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Fireside Chat with CFO Kevin Vassily at WTR's Consumer Products Virtual Investor Conference

We conducted a broad discussion with CFO Kevin Vassily, including a review of the iPower story, at WTR’s Consumer Products Virtual Investor Conference on June 6, 2024. This report contains a transcript of the conversation, which can be accessed on demand. The link is accessible in our full report. iPower’s two co-founders were software engineers, and the company has really been built on the basis of data analysis underlying all key decisions across the value chain, from product design, to procurement, logistics, and merchandising (more than half of the company’s full-time employees are either data analysts or software engineers). iPower reviews and analyzes vast amounts of unstructured data (primarily online consumer reviews) to determine product features that can be added or removed to improve existing products and fill unmet consumer needs. Further analysis of procurement costs and expected volume/price sales metrics complete the rigorous product development process. iPower has a strong relationship with Amazon and sells its products through the Amazon Vendor Central platform, in effect having a wholesaler relationship with Amazon. This is a coveted status with Amazon and requires a high degree of software and systems sophistication to effectively interact with Amazon. The company’s products then appear on the Amazon website as being “sold and shipped by Amazon.” Very few companies of iPower’s size have the capability to qualify for this relationship status with Amazon. About a year ago, iPower started its SuperSuite business whereby it helps other consumer goods companies sell their products on online marketplaces. While the main appeal of SuperSuite is currently iPower’s strong Amazon relationship, the company believes over time it will provide services across the value creation chain, from product design, to procurement, logistics, and merchandising. iPower currently has three SuperSuite partners and this new line of business represented 10% of revenue during the last quarter and should continue to contribute to the company’s growth going forward. iPower’s business was affected by significant industry supply chain disruptions in 2022, which resulted in temporarily higher costs (primarily due to shipping cost spikes and additional warehousing costs). While the company continued to grow its top line and never took an inventory write-down, profitability was affected as higher-cost inventory had to run through the income statement. iPower is now back to normal inventory levels and has almost completely cycled through its high-cost inventory, which allowed it to report strong 3QFY24 results and should allow the company to continue to grow its top line, while achieving closer to its historical profitability figures, namely mid-40% gross margins and net income margins in the mid- to high single-digit range. WTR held its inaugural Consumer Products Virtual Investor Conference on June 5 and 6. Presentations are available on demand (link in our full report) and 1x1 availability requests can be sent to .