Episode summary
Quince’s $50 Cashmere, Supply Chain Savvy Beat E-Commerce Curse | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec
Summary
Quince has built a fast-growing online retail model around selling low-cost “luxury” goods, from cashmere sweaters to sofas, jewelry, fragrances, and supplements. The company’s pitch is simple: cut out middlemen, source directly from manufacturers, and use a supply chain built for speed and lower costs rather than big inventories and long lead times.
The core argument is that Quince’s advantage is operational, not just merchandising. The host and guest discuss how the company skips container shipping, over-the-road freight, warehouses, and much of the overstock risk by ordering in smaller batches and letting manufacturers ship directly to consumers. Quince also relies on data analysis and internal technology to track demand and match products to suppliers, which helps it move quickly across categories.
The guest says the quality proposition matters because a $50 cashmere sweater can still beat other $50 sweaters made from polyester or acrylic. She also argues Quince may be harder to copy than past DTC brands because its system takes time to build and works best for online-only companies. Bringing in third-party luxury brands like Dom Pérignon helps draw affluent shoppers and creates a halo effect around Quince’s own products.
Key takeaways
- Quince’s edge comes from manufacturer-to-consumer shipping that cuts out warehouses, freight steps, and much of the lead time.
- The guest says Quince uses data and internal technology to order smaller batches faster and reduce overstock waste.
- A $50 cashmere sweater can still feel premium if competing sweaters at that price are mostly polyester, acrylic, or nylon, the guest argues.
- The guest says Quince is harder to copy if a rival already has brick-and-mortar stores or wholesale obligations.
- Third-party luxury brands like Dom Pérignon may help pull affluent shoppers onto the site and lift the perception of Quince’s own assortment.
Notable quotes
“they take um you know, uh products from manufacturers and they say manufacturers, wherever you are, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, keep them”
“So you're you're uh skipping container shipping, you're skipping uh over the road freight in the United States. No warehouses”
“they use a lot of AI, they have a lot of internal technology that they've developed over the the past few years”
“a $50 cashmere sweater is probably going to be better than any other $50 sweater you're going to find on the market”
“You need name brands that that create this halo of luxury across your uh assortment”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. You're listening to Bloomberg Businessweek with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio. If you've spent time on Instagram or listened to a podcast at all over the last few years or maybe you're of a certain age, then you know all about Quince. It started just before the pandemic and as Amanda Mull writes
Not know about Quince? Of course I can see the packages arrive at my home.
Okay. Go ahead. I see somebody in my household ordering things from this company.
That's how I know. And it's not me. It is my wife.
Go ahead. Go ahead. Uh the as Amanda Mull writes, the San Francisco-based online retailer specializes in selling its own brand of low-cost luxury goods, the kinds of things designed to lessen the tension between your aspirations and your budget.
Amanda Mull is Bloomberg Businessweek senior reporter. She's author of the buying power column. As Carol was alluding to, over the last few years they've expanded into a surprising variety of other products as you right, American-made sofas, 14-karat gold jewelry, uh fragrances, nutritional supplements, direct-to-consumer.
It was big a few years ago. Not doing so well unless you're Allbirds and you're pivoting to um AI infrastructure.
Uh how has Quince been able to pull this off? Well, I think that what Quince has done is to take some of the like complaints that undergirded the big DTC uh boom in the 2010s and find like direct-to-consumer and find um some opportunities to actually you know, create more efficient supply chains that chains that address some of those problems. Because, you know, the Everlanes and the Allbirds uh of uh uh of recent past identified a lot of weaknesses in how we move uh clothing in particular around the world, but textile products of all types really.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- consumer price index
- e-commerce
- supply chain
- apparel retail pricing
- logistics
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Quince
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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