Peloton to sell fitness equipment, apparel on Amazon

Peloton has struck a partnership with Amazon in a bid to broaden its customer base and win back investors’ confidence, as revenue growth slows from pandemic highs and its stock price plunges.

In its first foray outside of its core direct-to-consumer business, Peloton starting Wednesday will be hawking a selection of its connected-fitness equipment and accessories on Amazon’s website in the U.S.

That will include its original Bike, which retails for $1,445. It will also be selling its strength product known as Peloton Guide, which costs $295. Excluded from the tie-up are its more expensive Bike+ and Tread treadmill machine.

Peloton’s stock was up about 8% in pre-market trading.

Peloton’s Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Cornils said there are already about half a million searches on Amazon each month for Peloton’s products, despite its lack of presence on the site before Wednesday.

“Post-Covid, the retail environment — online and in stores — is continuing to evolve, and that’s something that we’re trying to understand better to make sure the Peloton of the future is calibrated appropriately for that,” Cornils said in a phone interview.

“We want to make it as easy as possible to get a Peloton,” he added.

This will mark Peloton’s first partnership with another retailer to sell its merchandise. Until now, the company has relied on its website and physical showrooms, selling directly to consumers. But under CEO Barry McCarthy, who took over in February, Peloton has committed to widening its distribution globally and lowering customer acquisition costs to get the business back to profitability.

Peloton embarked on an $800 million restructuring plan when the company’s founder, John Foley, stepped down from the CEO role in February as costs spiraled out of control and losses mounted. It has since been testing a subscription model for its equipment, as another way to drum up sales. Peloton also exited all of its in-house manufacturing to simplify its supply chain.

Earlier this month, the company announced additional cost-cutting measures, including more layoffs, store closures, about-face price hikes and exiting the last-mile delivery business.

Peloton’s share price is down about 70% year to date. Its market cap has fallen to around $3.7 billion, from as high as $50 billion in early 2021.

The move onto Amazon signals McCarthy, formerly of Netflix and Spotify, is not afraid of taking risks to get the business back on stronger footing. McCarthy has also said that Peloton’s goal is to one day count 100 million members, a goal that Foley laid out in 2020. Peloton ended its latest quarter with about 7 millions members.