The key to establishing a sustainable global presence with Bond-Eye Group

With a coastline of almost 50,000 kilometers, linked intricately by over 10,000 stunning beaches, the country of Australia brings a beach lifestyle that many globally has grown to yearn for. With a 300% increase in revenue growth since 2019, Bond-eye Australia Group is working towards being a global phenomenon. With 4 swimsuit brands under its name (Bond-eye Swim, Sea Level Australia, Artesands, and Nip Tuck Swim), they staying true to their mission of being an ethical and sustainable swimwear brand.

With 10 years of experience in the ecommerce and digital marketing industry, Robin Losson, Group Head of Ecommerce at Bond-eye Group, shares with us the plans Bond-eye Group has in store. In this exclusive Q&A, he uncovers further in depth on how they're working towards an increased brand visibility while staying true to their earth-loving mission, how sustainable practices can go hand-in-hand with profitability, the start of their AI-driven journey, and so much more!

Which are the top eCommerce trends you are leveraging to increase your visibility while also staying true to their brand?

We’re always looking for new ways to reach our customers but staying true to the brand on our social channel and partnering with the right influencers and brand ambassadors is very important. We’re a very visual business and the quality of our promotion need to reflect the quality of our products, so we need to be careful not to fall into the trap of going viral for the sake of it. Authenticity is very important for us, and our customers expect us to maintain that standard level. We are also partnering with marketplaces around the world which give our products great exposure to new market and new customers, and we have seen some incredible results going into new market.

However, we must remain vigilant on the marketplaces we work with and the market we go into. It’s easy to be driven by growth and ambition, but it’s not always the right decision for a brand that might not aligned very well with the marketplace or its audience.

How meaningful is sustainability for your brands and how does that translate concretely in your business choices?

Sustainability is paramount to us. We’re designing and selling swimwear, so we are deeply connected to the ocean, the beach lifestyle and work really hard on minimising our impact. We’re already working on reducing our impact and giving back to the community. We pay to recycle fabric offcuts and waste that we couldn’t use through Upparel, and each customer gets to choose a program where we will be donating $1 of each order through the I = Change platform. We're also using compostable bags, but there is always more that we can do. As a company, we’re always looking at ways to improve and reduce our footprint. We have started a full sustainability audit of our operation and will be actioning change based on the findings.

We’re also working on removing as much plastic from our manufacturing as possible by using recycled nylon yarn in all of our brands, including recycled materials for our labels, and we’re looking into cleaner way to ship our products to our customers. Sustainability is a wide part of the retail scene today, and we’re really investing in this ongoing sustainability journey to make a genuine difference at every step of our operation.

How is bond-eye Australia implanting generative AI in its strategy and what opportunities does this technology provide those in the retail sector specifically?

AI has been a buzzword in the retail industry, but we’re only starting to see an expansion of how we can use it as retailers recently. AI and machine learning have been generating recommendations and personalisation online and via marketing channels for some time now, and we’ve all seen the potential in conversion rate and AOV increase, as well as a better online experience for customers. What we're looking for now is how we can use AI to improve our business operational and back-end activities for operations to be more time efficient. In a rapidly expanding company, prioritising is key. If we could see some time saving and efficiencies in one area, it will allow us to focus on another one faster. We’re looking onto how AI can help us make better informed decisions and fast track processes around stock planning, transfers, logistics etc, and we are very excited about the paired intellect and experience potential.

What can we look forward to from bond-eye Australia in 2024?

We have great designs coming up from all our brands. We’re working hard to produce the best products, and we’re extending our range to resort wear, clothing, and accessories. We will continue to grow and consolidate our North America business, while placing a significant focus towards the UK and Europe. We have a strong presence in the French, Italian, and Greek markets, and with our plans, we plan on creating a very formidable sales and distribution network. We're also working towards cultivating partnerships in the Middle East. This increased global brand exposure will create a positive effect on our ecommerce business. 2024, we're ready to spot our swimwear on every beach in the world!