Men's Fashion e-Commerce Entrepreneurs Thriving

Most major retailers are latching on to the e-commerce trend but there is also a growing number of online men’s fashion upstarts like Combatant Gentlemen and JackThreads that are using social media channels to understand the consumer and sell effectively under their own retail brands.

Combatant Gentlemen’s strength lies in creating a brand that produces high quality clothing at an affordable cost and then effectively selling it to their target customer of young, aspiring professionals through Facebook. CEO Vishaal Melwani says, “One of the big reasons that we still, to this day, take away clients [from competitors like Men’s Warehouse] is because their messaging is incorrect. They don’t understand the pains and the trials and tribulations that our guy goes through on a daily basis.”

On the other hand, JackThreads’ focus is on providing street wear and contemporary fashion brands at great discounts. They have flash sales of authentic brands and engage their customers with new offerings every day. In the first year, they reached out to blogs writing about the brands they were selling. Once users found their site and recognized the value proposition, they became extremely engaged. And it was viral.

They sell products that are geared towards all aspects of a lifestyle and have been very successful with t-shirts, pants, denim, accessories and watches. They have a members-only community and they know what their shoppers are interested in and what they are recommending for their friends to buy.

In May 2010, they were acquired by Thrillist, an online publication for urban men.They have editions in 16 cities and write a daily newsletter showing the newest and coolest in fashion, nightlife, and dining for urban guys who are 18 to 35 years old. The brands that JackThreads were selling were the same ones that Thrillist wrote about. CEO Jason Ross says, “We saw them as a trusted voice that put a brand in front of an audience who trusted whatever they said. On the other side of that story, we are selling the same products. It is a great, cohesive strategy for us to be the same company.” Revenue at JackThreads grew from $5 million at the time of acquisition to $50 million in 2012 and the number of users ballooned from 150,000 to 1.8 million. See what combining Content and Commerce in Context does to a business?

Combatant Gentlemen’s focus is on providing a premium fashion experience at a price point even lower than Men’s Warehouse. Using the e-commerce model, they are able to save on the overheads incurred in running a brick-and-mortar store. Apart from this, they generate margins of up to 16% by deep vertical integration to the level of producing their own cotton and wool. They bootstrapped to $700,000 in revenue, followed it up with a $2.2 million financing round, and are on track to deliver $15 million in revenue in 2014.

They target young, aspiring professionals who spend a lot of time on social media channels like Facebook. Their clothes can be used for multiple purposes and their value is in providing a high return on investment. They inventory all the likes on their Facebook page and study their characteristics and interests. A lot of their customers use them as a service and ask their stylist for recommendations. Nearly 50% of their customers come back for more and also act as their brand ambassadors.

Men and women have very different shopping dynamics. Women spend a lot of money on clothes. Men don’t spend as much. However, these retailers understand that when men find a brand that they trust, they are loyal to that brand, and will spend significant amounts on that particular brand. Men are more brand-conscious while women would shop and experiment with new styles and designers that resonate with their style. Brands perhaps last longer in men’s fashion. This psychographic tendency works beautifully online, as retailers can almost become replenishment businesses for basics like black turtlenecks, khakis, boxers, etc.

These men’s fashion e-commerce entrepreneurs are thriving because they are able to leverage technology and understand the new age, social media savvy male shoppers well. They are creating brands that their customers trust. They take away the pain of shopping for them. They provide great quality at great prices. They are bringing content and commerce together and doing it in context.

All of these are winning strategies to build significant e-commerce companies!

[Excerpt from my new book, From eCommerce To Web 3.0]

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Photo: Flazingo Photos/Flickr.