Allbirds Korea pivots to focus on consumer needs in new chapter

Allbirds Korea is making changes to address consumer needs after facing an identity crisis and plummeting stock prices. The company plans to close some U.S. stores and upgrade their Wool Runner product based on customer complaints.

Allbirds’ flagship store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

The brand that makes “the world’s most comfortable shoes” is officially opening up a new chapter in Korea.

It's Allbirds, best-known for its casual merino wool sneakers. Since launching in New Zealand and America in 2016, the shoes became popular among big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jessica Alba and Barack Obama. The startup later upgraded its identity by making its sneakers more eco-friendly, using recycled laces or sugarcane midsoles for its shoes, and became a listed company.

But that was when Allbirds started having an identity crisis, according to Park Jee-woo, CEO of local distribution company EFG (Earth Forest Back to Green). EFG has been appointed as the exclusive distributor for Korea earlier this year.

To make matters worse, consumer complaints regarding the durability of the shoes poured fuel on the fire, resulting in Allbirds’ stocks plummeting 96 percent in just two years. As of Nov. 24, the stock price is at $0.88.

“Allbirds tried to grow its core consumer base by releasing running shoes and increasing its product range, but there was difficulty in gaining new customers and getting positive reactions from initial ones,” Park said in a press conference at Allbirds’ flagship store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, last week.

“That’s when the company realized that it needed to return to its original state: knowing our core consumers and catering to their needs.”

Allbirds’ transformation plan involves a shift from a direct go-to-market model to a third-party distributor model for its international market in nations like Canada, Japan, Australia and Korea.

Allbirds’ flagship store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Allbirds’ signature product, the Wool Runner, will have a major design upgrade that takes customer complaints into consideration, such as that holes would appear in the toe area after a few wears.

Future products will also be more suitable for athleisure outfits instead of actual running, after the brand found that its customers preferred to wear Allbirds sneakers for walking, Pilates or yoga.

Sustainability continues to be a must for the future of Allbirds: It aims to reduce CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalents, a measure used to compare greenhouse gas emissions, by 50 percent per shoe until 2025.

The upcoming M0.0NSHOT shoes aims to be the world’s first “net zero carbon shoe,” meaning it will be made from only sustainable materials and have a carbon footprint of 0.0 grams of CO2e.

As for Korea, consumers can expect to see more shoes targeted for females, like different versions of Allbirds’ popular Tree Breezers flats.

“It’s not that we don’t have male customers, but that there are different products that cater to them,” Park said, adding that Allbirds’ underwear sells well among them. “Our core female customers tend to cover the ages of 25 and 60 and prefer our flats.”

Allbirds Korea is set to open a couple more offline stores in the first half of next year. Currently it has three stores inside department stores: The Hyundai Seoul, Starfield Hanam and Hyundai Department Store’s Pangyo branch.

“We are also expecting to launch more campaigns, which we’re still deciding on,” Park said. “We’ll do our best to present messages that are sincere and apply well to the Korean market.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]