Exploring Textile Innovations to Drive Sales
Brands seeking to leverage bio-responsive textiles to drive sales and attract new consumers can reap manifold benefits. One standout example is in the athletic wear space, where the average consumer is constantly searching for new ways to maximize physical performance and accelerate recovery. This presents the opportunity for new product categories (often at higher retail price points) by offering products that go beyond basic functions to actively enhance the wearer’s health.
Brands catering to a tech-savvy consumer base can underscore another value proposition to their customers: the clothes they wear could increase the accuracy of their device. Researchers found that embedding metamaterials into clothing improved the signal strength between wearable electronic devices. This includes smartwatches and other health monitoring products, as well as medical devices prescribed by doctors to track insulin, blood sugar and other critical biomarkers of health.
Other brands have successfully incorporated bio-responsive technology to enhance the consumer experience and justify a price hike. For example, KT Tape, a brand of sports therapeutic kinesiology tape designed to support muscles, tendons and ligaments, raised its highest price point by about 25% after incorporating responsive textiles into its offerings, further supporting the fact that consumers are willing to spend more for health-boosting textile innovations.
Tech enthusiasts aren’t the only audience that these textiles appeal to. By investing in these innovations, brands can showcase their commitment to addressing global challenges by appealing to environmentally conscious consumers. Recycled and eco-friendly textiles can be engineered to perform as smart and bio-responsive textiles, which may improve durability. This synergy aligns with the values of a growing demographic that prioritizes sustainability and innovation – and since these types of textiles can deliver both, why not lean in?
Finally, the applications for smart textiles reach beyond direct-to-consumer sales, which could enable brands to reach untapped sales channels. As MIT researchers found, the technology that creates these innovative textiles can also be leveraged in healthcare and rehabilitation settings, meaning there’s an opportunity to partner with and sell to organizations as well as consumers. Brands looking to expand will find excellent advantages here.
As consumers balance their desires for real-time data with their ability to positively influence that data beyond diet, exercise and sleep, the next innovation will be in the actual materials they use to perform at their best. The next generation of smart and bio-responsive textiles has emerged as ideal solutions. Brands, in turn, can take advantage of growing consumer interest and develop new types of apparel that maximize performance, corporate responsibility and increased profits.
Seth Casden is the CEO and Co-founder of Hologenix, a materials science company dedicated to developing products that amplify human potential, including its flagship innovation CELLIANT®. In 2021, Hologenix was named to the Inc. 5000 of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S. for the third year in a row. An industry thought leader, triathlete and world traveler, Casden is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. He has been interviewed by, and authored content for, top-tier media publications such as Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Success, Fast Company and Thrive Global. Before founding Hologenix in 2002, Casden worked in private equity. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. His mission is to bring the benefits of infrared into the everyday fabric of our lives and spaces.
