How KiwiCo is leaning on retail expansion to grow holiday sales

KiwiCo has built a profitable subscription business, but it sees retail expansion as key for this year's holiday sales.

"We're really excited about our retail efforts," KiwiCo founder and CEO Sandra Oh Lin said on this week's Modern Retail Podcast.

Lin launched the children's education product company in 2011. KiwiCo sells themed packages -- what it calls crates -- to kids every month based on certain subjects. There are science crates, geography crates, art crates and more. It recently launched a revamped version of its subscription service, called Clubs, that is now more on interests.

Over the years, the company has expanded its product lines to encompass more ages and topics. In 2014, it expanded beyond preschool-aged crates into three additional age bands. "You can really draw a line to our first month of profitability from that particular set of initiatives that we launched," Lin said.

Now, KiwiCo offers products for kids age between the ages of 0 and 16, has sold over 50 million products and is profitable.

Lin spoke about why subscription was right for her type of product. "I think the key thing for us is that we have been very thoughtful about what makes sense for those customers," she said. "And the subscription model happens to have worked really well."

Now, the company is focused on expanding beyond that. Earlier this year it launched in both Target and Barnes & Noble. "I think there's a lot of different opportunities that are coming up thanks to the partnership with these with these retailers," Lin said.

Specifically, she sees these retailers helping grow holiday sales. "it's been really great because we've seen a real willingness from these retailers to work with us and to partner with us during the holidays," she said.