Suk Yee Gong had her first maternity tasting two years ago.
After giving birth to her firstborn son in 2019, she and her husband realized how quickly babies outdo their clothes.
“We spent a lot of time and money finding the right clothes. It was also very frustrating to have to organize your wardrobe every few weeks and find space to store these obsolete clothes, ”lamented the 33-year-old.
“The last resort for us was to try to recycle them, as we felt it was the most sustainable. But, to our horror, we have discovered that less than 1% of clothes are actually recycled ”.
At the time, Suk Yee was also testing a trendy subscription service for her and wanted to find a similar option for baby clothes, but found none.
That’s why she and her husband started Boy as a new, comfortable and sustainable way for parents to get baby clothes.
“Think of us as a revolving closet that sends you a new set of baby clothes every month,” says its website.
Save time, money and the environment
Suk Yee jumped into the entrepreneurial world with no business experience. By training, she is an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer, but a large part of her career was devoted to the education sector. She was a full-time teacher for five years and later went on to teach children coding.
Despite having no previous experience, Suk Yee, who is now a mother of two, is confident the business will take off because it helps resolve various pain points for other parents like her.
First, Bambino’s subscription service offers convenience. Parents no longer need to spend time buying or purchasing baby clothes and ordering or storing them after the baby passes them.
Second, Bambino helps save money for parents. Baby clothes are expensive, but babies can only wear them for a short period of time, especially during the first two years. Bambino is an affordable option for getting baby clothes – for $ 25 a month, you can get 10 pieces of basic baby clothes in a Bambino box.
Lastly, Bambino helps save the environment by reusing clothes. As parents themselves, they hate to see that the sets of perfectly good clothes your baby has outgrown in two months end up in the landfill.
“Fashion production is a larger emitter of carbon dioxide than sea and combined airline. (Our) clothes are reused as long as possible, stretching the life of baby clothes. This will directly reduce textile waste and be more environmentally friendly, ”explained Suk Yee.
While most parents tend to reuse baby clothes by adopting the traditional practice of passing on used clothes, Suk Yee points out that it can be very annoying for both parties.
The donor must first decide who and what pieces to give away. If there is no suitable receiver, the clothes will continue to be stored. The receiver will also have to go through the process of sorting, cleaning and storing parts (larger sizes) that are not useful in the near future.
It may not seem like much at all, but when you’re a new dad, that can be pretty overwhelming. Subscribing to baby clothes can basically be considered as getting hands and hands with the peace of mind that it is clean and in good condition for the little one.
– Suk Yee Gong, founder of Bambino
But some parents still have flu
As the first and only baby clothing subscription service in Singapore, Suk Yee shared that gaining initial traction among customers was quite difficult as it is such a new concept.
To raise brand awareness, they relied heavily on social media and word of mouth to get their name out. They have also recently launched a referral program to reward their existing customers for sharing their service with family and friends.
It didn’t take long for us to discover ourselves and join the parents with like-minded ideas. We saw that our customer base doubled every month in the first phase.
– Suk Yee Gong, founder of Bambino
According to her, the biggest concern parents have when it comes to these subscription boxes is hygiene. Do babies have sensitive skin, so do they ensure that reused clothing is clean and safe for use?
Suk Yee clarified that her clothes are washed with a baby-friendly detergent that is soft and gentle, and they make it helpful to check each piece of clothing to make sure they are stain-free.
When it comes to clothing stains, parents also worry that they have to pay a lot for damaged or stained garments.
However, Bambino understands that sometimes babies can be messy and sometimes accidents occur. That’s why they offer free coverage for any stains or wear.
What goes into a bamboo box?
According to Suk Yee, they have invested about $ 85,000 in the business.
“We continue to invest heavily in scaling up operations so that we can better serve our customers. We have not yet broken down, because we are constantly adding more inventories,” he added.
As for their inventories, Suk Yee said they either bought the shelves or received donations of baby clothes from customers.
He stressed that all the given pieces are selected and go through a rigorous evaluation.
The most important thing to consider are the stains. They will do their best to remove it if any, but if it cannot be removed, they will not include it in the Bambino box. Clothes that cannot be reused will be recycled.
The overall condition should be good: they should not be out of shape and the colors should be vibrant.
They also prefer cotton garments, which allows your baby to stay comfortable in Singapore’s humid, warm climate.
We only hand out clothes that our “quality boss” (his two-year-old son) would wear.
– Suk Yee Gong, founder of Bambino
He added that the clothing included in the box could be both OEM (original equipment manufacturers) and branded clothing from well-known brands. In fact, they are constantly testing new brands and testing them with their customers.
While customers can’t choose the designs for now, Suk Yee said the design selections will be a close feature they plan to introduce in the future.
To subscribe to Bambino, you can select a plan based on your baby’s age and gender on the website. If your little one is on their way, you can also let them know when the expected delivery date is.
After completing your subscription, you’ll need to share more details about your baby, such as date of birth, height, and weight, which take less than a minute.
“If customers have any special requests, they can contact us by email, WhatsApp or our social media channels and we will try to accommodate them if possible.”
Suk Yee also shared that both delivery and collection are absolutely free. Bambino will pick up your clothes when you ship the new monthly box, and it’s best that you don’t have to worry about washing yourself before returning the clothes.
Finally, once your baby is ready for the next size, you can report it to Bambino and they will send you a new set of baby clothes with the right size within three to five days at no extra cost. You can then return obsolete clothing using the prepaid postage service.
And what if you change your mind and decide to unsubscribe?
You can simply email them to let them know and Bambino will fully refund your monthly subscription fee and arrange to collect the box at no cost.
Help build a sustainable world
On the reason why the shared economy is feasible for baby clothes, Suk Yee pointed out a perennial problem: when one has a baby, space at home becomes more limited.
“It’s especially evident in Singapore, where space is limited and a small pile of clothes can quickly quickly become cluttered. Not forgetting baby clothes costs a lot and grows so fast, ”he explained.
However, he stressed that this model can only work with great care and consideration.
Trust is key and with technology we can offer our customers real-time support to build trust. With the changing mindset of parents and the desire to do more for the environment, I’m sure this is becoming a trend.
Our generation must do more for the environment so that our next generation can continue to enjoy a livable world, if not better.
– Suk Yee Gong, founder of Bambino
To date, Bambino has helped conserve 5.8 million cubic meters of water and 5.6 tons of carbon dioxide by extending the shelf life of baby clothes.
In the future, Suk Yee shared that he wanted to incorporate more local brands that share the same values in terms of sustainability.
Bambino also plans to expand its range of product offerings to different use cases. For example, some parents may only want nightwear and the needs of a crawling baby will be different from that of a baby.
“We are incessantly customer-centric and try to make decisions by working backwards from the solution of what customers need. Every company is created to serve customers and, in our case, is extraordinary because it is a baby.”
Featured Image Credit: Bambino
First-time customers wishing to try Bambino’s baby clothing subscription service can use the code “Vulcan” to get a 50% discount on the subscription. This promotional code is valid until June 30.
You can also buy Bambino gift cards Vice President Label here:
