Following its U.S. debut online earlier this spring, European “micro drink” brand Waterdrop has opened its first domestic retail location in Miami.
What is Waterdrop?
While brands like Liquid I.V., Nuun and Laird Superfoods have revitalized the powdered hydration space in the U.S., Austrian brand Waterdrop has been doing much of the same in Europe. The company was founded in 2016 by CEO Martin Murray on the premise of “trying to get people to drink more water.” Waterdrop offers a proprietary sugar-free, vitamin-infused “micro drink” in the form of compact powder cubes (made from fruit extracts and sweetened with stevia) that dissolve in water and come in a range of natural flavors. Since launching in 2016, the brand has amassed 1.2 million customers across 12 European markets, according to Murray. Although 80% of sales are online, Waterdrop also has a limited presence in conventional grocery stores on the continent.
Moreover, Waterdrop also produces proprietary reusable bottles (steel and glass) that it sells alongside its micro drinks but which are not required for use. “We are probably already the largest seller of sustainable glass bottles in Europe,” Murray said.
Why go brick-and-mortar?
Waterdrop’s cube format brings some obvious efficiencies, from low shipping freight to portability, making it a natural fit for direct-to-consumer sales. As such, creating a physical retail location may seem counterintuitive. Yet Waterdrop has made experiential brick-and-mortar stores — 16 and counting — a cornerstone of its growth strategy.
The concept is simple: the stores, located in high-traffic areas in urban centers, allow consumers to “breathe in the brand,” according to Murray. Each location sells Waterdrop cubes ($11 for 12-count box) and bottles ($35 for 20 oz. glass bottle), allowing users to fill their vessels from built-in water taps as they sample the different flavors. Interactive elements designed to promote social sharing moments, such as an in-store mural and wall of different color bottles, are added to enhance the experience.
Thanks to its warm weather, vibrant culture and association with healthy lifestyle, Miami was chosen to host Waterdrop’s first U.S. retail store, an 11,300-plus square foot location in the heart of Miami Beach. The store, which opened this weekend and which will operate year-round, is the first step in the company’s plan to go nationwide over the next 12 months, as it explores potential openings in cities like New York, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. As in its European locations, each site will feature unique limited edition flavors and bottles.
What’s next for scaling in the U.S.?
Beyond the opening of more stores, Murray sees the U.S. as playing a central part in Waterdrop’s international expansion. Along with hiring locally based individuals in new markets, the company is sending managers from Europe to oversee the construction of its business in the States with the aim of making the country its single largest market by 2023, by which point it will also have domestic production up and running.
Murray said the company is also in the early stages of running pilot programs in Southeast Asia and Japan, a testament to the fact that the concept “works everywhere.” Though factors such as adoption of online shopping and attitudes towards drinking tap water are different from market to market, the broader trends of increasing hydration and decreasing plastic waste have made the concept easily translatable across borders and cultures.
“Who doesn’t say that they have to drink more water, and who wouldn’t agree with the statement that we have to get rid of these plastic bottles that we are shipping around, that are not only bad in terms of packaging but are also a disaster in terms of CO2?” said Murray. “We are tapping into trends that are omnipresent, so there’s not that much difference amongst markets.”