American Apparel on 125th Street in Harlem has stepped into on-demand delivery in partnership with Postmates. The promise: one-hour delivery anywhere in the US for more than 50 items from its Basics line, for a delivery cost of $1.99.
The new 60-minute delivery service is an effort to return the brand to its early days of popularity, particularly with a younger, hipper cohort.
Available in 79 stores within 31 markets, real-time RFID technology signals American Apparel to pack the merchandise while simultaneously alerting Postmates drivers to pick up the order. Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter have used similar delivery methods for several years.
brandchannel asked Thoryn Stephens, American Apparel’s Chief Digital Officer, about the Postmates collaboration.
“After joining American Apparel, I was sailing with my girlfriend and she’d forgotten her jacket. It occurred to me how ideal it would be to have an American Apparel hoodie delivered,” said Stephens. “Shortly thereafter I met with Postmates and the idea for ‘on-demand basics’ began to form. We tested the service in New York City and San Francisco and expanded domestically from there, taking faith in the fact Postmates were Apple’s on-demand delivery partner of choice.”
Stephens said that fast-fashion and faster-delivery are on trend. “Amazon customers expect to receive their goods at light-speed, and Postmates offers us a 60-minute delivery capability for our fashionable basics in 31 key markets.”
Last month, Cynthia Erland, SVP Marketing at American Apparel, told brandchannel that e-commerce was a key driver of the company’s business. “Cyber Monday 2015 saw americanapparel.net’s highest traffic ever and we are excited to continue to build on that momentum. To do this, we are working on ways to improve the mobile user experience, create faster payment and order fulfillment and are also testing different on-demand delivery options both in the US and internationally.”
“I view omnichannel as the intersection of the digital and retail experience—with the ability to offer our products to anyone, anytime, anywhere,” says Stephens. “This is absolutely the future of retail, and American Apparel is leading the way.”
American Apparel has been through many changes in the past months, including filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October amidst poor sales and a very public falling out with founder Dov Charney, facing sexual harassment accusations from former employees.
American Apparel is trying every channel to find the best fit.
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