Black Lapel has brought the professional tailor to the Internet, giving shoppers a way to order accurately fitted custom suits online. With a personalized approach that involves both questionnaires and one-on-one interactions with experts, the retailer has managed to keep its return rates below 2%. Typical e-Commerce return rates in the apparel vertical can be as high as 20% to 30%.
“When you’re able to get a fit that’s uniquely yours, that’s the beauty of custom clothing,” said Derek Tian, Co-Founder and CMO of Black Lapel in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “It’s measured to you. We don’t cut cloth until your order comes in, and that’s a pretty sticky experience.”
Advertisement
The standard purchasing process starts with a series of self-measurements, and can continue through conversations with digital stylists over email and telephone. The questions asked of shoppers include gathering information on both their personal style and the environment where they’ll be wearing the suit.
In the long run, Black Lapel wants to faithfully replicate online the experience of visiting its New York City showroom, according to Tian. While the process takes longer than simply ordering clothes off an e-Commerce site, the result is well-fitting suits and personalized recommendations on how to build a larger wardrobe.
Black Lapel also tracks customers after they receive their purchase, asking them to rate how likely they would be to recommend the service to a friend. When issues do come up, the company quickly takes corrective action and works to improve the experience going forward.
“I think the reason why our returns are so low is because we have such a generous a policy to help customers get support from us without having to resort to a return,” said Tian. “When there is a return that means we failed the customer somehow, and that it’s the last resort.”
Should a customer report a bad fit, Black Lapel will request pictures of the customer wearing the outfit, which digital stylists use to make recommendations on ways the suit can be altered to fit or look better. The shopper can then take their suit to a local tailor, have the alterations made, and send the bill to the retailer to have the cost reimbursed.
Black Lapel takes a unique approach to customer acquisition as well, building loyalty even before the shopper journey begins. Its online publication, The Compass, features stories on topics such as how to build a wardrobe, how to wear a suit or what black tie optional means, educating potential new customers on the basic concepts of style. While it may take months or years before a reader becomes a customer, they will already have developed a relationship with Black Lapel when they are ready to make a purchase.
