NEW YORK – Gap Inc.’s low-cost Old Navy division is currently revising its approach to designing and marketing plus-size women, a demographic that many analysts believe is underserved.
As of last week, Old Navy will be offering each of its women’s models in all sizes with no price difference. That means sizes 0-28 in stores and up to size 30 online.
The 1,200 branch chain presents its large formats together with the standard formats on the exhibition area. The fashion is shown on mannequins in sizes four, 12 and 18. Online, the chain merges its plus and standard sizes, with models appearing in all three sizes.
The moves are set to help Old Navy reach $ 10 billion in annual sales by 2023, up from $ 8 billion in 2019, company executives said.
Old Navy is joining Target, Nordstrom, and others who have added more plus-size offerings in recent years, and many are incorporating them alongside standard sizes. They also add larger mannequins to the sales floor and display more plus size models in their marketing.
Still, it’s common practice for department stores and other retailers to set up separate areas for plus sizes, but also separate areas for small sizes, says Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData Retail.
Over the years retailers have expanded their offerings to cater to plus size women. However, analysts believe that engagement has fluctuated and stores never made this customer base feel part of the shopping experience and often left them out of marketing collateral.
Analysts believe the push this time around will be long term as they are under pressure from buyers to be more inclusive. Apparel retailers are struggling to acquire customers and are looking for new ways to drive sales.
“We have entered a time when inclusion is finally going beyond race, nationality and income,” said Marshal Cohen, chief advisor for the NPD Group. “It contains sizes. We finally got there.”
“Too many women have not been accepted into retail for too long. That said, if you were a height of 16 or 18, which is the average height of a woman in America, you had very limited choices, â€said Alison Partridge Stickney, director of merchandising for women at Old Navy. “We knew there was an opportunity to do more.”
The International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education published a 2016 study that the average American woman is between 16 and 18 feet tall.
According to GlobalData, plus size women’s and men’s clothing sales reached $ 27 billion in 2019, up from $ 19.9 billion in 2012. According to the NPD’s Consumer Tracking Service, plus size women are making plus size clothes in the 12 months through May 19% of all women’s clothing in the US is made up. That is one percentage point more than at the same time last year.
Old Navy began offering a limited plus size collection in 2004. In 2018, the company launched plus-size shops in 75 US stores.
But it realized it had to go deeper. To reinvent the design process, body scans of 389 women were performed to create digital avatars based on real female bodies and run fitness clinics. Every design detail such as pocket placement was also examined.
Old Navy also integrates its design process for both standard and larger sizes; before there were two teams. Company executives say they share their knowledge with the Gap and Banana Republic teams. Another department, Athleta, has featured their designs prominently on full-figure mannequins.
GlobalData Retail’s Saunders says the price gap between standard sizes and large sizes – which he estimates is between 5% and 15% – is no longer a common practice in stores. Analysts say the gap is due to economies of scale as it costs more to produce a smaller collection. In addition, more material is needed.
