Online Fashion Retailer Revolve Considers Adding More Brick-and-Mortar Stores

Online fashion retailer Revolve Group is reportedly looking at opening more brick-and-mortar stores in luxury destinations after opening its first such store in Aspen, Colorado, in June.

Revolve is considering opening stores in Hamptons beach towns outside New York; Montecito, California; Manhattan; and Beverly Hills, Bloomberg reported Friday (Aug. 2).

The retailer’s opening of its first physical location in Aspen came about six months after it launched a pop-up store in the same location and found that its results exceeded its expectations, Revolve Chief Financial Officer Jesse Timmermans said in the report.

The move comes as shoppers are increasingly choosing to visit brick-and-mortar stores where they can see clothes in person and try them on, according to the report.

It also comes as Revolve’s market capitalization has dropped about 80%, from $6.4 billion to $1.3 billion, since its peak in late 2021, the report said.

At the same time, the company has lots of cash and rising earnings projections, per the report.

Up until the opening of its store in Aspen, the retailer operated only online, working with social media influencers to draw shoppers who tended to be 18- to 35-year-old women, according to the report.

While Wall Street analysts’ views of Revolve’s moves are mixed — eight have buy recommendations, nine have holds and two have sells — the company’s cash position gives it the ability to make changes, the report said.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Poonam Goyal wrote May 7, per the report, that the firm’s strengths include “data-driven product curation, expansion into men’s and beauty, along with an influencer-led and events-based social-media strategy.”

Revolve’s use of data to inform what it offers and the company’s leveraging of influencers to drive its marketing efforts helped the company stand out from the pack of eCommerce competitors, PYMNTS reported in 2018 as the retailer prepared for an initial public offering (IPO) that was launched in 2019.

Today, Click-and-Mortar shopping — in which shoppers use both digital tools and physical shopping — is transforming the retail landscape, according to the “2024 Global Digital Shopping Index,” a PYMNTS Intelligence report commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions.

In a June 7 press release announcing the opening of Revolve’s physical retail location in Aspen, Michael Mente, co-CEO and co-founder of Revolve Group, said: “We are excited to bring our unique brand experience to a new audience, combining the convenience of online shopping with the personalized service and engagement that only a physical store can offer.”

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