Retailer plans to target Gen Z for fashion credibility
Walmart has spent three years overhauling its mix of adult apparel to make it stylish as well as sensible for middle America. Now, the nation’s largest retailer is targeting back-to-school shoppers in another shot at establishing fashion respectability.
The company plans to relaunch its 30-year-old brand for teenagers and young adults on Tuesday with a new 130-piece fall collection aimed at Generation Z. The retooling of the No Boundaries label is part of a strategy to get customers to think of Walmart as a place to buy cool clothes along with groceries.
The new collection includes of-the-moment styles like baggy jeans, cropped T-shirts, faux leather corsets and bomber jackets. Most items cost $15 or less. Some pieces are made from recycled fabrics to appeal to a generation that values sustainability. The size range was expanded to run from XXS to 5X to be more inclusive.
Walmart is marketing the revamped No Boundaries on TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and the online gaming site Roblox. It plans to test new prototypes in stores located in major college towns.
The intended audience is noticing.
“It’s basic, but cute,” Za’Kryra Davis, 16, said while looking at the camouflage pants and denim rompers at a Walmart store in Secaucus, N.J., where the new No Boundaries was getting rolled out last week.
Davis, who shops at chains like Rue21 and Forever 21 and gets inspired by trends popping up on social media, said she’s been more open to buying clothes at Walmart in the past few months because she says they look more modern.
Walmart previously relied on a variety of suppliers with separate design teams to build the No Boundaries line, which focused largely on everyday basics like T-shirts and denim. The company hired a dedicated design team to create the relaunch collection, a sign of the brand’s importance to Walmart’s broader fashion strategy.
Still, winning over customers born between 1997 and 2012 will be challenging given Walmart’s heavy competition. The generation of digital natives is known to be price conscious and willing to shop around, frequenting everything from second-hand shops and ultra-fast-fashion online retailer Shein to discounters like Target, and mall-based stores like American Eagle Outfitters.
While Gen Z spends the least amount on fashion of any demographic cohort except the so-called Silent Generation, retailers are eager to court young consumers because they represent the future, said Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData.
“If you don’t capture them today, you run the risk of them going to a rival,” he said. “Traditionally, Walmart has not been appealing to this kind of younger demographic, which is why it’s trying to change.”
Walmart said No Boundaries generates annual sales of $2 billion, but Saunders thinks the numbers have been stagnant for a few years.
Source: https://www.nwaonline.com/