he brand, which provides teeth whitening and ‘smile care’ solutions to customers, held off on launching into bricks-and-mortar for so long to ensure it had the right products prepared, and to avoid the mistakes of DTC brands past. “The classic mistake that all kinds of DTC brands do is get into [physical] retail as quickly as possible and fizzle out,” HiSmile general manager Justin Gaggino told Inside Retail.  “We chose to only really look at bricks-and-mortar partnerships in the last year or so, because we wanted to really identify our key products. We’ve launched our Hi toothpaste range in stores and since then we’ve seen an explosion in the everyday oral care area. “Which is good news for us, because that’s where we’re looking at for product expansion next year.” HiSmile will launch around 10 new products in 2023, Gaggino said, alongside a wider push into physical retail. The business will be careful, however, only to partner with retailers it believes are a good fit and won’t dilute their own DTC operations. The brand’s uptake is largely driven by its social media-driven campaigns with high profile celebrities, such as the Kardashians and former UFC fighter Conor McGregor, and its efforts in R&D to create a more effective tooth whitening process for its customers. “We have a fully functional lab here that we’ve actually just expanded – we’ve spent close to $11 million on research and development in the last few years to make our products the best in the market,” Gaggino said. “It’s really helped our expansion into the US and UK, but has also further expanded our reach in Australia. For example, in the last few years HiSmile has been searched as much as Colgate on Google, which is crazy when you think about it from a scale perspective.” The beauty boom finally reaches oral care Another part of the business’ success has been the delayed impact of the work-from-home beauty boom. As people have spent more time in front of cameras over the last few years, and have started using beauty products to be ‘camera ready’, that has slowly extended to taking better care of their smile.  “I think oral care is always the laggard when it comes to the personal care space,” Gaggino said. “You see a lot of trends that happen in skin care, makeup and hair care that slowly trickle their way down to oral care, and I think that’s happening now.” HiSmile’s success also points to a bigger change within the oral care market that has been occuring in more traditional parts of retail for some time– people are beginning to buy more consciously. “If you think about oral care, and you think about buying toothpaste, it tends to be whatever is brightest, or cheapest, or on special,” Gaggino said. “It’s a very unconscious category. But we’ve strived over the years to really make something that people feel passionate about and to make oral care a conscious decision, and to get people to be as passionate about the space as they would be about skin care or haircare. “People are looking for ways to grow and boost their confidence, and your smile is one of the biggest ways you can do that.”