It is no secret that Amazon has a huge presence in the e-commerce market. They make up roughly 20% of the e-commerce fashion market. Any company wishing to enter this market needs to understand the competition they would face going up against a giant like Amazon. Fabletics was willing to face the competition head on.
Fabletics began in October 2013 and started as an online company. In the three years that Fabletics has been in existence, each year the company has seen substantial growth. The growth rate from year to year is roughly 35% and the company is currently estimated to be a $250 million dollar company. This is huge growth for a company so young.
The approach Fabletics took from the beginning was different from the approach that most companies take. Being based entirely online, everything that was for sale was always available for customers to come and purchase. Fabletics also worked on a subscription membership platform. Customers could sign up to be VIP members and receive a customized shopping experience.
When customers chose to be VIP members, they were asked questions about their likes and preferences. They would then receive offers and notifications based on these preferences. All of this information was stored to be used later on.
With all the growth that Fabletics was seeing, they decided that their next move would be to open physical stores in selection locations across the country. With the information they had available to them through their VIP members, they were able to do their research and determine where the best locations would be to place these stores. They were also able to determine which products were in high demand for their customers and have these available in the stores.
Having started out as an online company, Fabletics was at an advantage when they decided to open their physicals stores. Customers were already aware of Fabletics and what they had to offer. Between 30 and 50% of the people walking into a physical store was already a member of Fabletics. By starting out online, Fabletics already had a built-in fan base of customers who were willing to shop in the stores.
In the e-commerce world, the competition is fierce. Amazon has made their mark on a large portion of the market. Fabletics saw this claim on the market and decided to approach it in a different way. They created a VIP system to get to know their customers and use that information to expand to physical stores. This information is also valuable because Fabletics knows what their customers want and they can continue to offer them products that interest them. This approach has proven to be successful, and they have seen impressive growth as a result.
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