Big is Beautiful for the Bottom Line
By George Anderson
Retailers have discovered bigger may be better, at least in terms of their customer’s physiques, when it comes to generating sales and profits for their business.
According to NPD Group, sales of plus-size clothing grew four percent last year to $17.4 billion.
NPD Group’s chief analyst, Marshall Cohen, told The Wall Street Journal that 40 percent of women wear at least some plus-size clothing. Plus-sizes represent 18 percent of the total apparel market.
Leading apparel retailers such as Nordstrom have seen the opportunity presented by plus-sizes and have developed plans to capture market share. For example, Nordstrom has added in-store events targeted to plus-size consumers that give shoppers the opportunity to speak directly with designers and buyers about what they’re looking for in clothing and fashion.
Moderator’s Comment: Do retailers need to advertise, merchandise, etc. differently for plus-size consumers than they would for those who do not wear
larger size clothing? What opportunities are there outside of clothing for retailers to target market to consumers who fall under the plus-size label? –
George Anderson – Moderator
Retailers need to be careful on this, lest they be “branded” as serving primarily the overweight crowd. Besides, with so many reports recently regarding the growing obesity trend in America, I would think that retailers are finding the so-called “plus” sizes very much in demand from the mainstream shopping public. If their supply does not meet the demand they have a problem. If their supply provides plenty of choices and options, those in search will come.
Re the following: Also, if you go into a Chico’s, the sizes are not small, medium and large or 8, 10, 12 14, 16 etc… They size items 1, 2 or 3. Even the largest plus size customer is only buying a size three. Very smart marketing and a big ego booster that gets people to spend more time in the store and spend more money.
Chico’s size 3 is comparable to a size 14-16, and for the life of me I can’t understand why they won’t extend their sizes farther. Think instead Coldwater Creek, which has almost every item lined up by size from 2 to 20 or even 22.
Another thing retailers need to realize is that at times of changing trends — as now, as pant legs get wider — why do the newest trends invariably not come in women’s sizes, even when the bulk of a retailer’s merchandise does? I’m thinking Lands’ End, L.L.Bean and Eddie Bauer here. Even Talbots does it.
Good grief! Big & Tall clothing stores have been available for men for decades. Nothing new. “Husky” departments have been available to juvenile males for decades as well.
Let’s be honest. This is about overweight girls and women. If it were about tall women, like runway models, WNBA players, and female volleyball players, “tall” would be somehow included in the definition of “plus sizes.” But it’s not. Further, sensitivity should not be an issue in product identification or marketing. Plus-sized females know who they are, everyone around them knows who they are, and pretending or blurring the situation serves no one.
I’m totally with Karen Kingsley on this one. Just add larger sizes to existing lines and don’t force plus-sized women to shop in a separate department. Remember “petite” departments? Not many of those around any more.
But, on to the second question from the Moderator which, so far, I’ve seen no one address. Other opportunities to market products and services to larger-sized people – not just females – are airline seats, automobile entry (a major, unheralded reason for the popularity of SUVs, by the way), restaurant seating, more and better handicap entrances (overweight people often use these instead of stairs), stylish shoes with better support (slip-ons, so they don’t have to tie laces), extra-strength calcium products (for stronger bone structure), bigger umbrellas, and Twister games with the spots farther apart.
Some interesting comments from the panel. But there are two, if not three markets that need to be addressed, and it isn’t the ‘fat people’ label. You can’t lump overweight consumers with baby boomer’s body changing status, and just big and tall male and females.
Hence, to someone’s point, marketing comes into play i.e. researching, and then, advertisng, promoting and store level merchandising; and focusing on the right segment — noted above — and with the right selling message… not relying on price.
Interestingly, many sales associates are educated, and/or taught the difference in selling clothes, vs. furniture or upscale kitchenware. The better retailers have such educational programs in place for the new and current sales associates.
Baby boomer’s new sized clothing, if you will, needs to have a different USP than the Big and Tall, and sales associates are made aware, if not already knowledgeable.
Our grocery slant and business just tends to box many of us in without thinking that people today are far better educated and knowledgeable. And the retailers that want to be noted, and niche themselves in this growing business, take nothing for granted. Researching, advertising and proper in-store displays that reinforce the USP are in place.
In today’s world of fashions, jeans and tops are everyday and everywhere wear! The designers need to create a new fashion look(s), and lines…especially, to approach baby boomers. Hmmmmm
I think there are two camps of “plus” consumers — those that are overweight and those who are just larger than size 6. I’m a “plus” consumer (5’10”, size 14/16) but I don’t consider myself fat. I just need clothes that fit my height and curves. I consider myself an average shopper who likes to look nice and just happen to be taller and more curvy than others. For me, just merchandising clearly and having more than one size 14 in stock goes a long way. I have found very little satisfaction in shopping in brick and mortars and have become virtually a catalog/internet shopper exclusively (Cold Water Creek, Chico’s, Chadwicks, Jessica London, Spiegel are a few catalogs that meet my needs — cute clothes for work and play and my SIZE in stock). A “Plus” section in most stores does not appeal to me as mentally and emotionally I’m not “plus” (translates into overweight no matter how you slice it). For consumers in my camp, just stock some larger sizes of the clothes already in the store.
The other camp consists of consumers who are overweight and need sizes considerably larger than 14-16. My mother is a size 2X and automatically looks for the “plus” department in any store she enters as she knows that’s where her sizing is. Saves her time and aggravation and she doesn’t mind at all. She loves Lane Bryant as she knows the clothes will fit and they have certainly come a long way in the design arena.
Recognize that there are two different camps (perhaps the “average” most designers and retailers use needs to be revised). Stock larger sizes in already established sections and/or brands for those of us who are bigger than size 6. No need to call it out … just have the items in stock. The other camp recognizes they are “plus” and have made that leap mentally and emotionally and want ease of shopping. They want stylish clothes that are designed for them and fit just as all consumers do.
Len, I will tell you that while many women find Chico’s sizing novel, they are annoyed by that most of Chico’s size 3’s don’t fit women over a size 12-14 (with the exception a few caftan-like tops and elasticized pant styles that allow for a “stretch”). I would put Chico’s in the “missing the opportunity” category for now (until they start making “4’s,” and “5’s” – ha!)
Don Delzell claims not to be a consumer marketer yet he, along with Karen Kingsley and Mike Tesler all hit the nail on the head in some form in the opinion of this old marketing warhorse. (Wait a minute, does turning 50 still make you “old” or is there another name for this demographic as well?)
The crux of marketing fashion is to convince the consumer that the item (clothes, jewelry, or designer cigarette) will enhance their appearance and therefore their image. Period. No one is different with regard to this need. The major mistake retailers have made in marketing large size clothing in the past is to let their societal bias that “overweight is unattractive” show through in their apologetic marketing and merchandising presentations. To be successful in marketing plus sizes, do exactly what is done with the other clothes — show ’em off!!!
Just to add one more little squidgeon to the women’s plus size discussion… not all plus size women are under 5’7″. Please please please add LONG to your vocabulary. Lands’ End — who makes talls up to 18 please note! Your 18-26 group could use some long lengths.
The average American woman wears a size 14. In most stores, plus sizes start at 16, which means that anyone in the country who is on the high side of the average is a “plus” shopper.
I believe the key is in treating her as if she were just a woman shopping for clothes. Don’t isolate her in a separate section of the store, offer fashionable styles, treat her as you would the size 6’s.
There’s huge opportunity for the retailer able to recognize that this woman is an average shopper in virtually every way and treat her as such.
Yes, the retailer needs to let the plus size woman know they have new styles and greater variety than ever before. My guess is that because plus-size woman are demanding more chic designs, they have not been catered to in this way in the past.
More pages have to be devoted to this, no-pun intended, fast-growing consumer segment. Catalogs from Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and the like need to devote pages to this segment.
In terms of merchandising, retailers will need to get real in terms of how they merchandise in store as well. Women, no matter what size they are, want to find styles that make them feel good about themselves, regardless of whether they are a size 2, 4, 8, or 14.
How many retailers realize
The expanding demand for plus-size?
Savvy merchants should enhance those
Now blanketed in oversized clothes.
Moral: Fashion is a thin-size gentility
that intimidates the oversized,
and is afraid of being overtaken.
Retailers are doing a better job acknowledging the plus-size market. But it’s still far from good. Even Target, noted for pretty strong fashion merchandising, needs to step up efforts in this lucrative area.
If you’re looking for a good model — no pun intended — retailers should take a look at Chico’s. Wall Street loves them. Mature women, who don’t look like stick figures, are a big part of their demographic. They have created fashionable clothing and accessories for a market that was once relegated to clothing that looked like maternity wear.
Also, if you go into a Chico’s, the sizes are not small, medium and large or 8, 10, 12 14, 16 etc… They size items 1, 2 or 3. Even the largest plus size customer is only buying a size three. Very smart marketing and a big ego booster that gets people to spend more time in the store and spend more money.
As a thin, old, balding, white male, I (except maybe for the thin) am a member of the group who for the most part has been making the marketing and merchandising decisions regarding Plus Size merchandise over the years. Everything about this feels wrong, even the title “Plus size,” I mean should size 1’s be “Minus size”? Clothes are clothes and people are people and the ones most likely to hold the keys to how to succeed in any particular portion of a business are those customers who are being targeted. I suspect most of the differences that retailers perceive are imaginary and I know many of them are offensive. The retailers who have been and will continue to win in this arena are the ones that communicate best with this target group and understand them the most (what else is new?).
The great thing about marketing to special size adults is that it could be so easy. Age, height, weight, and gender is listed on driver licenses, and those files can be rented from the Department of Motor Vehicles by zip code. So a retailer can issue invitations to the people in the trading area who’ll be the best market. This population needs clothing season after season, year after year, because adult heights don’t change much and most diets fail. These customers have tremendous “lifetime value.” BTW, the population should also include shorter-than-average men, since they don’t like to shop in the boys’ department. Even if the retailer doesn’t want to license the DMV data, the retailer can use the sales database from the POS software to see which proprietary charge card shoppers like special sizes.
As an extra tall man, I’ve been appalled at the overwhelming lack of attention to my size needs in 99% of all stores selling clothing. Many stores assume that extra-tall men are automatically extra heavy, which is absurd. Many stores sell extended size clothing in one category, with no extended size clothing in related categories (extended size shirts but no extended size socks or slacks or jackets). Often the extended size clothes do not relate to the regular size clothes. A man might need an extended size suit jacket but a regular size pair of pants to match. On-line stores can inventory extended size ranges more profitably than most brick and mortar stores, but most clothing web sites ignore that opportunity. On-line sites that are owned by brick and mortar stores could be used to take special orders for extended sizes. Opportunities outside of extended-size clothing: sleeping bags; theater seating; eyeglass frames; office furniture.
While not a women’s retailer, I found it interesting that “Casual Male Big and Tall” just decided to change its name to “Casual Male XL” since evidently, guys aren’t crazy about carrying around bags that say “big and tall” when everyone thinks that translates to “fat.” In terms of apparel, I believe that the most important element for retailers is simply to get the word out that their sizes go higher so that larger consumers can get the go-ahead to buy instead of just browse. I also believe that the overweight tween/teen market still presents a tremendous opportunity and is grossly underserved. Ever try to buy an outfit for a less-than-trim teen at Abercrombie? Positively scary.
Sure, they should promote & merchandise differently, just like they would for any other distinct demographic. And I think retailers are doing a good job of it. It used to be that there were “fat people clothes” that were just odd in their design and color schemes. Actually, I wish now there were a bit more space set aside for size Medium. On the rare occasions I go clothes shopping, I wade through many, many L, XL and XXL before finding a few smaller sizes. We still exist out there. Somewhere.
This is Marketing 101 mixed with Sensitivity 101. Of course, if you are going to provide a product or service to meet a perceived need, it is absolutely mandatory to tell your intended customer that you are doing so.
What, you mean customers don’t just stumble onto product and service offerings? So the real issue here is not “if,” but “how.” And again, this is Marketing 101. Who is the consumer, what are the needs in the profile, where does this consumer look for information? Do they have issues or concerns which mitigate for or against specific media or event types?
I’m not an expert on this consumer market. Yet it occurs to me that they wish to be treated with respect, courtesy, and care. Like most consumer market niches. Here are common mistakes I see: marketing based on the premise that “you can be pretty even though you are a plus size woman.” How patronizing and demeaning can you get?
Inform. That’s all you have to do. If the need exists, well articulated or not, if you inform well, the consumer will respond. Inform with compassion, courtesy, respect, and excitement. Do not emphasize difference unless doing so meets the need of the consumer.
Emphasizing the differences in some fashion segments is exactly what the consumer wants. They do not want to be treated “like everyone else (does anyone else see the dishonesty even in THAT statement?).” My guess is that plus size women do NOT want attention called to their status. My guess is that plus size women do NOT want to have ANY of their identification or self image defined by that term. My guess is that plus size women want to wear clothes and buy products which enhance their perceived self image, result in positive reinforcement from their social group, and meet their economic needs.
How do you market under this umbrella of sensitivity? That’s for the ad gurus. My take, for retailers, is DO NOT CREATE DIFFERENCES. Differences, in most cases, serve only to isolate and reduce your market potential. The one caveat to this is when the difference is necessary to communicate product offering or to establish a defensible market niche.
All customers need to know what a store sells and what it stands for. No need for value judgements or opinions. Quality, style and temptation are what counts. Then let the shoppers make their choice. There really isn’t any such thing as “these people” no matter how you define them.