EVERLANE
Ryanne Frazier, Shanel Wolf, Hayley Larson
CONTENTS Executive Summar y Company Summar y New Strategic Initiative Visualizations Market Analysis Target Consumer Communication And Professional Plan Financial Plan Conclusion Appendix
Executive Summary Everlane has become a key e-commerce retailer, developing with the today’s age of online consumerism. They cater to the new kind of customer- the one who cares about the details behind a purchase. By offering such minimalistic, yet alluring basics, they’ve successfully reached out to the on trend modernism style.
More than for its aesthetics though, Everlane has generated a unique core-marketing concept called “radical transparency.” With its emphasis on transparency and efficiency, Everlane has profitably branded itself as a go-to retailer for basic quality essentials at the right price. Although these practices have become strong success factors, Everlane is lacking in terms of convenience and accessibility across multiple platforms. Today, brands that are not fully Omni-channel could face a rather harsh future.
Our final strategic initiative for Everlane is to create an omni-channel presence to provide services that will benefit and strengthen the performance of the business long-term. The implementations of our strategic initiatives aim to increase brand awareness, accessibility, and engage the consumer by introducing a variety of integrated channels. These services will benefit the overall business of Everlane.
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Company Summary History
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ichael Pressman, a 25 year old venture capitalist, founded the company Everlane in the Fall of 2010 in San Francisco in response to an industry that was lacking in retail innovation and transparency (Everlane). The company started with a single T-shirt style it has since then stretched to 150. Everlane is the first company to execute ethical fashion in a way that is both informative and stylish. The company is an upstart clothing brand, that offers socially conscious clothing designs and manufacturing e-commerce company that articulates its value. Everlane aims to provide low-cost, highquality goods by cutting out the middlemen and working in house for everything, Everlane works with 14 factories in five countries and visits new facilities constantly to determine if potential partners align with the company’s ethical mandate. While staying on trend, Everlane offers attention and simplicity to clothing, Everlane shows what they call “Radical Transparency�, displaying every detail of their clothing from the factory information and pictures, and the pricing breakdown from the markup amount to the break down of a regular retailer to Everlanes pricing. They believe in creating loyalty with existing customers and establishing that value for their brand to build their brand to gain both awareness and growth.
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Mission Statement Radical Transparency “Know your factories. Know your costs. Always ask why”
Current Ownership Structure Being that Everlane is a private company they keep a lot of information to themselves because of investor purposes.
Current Revenue In 2013, Everlane’s gross profits jumped from $8.1 million to $18 million, according to numbers compiled by PrivCo. Its revenue tripled in that same time, soaring from $12 million in 2013 to $36 million in 2014 and as of 2015 their revenue is currently $9.245 million dollars.
Future Growth Plans In an interview with Preysman in Oct. 2015, it was said that he “wouldn’t share future plans for expansion or customer acquisition, Everlane’s recent hiring push hints at a desire to contend with big-name brands.” Though, “Everlane is to continue slowly introduce classic products that deeply resonates with the growing list of customers.”
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SWOT Strengths • High growth rate has attracted positive reaction from investors • Pure-play online model allows for low overhead expenses • Leader in the industr y in offering radical transparency for consumers • Strong factor y relationships • High value products for affordable price points • Eliminate the retail mark up
Opportunities • Create more penetration in product assortment • New marketing tactics to produce brand awareness to the company • Developing new technologies to promote brand through social media platforms • Become a multi-channel and omni-channel retailer, incorporating new points of sales.
Justification in Appendix
Weaknesses • Still new within the apparel market • Shallow product assortment in terms of design and color options • Low brand awareness • Long waiting lists and quick sell-outs that eliminates potential sales • Lack of social media lifestyle presence
Threats • Companies could take the idea of the transparency retailing to create more competition. • Brands offering more trendy clothing at lower cost. • Rising cost for manufacturing and development for raw materials and labor.
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Current Positioning In the Market
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Everlanes competitors offer a similar retail strategy by being mostly e-commerce companies. They each have detailed initiatives that focus on aspects regarding transparency, social responsibility, simplicity, and an overall action to be more purposeful than just another retailer. Several of our competitors are much more accessible than Everlane because they’re fully Omni-channel. Many are strictly e-commerce like everlane, yet they aren’t as transparent and their price range is higher, not being able to eliminate the retail markup like Everlane. Everlane’s opportunity is to continue their pricing strategy, while becoming more accessible and fully Omni-channel.
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everlane Everlane offers a unique platform of radical transparency that sets the apart from their competitors. Their handson approach with factories and distribution centers is a comforting factor to conscious consumers making a purchase. Their pricing belief is that customers have the right to know the details of their product, thus revealing true production and markup costs through their transparency. In regards to social responsibility, they require workplace compliancy paperwork to ensure fair labor. Their brand philosophy challenges the status quo and adds a tough edge against competitors. Everlane’s current placement of distribution is strictly e-commerce based, with only two Points of Sale, e-commerce and m-commerce. Since they’re a private company, their Sales Volume is kept secret. Their distribution warehouse is located in Aurora, Colorado. From this distribution center they ship worldwide. Customers can browse through their merchandise while also viewing the radical transparency of each item online at everlane.com. Their distribution model does not include any licenses, franchises, or joint ventures. For insights on the company and updates, customers can follow them on Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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J. CREW The American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer is known for its design variety and sophisticated tomboy look. Although they offer many different styles, the essentials are what compete with Everlane. Although they haven’t gone as in depth regarding transparency, they do incorporate responsible sourcing, community involvement, and environmental actions as a part of their social responsibility. With the consideration of retail margins, J. Crew has a higher price point- but they o offer frequent sales. J. Crews distribution center is located in Arden, North Carolina. They currently have 419 physical stores within the US only. Their e-commerce platform ships orders worldwide to various countries within Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. J Crew has multiple services to stay in touch with their consumer including: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and YouTube, and an email subscription.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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AYR The woman’s apparel addition to Bonobos describes itself as ‘a new line for everyday life, to simplify everything’. They believe in making designs that are high quality, and low maintenance to last a lifetime. As for distribution, AYR recently underwent its first significant wholesale expansion entering Nordstrom in March 2015. Otherwise they strictly distribute online, with efforts to physically connect with their consumer base through their pilot program “Home Try-on” where customers can select three sizes of the best-selling skinny jean and temporarily be charged $1 per pair. They’ll receive them within two days and have one week to decide what fits and what doesn’t. As for AYR’s pricing approach, they’re slightly more expensive than Everlane, with prices that back up their products stories of the artists who created them and how.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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BONOBOS The men’s apparel line originally created to design men pants that fit, strives to produce the best online experience in the world. They’re now the largest clothing brand ever built on the web in the US. In order to offer the best ‘e-fulfillment’, their partnership with Quiet Logistics distribution has provided Bonobos the intersection of good product, service, and technology perfection. Their pricing approach compliments their experience-centric business by being fairly priced for an extremely well fitted, high quality garment designed with lifestyle in mind. Their successful brand and price has directed them to currently wholesale in 117 Nordstrom stores. Labeled as risk-free, fuss-free fashion by the Financial Times, Bonobos brand heritage creates a large men’s apparel competitor. AYR & Bonobos have a distribution system where they only sell through their e-commerce site, and wholesale at Nordstrom’s. Bonobos is currently in 117 stores. For their website, they distribute through a third-party supply chain by outsourcing distribution to Quiet Logistics, a mass-based third-party logistics provider. Quiet Logistics has built its value around an automated fulfillment solution where robots are handling all of the roles. They currently operate in two DC facilities in the Andover area. Once packaging the products are complete, Quiet Logistics sends the product straight to the consumer. They encourage customers to follow their products and lifestyle through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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AMERICAN APPAREL The American made company now operates the largest sewing facility in North America. As a vertically integrated company, their garment workers are paid 50x more than competitors. They’ve been working towards initiatives including: supporting free and fair trade, becoming virtually landfill-free, and recycling almost all manufactured waste. American Apparel is creative when it comes to distribution because they ship the majority of their products via excess pace on passenger flights and busses, helping to reduce their carbon footprint. Their pricing is much lower, with basics at starting around $9 to outwear reaching $300, than other Everlane competitors simply because their quality is much lower, making clothing much more accessible to the wholesale market. This American made company distributes worldwide. They have privately owned brick-and-mortar stores around the world but they also use distribution channels to sell their more basic products, like t-shirts, for stores to sell in bulk. Many of these businesses are located in the United States. Some include Alphabroder, TSC Apparel, Apparel Source, and more. Other products can be purchased from americanapparel.net or bought through their wholesale catalog and print catalog. Connections to any of these can be linked through their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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THE REFORMATION At Reformation, fashion and sustainability coexist. They design and manufacture limited-edition collection in their own factory located in downtown LA. By cutting the middle-man out, they only distribute online and in their own boutiques, thus eliminating traditional retail markups, and aiming for the most efficient, lowest impact of distribution solution possible. They’ve incorporated sustainable practices throughout every aspect of their business as well as being a certified B corporation that highlights their rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. The Reformation only offers women’s apparel that’s priced very reasonably for the amount of behind the scene effort making them a true women’s competitor. As a more modest business, only distributes from their personal stores in Los Angeles, SoHo, and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Their website, thereformation.com, can be accessed by customers internationally who do not have access to a brick-and-mortar. The Reformation asks their customers to JoinTheReformation with them in supporting their cause to fight for sustainability through their various social media accounts including: Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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CUYANA This women’s apparel e-tailer believes in style over trends, quality over quantity, and that fewer better things lead to a fuller, better life. They design essential pieces for the modern life woman with the most premium materials and finest craftsmanship while striving to create a content destination on intentional living and elegant simplicity across all categories. Their meaningful, story-telling pieces make their e-commerce distribution and pricing strategy a hit for the consumer investing in a lean closet. Cuyanna is an online women’s wear competitor for Everlane based off of these prime qualities. Cuyana currently only distributes through their online store. They encourage customers to visit them in their showroom located in the heart of San Francisco’s Union Square, or in Venice, CA where they can not only try on garments, but also make purchases. Individuals or groups are welcome to walk-in anytime during store hours where they can partake in an intimate, personalized shopping experience. In addition to their showroom, they also offer live monogramming for in-store purchases of any leather items. Customers can follow Cuyanna and their stories through Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Tumbr accounts.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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OF A KIND This online retailer selects designers who produce work they love and feature them on the site, one at a time. They share a series of stories about the designer along with a limited-edition piece designed exclusively for Of a Kind. By incorporating so much of the designers experience into their marketing strategy, online distribution for Of a Kind is very fitting. People want to know the background of their product and support up and coming designers. Pricing is equitable and comparable to that of Everlanes with designs selling anywhere from $90-$300. Of a Kind is a web-shop featuring and supporting independent designers with its headquarters in Manhattan’s Financial District. They distribute to customers worldwide, and advertise their designers with access available from their website, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram accounts. Within the platforms, they not only distribute clothing, but also stories behind the designers they’re featuring. Of a Kind highlights on their reviews through catalogs such as the Today Show, WWD, W Magazine, LA Times, and Daily Candy.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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ZADY Zady is the online-only retail destination for conscious consumers. They deeply cover every area concerning sustainability, social, and environmental ethics. By joining ‘The New Standard’, they’ve displayed the systemic issues of the fashion industry and decided to make clothes the right way where process matters, quality matters, and honesty matters. They work to create a product that tackles each issue of the supply chain and incorporates designers who design with the same mission. With these actions, pricing is higher than Everlanes and understandably so. They currently distribute through their personal site worldwide. Inventory is international and Americanmade, with a completely transparent site map that directs consumers from the specific place materials were sourced to the manufacturer of every product. Zady encourages customers to ‘join the slow fashion movement’ and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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MAISON STANDARDS The French design houses mission is to change the rules of traditional fashion by creating timeless pieces, selling online only, eliminating the middle-man, and the retail margin. Similar to Everlane, they offer the staple, classic, and timeless pieces for men and woman that stay true to manufacturing and pricing. They’re very far from being as transparent as Everlane, with limited information about the background of each product but their pricing strategy claims to match. Maison Standards headquarters are in Paris. They only distribute online worldwide through their website. They have had previous Pop-Up shop locations at Merci in Paris; a retailer who features new designers and projects. Maison Standards has an interesting social media presence where they advertise through the fashion press, Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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FANMAIL This men’s only line creates sustainable wardrobe essentials ensured with the finest quality. Like Everlane and other competitors, they’re also committed to transparency from fiber to the finished garment. Although designing and manufacturing strictly take place in New York, Fanmail distributes their personal sight, other online retailers, and brickand-mortar stores around the globe. Their pricing is high for such minimal designs, with basics on sale at $30 to thermal shirts at $148. Fanmail is made in New York. They currently distribute online at eastdane.com and mrporter.com. Within the United States, Brick-and-mortar stores such as Assembly, Need Supply Co, and Opening Ceremony carry them. They’re sold throughout Austria, the UK, Ireland, and Japan. Fanmail reaches out to their customers through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Please refer to appendix B for more distribution and pricing information.
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HONEST BY. Honest By’s philosophy is that they believe fashion is about beauty and that the story behind it can be equally beautiful. With this, the pioneering company has a unique way in communicating the supply chain of its products and pricing. The company operates with a 100% transparency policy similar to Everlanes where they share the personal production information of their designers with the consumer. Not only do they focus on transparency, but they also make direct respect for people and animals. They want to ensure every component in every product they sell has the smallest impact on our health and the environment. From their office in Belgium, they offer worldwide distribution. They only sell designer clothing, making their price point much greater than Everlanes with categories specific to: organic, vegan, skin friendly, recycled, and European. They distribute from their site at theirheadquarters in Belgium. They only sell brands and designers that follow their detailed laws pertaining to having a key focus on sustainability and environmental awareness. Similar to Of a Kind, they’re featuring up and coming designers and their processes. Honest By invites customers to subscribe for their fashion news and blog by providing an email. Otherwise, they do not have a social media links on their webpage but you can find them on Facebook and Twitter.
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Current Communication & Promotional Activities
Annual Spend Figures Due to the privacy of Everlane’s company structure we were not able to discover the amount spent on promotional activities. Outside of social media Everlane does not advertise, they rely on word of mouth.
Pinterest Ver y clean, mostly product shots. Not customer friendly doesn’t encourage customers to relate to the brand. 1.8K Pins 46.2K Followers 38 Boards
Facebook Ver y good at engaging on Facebook, responding to comments and even utilizes the chat app Cover photo stays up to date based on the company ’s current promotions and shows active engagement with consumers 107,520 Followers Post content – product, company culture, news, videos, and photos
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Twitter Retweets positive feedback from consumers and responds to customer comments and concerns. Occasionally will retweet other companies tweets and comments on what you can find on their other social media platforms. Cover photo again reflects Facebook and stays up to date with the current promotions 21.7K followers 13.5K Tweets
Instagram 1,429 posts 185,000 followers Posts products and a little company culture, not personal. Very clean and professional but not very much for the consumer to connect with. Minimal customer interaction in the comments section but does encourage the use of the #Everlane and #FromThePeople in consumers posts to increase word of mouth credibility among consumers. Everlane does not repost customers photos #WhereITravel – Every week for the duration of the campaign the 10 best photos were chosen and put on display in a NYC gallery, more than 11,000 photos were selected. Everlane hosted an opening night reception for the public.
Print/Digital Catalog First ever catalog was released in 2014
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Tumblr Sponsors fashion blogs. Writes original content posts almost daily Shares stories and articles about the company activity The site is easy to navigate, as tabs for men and women products at the top of the page have drop down menus for new items, apparel and accessories. Direct links to their other social media that is not linked on their ecommerce page.
Email Emails feature a single product, typically a new release on a simple gray background and has minimal type. The email touches the main points of the product and the type of product and the option to click through to the e commerce site. They keep the emails light and air y which fits the brand aesthetic perfectly and doesn’t bombard the consumer with excess information.
YouTube They post compilations of their Snapchat Stories, which is nice for consumers who really want a first hand experience with the brand and don’t religiously keep up with the brand on Snapchat. They also have short videos of their factories but they aren’t ver y engaging. They are ver y dr y and show a ver y small portion of their factories. 26 Videos 449 Subscribers Last Updated 9 months ago
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Events Not A Shop – Part fashion party and part tech convention, you get to tr y on Everlane’s garments and then can purchase the products from a Gin-Lane created interactive iPad app. Transparency City Tour – Invited a select number of fashion icons on Instagram to visit their tee factor y and dye house in LA and Chicago. The influencers then spread the word about how impressed they were about what Everlane was accomplishing in their transparent factories and resulted in a great word of mouth campaign. Open House (Pop Up Shop) - The pop-up, called Open House, brings the brand’s ethos to life with signage and clothing tags that detail how an item was made and how much it cost. Upon entering the store, shoppers are greeted with “Know the stor y behind ever y object ” messaging. Wall signage explains how the Everlane weekender bag is manufactured and priced. Everlane product tags list where each item was made, the cost of materials, labor, duties and transport alongside its true cost, marked-up price, and the traditional retail price.
27 Open House
Not A Shop
Transparent City LA
E-Commerce Site Each piece has four or five high quality front and back photos of the model wearing the item. To the right, the bright coral ‘Add To Bag’ button stands out against its black and white surroundings. Below the pictures, there are fit and style details with concise information along with a description of the factor y where the product was made. Transparent product diagram: These diagrams below each product really help the customer know what they are wearing and what they are paying for by comparing Everlane’s price to that of traditional retailers (which is way less). Strong customer service: Everlane engages with customers in creative ways. They have strong digital copywriters–simple communicators that speak the language of the target audience (trendy 20-30 year olds with refined style).
Current CRM • Get $20 store credit for referring friends (when their friends make their first purchase): Rewards in exchange for referrals are always a plus, but the way they do so is unique and seems more genuine as marked by the asterix: “As we’ve grown we’ve learned that our best customers are the ones who hear about us through friends. So we wanted to reward people for sharing.” It seems more genuine than the traditional “Like us on Facebook” pop-ups. • Sign up to be on the wait-list for early bird items and to have early access to upcoming collections. • Everlane Now: If you live in New York City, you can get one hour deliver y • Free shipping within 24 hours of signing up to be a member • Free shipping on ALL orders made through their mobile app • Encourage customers to share their photos – post on their site under From The People
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New Strategic Initiative Define the objectives of the new initiative clearly
Our final strategic initiative for Everlane is to create an omni-channel presence to provide ser vices that will benefit and strengthen the per formance of the business long-term. The
they are looking for. By having an easy to scan code and the proper technology, the consumer has that information available at their fingertips.
To fulfill this objective, we will introduce RFID technology into the IT development, integrate and revise social media and e-commerce platforms, add video advertisements and marketing, as well as create a showroom in their California headquarters.
For the social media revision we are updating Everlane’s YouTube channel with videos about company culture, the factories, and behind the scenes of the photo shoots. We also are making their current social media more relatable for the consumer; currently their social media is ver y sterile and posed. Based on trend reports, the consumer wants to see photos that they can relate to, photos that make them feel like they are really a part of the brand. Another issue we are attacking is the accessibility of the social media accounts. Currently on Everlane’s e-commerce site they only have links to three of their social media accounts and they are present on many more social media platforms. Having all of their accounts in one place and easily accessible for the consumer is important.
implementations of our strategic initiatives aim to increase brand awareness, accessibility, and engage the consumer by introducing a variety of integrated channels. These ser vices will benefit the overall business of Everlane.
The use of the RFID tech in Everlane’s existing app will allow the consumer to easily scan a code on a garment ’s tag and have all of the information about where the garment was made, the material it ’s made out of, details of the manufacturing and sourcing process, and the stor y of the workers behind the scenes. The app will make it more accessible in an easy to read format. Along with that information we will also provide the link to the YouTube channel we are going to incorporate in the social media expansion. The videos will provide a channel where the consumer can take a tour of the factor y that the specific garment was made in. We believe this is an obvious integration of technology because Everlane is so transparent. Based off of WGSN’s trend reports and our own obser vations, today ’s customer doesn’t always want to travel through a brand ’s site to find the information
Because Everlane is solely an e-commerce brand we thought it would be interesting for them to integrate a showroom in their California headquarters. This showroom would be a place for consumers to tr y on specific silhouettes and would be equipped with iPad ’s for the consumers to purchase from and the additional incentive of free shipping when you buy at the showroom. To continue with Everlane’s idea of transparency and sustainability front we would want the showroom to be as sustainable and transparent as possible.
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Justify your initiative
Best Practices - RFID Tech Target is an example of best practices being used in the industr y today. The company has already integrated RFID barcode technology in their Cartwheel mobile app. Consumers simply scan the barcode and Target analyzes all sales and provides the customer a coupon if the item is on sale. In regards to our showroom, competitors such as Bonobos and Cuyanna have already implemented showrooms within their headquarters. They are similar to Everlane by being strickly e-commerce, but want to provide a physical presence to engage their consumer. Our showroom is aligned with their best practice with the purpose of benefiting the company long-term and creating an omni-channel presence. RFID technology would greatly improve the seamless factor of Everlane’s omni-channel strategy by allowing them to track product and also allowing the consumers to have data available at their fingertips. We want to incorporate RFID tech into Everlane’s current mobile app to give the consumer easier access into Everlane’s factor y transparency. The consumer could launch the application, scan the barcode and all of the information concerning where the product was made and the transparent pricing would come up in an easy to navigate format without the consumer needing to search the Everlane website.
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Industry Trends Based off of our trend research, and classroom lectures, a business must be omni-channel to succeed in the future. By becoming fully omni-channel and incorporating a showroom, Everlane can fully round out their omni-channel strategy without having to have an actual brick-andmortar store. Also by adding video into their social media plan we round out the social media presence of the brand and having all of the social medias run seamlessly with the e-commerce site, the mobile app, and the showroom. With these implementations, we are completing fulfilling the omni-channel promise.
Consumer Behavior By attacking the social media presence of Everlane and making it more real for the consumer and less staged we are addressing a change in the consumer. Based off of WGSN’s trend reports and our own observations, previously, consumers wanted to see perfect catalog type images because it made the brands seem ver y ideal. Now consumers want real life images that they can relate to. Consumers want to picture themselves with the brand and picture themselves in the brands clothing and living the brands lifestyle. They also want to see consumer taken photos and reviews because they trust other consumer ’s opinions more than almost any other form of advertisement.
Long Term Benefits The long-term benefits of integrating a full omni-channel strategy is that we are encouraging the customer to engage with the brand and form lasting brand loyalty by increasing Everlane’s accessibility and omnichannel presence.
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Technology and Implementation RFID and Barcoding The technology driving our initiative for Everlane is RFID tech. Currently Everlane does not employ any kind of RFID technology and we are proposing that they impliment it within their mobile app. Because the company is so small and runs only online it would be easier to impliment it within Everlane than with a compnay that has a number of stores nation wide. Our idea is to start small by adding another feature to the mobile app with RFID tech. The scanner RFID addition to the application will work on the website, in the showroom, and when the customer recieves their physical product. The idea is that the consumer would scan the barcode on the piece of clothing they are interested in and the application would pull up all of the factor y information, a video of the factor y, and the transparent pricing breakdown. This gives the consumer all of the information they need about the product without them having to search Everlane’s website to find it.
Supplier
GAO RFID – Their customers range from Fortune 500 companies to educational and government agencies. They have over 20 years of experience in the RFID tech industr y and they have a support team that can provide in depth specific information on their software. The specific software that GAO RFID provides is called GAO RFID Middleware, it allows fast implementation into an existing system that would be used to fit our specific needs. The software is meant to be ver y flexible and easily inter faced into third party back end inventor y/ accounting packages. GAO also carries a wide variety of RFID tags, including paper, metal, rugged, and glass tags. They have an embedded reader technology, which is what we would be implementing because we would be integrating the tech directly into the mobile application.
Operational Considerations Within the operational consideration of implementing our initiative, we will first have our engineers educated on the RFID software, allowing them to be knowledgeable about the technology. Our engineers will be trained by RFID Journal in nine courses and as a part of the training they will be required to take an exam testing their knowledge of RFID tech. To receive certification they have to score 80% on the final exam. After our engineers get certified we would then order the RFID software from GAO RFID Inc. prepackaged tags to make it easier and faster to access the implementation of the software into the website and showrooms. We then would run test on the actual software to make sure that they work correctly before actually launching the RFID to the general public on both the website and showroom.
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Everlane RFID Operational Plan Activity January
February
March
Pre-Launch April
May
June
July
Launch August
July
Post Launch August September
October
November December
July
August
Launch October
Post Launch November December
September
Post Launch October November December
Market Research Research & Development Educating Engineers Technology Sourcing Order software from GAO RFID inc. APP Integration Software testing Implementation Data analysis/post purchase behavior Everlane Social Media Operational Plan Activity January
Pre-Launch February
March
Launch April
May
June
Market Research Research & Development Image Sourcing Photo-shoots Planning Implementation Data analysis/post purchase behavior Everlane Showroom Operational Plan Activity January
February
March
April
Pre-Launch May
June
September
Market Research Research & Development Design store Implement RFID into hangtags Train current staff Open Showroom to the public Data analysis/post purchase behavior Everalane Master Operational Plan Activity RFID Technology Social Media
Pre-Launch Launch Post-Launch January February March
April
May
June
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August
September
October
November December
The activity plan for our strategic initiatives is broken up into three specific categories, one for each initiative. These plans clearly identify the deadlines and schedule process that need to be met in order to implement each strategy in a timely manner. We plan to enforce our Social Media updates first by April, our RFID technology second by August, and open our Showroom last in October in time for the Holidays.
Master Operational Plan: PRE-LAUNCH Market Research Research & Development Educating engineers Technology sourcing Order software from GAO RFID Inc. APP Integration Soft wear testing Image sourcing Photo-shoots Design store Implement RFID into hangtags Train current staff LAUNCH Implement revised Social Media (April 2017) Implement RFID Technology (August 2017) Open Showroom to public (October 2017) POST-LAUNCH Data analysis Post purchase behavior
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Visualizations Showroom inspiration The showroom would utilize Everlane’s existing office space, with the implimentation of three iPads for a point of sale system. Everlane’s office is already set up in a very clean, aesthetically pleasing way with pieces of their collections on display. The conversion into a showroom would be easily completed. The showroom would be open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-5pm and current Everlane employees would take turns working the show room, broken down into weeks. Because they are already Everlane employees they will already be on the payroll and knowledgable about the products. Depending on demand employees could still complete normal work because the showroom is right in the office space.
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Visualizations Social Media
Competitor Social Media References in Appendix C
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Visualizations Barcode Addition to Applicaion
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Market Overview/Future Competition Everlane is an all e-commerce retailer and the online apparel market now accounts for 17% of the apparel industr y ’s dollars according to NPD.com. At the end of the second quarter of 2015 U.S. retail e-commerce sales were $83.9 billion which is a 4.2% increase from quarter one (Growth in U.S. Apparel Sales, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales). Due to our addition to Everlane’s existing mobile app the size of the m-commerce retail market also needs to be evaluated. As of July 2015 mobile shopping has surpassed desktop purchases with 51% of consumers shopping via mobile devices versus 49% shopping via a desktop (Bosomworth, Danyl).
RFID Tech Outside Fashion Virgin Mobile Google Walmart Target Coca Cola 3M
Market Graphs in Appendix E
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Consumer Profiles Demographic Segmentation Both men and women customers are between 25 and 44. They are college educated, with protected employment in professional areas, earning an average of $62,000-$64,000 per year. The demographic includes mostly single, leaving a percentage of earnings as discretionar y revenue as well as some married and beginning families. They live in urban areas and larger cities, giving them access to many different retail experiences. They are the early adopters who are quick to check out the latest movie, laptop and walks to their on beat.(Prizm)
Psychographic Segmentation Shops at Whole Foods and Target Listen Self-improvement audio Ver y Big on traveling and exploring Ver y keen on key pieces in their wardrobe Reads the New Yorker
Customer Profile These customers want high-quality items and are willing to go through non-traditional advertising methods to get those items. They are much more responsive to digital marketing methods than traditional marketing, and they value being loyal to a brand and be able to interact with the brand. Because Generation Z is ver y curious and ver y outspoken on what they want, they draw to brands that shows that radical transparency and direct communication to that product information, leaving no room for questions about where and how the garment was made.
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Name : Kate Age: 26 From: Oregon Education: Pepperdine University Occupation: Merchandising Coordinator Income: $43,336 Hobbies: Travel, visit art museums, yogi, shops with sustainable brands, recycles, volunteers
Name: Asher Age: 28 From: California Education: University of California, Berkley Occupation: Promotional Marketer Income: $56,167 Hobbies: Outdoorsy, Cultural Photography, Reads GQ, technologically savvy
Communication and Promotional Plan
Everlane Communication and Promotional Plan June
Pre-Launch July August
September
Launch October November December
January
February
Post Launch March April
May
Digital Media Everlane Website Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Snap Chat Everlane App Printed Advertisement Catalog Email Showroom Displays Events Showroom Launch Party 11/10/15
See justifications in the Appendix D
42
Visualizations Promotional Ads
43
The application will scan the RFID barcode and the specific barcode will then communicate the garment to the application where that garment information will be communicated to the Everlane main frame to get the factory and garment information. That information will be sent back to the app so the consumer has it all available at their fingertips
44
Financial Plan
Expenses
Price per unit Total Operational RFID Tags 50000 $25 $1,250,000.00 RFID Tech 1 $30,000 $30,000.00 Ipad Tablets 3 $399 $1,197 Showroom Displays 1 $500 500 Total Operational $1,251,697.00 Human Resources RFID Classes (per person) 4 $3,990 15960 Total Human Resources 15960 Marketing Launch Party Per Person 50 $20 1000 Everlane Catalog Advertising 1 $0 0 Total 1000 Total Cost of Implementation $1,268,657.00
See justifications in the Appendix F
Quantity
45
Conclusion
This strategic initiative will successfully raise brand awareness, accessibility, and recognition for Everlane, as well as give them a fully Omni-channel presence. The implementation of our new RFID technology and advanced social media accounts will engage existing Everlane customers and encourage them to download and share our Everlane App. The Showroom is a profitable, low-cost addition that will increase the brand’s interaction with its customers, both old and new, and continue to educate them and offer them a physical interaction with Radical Transparency. The addition of the Showroom tackles Everlane’s lack of a physical store, by allowing them to have a presence without opening a brick-and-mortar location. Our initiative is both consumer – and innovation - centered, with new services that will benefit and strengthen the performance of Everlane long-term.
46
Appendix A Strengths: Leader in the industry in offering, radical transparency for consumers. As Everlane strives to break the barriers of the non-traditional way of consuming products they are ahead of the game to show a radical transparency within their company. They are of few companies that show this radical transparency showing various things such as the mark-up all the way clothes are made. Weakness: Lack of social media lifestyle presence Everlane is lacking with a presence as a full omni-channel. As the retail industry strives to become a full omni-channel to provide as much information to their consumers, Everlane has lacked in making a strong presence within their social media along with making their brand a full lifestyle brand. Opportunities: Developing new technologies to promote brand through social media platforms. While Everlane is a very fast growing company, there are opportunities for the company to grow and implement new technologies to promote their brand. They have the opportunity to incorporate RFID within their system and could possibly open up a showroom to promote brand awareness. Threats: Companies could take the idea of the transparency retailing to create competition. As Everlane continues to grow, many companies might grasp onto the radical transparency retailing and being that everlane is only online this makes a big threat to retails that are completely omni-channel offering both brick and mortar and e-commerce.
Appendix B
EVERLANE
Brick-and-Mortar Brick-and-Mortar Brick-and-Mortar Brick-and-Mortar (Distrabution Center)
Online
Catalog
USA & International everlane.com (E-commerce only)
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Everlane Instagram https://instagram.com/everlane/ Twitter https://twitter.com/everlane Tumblr http://tumblr.everlane.com
j. Crew
USA 500 stores in 44 states Half of stores located in: California New York Florida Texas Massachusetts New Jersey Pennsylvania International France//Paris Canada//Alberta Canada//British Columbia Canada//Ontario UK//London
USA & International j.Crew.com (active in 100 countries worldwide)
American Apparel
California Alphabroder // Fresno Sun Apparel Southern CA // Fullerton TSC Apparel // Fullerton Apparel Source // Oakland Sun Apparel Northern CA // Hayward Georgia Alphabroder // Duluth TSC Apparel // Perry Hawaii Sun Apparel Hawaii // Alea Illinois Alphabroder // Bollingbrook Kentucky Sun Apparel // Louisville Massachusetts Commonwealth Cotton // Watertown New Jersey TSC Apparel // Dayton Ohio TSC Apparel // Cincinnati Pennsylvania Alphabroder // Lewisberry Texas Alphabroder // Dallas TSC Apparel // Houston Utah Utah Tees and Fleece // Murray Virginia Atlantic Coast Cotton // Gainesville
USA & International americanapparel.net
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/studyny/ Twitter https://twitter.com/studyny Tumblr http://studyny.tumblr.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jcrew Instagram https://instagram.com/jcrew/ Google + https://plus.google.com/+JCrew/posts YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/jcrewinsider
Wholesale Catalog Print Catalog Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmericanApparel Twitter https://twitter.com/AmAppWholesale Instagram americanapparelwholesale
Atlantic Coast Cotton // Gainesville AYR
New York AYR Guideshop // New York
USA & International AYR.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ayr?_rdr=p Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ayrnewyork/ Twitter https://twitter.com/ayr Instagram https://instagram.com/ayr/
BONOBOS
Georgia BONOBOS Guideshop // Alpharetta BONOBOS Guideshop // Atlanta Texas BONOBOS Guideshop // Austin BONOBOS Guideshop // Dallas BONOBOS Guideshop // Houston New York BONOBOS Headquarters // Flatiron BONOBOS Guideshop // Soho Flagship // 5th Avenue BONOBOS Guideshop // New York California BONOBOS Guideshop // Los Angeles BONOBOS Guideshop // Newport BONOBOS Guideshop // San Diego BONOBOS Guideshop // San Francisco Washington BONOBOS Guideshop // Seattle Illinois BONOBOS Guideshop // Chicago Massachusetts BONOBOS Guideshop // Boston Minnisota BONOBOS Guideshop // Bethesda
USA & International Bonobos.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bonobos Instagram https://instagram.com/bonobos/ Twitter https://twitter.com/bonobos YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/bonobos
The Reformation
California Reformation LA // Los Angeles New York Reformation // SoHo Reformation // Lower East Side
USA & International The Reformation.com
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/reformation/ Instagram http://instagram.com/reformation Tumblr jointhereformation.tumblr.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jointhereformation
Cuyana
California Cuyana Showroom // San Francisco
USA & International cuyanna.com
Instagram https://instagram.com/cuyana/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cuyana.sf Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/cuyana/ Twitter https://twitter.com/cuyana Tumblr http://cuyana.tumblr.com
Of a Kind
New York Headquarters // Manhattan
USA & International ofakind.com
Tumbr http://ofakind.tumblr.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ofakind Twitter https://twitter.com/ofakind Instagram https://instagram.com/ofakind/
ZADY
New York Headquarters // Manhattan
USA & International ZADY.com
Instagram http://instagram.com/ZADY/ Facebook
https://twitter.com/ofakind Instagram https://instagram.com/ofakind/ ZADY
New York Headquarters // Manhattan
USA & International ZADY.com
Instagram http://instagram.com/ZADY/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/zady Twitter https://twitter.com/Zady Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/zadypins/ Tumblr https://blog.zady.com
Maison Standards
France Headquarters // Paris
USA & International maisonstandards.com
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/maisonstandards/ Twitter https://twitter.com/MaisonStandards Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaisonStandards Instagram https://instagram.com/maisonstandards/
Fanmail
USA New York Headquarters // New York Production // New York Assembly // New York Swords-Smith // Brooklyn California Assembly // Los Angeles Opening Ceremony // Los Angeles Virginia Need Supply Co. // Richmond Europe Grudtner & Sohne // Austria LN-CC // United Kingdom Nowhere // Ireland Japan Everly // Nagoya Maidens // Tokyo 7 (SHOP/SEVEN) // Tokyo WISM // Tokyo
USA & International Fanmail.com eastdane.com mrporter.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fanmail.us Twitter https://twitter.com/FANMAIL_US Instagram https://instagram.com/FANMAIL_US/
HONEST BY.
Belgium Headquarters // Antwerp
USA & International honestby.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Honest-by Twitter https://twitter.com/honestby
Appendix C
Appendix D Promotion and Communication Analysis We divided our promotional initiatives for our strategic plans into a twelve-month format. June through September will be the pre-launch of our promotional activities, October through January will be the actual launch, and finalizing the plan with February through May being scheduled to conduct post-launch activities. Our promotional mediums will be mostly through e-commerce and social media, allowing them to be linked seamlessly, and accessed internationally to reach our global millennial consumer. By using the web as our communication system, it allows us to promote our initiatives to our target customer faster and continuously. Digital MediaEverlane Website: A link to our Everlane App, social media presence, and advertising of our Showroom will be presented on the Everlane website, covering the companies new features, advancements in technology, and promoting the brands new digital and social media approach. This is free exposure to already potential customers, therefore will be available yearlong. Facebook: Facebook posts regarding the Everlane App will increase the consistency of posts on the Facebook page to at least 2 per day/everyday for more exposure and customer attention. Since Facebook is an on-going platform, this will continue yearlong. Instagram: The Company currently posts photos of products occasionally. We will increase the amount to a daily lifestyle post, as well as advertise photos of our Showroom and its process. This will continue throughout the entire year. Twitter: Posts on twitter will mimic visual advertisements on other social medias but embrace informative details about the Everlane App and Showroom. Retweets will be employed when using #Radicallyeasy and #ShowmeEverlane for our Showroom. YouTube: We will create YouTube videos to advertise during our pre-launch and post-launch segments to show a transparent view of our factories. This will inspire consumers to use our App and discover more information for themselves about the factories. Snap Chat: Everlane uses Snap Chat daily as a way to show customers what they do on a day-to-day basis, engaging them to a behind the scenes lifestyle. We will continue this communication all year. Everlane App: Our Everlane App is launching in August. For this we will promote it through our digital media strategies during the pre-launch segment of our plan.
Printed AdvertisementCatalog: Everlane currently distributes two printed Catalogs a year. We will decrease this amount to once per-year, launching right before our Showroom to motivate our millennial consumers to want to see the Showroom in person. Reducing the Catalog to once a year will also make the company more sustainable. Email: We will continue Everlanes email strategy while also adding reminders of the launch of our Everlane App and Showroom. Showroom Displays: Once the Showroom is open, our displays will be an additional communicator to the consumer reminding them of our mission, values, and transparency. EventsShowroom Launch Party: In celebration for our showroom launch, we will be hosting a small, exclusive party in the beginning of October to prepare for the big day. Promotion and Communication Analysis
Appendix E
Appendix F RFID Tags The RFID tags are for the scanners to read the barcodes, so the consumers can scan the barcodes to get the information on their phone. This information will give the consumer more information about the product and will make it easier to access so they don’t have to search the web to find the specific factory from where the garments are made. This is where most of the money will be geared to within our financial plan. RFID Tech The RFID tech is the technology to implement the barcode system to give consumers easy access to transparency information. Within RFID Journal, there is no correct estimate on pricing the RFID Tech because of the size of the company, but as a reference for a 12 billion dollar company it cost roughly $180,000. Ipad Tablets The ipads will act as register to ring customer’s items within the showroom. Showroom Displays Banners and Window clings will serve as a the showroom displays for both the launch party and for regular displays. RFID Classes Being that Everlane does everything in house, they have engineers already in place that can learn the RFID technology. For each person there is a flat fee for each person to take the class on RFID Journal online along with passing the test with above an 80. Launch Party For the launch party there will be catered food from Whole Foods and champagne also from Whole Foods. This launch party will be invitation only, inviting 50 of the most influential bloggers, editors, and socially conscious celebrities that reflect the standards of Everlane’s brand. This launch party will introduce the new technology along with the opening of the showroom. Everlane Catalog Advertising Everlane produces catalogs twice yearly, Summer/ Spring and Fall/Winter, to their consumers. While Everlane does not do much advertising outside of their company, the launch party promotion would go within those catalogs that produce through Everlane. This will notify everyone who is an Everlane consumer about the new RFID technology and the opening of the showroom. This will not cost anything for Everlane because it will be done within their own catalog.
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