Liftoff with Jeanniey Walden · Cannes
Liz Primm of Babylist on Retail Media, First-Time Parents, and Babylist Money
Who’s on this episode
Hosted by Jeanniey Walden, founder and host of Liftoff with Jeanniey Walden, recorded at Cannes.
What you’ll learn
- How Babylist grew from a registry into a platform, retailer, and media network for expanding families.
- Why knowing what a parent wants six months before they buy is a rare data advantage.
- Why Babylist’s usage is so concentrated, and where the long-term opportunity is.
- Why every on-site placement is endemic, and what that protects.
- The strategic partnerships Babylist runs, from P&G and baby brands to H&R Block.
- What Babylist Money is, and how it helps parents save for a child’s future.
Episode highlights
- 00:00What Babylist is: registry, retailer, and platform
- 00:53The data edge: what mom wants to buy six months out
- 01:37The concentrated usage window (144 visits, 30+ hours)
- 02:08Endemic-only on-site: keeping it additive
- 02:41Beyond impressions: incremental, additive experiences
- 03:11Strategic partnerships: P&G, Mom Cozy, Nanit, H&R Block
- 04:05Advice for new moms, and Babylist Money
- 05:10Three things to make the most of Babylist
Episode summary
Most people know Babylist as a baby registry, and it has been one for 16 years. But Liz Primm’s job is the part beyond that: Babylist is a platform for connected and expanding families that also operates as a retailer and runs retail media, brand, and affiliate businesses. Her mandate is commercializing all of it.
The thing that makes Babylist different is the data. As Primm puts it, mom doesn’t just tell Babylist what she bought, she tells Babylist what she wants to buy about six months before the transaction. Because a typical registry has 16 to 20 gift givers, a parent is highly motivated to share those intentions so friends and family can gift the items. That is a rare window of forward-looking intent.
It is also concentrated. Expecting parents come to Babylist around 144 times and spend more than 30 hours building a registry, then, when the baby arrives, they largely move on. So the growth opportunity is extending that customer value over the long term. On the media side, Primm is disciplined: all on-site placements are endemic, to keep the experience additive, while non-endemic work happens off-platform in incremental ways. What she wants for the category is a move beyond impressions, reach, and frequency toward experiences that are good for the user, the retailer, and the brand at once.
That philosophy shows up in the partnerships, from P&G and CPGs to baby brands like Mom Cozy and Nanit, and non-endemic programs like one with H&R Block that helped new parents rethink their taxes. With 82% of Babylist users being first-time parents, the strategy is to bring in partners who answer the questions that keep parents up at night. The clearest example is Babylist Money, a new destination outside the registry that educates parents on financial decisions, from the new 530A account to 529 college savings. Her advice to expecting parents: use the checklist, transfer or combine your registries since Babylist is universal, and check out Babylist Money to start saving.
Key takeaways
- 00:53 Babylist is more than a registry: a platform (also retailer, retail media, brand, affiliate) supporting connected and expanding families.
- 01:05 The data edge: mom tells Babylist what she wants to buy about six months before the transaction, with 16 to 20 gift givers per registry.
- 01:37 Usage is concentrated: expecting parents visit about 144 times and spend 30+ hours building a registry, then move on, so extending long-term value is the opportunity.
- 02:08 On-site placements are all endemic to keep the experience additive; non-endemic happens off-platform in incremental ways.
- 02:54 The future she wants: move beyond impressions, reach, and frequency to experiences good for the user, the retailer, and the brand.
- 03:18 Partnerships span P&G and CPGs, baby brands like Mom Cozy and Nanit, and non-endemic like an H&R Block taxes program; 82% of users are first-time parents.
- 04:12 Babylist Money is launching: a destination to educate parents on financial decisions, from the new 530A account to 529 college savings.
Questions people ask
Who is Liz Primm?
Liz Primm (Elizabeth Primm) is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development at Babylist. She leads commercializing Babylist’s platform beyond retail, including its retail media, brand, and affiliate businesses.
What is Babylist?
Babylist is a 16-year-old platform that supports connected and expanding families. Most people know it as a baby registry, but it is also a retailer and runs retail media, brand, and affiliate businesses, and it is launching Babylist Money to help parents with financial decisions.
What makes Babylist’s data unique?
Parents tell Babylist what they want to buy roughly six months before the transaction happens, not just what they bought. With an average of 16 to 20 gift givers per registry, a parent is incentivized to share those intentions so friends and family can gift the items.
Is Babylist’s retail media endemic or non-endemic?
All of Babylist’s on-site placements are endemic, so the experience stays additive for the user. Non-endemic work happens off-platform in creative, incremental ways, such as a partnership with H&R Block that helped new parents rethink their taxes.
What is Babylist Money?
Babylist Money is a new destination, outside the registry, that helps educate parents on financial decisions. Primm points to the new 530A account (informally called a Trump account), which she says lets parents file starting July 1 and receive $1,000 from the government, alongside education on 529 college-savings accounts.
How do you make the most of Babylist as an expecting parent?
Primm’s three tips: use the checklist, a native experience that guides you through every category a baby needs; transfer or combine registries, because Babylist is universal and you can add items from any website, from Etsy to a dog-walking service like Wag; and check out Babylist Money to start saving for your child’s future.
Full transcript
Jeanniey Walden: I’m Jeanniey Walden and this is another episode of Liftoff. Thank you so much for being on the show. I don’t know that much about Babylist. My kids are old, but I have one grandbaby who’s almost one. So tell me what Babylist does.
Liz Primm: Most people know Babylist as a registry. We’re 16 years old. But what we really are is a platform to support connected and expanding families. That shows up as a registry, yes. We’re also a retailer, and I’m in charge of commercializing our platform beyond retail. So we have a retail media business, a brand business, and an affiliate business.
Jeanniey Walden: So fascinating. I didn’t even think of taking a registry and turning it into a loyalty platform and a retail media network. You must be sitting on so much incredible data and insight.
Liz Primm: Yes. What we feel really differentiates us is that mom doesn’t just tell us what she bought. Mom actually tells us what she wants to buy six months before that transaction happens. And because we’re a platform where on average you have 16 to 20 gift givers per registry, she’s really incentivized to do that, because we’re going to help her get all the things she needs gifted to her by friends and family.
Jeanniey Walden: Now, if someone’s on Babylist, do they tend to stay as their children grow up, or do they transition out?
Liz Primm: That’s a big opportunity for us, because right now users use us and love us in a concentrated way. They come to us 144 times while they’re expecting and building the registry. They tell us they spend over 30 hours building it. But when baby comes, they move on. So we’re a utility used in a highly concentrated way over a short period, and as we grow, we’re looking for ways to extend that long-term customer value.
Jeanniey Walden: On the endemic, non-endemic question for your retail media network, are you focused on non-endemic with a small part of endemic, or what’s that balance look like?
Liz Primm: All of our on-site placements are endemic, because we really want the experience to be additive for the user. We’re doing some creative things with companies off-platform in iterative, incremental ways. But what most people would consider the retail media component of the business, that’s all endemic.
Jeanniey Walden: Everyone’s talking about retail media, commerce media, and AI. What do you think the retail media world is looking forward to most?
Liz Primm: I’m really looking forward to a world where we move beyond impressions and traditional metrics like reach and frequency. It’s all about building experiences for advertisers that are incremental and additive to the user. So it’s good for the user, good for the retailer, and good for the brand.
Jeanniey Walden: You said strategic partnerships in your title. What types of partnerships are you working on?
Liz Primm: We have amazing partnerships with everyone from P&G and major CPGs to really innovative partners in the baby space, brands like Mom Cozy and Nanit. And we do some work with non-endemic. This year we did a partnership with H&R Block, where we taught parents how to reconsider things they might not have thought about for their taxes once they had a baby. So we think about partnerships in ways that are helpful for the end consumer. 82% of our users are first-time parents, so they know what they don’t know, and that’s a lot. We think about ways to bring in partners that answer the questions that keep parents up at night.
Jeanniey Walden: You mentioned you’re a mom. As a mom, what advice would you give new moms about using Babylist?
Liz Primm: One of the features I’m most excited about is Babylist Money, which we’re about to launch. It sits outside the registry as a destination to help educate parents on financial decisions. July 1st is the first time you can file for a 530A, informally known as a Trump account, and parents in the past year and a half will get $1,000 from the government. So we’re helping educate them on what a 530A is, what a 529 is, and how to save for your child’s future. I really wish I’d had that eight years ago when I had my first.
Jeanniey Walden: I saw this TikTok of a man at Starbucks who said every time he buys a Starbucks he puts a dollar in his child’s 529, and his daughter’s college is already paid for. Financial advice and opportunities for new parents must be top of the list, and it sounds like something you’re capitalizing on in a unique way.
Liz Primm: We’re trying.
Jeanniey Walden: If I’m an expecting parent going to Babylist, what three things do I need to know to make the most of the platform?
Liz Primm: First, use our checklist. It’s a native experience that guides you through all the categories you need for a baby. Second, you can transfer your registries. If you started one on Amazon, Target, or Walmart, they’re all phenomenal customers and partners of ours, and we’re universal, so you can add any item from any website. Find something personalized on Etsy, or want your dog walked with Wag, you can add all of that to your registry. And third, check out Babylist Money. We have bold ambitions around helping parents save. The registry gets you the stuff you need; Babylist Money helps you save the dollars for your child’s future.
Jeanniey Walden: Such great advice and such inspiring work. Thanks so much for being on the show. Everybody, stay tuned, we’ll be right back.
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