Shark Tank-Funded Bala Taps SoundCommerce to Activate First-Party Customer Marketing and Operations Data

Direct-to-consumer fitness brand Bala is quickly growing its business by creating a personalized approach to customer engagement free from reliance on third-party cookies

SEATTLE, Nov. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today retail data platform provider SoundCommerce announced Bala, a direct-to-consumer fitness accessories brand, has implemented its technology to accelerate data-driven decision making and optimize every aspect of business operations to key success metrics. This includes better understanding and segmenting customers utilizing first-party data to drive customer engagement and lifetime value.

Launched in 2018, Bala is a splash of color in the fitness world. Bala is redefining the ambiance of the at-home workout product by product. Each piece of Bala equipment is created at the intersection of form and function, fitness and fashion. In 2020, Bala struck a deal on Shark Tank with Mark Cuban and Maria Sharapova as investors and has since grown into an international movement with recognition from prestigious press outlets such as being named in the 17 items that defined 2020 by Vogue. Bala fitness equipment can be found in 2000 retailers globally.

Brands of all sizes find their marketing approach at a crossroads as Google phases out third-party cookies across the board. By adopting SoundCommerce, Bala and other brands are able to build a repository of in-depth customer and order data, allowing them to create customer profiles and launch retargeting campaigns using their own first-party data. SoundCommerce helps Bala take action at the intersection of customer data and retail operations, incorporating product mix, merchandising calendar, discount promotions and marketplace selling into their day-to-day decisions.

“As an omni-channel brand, we are focused on developing 1:1 relationships with our customers and understanding their path to purchase from beginning to end,” said Sam Wilson, Head of Growth at Bala. “SoundCommerce has equipped us with a simplified view of rich customer profiles, allowing us to reach our customers with relevant, targeted content, drive results, and ultimately own our customer relationships without reliance on a third-party marketplace.”

SoundCommerce enabled Bala to unify and mine its own data for customer targeting purposes, free from the constraints and flaws of tags and third party cookies. Today, API-based data has evolved from batch-processed “offline data” to real-time streams capable of capturing any and all events relevant to the business. With SoundCommerce, this real-time streaming event data is both intelligent and digitally accessible. Bala can now easily access the purchase behavior data behind its customer profiles, and moreover the company has a view of its whole business through advanced reporting capabilities.

“It’s imperative that growing direct-to-consumer brands maintain focus on their industry North Star, which is ownership of customer data to drive a stronger, better customer relationship,” said Eric Best, founder and CEO of SoundCommerce. “We’re honored to work with Bala, a brand that’s seeing incredible growth and positioned to cut out third-party sellers through owning its customer engagement.”

About SoundCommerce
The SoundCommerce data platform drives profitable growth, customer experience and lifetime value across retail systems and channels — from first click to doorstep delivery. SoundCommerce works with retail brands’ existing technology stack to transform customer experience across marketing, merchandising, supply, fulfillment, delivery, and customer service. The data platform tracks real-time operational events, profitability and customer lifetime value to drive decisions and actions fundamental to cross-channel and direct-to-consumer success. Founded by Amazon veterans and backed by leading venture capital investors, SoundCommerce is headquartered in Seattle.

Contact:
Maura Howard
soundcommerce@nectarpr.com