story of success, having been founded as a DTC brand in 2014 by current CEO Emily Weiss after transitioning from a blog. At the time, Glossier was effective in developing a brand around what its customers needed and efficiently used Instagram, Socol said.
As the DTC market grew and investors and multinationals became more interested in “the next big thing” brands like Glossier, Socol said the brand likely felt more pressure to create acquisition and growth.
