With Aritzia opening its three-floor flagship store in New York on November 26, the Canadian fashion retailer is well on its way to having continued success in the United States. Aritzia has become known for its good, easy basics suitable for all wardrobes, and importantly priced in the sub to mid-hundreds. The marketing behind Aritzia is targeted to appeal to a Gen Z audience with a focus on digital marketing and e-commerce. The company plans to increase its store count to approximately 90 locations by 2027, capitalizing on the brand’s growing popularity. Aritzia’s marketing strategy is based on its market position, the power of the brand, and its product strategies.
The company’s market position appeals to customers who value quality and style, positioning itself as a provider of “everyday luxury” centered around sophistication. Aritzia’s top competitors are Reformation and Free People, who pride themselves in a similar demographic. This direct competition necessitates innovation and continuous adoption of new consumer preferences. Aritzia has successfully developed a cult-like following through a devoted group of customers. With the brand’s emphasis on customer experience, they offer several personalized experiences such as their high-touch retail approach. This approach creates a sense of urgency as someone is actively helping customers shop, leading them to make faster decisions versus if they were shopping themselves. Additionally, the style advisors are trained to cross-sell when customers are in the fitting room they are not just bringing you different sizes but also complementary pieces. There are no mirrors inside the fitting rooms — instead, there’s a shared space right outside each room. This is intentional as having shoppers come out of the room creates more of an opportunity for style advisors to hype you up, suggest additional items and in turn build bigger sales for them.Â
Each store offers a curated environment to the brand reflecting its aesthetic and providing a personalized experience. This shopping experience fosters loyalty and encourages repeated visits. The brand’s website and social media are optimized for user experience offering shameless navigation and advertising. Sales in the US have grown significantly, surpassing its Canadian market in 2023. CEO Jennifer Wong notes the company’s goal is to continue to push for the US to make up the majority of their sales and to be where they are opening up the majority of their stores. For the fiscal year ending on February 26, 2023, Aritzia reported that US net revenue increased by 65.8% to $1.1 billion from $676.1 million. Needless to say, their marketing strategy is increasingly effective and likely will be copied by other brands. From the quality of their clothing labeled as luxury seen in everyday wear to their in-store high retail approach, a personalized experience is made in an aesthetic environment unique to the brand.Â
My personal experience with the brand only confirms all of its marketing strategies. In the past, I’ve walked in and walked out of Aritzia altogether. As nice as the clothing was, the price would turn me away without a doubt, but I would dream of shopping there one day. Recently I went when they had their Black Friday sale bringing the price points of high-quality items down significantly. This made the brand more appealing to shop in and my younger cousin encouraged it, as she is a frequent customer of the brand. The sale was 20-50% off select items, which is the best you can get for Black Friday these days. Experiencing the store, for what felt like the first time, led me to write this article. I witnessed all these marketing strategies to a tee. The store was displayed in a way that was easy to process and walk through, and many trending items were placed at the front. At first glance, I was not a fan of the fitting room style of walking out to look in a mirror. I got lucky and got a room with a mirror so I didn’t have to walk out to look. However, my younger cousin did. The few times I did talk to them, I could tell the style advisors were on their A-game. I had tried on a top that I needed a size up in and the advisor offered to grab it for me. In an instant, I wasn’t even sure if she had seen the tag with the original size. She immediately brought out a larger size and also brought a different color, reaffirming their cross-sell strategy. They also regularly came to grab items I no longer wanted. All of these things collectively made my shopping experience fluid and I spent more than I intended to, falling for their effective strategies.Â