Web pushing up sales of lingerie
New companies becoming more popular than traditional brick-and-mortar shops
Shopping for bras, particularly online, can be an exercise in frustration. Changing fashions and better fit tools on sellers’ websites are making it a bit easier.
The recent popularity of bralettes and sports bras with less-complicated sizing has made people feel more confident that what they buy online will fit when it gets to them. Amazon, which has been expanding its fashion selection, started offering its private-label lingerie brands Mae and Arabella last year. Pop star Rihanna launched a lingerie collection under the Savage X Fenty name. These upstarts are helping power the US$12.4-billion industry, which grew 17 per cent from 2012 to last year, according to the research firm Euromonitor.
The new competition is taking a bite out of sales at L Brands’ Victoria’s Secret empire. Revenue at stores dropped eight per cent for the year that ended Feb. 3.
“It’s hard to get service in stores,” said Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL Strategic Retail. “These online startups are finding a way to blend technology while making it more personal.” Here are five ways to navigate the online world of bras:
FIGURING OUT SIZE
Website Third Love, which offers shipping to Canada, determines fit based on quizzes shoppers take — and offers fit down to the half size.
NPD Group’s Marshal Cohen advises shoppers to look for customer ratings on the site to determine the accuracy of the fit, and to take advantage of return policies.
CONSIDER MEMBERSHIP
Customers of Savage X Fenty can pay US$50 a year for early access, exclusive collections and free shipping and returns. Adoreme offers a monthly membership that offers discounts, free items after a number of purchases, and access to exclusive deals.
SURVEY SIZES AND SHADES
Lively sells 26 bra sizes from 32A to 38DD. (For Canadian customers, HopShopGo offers an effective workaround to ship from the U.S. anywhere in the world.) Savage X Fenty has sizes from 32A to 44DD and a range of shades for many skin tones. Third Love unveiled new shades for women of colour after finding in surveys that its existing colours would show right through blouses.
STUDY RETURN AND SHIPPING POLICIES
Best to check the rules at whichever online site you visit — information is usually found within FAQ, or frequently asked questions, sections. Offers and rules do vary.
At Negative Underwear, it does not ship outside of the U.S. from its own site, but customers can shop for items from its global retail partner, Matches Fashion.
LOOK AT PRICES
Amazon’s Mae bras, for example, sell for as low as $17.
And the average price of a bra on Amazon is below the $60 average offered by Victoria’s Secret, according to a recent Jefferies report.