Casual Male’s non-casual approach to e-commerce takes new turn
There’s nothing casual about Casual Male Retail Group Inc.’s approach to the Internet, especially now that the retailer of big and tall men’s apparel is launching a major branding initiative and making significant upgrades to its e-commerce program.
Casual Male, No. 228 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, switched to a more robust e-commerce platform from ATG Inc. about 18 months ago. Now with the new platform in place, Casual Male has upgraded CasualMale.com with enhanced features such as an auto log-in that results in faster shopping for repeat buyers and a new Google maps application for its store locater feature. “We’re adding new features to enhance performance and prevent bottlenecks,” says Linda Carlo, executive vice president of new business development, catalog and e-commerce.
Casual Male’s core shopper is more likely to shop online than other web shopping segments, Carlo says. Some big and tall males are self-conscious about shopping traditional department stores for apparel in their size. Big and tall males also are busy professionals and like the idea of doing one-stop shopping online, Carlo says. “Our customers shop online year-round,” she adds. “They are most concerned with finding their size.”
Casual Male, which also operates Rochester Big & Tall retail stores, a catalog for those stores, and RochesterClothing.com, is making its e-commerce operation a significant part of a new branding initiative. Throughout its stores, catalogs and web site, Casual Male has changed its moniker from Casual Male Big & Tall to Casual Male XL. “We conducted focus groups, asked attendees why they weren’t shopping, and discovered that ‘big’ and ‘tall’ had a negative perception,” Carlo says. “The new emphasis on ‘XL’ has a more positive connotation.”
The retailer’s new brand and message debuted on CasualMale.com in mid-May following several weeks of A/B testing, Carlo says. To attract more online shoppers, the company is adding several new lines of private-label apparel. In August CasualMale.com will begin carrying Synergy, a new line of contemporary clothing similar to brands such as Michael Kors or Kenneth Cole. With more private-label products, CasualMale.com carries more than 30,000 SKUs in its online inventory.
“We have 49 different pants sizes we carry online,” Carlo says. “We are limited by what we carry in our stores, but we think of CasualMale.com as a big superstore. Customers also have the option of going to one of our stores, placing an order online, and then having that purchase delivered to their home or to the store for a convenient pick-up.”
E-commerce is Casual Male’s fastest-growing channel, increasing by 42% in 2005, the company says in its recently released annual report. “Between all our channels, especially the web, we are well-positioned to serve the big and tall segment,” Carlo says. “The Casual Male customer is a consumer of primarily moderately priced branded and private-label casual sportswear and dresswear. The Rochester customer is a consumer of fine quality, designer and branded menswear.”
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