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11.24.2010

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Wandering The (Virtual) Outlet Mall

There has been a lot written lately about the next generation of online retail moving away from a simple merchandising experience and heading into slightly different terrain, with pop-up shops, outlet stores and daily deals springing up on the Web more and more. Previously, the Gilt Groupe — launched in 2007 offering one-day “flash” sales of designer apparel and accessories — was a pioneer in this movement, ushering in the rise of limited-time sale format sites like Daily Candy’s Swirl and localized “daily deal” vendors like Groupon.

While we’ve seen several mainstream national clothing brands pair with sites like Groupon (both American Apparel and The Gap recently offered national deals through the company), J.Crew’s move towards a standalone outlet is unique, giving it the exclusivity of a pop-up shop or sample sale. Rather than having to get in your car and drive to the outlet mall, which usually happens on the weekend, the brand has opened an online outlet store, but only from Friday at 12am to Sunday at midnight — a sort of simulation of several aspects of the physical shopping experience. Likewise, they have special bargains that show up periodically during those hours to encourage customers to stay tuned-in to the goings on of the shop.

So how does J.Crew’s online outlet move beyond traditional shopping on the Web? We clicked to see what all the fuss is about.

Despite apparently being open for business only on the weekend, we were able to get into the shop on a regular old Thursday. Exploring the site’s offerings we found bountiful selections for both men and women, although we would later learn that many items were sold out or back ordered. We made a few selections to our liking and wound up purchasing a belt and a scarf to match.

After our initial purchase, we received no less than six emails from J.Crew in under 24 hours. Over the course of the past month our inbox has been flooded with daily emails from the retailer, including messages from their MadeWell brand, a denim label geared towards younger women. As we write this, two more fresh emails announcing 30% OFF and FREE SHIPPING have arrived. So far, this hasn’t inspired us to click back over to the site any more than being bombarded with tweets, Facebook posts or the old traditional catalog mailing.

Product-wise, the quality of our purchases is what you would expect from any outlet shop. To our disappointment, J.Crew did not alert us to the fact that one of our items was on back order, so we received our selections in two shipments, approximately a week apart. The final verdict? While we were initially drawn to the online outlet, we were not overly impressed with how J.Crew followed through with the presentation and delivery of the items. There is, however, a certain initial intriguing element to the shop, hinting that other retailers will be able to seize this opportunity in the future.

Despite our ordering experience, the existence of the online outlet shop aligns with our 2009 prediction that big brands will increasingly go boutique. In J.Crew's case, the launch of the online outlet appears intuitive in many ways due to its original roots in catalog retail versus brick and mortar. In the spirit of moving from the physical to the digital, Urban Outfitters has opened an online holiday pop-up store. Groupon has also gotten into the holiday spirit, announcing the opening of Grouponicus, which features online deals for gift giving.

So is this the dawn of a new era in online shopping? Perhaps it’s just a fresher approach to the retail experience. More and more the line between the digital and the physical is being blurred, with the world of fashion and apparel being no exception. Look for brands to move between physical pop-up shops and online outlets as a way to offer savings and exclusivity to consumers in reimagined formats.

Oh, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

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