There are plenty of flash-in-the-pan Direct To Consumer sites that have over-hyped poorly-made offerings on social media, and were one-and-done with customers. Not web-based sneaker retailer Allbirds ($PRIVATE:ALLBIRDS), though.
Allbirds is scaling up on staff to take its offering international, next. And, it's getting easier - and a lot more popular - to get shoes direct, online, through the web these days. Job postings have more than doubled so far in 2019.
Our second chart truly underscores the scale at which Allbirds has been growing - even as it doubles job postings, its LinkedIn ($MSFT) Employee Headcount rose more than 60% so far this year. It's important to note the distinction here - job postings reflect growth ambition, and headcount tracks actual growth in terms of staffing.
Last but not least, we can track Facebook ($FB) Talking About Count - how often people are chatting about a brand on the social network. And, just like with its other alternative data sets, Allbirds is showing substantial performance. The company has only added about $77 million - most recently in late 2018 - from top-flight backers like Tiger Global and Fidelity. There's no talk of an IPO - yet - but the company's success, and markets' recent eagerness to buy into new startups, could change that.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Zume Pizza is hiring more engineers than cooks - data shows it's working
- Proximity data highlights a stark future at GameStop
- FedEx is making a tech transition - it's going to take fewer dockworkers and more programmers to make it happen
