BARK, the DTC brand best known for its BarkBox subscription service, is expanding into the pet health and wellness category with the launch of a new product. The dog treats and toys seller is introducing Bright Dental, a triple-enzyme dental chew and toothpaste designed to be an alternative to brushing a dog’s teeth.
Bright Dental is available on barkbright.com, Target and Amazon, and will be available in CVS on March 27. While BARK sells treats and chew toys in Target stores and online, as well as on Amazon, this will mark the first time the DTC brand is selling through CVS.
BARK is measuring sell-through and retention rates at both its partner brick-and-mortar locations and online in order to gauge how well the product is serving the market before expanding elsewhere.
The brand also is forgoing paid media for the launch, instead focusing on “building one-to-one relationships with the customer,” such as running a contest for 10 free Bright Dental boxes, according to Adweek.
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Bright Dental is available as a subscription offering for $30 per month, with a $5 discount for existing BarkBox subscribers.
BarkBox subscribers and members of BARK’s other subscription service, Super Chewer, learned about the Bright Dental product ahead of the launch. BARK texted subscribers about the dental chew and toothpaste in fall 2019, and the product sold out within 24 hours.
The product rollout coincides with BARK’s study of more than 1,000 U.S. dog owners, which discovered that 69% of owners have never brushed their dog’s teeth. The survey results helped convince BARK that a new category launch was necessary, with 47% of dog owners believing they don’t need to brush their pet’s teeth because they think a dental chew is enough.
