A close-up of Oura’s Gen3 Horizon ring and its sensors.
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Oura will now sell its smart rings Amazonits latest retail expansion as the portable health and wellness space continues to grow.
Starting Thursday, Oura will have its full collection of rings and accessories available to US shoppers on Amazon through its own store. It will also have sizing kits for sale, helping customers find the right fit and then providing them with a discounted price equivalent to the cost of the sizing kit.
Oura’s new e-commerce approach with Amazon builds on the partnership it announced Better buy last year to give the company its first large-scale US-based retail opportunity. Previously, the company largely sold its products directly to consumers through its website.
“Amazon is a natural step for us,” said Oura chief marketing officer Doug Sweeny. “It’s a huge ecosystem, and in terms of product reviews and search, it’s really important.”
Sweeny, who joined Oura in October 2022, said the company has had success with word-of-mouth marketing and when consumers discovered the product in retail locations. Moving on to Amazon’s platform, Sweeny said it has worked with the e-commerce company to ensure there is “training, experience and storytelling about the product and the benefits.”
While that doesn’t mean a big 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 up to “a very, very broad demographic of people who want to they are proactive and take care of their health.”
The move also comes as Oura faces a new challenge from Samsung in the smart ring category, as well as other wearables that add more health benefits.
The Galaxy Ring, Samsung’s latest wearable, is expected to launch this year with health monitoring features such as heart rate and sleep monitoring, while also giving users a score on their readiness for the day.
Apple is also adding more health features to its watch lineup, while Garmin has continued to grow as more consumers look for more ways to track their exercise and fitness levels.
Amazon has been among the competitors directly in the device space aimed at people’s wrists, fingers and other body parts. But the market, though worth billions, has seen some turmoil in recent years. Amazon discontinued its Halo wearable in April of last year, citing a busy department, among other reasons. First wearable company Fitbit was acquired by Google years ago and integrated by Alphabet into a Google Pixel Watch.
Oura has set itself apart from other wearables in the past by placing a strong emphasis on sleep-related data. However, the company has expanded far beyond that in recent years into other biometrics. The rings are equipped with research-grade sensors to monitor everything from heart rate to temperature and sleep cycles. This data is then analyzed to provide information about activities and exercise, stress levels and overall health status.
More than one million Oura rings have been sold to date, according to Oura. The company has raised more than $148 million in total, reaching a valuation of $2.55 billion in April 2022.
Having Oura rings on Amazon will help the company better educate consumers about the product and the health benefits of tracking these metrics, as well as why a ring wearable is preferable to a wrist wearable. said Sweeny.
As for Samsung’s potential entry into a ring, Sweeny said Oura sees it “as a positive thing.”
“It’s a validation of the charge,” he said. “We’re very relentless on the experience side to really build the best product, but we welcome Samsung into the category and ultimately see it as a truly symbolic point in our time.”