Should Meghan Markle be your new retail guru?

There are plenty of entrepreneurs to admire in retail. There’s Ken Morrison and his inspirational drive that catapulted his father’s small family business into one of the UK’s biggest supermarkets. Or perhaps you resonate with elements of the founder of LK Bennett and “queen of the kitten heel” Linda Bennett’s story. 

One retail entrepreneur you may not have considered adding to your vision board is one Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Now, before you slam your laptop shut – I know suggesting someone whose retail credentials thus far amount to flogging some jam as your new retail guru is quite the affront. But stay with me, because as much as it is twee, Markle’s new retail venture As Ever does raise some interesting consumer behaviour trends that could be worth your time to consider.

For those who are not close followers of the Sussexes, let me first explain what As Ever actually is, because if you leave that job to Markle she says it’s not a brand, “it’s a love language”.

Essentially, As Ever is an ecommerce retail operation that offers seasonal ‘drops’ of food and drink products that are closely linked to the family’s luxurious California lifestyle. The collections have included the aforementioned jam as well as other spreads, honey, bakery box mixes, dried flowers, loose leaf tea and most recently wine.  

Jars of jam are the cheapest products on offer, at just about £7 each, while three bottles of 2023 Napa Valley rosé sell for almost £70.

Make yourself scarce

All of the products completely sold out within minutes of going live on the site, and although there has been debate over how limited the stock was in the first place – the model is an interesting study into modern scarcity marketing. 

There are two layers to As Ever’s approach to scarcity. First there is the seasonality: rejecting the concept of having stock available 24/7 forces shopping to become an event that can be teased. Layering that on top of limited stock runs of individual products that may never be available again proved more than enough to push shoppers into following through with their purchases.

This scarcity concept is increasingly prevalent, driving growth for retailers like JellyCat and Ffern – a perfume retailer that applies a similar seasonal approach to its launches to great effect. But of course, as much as scarcity creates excitement, there is a fine balance to be struck.  

According to Newsweek, the As Ever website racked up half a million page views in the week of her second launch and the title suggested Markle could have earned around $4.5m (£3.3m) in a week had those who intended to buy managed to get the products in their online shopping basket. Instead, it said that it was more likely the enterprise took in about a quarter of that.

Celebrity status

You cannot ignore the fact that a huge proportion of the initial traffic to As Ever will have been curious bystanders having a nosy on a global star’s latest venture, without any intention to buy.

We’re at an interesting stage of celebrity and influencer marketing, where there are now as many misfires and quiet discontinuations of brands built off the back of a well-known face as there are genuine success stories.

If we look at celebrity brands that have turned into genuinely sustainable businesses, say Kim Kardashian’s Skims or Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, they have solved consumer problems beyond their celebrity appeal, and used their founders’ influence as an amplifier rather than a value proposition.  

That’s without even mentioning the celebrity in question. Markle is a polarising character, to say the least, and has been plagued with unfavourable press in the UK tabloids. Her personal brand is stronger in the US, where the retailer operates, but a business with an overreliance on one face is inherently more precarious than one running on the strength of a good brand story.

What’s also becoming clear is that the lifecycle of celebrity products that are too face-forward is shortening, with cheaper-than-expected sales going through for the likes of model Rosie Huntington-Whitely’s cosmetics brand Rose Inc and celebrity hairstylist Jonathan Van Ness’ haircare brand JVN Hair in recent years. A phenomenon that retailers mulling over expensive influencer contracts should keep in mind.

Buzz to Benjamins

So, how do you convert celebrity buzz into a sustainable business? One answer to this lies in the product mix. Markle is unlikely to build a profitable consumer base from her dried flower sprinkles, but her shift from food to wine looks like something more serious.

Wine has an in-built repeat purchase potential, and more occasion drive than things like jam or honey do. Celebrity alcohol brands have also been some of the most profitable ventures of any category. Casamigos, the tequila brand co-founded by George Clooney is now among the biggest alcohol brands in the world, valued at $1bn when purchased by Diageo in 2017.

Casamigos’ growth timed perfectly with a surge in popularity of tequila more generally and, with luck, Markle’s wine has the potential to do the same. Searches for brands of pale Provençal rosé wine, such as Whispering Angel, have been steadily rising over the last few years and consumers have been setting out to find rosé with the subtlest colour they can get their hands on.

As Ever’s 2023 Napa Valley very deliberately makes this connection in the product description, noting that the wine is “pale in color” and “reminiscent of the finest Provençal styles”.

So, although she may not be your cup of As Ever Herbal Hibiscus Tea ($12.00), Markle’s business has built in quite a few elements that others have used to catapult their brands into the stratosphere. Although, if you’d rather not place her among your personal ranking of retail’s greatest inspirations, I will entirely understand.