Tanning products retailer Bondi Sands defied several advisers by expanding into the UK while still a fledgling brand. Seven years later, co-founder Shaun Wilson talks about the challenges and joys of beating the odds. This photo was taken seven years ago in early 2015, at our first big PR event, to celebrate our launch into the UK. We were still a very young company, having been in the Australian market for only two years. Beforehand, our nerves had been jangling with the usual pre-event f
vent fears: Is it going to go well? Will people show up? Luckily the event exceeded our expectations, with over 100 guests, including editors and writers from Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Voguemagazines, along with Superdrug’s head of beauty and head of marketing.
There are many emotions mixed up in this photo. At the time, we were about to launch into the UK, despite being told by multiple people not to go overseas so soon. We were told we were too young, that we should focus all our energy on Australia first, and wait five or even seven years before we stepped out overseas.
We stood firm despite these opinions, keen to be the first Australian-owned, Australian-made tanning brand to make a big splash overseas. We saw the clear international appeal of the aspirational Australian lifestyle, and wanted to be the first to capture those high standards in a bottle. We started with the UK because the Brits have a really good understanding of the Australian lifestyle, and definitely understand Bondi.
We had a great retailer in Superdrug, which really loved our brand and understood what it stood for. We became the number one self-tan brand at Superdrug within the first 15 months, and when we eventually launched into Boots in 2016, we became number one with them, too. Not only did we win over users of competitors’ self-tan products, we expanded the category and won over first-time tanners.
Of course, there were challenges. We had to quickly learn to navigate the British way, and how British retailers work. We also had a few geographical challenges. When we hired our first staff member, we appointed a recruitment agency to help us that was based all the way up in Leeds, despite the role being based in London. Although we’d been to the UK a few times before that, we hadn’t realised that Leeds was a four-hour train ride away from London. Despite the mix up, we’re proud to say that our first hire from that time, Tiffany, is still with us today.
We initially launched with eight products in our range back in 2015, which has since evolved to close to 120, including skincare. At the time of this photo, we were selling around 500,000 units, and in 2022 we will sell close to 15 million units to our customers worldwide, with $160 million in gross sales.
Looking back at this photo, I’m reminded of a looming question always in our minds: ‘Where to next?’
