New York
CNN
—
Most retailers are tripping over themselves to stay relevant by courting younger Millennial and Gen Z shoppers. Not Lands’ End.
As it looks to grow its customer base, Lands’ End is bucking the trend by purposely embracing the “forgotten generation,” Gen Xers.
They are the generation of consumers sandwiched between Baby Boomers, born in the years after World War II, and their children, Millennials, with the earliest born in the 1980s.
“There was a strategy at a point in time where we were going to bring in Millennials,” Lands’ End CEO Jerome Griffith, who is retiring at the end of January, said at the ICR conference last week. “It didn’t fly with our customers.”
In a rush to grab the attention of younger consumers, the retailer stumbled and made fashion missteps. Sales tumbled as its core older shoppers were put off by stylish dresses and high-heeled party shoes showing up next to the comfort clothing embraced by moms and dads.
“So we said, you know what, we have this neat generation of customers right behind baby boomers, the Gen Xers. As we go out to look for new consumers, let’s go after them,” he said.
Given that the number of Gen Z and Millennial consumers should grow to 70% of the population by 2028 vs 60% in 2021 – and they hold considerable spending power – it’s not surprising that retailers are chasing that batch of shoppers.
“While the Gen Z and Millennial cohorts are both lucrative and interesting, there is something of an obsession with them in retail and fashion that is often to the detriment of older generations,” said Neil Saunders, retail industry analyst and managing director of GlobalData.
“The truth is that more mature cohorts account for a lot of retail spending and there is a significant opportunity that is not always properly addressed,” he said.
Lands’ End, a 60-year-old brand based in Dodgeville, Wisconsin is best known for its classic enduring casual clothing – fleece jackets, coats, pullovers, T-shirts, chinos and pajamas – that’s designed more for comfort than for being on trend. It sells its products through mail order, online, in store and through third party marketplaces such as Amazon
(AMZN) and Kohl’s
(KSS).
…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CNN.com – RSS Channel – HP Hero…