Oura’s wellness-oriented smart ring is becoming available at Best Buy.
The Oura Ring — wearable technology that provides health data, insights and guidance — began its rollout to Best Buy brick-and-mortar stores Monday (April 24) and is also available on the retailer’s website, the companies said in a Monday press release.
“Brick-and-mortar retail is a natural next step for Oura and marks a pivotal moment for the business as we continue to expand into the mainstream,” Oura CEO Tom Hale said in the release. “Introducing more people to the benefits of Oura’s technology and providing an impactful in-store and online experience with the help of Best Buy is an exciting step forward for us as a company.”
The Oura Ring is designed to foster healthy habits centered on sleep, readiness and activity scores, powered by continuous monitoring of the wearer’s biometrics, according to the press release.
PYMNTS research has found that half of United States consumers now use wearables, apps or websites to monitor their health.
The trend is especially strong among affluent consumers, according to “Connected Wellness: Tracking the Rise of Health-Tracking Technology,” a PYMNTS and CareCredit collaboration.
The report found that 63% of high-income consumers have adopted these technologies, a share that is far greater than the 34% of low-income consumers who have done so.
With the new in-store experience enabled by the partnership with Best Buy, shoppers can size themselves in person to ensure the perfect fit of the Oura Ring, can arrange fast shipping and in-store pickup locations that don’t stock the ring, and can see visual displays that showcase the features and value of the ring, the release said.
“There’s been incredible innovation in the wearables space, and we know our customers are excited to utilize technology to enhance their health and wellness,” Best Buy Senior Vice President Frank Bedo said in the release. “Oura Ring is a natural fit for us as we continue to bring our customers the latest innovations in health technology.”
The announcement of this partnership comes about a year after Hale became CEO of Oura. When reporting in April 2022 that Hale was joining the company, Oura promised more expansion before making its eventual initial public offering (IPO).
