Wearing a new apparel gives you a boost of confidence that you own for a long period and as the apparel gets to fade, you repel wearing the same. Haven’t you felt this? If not, you should feel this.Most of the apparel brands out there are eyeing for that confidence boost in you and a direct place in your closet. We shall dwell into some of the strategies brands have taken to get into your closet.
Pandemic has definitely rocketed eCommerce for all of us to sit at the comfort of our desks and buy what we like. We are taking a deep dive into the US market apparel consumer buying trends till date.
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Bonobos began in 2007 as a solution to a problem: finding pants that actually fit. Bonobos want to give every guy the chance to feel good about his own fit, to feel as comfortable in his clothes as he is in his own skin, to have confidence in his place in the world, and to use that confidence to help others along the way. Because we believe in a world where all men fit.
Bonobos launched a new product line called “Bonobos” Fielder focussed on GenZ. Bonobos have been part of the Walmart family since 2017 when the DTC brand was purchased for $310 million. Yet, the apparel brand has operated without being incorporated into Walmart stores — until today’s introduction of the Bonobos Fielder label.
“Bonobos at its core is about celebrating self-expression and fueling it with confidence,” David Sasson, chief operating officer at Bonobos, said in a statement.
Cupshe is a California-inspired brand rooted in the simplicity of beach life and the love of traveling to exotic regions. Cupshe’s mission is to inspire confidence and beauty through refined and affordable fashion. Unlike some of the other brands who’ve explicitly branded themselves toward Gen Z. Cupshe tends to draw a more diverse audience of Millenials and Gen X.
“I love that Cupshe has such a wide variety of styles and that the pricing is really affordable,” said Lauren Imbriaco, founder of a fashion blog, Fit Mommy in Heels.
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Cupshe is moving away from its swimwear success into the athleisure space with a new line of leggings, shirts, and sweatshirts. At the same time, the brand is doubling down on marketing, investing more dollars across more channels.
This is in totally in sync with the buying patterns we saw above . It is time for you to start thinking on your category pivot’s.
Primary makes clothes for kids and builds a better experience for busy parents to shop for them. It aims to be the most inclusive kid's clothing brand, offering high-quality essentials at affordable prices. Rather than chasing the trend, Primary offers thoughtfully designed clothing without logos, slogans, or sequins. They take a gender neutral approach, with a broad range of colors available for babies and kids 0-12, without prescribing what is for girls or boys.
“I love the quality of their clothes and that we can get pieces in our favorite colors — especially rainbow — whenever we want, no matter the season or trend,” Julie, Scary Mommy’s Head of Design, also shared.
Primary is taking a different approach by focusing on timeless essentials in a rainbow of colors, rather than chasing trends. Their assortment is curated around the styles that babies and kids live in and that parents can re-buy as their kids grow. Their unique approach has become the basis of incredibly strong customer relationships.Following a value of simplicity and inclusivity is empowering them to resonate with the current generation of parents.
Since going direct-to-consumer from day one along with having a compressed supply chain, they have hit a point with a lot of customer data and insights giving them opportunities and intelligence to think about physical retail as a great opportunity to introduce new customers to the brand.
This is in-effect of rising acquisition costs online which is enabling DTC brands to start thinking of offline stores as a point of immersive experiences , strengthening brand connect with customers and building a community.
This year, couples are expected to host roughly 2.5 million weddings, a 30% increase from the prior year and a number not seen in four decades, according to The Wedding Report. The amount that couples are spending to tie the knot keeps creeping up, too. In 2021, the average couple spent $27,063 on their wedding, according to The Wedding Report, up from about $24,700 per couple in 2019. An opportunity for apparel brands to gear up for this season with their offerings. Think of wedding couple’s needs, guest needs, family needs both in-city and destination.
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Understanding customer data to predict product diversity, new categories, and shopping behaviors will be key. An example of this is how Bonobos have considered 40+ color categories for their Shirt, 5+ sizes available in all ranges, 3 types of fittings and length for this product line.
No one wants to feel left out. We should have the fundamental right to choose what we like to wear as it’s more about you than anything else. Brands are leveraging this to also have a great marketing strategy on being an inclusive brand attracting the younger generations. Some of them have also considered this as a strategy to ship products which can be used by anyone , hence reducing gender based acquisition costs.
An example of a gender neutral DTC store - https://eckhauslatta.com/
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Hope you loved this drop and can find your way into the closet .
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