Indie Hair Removal Brand Wakse’s Sales Have Soared 1,100% In The Past Month

Across America and beyond, things are becoming hairier and hairier. Specifically, those things are legs, armpits and bikini lines.

Increasingly, women are deciding enough is enough, and performing a version of the quarantine chop on their body locks as salons and spas remain mostly closed. “We get a lot of people emailing us that they held out as long as they could, but it’s driving them crazy or it’s driving their significant other crazy,” says Andrew Glass, co-founder of rising hair removal brand Wakse, which has seen sales balloon 1,100% over the past month.

Customers are purchasing a Wakse product every three minutes, and the company is generating an average of $12,000 per day in revenues. This year, it’s on track to reach $7 million in sales, up from $6 million last year. Wakse expects its 2020 website business to jump 20%. It’s primarily relied on traditional retail distribution, which is set to account for 70% of sales this year, and is in Neiman Marcus, Planet Beauty and Ulta Beauty, where its wax beads were cleared out in March. The brand recently shipped the chain a replenishment order.

Wakse
Customers are purchasing a Wakse product every three minutes, and the company is generating an average of $12,000 per day in revenues.

Glass points to strong search engine optimization as an important factor in Wakse’s windfall. The brand is drawing Internet browsers hunting for hair removal and at-home waxing merchandise. It’s ramped up social media advertising 80% to be considered by quarantined consumers ready to defuzz-in-place. The brand is particularly targeting the cities Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney and Melbourne, where it has substantial audiences. Once they determine they’re buying Wakse, consumers stock up on plenty of its products. Glass shares its average order value has surged 60% during the pandemic to above $80. A typical transaction includes two jars of wax, a melting pot, an applicator set, and a pre- or post-wax serum. Wakse’s products are priced from $15 to $38. The brand is offering 20% off now to give consumers struggling in the economic downturn a break.

Wakse is amplifying content to educate new customers on the process of waxing at home. In-house aesthetician Shay Sadrolashrafi is providing tips via digital platforms. Wakse is also supplying education through its email newsletters and free video conferences for people preferring extra guidance. Glass believes education and interaction will help Wakse retain the customers it’s gained. He says, “We follow up to keep communication open to make sure they are getting the best experience they can, and that’s not something they would get from our retail partners.”

“We get a lot of people emailing us that they held out as long as they could, but it’s driving them crazy or it’s driving their significant other crazy.”

Wakse has pressed forward with product releases to excite customers. A week and a half ago, it unveiled a dessert collection with wax beads that look and smell like brownie, banana split and mint chocolate. Glass says, “It’s a really fun, bright collection. Maybe it will bring a smile to our customers’ faces.” Wakse’s assortment contains roughly 15 wax varieties, five waxing accessories, and the pre- and post-shave serums. Next up for the brand is a melting pot warmer and extensions of its skincare arsenal.

Not everything has been smooth sailing for Wakse amid the coronavirus crisis. In January, as it was beginning to run out of stock of its bestselling rose gold wax beans, its manufacturer in China was shut down, and it couldn’t obtain more inventory. Wakse investigated an alternative manufacturer in Italy just as that country was becoming a coronavirus hotspot. It took until this month for the brand to secure additional inventory from China.

Wakse co-founders Andrew Glass and Shayan Sadrolashrafi
Wakse co-founders Andrew Glass and Shayan Sadrolashrafi

It needs the merchandise to satisfy both heightened online and retail demand. Before the pandemic, Wakse wasn’t available on Amazon. However, it entered the platform in its luxury beauty assortment about a week ago and already has registered $10,000 in sales through it. A mass market retailer that’s seen hair removal sales leap 28% lately is bringing in Wakse this summer. Glass declines to disclose the name of the retailer, but suggests its pickup of the brand validates Wakse’s efforts to modernize waxing with eye-popping wax imagery and metallic wax beads. For mass retail, the brand concentrates on its smaller 4.8-oz. $15 jar of wax beads. Its larger 12.8-oz. jar is $26.

Similar to what Billie, Oui The People and Flamingo, which has waxing options, have done for shaving, Wakse aims to enliven a category that’s been largely stagnant for decades. Incumbents such as GiGi, Veet and Nad’s are over a quarter century old. Veet is nearly a century old. Glass and Shayan Sadrolashrafi, a user interface expert, started Wakse in 2018. Glass is an incredibly industrious beauty entrepreneur. On top of Wakse, he’s the CEO and founder of Non Gender Specific, and co-founder of Joos Cosmetics.

Although Wakse’s digital presence has been especially critical for its current business, Glass continues to be bullish on physical retail. “I personally don’t think brick-and-mortar is dead. I think it’s going to bounce back. Based on what I’m seeing here in Georgia, people are desperate to get out again,” says the Atlanta resident. Along with its upcoming mass market retail launch, Wakse anticipates breaking into major retail in Europe by the holiday season. Glass says, “We don’t want to be oversaturated in retail, so we are really doing our research and finding the retailers that are growing.”