When Ritual debuted in 2015, its branding was focused on incorporating as much transparency as possible, right down to incorporating see-through capsules.

Since then, Ritual has become widely nown as a premium supplement brand that cultivates a strong connection with its consumers through social media and online content.Though the company's limited product line does not include immunity products, it is still seeing an increase in sales as COVID-19 spreads.

New Hope Network spoke with Chief Scientific Officer Nima Alamdari about the shifts in Ritual's consumer demand and marketing tactics. Check out what she had to say below.

How much has demand changed during the pandemic?

Nima Alamdari: Our mission has always been about supporting people’s health, and this is more important now than ever. Demand during this time of uncertainty has been strong. On average, we’re selling a bottle of multivitamins every 16 seconds. 

We’ve been particularly inspired to see high demand from healthcare providers involved in combating the pandemic. On March 31, we announced that we’d provide three months of our products at no cost to healthcare providers and within 24 hours, [and] we were humbled to have received nearly 4,000 submissions from doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, paramedics and other healthcare professionals across the country. 

What are the advantages of being a direct-to-consumer online brand during the pandemic?

As people are adopting social distancing and avoiding unnecessary contact, our business model makes it easy to receive nutrient support by delivering your multivitamins right to your door for free every month.

Additionally, as a direct-to-consumer brand, we’re in direct and constant communication with our consumers and are able to quickly adjust to meet their changing needs. Whether that means making easy modifications to their delivery requirements or adjusting our social media to provide more helpful information and content to support their health goals.

Has your marketing strategy shifted?

Our marketing approach remains consistent, but we’re tailoring where we show up, how and how often. The Ritual brand is built upon supporting our customer’s health by inspiring healthy daily habits. Right now, as our audience is spending more time at home than ever before, we are helping them make the most of that time through posting content that inspires people to take charge of their health and adopt healthy habits and choices at home.

For instance, we’ve created health challenges and are featuring more content of our customer’s own steps taken across our social platforms in an effort to help encourage others through the sharing and tagging of their experiences. We are also focusing on deeper education on our scientific methodology and philosophy to help our audience nerd out over something new during this trying time, from our ingredient spotlights to our recent university-based clinical study.

Ritual has a very small selection of products. Are any patterns emerging in demand across that selection?

Demand has stayed strong across all our products, but we’re seeing especially strong demand for our prenatal product as we’re shipping over one thousand bottles of Essential Prenatal daily. 

Some people are predicting a "new normal" that consists of a significantly higher demand for supplements. Do you have a plan to hold on to these new customers?

We’re going to remain committed to what we’re known for and to what has made our brand a trusted partner to women across generations: traceability backed by the first visible supply chain of its kind, an evidence-based or bust mentality and high-quality nutrients to work efficiently in the body. 

What kind of challenges have you seen in fulfillment?

We’re grateful we’ve had no challenges with our fulfillment so far and have been able to continue delivering our products efficiently without compromising our high standards. 

What are you doing to keep the staff safe?

The mental and physical health of our employees and business partners across the globe are of the utmost importance to us. For our headquarters we took extra precautions and started working from home earlier than most on March 9 to protect our team and their families. At the same time we’ve been working closely with our supply chain and manufacturing partners to ensure quality and safety in accordance with the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practices.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.