When do $200 jeans sell better than $25 jeans? When they are discount William Rast.
When William Rast, Justin Timberlake’s fashion line launched at Target in December, there was a flashy launch party and lots of media hype. We expected the affordable denim and buttery leather jackets to sell out in a flash. Fast forward almost two months, a 50% discount and shoppers can still find the same items from the initial collab launch sadly hanging on racks.
The disappointing sales could be understood if the product were inferior but a quick review of shopper comments reveal that consumers love the jeans, tees and accessories. As a matter of fact, most items received four and five star reviews. One comment on the Target website says, “If you want to be booty fabulous buy these jeans! I’ve gotten more compliments and men asking for my number since I started rocking these jeans. THANK YOU JT!”
Another shopper reviewed the aforementioned leather jacket with these words: “This is a gorgeous jacket. The leather is of a quality rarely seen at this price. William Rast is cutting edge fashion and I paid more than double for a similar jacket in cloth. Slim fitting, nice color. Very flattering on.”
Maybe this situation is a prime example of brand and price psychology. Could it be that discount jeans are less valued than those that sell at Barneys for a premium? Maybe Target customers weren’t educated enough about the fashion worthiness of the pop-star’s eye for style? Perhaps the collection too closely resembled items you could find at your local Gap?
Whatever the reason, we suggest that you take advantage of these deep discounts and size and style section right away. How can one really argue the merit of $25 jeans, $9 tees and $100 leather jackets? Seems better than the The Gap to us. We would just suggest that Mary Kate and Ashley keep the Row away from Main Street.
