Starting Friday,
The 1,200-store chain will also be displaying its large sizes together with the standard sizes on the floor. The fashions will be displayed on mannequins in sizes four, 12 and 18. Online, the chain is merging its plus size and standard sizes together, with models appearing in all three sizes.
The moves, announced Wednesday, are expected to help
Still, the common practice for department stores and other retailers is to have separate areas for plus sizes, but they also devote separate sections for petite sizes, says
Over the years, retailers have expanded their offerings to cater to plus-size women. But analysts believe the commitment vacillated and stores never made this customer base feel part of the shopping experience, often leaving them out of marketing materials.
Analysts believe this time around, the push will be long term as they're under pressure from shoppers to be more inclusive. Clothing retailers are increasingly struggling to attract customers and are looking for new opportunities to pump up sales.
“We have entered at a time when inclusion finally expands beyond race, nationality and income level," said
“For too long, too many women have not been included in the retail industry. That means if you were a size 16 or 18, which is the average size of a woman in America, you had very limited choice,” said
Sales of plus-size women’s and men’s clothing hit
But it realized it needed to go deeper. To reinvent the design process, it did body scans of 389 women to create digital avatars based on real women's bodies and ran fit clinics. It also examined every design detail like pocket placement.
Saunders of GlobalData Retail, says the price disparity between standard sizes and large sizes — anywhere between 5% to 15% by his estimates — is no longer a common practice at stores. Analysts say the reason for the gap is because of economies of scale, since it costs more to produce a smaller collection. Also, more material is involved.
Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission., source