Why you’ll never see Merry People and Twoobs on sale

Two Australian footwear brands are among those opting not to go on sale this Black Friday weekend — or ever, for that matter. 

And they say other consumer brands should consider doing the same. 

While Australian shoppers are expected to fork out $6.3 billion worth of sales during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales event, which officially starts today, and Instagram feeds across the country are bursting with discount offers, Victorian brand Merry People is standing firm in its commitment to never discount its colourful gumboots. 

Merry People was “born out of a practical frustration” in 2014 when founder and CEO Danielle Pearce couldn’t find reliable and high-quality boots that could withstand Melbourne’s unpredictable weather and still be suitable for the office.

In its almost 10 years of operations, the brand has carved out a loyal following in the local footwear industry via its e-commerce store and the 70, mostly independent, stockists that sell its boots. It also inspired many other, often larger footwear makers, to release their own brightly coloured and fashionable gumboots.

But unlike some of those other shoe brands, Pearce is resolute in her decision to never discount Merry People boots. She made the call when she first started the company, out of necessity, and it’s one that she says has drawn respect from customers and stockists, alike.

“When I started the company, which was 10 years ago, I was thinking of things for myself as a consumer and how I hated seeing them on sale a week later, or seeing them on another website cheaper,” she tells SmartCompany.

“Because at the time it was just me, and I knew I wasn’t just going to be bringing in new products every month or two months, I was like, ‘well, I can’t go on sale’, because what would happen down the track? People would just be waiting for that sale.”

Pearce also spoke with other e-commerce founders at the time, who shared their experience of feeling like they were “a slave to the sale”, and needed to discount their products in order to reach certain targets or budgets.

Pearce has always communicated to her customers about the decision to not go on sale, as a way of setting expectations and encouraging shoppers to buy a pair of Merry People boots when they genuinely need them.

This transparency appears to be paying off for the brand, which actually sees an uptick in sales when it does communicate its sales policy, even in weeks like this one when it feels like every other brand is offering storewide discounts.

“The other good thing for us is that we don’t have these spikes in our sales data,” she adds.

“It helps with our forecasting … we don’t have these outliers.”

And it contributes to a healthy relationship with the independent retail stores that stock Merry People boots too, says Pearce, as those retailers also often choose not to discount.

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Creating “brand ambassadors”

Environmentally focused shoewear label Twoobs takes a similar approach. The brand has long held to its promise of never discounting its sandals – ensuring that Twoobs customers will always know what they’ll pay for a pair of shoes, regardless of the time of year.

And the brand says this decision means its sales “continue to exceed expectations”.

“At Twoobs we’re putting the environment at the heart of our business, and we know that a key to people shopping more sustainably is encouraging mindful purchasing rather than the frenzy that’s created around Black Friday,” founders Jess and Stef Dadon told SmartCompany on Friday. 

“So much of what’s purchased over this weekend is only worn once before ending up in landfill, and if businesses are wanting their customers to become brand ambassadors then encouraging them to buy at full price will help them to really value and champion the pieces they are purchasing.” 

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Bright spots ahead

Pearce says it’s clear that lower consumer confidence is affecting the retail sector across the board at the moment, and from her observations, pre-Christmas discounting “is louder at the moment”, and it has started a lot earlier.

But for Merry People, pre-Christmas sales are on the up, and especially so in the US and UK markets, which for the first time this week, recorded higher revenues than the company’s Australian operations.

Both international markets have grown by at least 200% over the past 12 months, says Pearce, and Merry People has its boots in 40 stockists across the UK.

“It’s really exciting for us to say, ‘we’re an international brand now’,” she says.

“We’re not just thinking Australia-first in this time.”