pture a larger slice of the global tech accessory market.  In an exclusive interview, Trina Chan, vice president of US business strategy and operations at Casetify, shared why the brand is taking a major leap into American retail, and what it means for the future of tech accessories. Digital first Chan told Inside Retail that Casetify has a dual strategy of opening direct-to-consumer offline stores in areas where it has a strong customer base, and covering other regions through wholesale distribution partners.  Together with its own e-commerce platform and third-party marketplaces such as Amazon, the brand is working to build a strong omnichannel strategy. “As an internet-born brand that was created in 2011 when Instagram was becoming popular, the economic impact of Covid in the world and US economy has meant that we can consider expanding our offline market strategy in a faster way due to the lower property market prices in some areas,” Chan told Inside Retail . She added that consumer sentiment was a big factor in driving Casetify’s online sales, which helped the brand weather the pandemic while posting sales growth at a healthy pace. “We see in physical retail a novel opportunity to expand our sales channels [but it’s not our] main growth driver. With over 30 physical stores in different parts of the world, we have seen remarkable positive signs of growth in this channel,” she noted.  She observed that physical stores enable customers to become more attached to Casetify products, which in turn drives brand awareness. As such, she’s keen to keep expanding the company’s retail presence to reach new heights. “We are proud to provide a very colourful and immersive brand experience at our physical stores. Some customers describe it as a candy shop. Customers dropping by our stores will be attracted by strong colours, with some of the most recognisable IPs on the planet, as well as a wide range of stylish accessories,” she stressed. Chan reiterated that Casetify has the benefit of having very strong data on the location of its customer base, and good insights into what drives brand awareness across each state.  Sustainability is important Like many brands targeting a younger demographic, Casetify is taking steps to create a more circular and sustainable model. “That’s why we created Re/Casetify, a sustainability program that rewards eco-conscious consumers. We provide store credit in exchange for receiving the old phone cases from consumers, which can be thrown into one of our bins in a store or mailed to us,” she explained. Old cases are collected and upcycled for their plastic, so the end of an old phone case can be the beginning of a new one.  Between the launch of the program in 2020 and the end of 2022, 430,000 user-donated phone and airpods cases were diverted from landfills. This equates to 40,000kg of plastic that has been used for upcycling purposes. “And through our partnership with Earthday.org, we have planted over 394,000 trees in partnership with different organizations. That’s enough to offset 19 million pounds of carbon each year – equivalent to keeping 250 cars off American roads for a full 12 months,” she concluded.