Icebreaker Strategizes Canadian Growth with New Initiatives and Enhanced E-commerce [Interview]

Icebreaker, a New Zealand-based brand focusing on Merino wool outdoor clothing, is looking to enhance its wholesale program, expand its product selection, and is continuously looking to improve its sustainability initiatives such as reducing plastic in products and shipping.

Icebreaker was founded in 1995 and its first expansion into the international market was in Canada. Today, it has nine locations in Canada, has an e-commerce team to support the Canadian market, has a wholesale program, and is now looking to increase consumer awareness of the brand.

“Our big focus for this year is really focused on increasing consumer awareness and the benefits of Merino Wool and Icebreakers approach to natural performance apparel. So when you think about it, growth for the brand in the Canadian market – we think about the investment we are making in growing consumer awareness. Icebreaker has been invested in the Canadian market for decades, and we will continue to emphasize the importance of the Canadian consumer,” says Noah Bryan, the North America General Manager for Icebreaker.

Product Selection And Expansion

Consumers can find a variety of products for Men, Women, and children. Last year, the brand introduced its real fleece program where consumers can find 100 percent natural Merino wool and high pile fleece which Bryan says is soft, warm, and breathable.

Icebreaker’s current collection is for the Winter 2023 and consumers can expect the brand to build out its athletic wear.

“We have built out the new program for this current season and we are very excited about that. It will also extend to some more athletic silhouettes called the Descender franchise, which will continue to build into and really meet the needs of a consumer who wants 100 percent natural performance apparel without a compromise to performance.”

Icebreaker has Canadian storefronts in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, and in Montreal and has no plans to expand; however, Bryan says it is going to be expanding staff in Canada for the growing demand and will be providing more support to its current wholesale partners.

“Right now, we are not expanding our footprint, although we have expanded our staffing in Canada to accommodate a more robust wholesale presence for the brands. We have more teams servicing our wholesale customers in the Canada market, but our retail footprint will remain the same in the near term,” says Bryan. “We partner with the best retailers in Canada, and so it is less about expansion and of doors and partners, but more about the growth within existing partners that we have and supporting them with better merchandising and point of purchase sales materials.”

E-commerce platform and Loyalty Program

Bryan says Icebreaker’s e-commerce platform is a great way to communicate with consumers and let them know about what is happening within the brand.

“We are really excited about the way that the Canadian e-commerce site for Icebreaker engages with the consumer. We have the ability to tell really fantastic stories and we continue to kind of roll out new initiatives for the brand. Our e-commerce site specifically tends to be a great vehicle for us to communicate things that maybe have a more narrow commercial application but represent innovation and kind of groundbreaking fabric technologies for Icebreaker,” says Bryan.

Icebreaker also provides a loyalty program for consumers, nature rewards. Under the loyalty program consumers can get fifty points for signing up, ten points per dollar spent, and five points when you purchase products on sale. There are four levels in its loyalty program:

• First Level offers consumers who registered a voucher for ten percent off.
• Tier 1 offers a $20 voucher when you have 2,000 points and a single-use free express shipping voucher.
• Tier 2 offers $60 when you have 5,000 points, and unlimited shipping for three months.
• Tier 3 offers $150 when you have 10,000 points and unlimited free shipping.

All levels include early access to sale offerings and products. Additionally, consumers only have one year to use their points as they will reset on the date you signed up.

Although people can easily shop online, Bryan says they still encourage people to come in-store to experience the products through its touch labs.

“The only thing that will be changing is we will continue to use our stores as a way for consumers to really put their hands on the product. We call our retailers touch labs because we feel very strongly that once you experience the quality and feel of an Icebreaker, you won’t go back.”

Zero Plastic and New Dare To Repair Program

Bryan says Icebreaker made a commitment years ago to go 100 percent plastic free in its apparel collections and in the upcoming collection – it is forecasted at 98.3 percent plastic free across the entire apparel collection. In addition to the collection, this also applies to shipping as Bryan says the brand does not use any plastic in packaging, tags, or labels – everything is natural.

Icebreaker also has a new program, Dare to Repair, that will be rolled out across stores in Canada soon. The program allows consumers to bring in broken products and have it repaired by a qualified seamstress, learn about how to take care of the product, and consumers can learn what happens to the product once it has reached its limit. This will decrease the amount of consumers throwing away an item just because it is broken and will allow products to last longer.

“We are one of the few brands who have come to this place very early on and we have been very consistent about how we execute. We will continue to drive that pace forward, and sometimes that requires innovating new fabrics to replace synthetics, without compromising performance. Icebreaker has been committed to doing this for years and our commitment remains as strong as ever.”