Men’s D- to- c Brands Thriving
Amid the pandemic, e-commerce experts have returned to their roots selling basics, activewear and even suits to stay-at-home shoppers.
It’s a good time to be a direct-toconsumer brand.
With brick-and-mortar retailers around the world forced to close their doors for weeks — and those being allowed to reopen faced with a list of restrictions — brands with a proven expertise communicating with, and selling directly to, consumers have stepped in to fill the void. Just ask Amazon, which has proven to be one of the biggest winners during the coronavirus pandemic.
Shoppers who have found themselves with more time on their hands as they work and play from home are also open to trying new labels they’ve discovered as a result of the ramped-up marketing efforts of these d-to-c experts.
Overall, online sales are up 39 percent since February, according to marketing platform Klaviyo, with 46 percent of consumers buying from new brands. And from March 15 to May 13, apparel sales increased 29 percent as compared to the pre-coronavirus period of Jan. 1 to March 1, the company said. These online trends are the polar opposite of those in the few brick-and-mortar retailers allowed to stay open, with both Walmart and Target pointing to steep declines in apparel sales in their stores as one of the reasons their profits suffered in the first quarter.
Other research firms have also seen an uptick.
In a recent survey by S&P Retail, organizations that derived 50 percent or more of their sales from online services appear to be faring better during the crisis than those that focus on in-store sales.
“The change to the retail industry was swift and while the popularity of e-commerce has continued to grow, COVID-19 made it a necessity,” said
Allison Auclair, vice president of commerce product management at Oracle NetSuite. “With our customers, we’ve seen online order volumes more than double compared to the same period last year. The number of unique shoppers has nearly doubled, indicating that retailers are both retaining existing customers and finding opportunities to reach new ones. Our data for apparel and men’s wear retailers show that in March online orders were down 22 percent yearover-year, but April showed a rebound with orders up 50 percent year-overyear. As the demand for online shopping continues to surge and consumer expectations shift, it’s going to be even more important for retailers to have complete visibility into their business so they are able to adapt quickly.”
In the men’s wear arena, like every other apparel sector, shoppers are embracing brands that specialize in essential basics and activewear — perfect stay-at-home apparel — but they’re also buying tailored clothing so they can look good when the restrictions are finally lifted — or at least their top half can on those corporate Zoom calls executives are making these days.
Rhone significantly increased its communication with its community following the outbreak of the pandemic, according to Nate Checketts, cofounder and chief executive officer.
“First we focused on keeping our team safe and then we focused on how we could provide value to our customers at this time,” he said.
So instead of detailing that its own small number of retail stores were closed along with those of its wholesale partners, or offering steep corona-related discounts on product, Rhone took a different tack. It ramped up content on its blog, offering an essay by C.S. Lewis that was written in 1948 on living in the age of the atomic bomb, as well as recipes, tips on how to cope with anxiety, and more than 30 days of at-home workouts.
“We asked, ‘What’s the COVID[-19] e-mail you want to get right now,?” Checketts said.
Rhone was also the leader in creating Brands x Better, a consortium of labels that banded together to donate 2 percent of sales, or 10 percent of proceeds, to a charity or nonprofit related to the COVID19 crisis. Initially, 24 brands signed on, including Knot Standard, Boll & Branch, Cotopaxi, Greats and Faherty, but within the first month, 120 companies had agreed to participate and the group has raised more than $3.1 million in donations so far, Checketts said.
The initiative was so well received that its initial end date of May 1 was extended, Checketts said. “We were so blown away by the impact, that we said, let’s just keep going. Some brands weren’t able to extend, but we added more and actually had to close down the application process.”
Whether as a result of Brands x Better or its own efforts, Rhone has performed well during the pandemic, selling mainly its loungewear and technical activewear directly to consumers. However, Checketts admitted that one of the company’s newest pushes, the Commuter collection of dress pants and shirts, which had been a big growth area before the pandemic, has experienced slower sales as consumers stopped commuting.
In addition, the brand has seen a major increase in the cost of air freight to ship its product to the U.S., and is expecting a heightened promotional climate once stores reopen and retailers work to sell off what has become aging inventory. But on a brighter note, Rhone has not seen a disruption in its supply chain since most of its factories in Asia are fully operational.
“It’s a really difficult time but we’re going to come out of this, we’re not giving up,” he said. “And we’ve discovered just how much we care about our customers, employees and suppliers, and that just doesn’t happen when you’re not in crisis.”
“E- commerce has always offered convenience, but now it may be the safest way to shop,” said Greats cofounder Ryan Babenzien.
The New York City-based sneaker brand launched its Royale Court High sneaker during the lockdowns in April, which was the brand’s best sales month this year.
“In April, we did things that we never do,” he said. “We [ran] a 25 percent sale and people realize this is a better deal than normal. We also partnered on a Brands x Better coalition to donate $15 from every order to City Harvest and we’re doing that through May, which is on pace to be similar to April.”
But while business may be up, Babenzien remains cautious about the future.
“There are so many areas that are being affected. Retail is closed, people are afraid and have less money to spend. We’ve reset our forecast, we’re not taking in as much, and not opening more wholesale,” Babenzien said. “We want to see what the beginning of the recovery looks like before we take any big bets, but the adjustments have been made to accommodate for a smaller economy. Three months ago, you wanted something and wanted it now, but now we’ve learned patience as a society. There’s nothing in fashion you need immediately, including sneakers.”
Bonobos, one of the first direct-to-consumer men’s apparel brands, also switched gears to adapt to the change in demand. Ceo Micky Onvural said after the company was forced to close its Guideshops retail stores, it increased e-commerce engagement on its digital Guide Chat, and pivoted retail employees to serve as brand ambassadors on Instagram.
Onvural said that one-third of the company’s business comes from its own stores as well as from Nordstrom, its major wholesale partner, but two-thirds still comes through e-commerce.
“We’re truly an omnichannel business,” Onvural said. She did not reveal sales for the year-to-date, or for March and April, but said, “I like to think that we’re better positioned than most. The first few weeks were extremely challenging. Chapter two was reestablishing the business and this is now climbing back into a new normal for our business.”
Part of that new normal is a shift in what is being purchased. “In earlier parts of this year, our tailored business was on fire. With no one going out, it’s taking a major hit,” she said. ” I think COVID-19 is accelerating something that’s been happening already, which is the casualization of the workplace.”
Vuori, too, is managing to navigate effectively during the pandemic.
Joe Kudla, founder and ceo of the California-based men’s brand, was among the first to close its five retail stores in midMarch and immediately pivoted back to its direct-to-consumer roots.
“We entered the lockdown with fear,” he admitted, but made the decision to move forward with its marketing plan rather than cut it to save money.
“We held to our budget and it turned out to be a blessing,” he said. “After one week of an e-commerce downturn, the cost of ads was cut in half and we started seeing a big response.”
Really big, according to Kudla, who said total sales through the end of April are actually up more than 400 percent over last year.
The only thing that changed was the marketing message, he said. So instead of focusing on the outdoors, the brand quickly developed new creative highlighting comfort and versatility and the product applicable to how they’re living today.
“You want to look good but be comfortable,” Kudla said, “and that’s really resonating with the customer. Sweatpants are our fastest-growing category in men’s, up over 800 percent over last year,” he added. “So we’re definitely making up for the lost revenue of our closed stores and looking at more upside than we originally had in our most-favorable plan.”
He said Vuori has not gone promotional and even kept its wholesale partners from including the brand in their discounting binge. And fulfilling supply has not been a problem. “We were able to get spring/summer inventories in our warehouses right before the lockdown, and while we saw some delays in pre-production of our fall samples, there are no delays in our factories.”
So while Kudla is itching for the economy to be restarted, he said Vuori’s “very intentional” strategy shift, which included social media posts that offer digital workouts, fitness tips, recipes as well as a series of conversations with filmmakers, surfers and other interesting individuals, have also engaged customers, he said. “It’s been very successful and we may shift our marketing strategy to this on a go-forward basis.” ►