CPG brands are well-known for providing shoppers with their favorite, frequently re-stocked staples, like food, clothing, and beauty products. However, as the unprecedented worldwide events of 2020 unfolded, millions of shoppers flocked to buy their consumer packaged goods, not in-store, but online. Today, we’ll take inventory of the 14 best CPG brands on Shopify and learn how you can implement some of their most effective marketing strategies.
14 Best CPG Brands on Shopify
- Allbirds
- Beardbrand
- Bombas
- Death Wish Coffee Company
- Gymshark
- Kraft Heinz Company
- Kylie Cosmetics
- MVMT
- Nescafe by Nestle
- Pantryshop.com and Snacks.com by PepsiCo
- Pura Vida Bracelets
- Rebecca Minkoff
- Taylor Stitch
- Triangl
Let’s investigate more about each of these 14 brands to see how they reached massive CPG sales success — and how you can, too.
1. Allbirds
Not only does this brand name start with the letter A, landing it first on our list, but that’s also the grade we’d give to Allbirds and their tried-and-true marketing strategy.
Often considered one of the most significant Shopify success stories, Allbirds began its rise to fame as a modest Kickstarter campaign. Now, the company is valued at over $1 billion and has stores in some of the largest cities around the world.
So, how’d this sustainable, stylish footwear company do it? One glance at their site provides the answer: clear, effective brand education and display of social proof. The site presents its mantra, “light on your feet, easy on the planet,” immediately on the main screen, and reminds shoppers of it on each product page with a “renewable materials” label. Tried-and-true marketing practices really do work, as proven many times over by Allbirds.
2. Beardbrand
Beardbrand, a male-focused grooming company, leveraged millions of YouTube subscribers to help scale their Shopify store. However, the brand’s success isn’t solely due to effective social media marketing.
Beardbrand intelligently designed a landing page quiz (using the simple Shopify app, Shogun) for new store visitors. At the end of the quiz, the site captures users’ email addresses, which helps build the ever-valuable email marketing list.
What was the result? Beardbrand improved its conversion rate by over 40%. At the same time, they increased AOV (average order value) by almost 20% — talk about success!
3. Bombas
Bombas’ mission is to “bee better,” a mantra they follow every day. The company donates one pair of socks for every pair purchased to those affected by homelessness. As of 2021, the company has graciously donated almost 50 million pairs of socks.
After one year with Shopify Plus, Bombas racked in over $17.2 million in sales. Thanks to the eCommerce platform’s extensive scalability and conversion-focused design, Bombas has tripled its revenue year over year since.
4. Death Wish Coffee Company
Offering to serious caffeine drinkers the world’s strongest cup of coffee, Death Wish capitalized on sacred commercial real estate during Super Bowl 50. Thanks to the implementation of ERP and Shopify Plus, Death Wish Coffee Company successfully handled $2,083 per minute in sales in just a few hours after the game ended — with no crashes, slow-downs, or downtime.
Plus, we love recurring revenue via subscription services (like ReCharge) and that’s just another contributing factor to the success of Death Wish Coffee Company. In fact, since the implementation of subscription services, sales have increased by 200% year over year. Some might attribute it to all the caffeine, but Death Wish Coffee Company is doing eCommerce right.
5. Gymshark
In the same manner as Allbirds, Gymshark rose from humble origins to become a worldwide apparel staple. In fact, Ben Francis created the brand from a garage while he was still a teenager. Fast-forward less than ten years and Gymshark now makes almost $130 million in annual sales. How’d the company manage that growth, and how can you imitate it?
Gymshark attributes much of its success to UGC (user-generated content) on social media. In fact, the company’s Instagram account has amassed over 4.6 million followers, many of whom function as unofficial brand reps, happily showing off their new ‘fit to friends and family on the platform.
After all, statistics indicate that UGC influences 79% of shoppers’ purchasing decisions. Clearly, the technique has worked for Gymshark — and, it can for you, too.
6. Kraft Heinz Company
Before the world had ever heard phrases like “work-from-home” and “quarantine,” the Kraft Heinz Company wanted to offer to its consumers the ability to shop from home. By thinking ahead of the curve, the third-largest food and beverage company in North America solidified its success on Shopify. In 2019 alone, Kraft Heinz recorded $25 billion in net sales.
7. Kylie Cosmetics
Perhaps one of the most well-known Shopify success stories is that of ultra-famous Kylie Jenner. In 2018, her beauty line, known as Kylie Cosmetics, was valued at over $800 million by Forbes. The fashionable make-up palettes, kits, and glosses sold out almost instantly after launch. Thankfully, her Shopify Plus store handled the massive waves of traffic with ease.
So, exactly how does the pop icon continue generating over $100 million in sales annually? Two words: social media. Kylie Cosmetics uses the Shopify app Feedfy to enhance and manage sales on social media. In a world where more and more consumers choose to shop directly from social sites, Kylie Cosmetics reveals the true value of Instagram selling.
8. MVMT
Success isn’t all about high sales figures (though, this fashionable accessory brand definitely records some hefty numbers.) However, we most admire MVMT for its growth statistics. In just four years, the brand increased from $1 million to $60 million in sales — that’s a whopping 6,000% increase.
If you’re interested in scaling your company, just look at MVMT’s example. At first glance, their website is stunning — and, that’s a representation of the products, too. In addition to a high focus on quality, MVMT prioritizes above-average customer support. The site uses one of our favorite Shopify apps, Gorgias, to elevate service and increase customer satisfaction. If 1500% growth per year (on average) isn’t enough proof for you, we don’t know what is.
9. Nescafe
Coffee made easy, Nescafe started selling its products in 1938. However, despite the popping-up of modern competitors, the company maintains its status as one of the “world’s favorite coffees.” The quantifiables prove it, too, as Nescafe sits as last year’s highest revenue earner on this list — but we’ll get to that in a moment.
So, what’s their secret to longevity and growth? Nescafe uses eCommerce to stay relevant and connect with customers around the globe. In fact, worldwide reach is one attributing factor to the company’s continued success. Thanks to Shopify, Nescafe provides warm comfort to homes in over 180 countries. As a result, Nescafe was able to earn $90.8 billion in revenue last year alone.
10. Pantryshop.com & Snacks.com by PepsiCo
On the opposite end of the longevity scale, PepsiCo launched its two D2C sites during the unprecedented events of 2020. In an effort to help consumers make purchases easily, from their homes, Pantryshop.com and Snacks.com offer quick, easy shopping of popular brand-name foods and beverages.
Can you find a need in your industry that urgently needs to be addressed? PepsiCo wisely chose Shopify to provide modern customers with modern solutions. As a result, the company earned $70.4 billion in revenue last year — almost giving Nescafe some competition as the highest annual earner on this list.
11. Pura Vida Bracelets
The Pura Vida jewelry company started off as little more than a vacation souvenir side hustle but quickly expanded. Now, hundreds of native artisans from around the world are able to support themselves by creating viral bracelets and more.
It’s not just because of the wholesome backstory that we love Pura Vida. Rather, the business owners have skillfully used the capabilities and integrations of Shopify Plus to facilitate the sales of millions of pieces of jewelry. Just browse some of their awesome statistics:
- 50% year-over-year growth
- 4x increase in email marketing revenue
- 10% increase in Facebook sales
By using all that Shopify offers, you, too, can experience sustainable business growth.
12. Rebecca Minkoff
Like Pura Vida, this fashionable lifestyle company illustrates another great example of utilizing all that Shopify has to offer. Though social media plays a large role in Rebecca Minkoff’s $100 million in revenue, the brand implements multiple Shopify integrations to ensure every step of the user experience is perfect. Here are just some of the apps used on the Rebecca Minkoff site:
- Back in Stock (stock notifications)
- Klaviyo (marketing automation)
- Swell (rewards program)
- Narvar (shipping/tracking)
- Page Builder (visual customization)
- Yotpo (social proof)
13. Taylor Stitch
With another nod to Shopify’s game-changing integrations, we have Taylor Stitch, the eco-conscious, sustainable menswear brand. Featured in articles from Entrepreneur and The Daily Beast, Taylor Stitch has recently gained much praise and many new shoppers. The company boasted an impressive 60% increase in revenue per email recipient by utilizing one of our favorite email marketing and automation apps, Klaviyo.
In addition, the gorgeous Shopify site is full of attractive, eye-catching images and ultra-informative product descriptions. Plus, with an on-brand site theme that’s modern yet simple, users can’t resist shopping — surely, a testament to Shopify’s power.
14. Triangl
Shopping for swimwear tends to have a reputation like going to the dentist, BMV, or another unpleasant location. However, Triangl has effectively surpassed the negative feelings, selling simple, sporty bathing suits that look great on a variety of body shapes and sizes. In fact, in just three years, the company went from start-up (with a net deficit of $25K) to Shopify success (with $45 million annual sales.)
So, how did the company manage such rapid growth? By implementing our favorite strategy trifecta: social media, site design, and superb product quality. With over 2.4 million Instagram followers and endorsements from ultra-famous celebs, Triangl has a wide audience base.
Then, the company uses an effective, minimal homepage design with bright, attractive photos of their swimwear in action. Focusing on the quality of the swimwear, and minimizing other site distractions, Triangl surely has “cannon-balled” into eCommerce success.
Learn Key Lessons From the 14 Best CPG Brands on Shopify
In 2020, CPG brand sales in the US alone increased by over $8 billion. With Shopify reporting a 40% sales increase in 2021, you need to strategize now for growth.
The 14 CPG brands in this post shared many of the same eCommerce strategies — and with good reason. Statistics don’t lie. Carefully observe the case studies in this post, and strategize how you can implement some updates in your store. A few, seemingly simple changes may add more commas to your annual sales figures.
Shopify provides entrepreneurs with an amazing bank of resources that can help skyrocket sales, retention, and scalability. If you’re not currently on the platform, reach out to our Shopify experts and see how easy it is to get started. If you’re already on Shopify, but want to improve your store, check out our post here for the 7 apps every store needs.
