After reaching $200 million in 2023, Béis is hitting the gas on growth

Béis’s calendar for the year includes growing its retail presence, in part through a new partnership with Anthropologie; further expanding internationally, starting with a U.K. focus; increasingly targeting Gen-Z and male consumers, expanding beyond its core female millennial shopper base; building out its executive team and beyond to catch up with the company’s pace of growth; launching “big” collaborations and 13 customer-driven products; hosting multiple “interactive experiences,” largely through pop-ups and with a focus on middle America; and upping its investment in consumer research to better respond to consumers’ needs, Hussain Johnson. 

The name of the game is brand building en route to becoming both a household name and “‘the’ on-the-go brand,” Hussain Johnson said, using the brand’s preferred descriptor over “travel brand.”

“We’re redefining travel,” she said. “[In our book], travel isn’t just about getting on a plane; it’s everywhere you go. And when you’re in movement, you need stuff to put your stuff in. That’s the need we’re fulfilling.”

That concept is resonating. According to Hussain Johnson, 30% of Béis’s first-time shoppers buy from the brand again within 12 months. 

Much of Béis’s marketing has focused on its balance of fashion and function — for example, in 2022, it collaborated with style icon Elsa Hosk on a collection of notoriously function-focused diaper bags. For many shoppers of the brand, that’s proven effective. Over the last 18 months, Béis has identified three pockets of customers that make up its core shopper base: There are those who highly value the function of its pieces, those who just want to look good and, finally, those the brand has dubbed “connoisseurs.”

“The connoisseur is the person who loves to build her collection,” Hussain Johnson said. “She wants a bag for every occasion; she doesn’t want to switch out her stuff. And it needs to be a mix of function and fashion.” 

It also needs to match. As Hussain Johnson tells it, the Béis customer is “monochromatic.” They buy into a color, and they stick with it — whether they go for an Atlas Pink collection or a set in the brand’s newer Maple shade. Their first two purchases are typically Béis’s weekender and roller bags, followed by its smaller accessories. 

Béis was launched in 2018 by actress-entrepreneur Shay Mitchell and brand incubator Beach House Group, which is also behind Tracee Ellis Ross’s Pattern Beauty and Millie Bobby Brown’s makeup brand, Florence by Mills. Mitchell and Beach House Group have remained the exclusive owners and there are no planned updates to the setup, Hussain Johnson said. Béis is currently a team of 36.

Mitchell has played a key role in the storytelling of Béis products’ functionality; her video “walk-throughs” of new products, fused with “humor and personality,” have successfully engaged consumers across the brand’s channels and driven conversions on its product pages, Hussain Johnson said.

But, as Hussain Johnson and Mitchell see it, Mitchell is just one piece of a large marketing pie — each customer touchpoint is important and requires a unique, strategic approach. Mitchell provides a direct line to an audience of 36 million on Instagram alone, but she isn’t the face of the brand. She uses her platform to help build the brand, just as she collaborates on its product, design and marketing strategies. 

“There’s a reason this brand isn’t called Béis by Shay Mitchell,” said Hussain Johnson. “It’s important that we establish the brand and the relationship with the consumer independent of Shay.” 

For its part, Béis has 1 million followers on Instagram. While the brand sees TikTok as a discovery platform, it leverages its Instagram audience, who know and love the brand, for feedback and input. For example, its followers weighed in on the brand’s loyalty program, which was introduced last year. 

Béis launched as a digitally native direct-to-consumer brand before establishing retail partners Revolve and Nordstrom. Just weeks ago, it added Anthropologie to the mix, with plans to soon add more partners. “We’re very thoughtful about who we partner with,” Hussain Johnson said. “It only makes sense for us if they help us build credibility or grow our reach.”

Internationally, Béis will soon sell at Selfridges in the U.K., and London will host Béis’s first “immersive experience” this year. Australia will be a later focus, based on the brand’s growing local fan base. 

“In many international markets, brick-and-mortar plays a critical role in brands’ growth,” Hussain Johnson said. 

Still, Béis has no plans to open its own stores anytime soon. “There’s absolutely an opportunity to have our own brick-and-mortar [someday],” she said. “But building a profitable business is very important, so we just need to do it in a smart way.” 

As for other growth opportunities, Béis has already provided a gateway for Gen Zers to buy into the brand: Its Béisics collection, with more simplified functionality than its core line and, therefore, a lower price point, launched last year. This year, it will expand the collection and increase its marketing to young shoppers, including on college campuses.

Other brand focuses are to remain fast and nimble, to fuel LTV via an innovative product pipeline and to “show up everywhere the customer wants to shop,” Hussain Johnson said. 

However, “the best case scenario is that they’ll shop our site directly because that’s where we learn the most about them,” she said. She called access to first-party data her biggest challenge of the moment.