Sweat, Style, and Strategy: Digital Technologies Reshaping the Fitness Apparel Landscape.
Fitness apparel; the industry which brings together fitness and clothing retail is an ever growing sector, expected to have a global revenue of 293.73 billion US dollars by 2030, growing 31% from 2024. Athleisure blends “sport and health retail”, creating clothes for fitness. Increasing consumer demand presents an opportunity to expand, however this market is highly saturated, facing intense competition as brands compete for market share. This, along with an uncertain environment, presents challenges for brands to maintain competitive advantage. Therefore, companies are turning to digital media and technology to overcome challenges and capitalise upon opportunities.
Trends:
One technological influence, driving popularity within this sector, is the rise of “trend culture” on social media, making it a “multi-billion dollar clothing trend”, with digital advancements reinforcing trend ideals. A peer emphasised that companies taking a “digital approach”, focusing on “trend culture” have greatly benefitted. For example, Lululemon effectively utilises social media to create a trending brand community, solidifying their position in this sector. Therefore, the emergence of social media, facilitated by technology, presents opportunities for brands to leverage digital media platforms to capitalise on trends, thrive within a digital age, and take advantage of increasing demand.
Reshaping online retail:
Research indicates a shift in consumer preferences with 51% preferring online shopping and an increased desire to have “seamlessly” integrated experiences across multiple channels which are accessible anytime. This poses a challenge for fitness apparel companies to reach consumers and sell products, however, technology has enabled the emergence of “retail 4.0” (omnichannel retailing), which can overcome this challenge. Omnichannel “blurs the lines between online and offline retail” and a peer suggests it transforms how consumers and businesses interact and expands reach beyond physical locations. For example, Lululemon used digital technologies to develop omnichannel strategies to enhance their online sales and gain competitive advantage. However, as the industry adapts to this new era, altered by technology, how near in the future is retail 5.0 and how will this impact companies?
AR / VR fitting rooms:
Technology driven augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) fitting rooms enable fitness apparel brands to cultivate unique online shopping experiences. Using body scanning technology, they recommend the right fitting clothes to customers and enable them to virtually try on and visualise items before purchasing. For example, Lululemon uses AR “high performance 3D technology” to create virtual shoe try ons.
Offering immersive experiences, this technology can help address challenges such as sizing concerns, high return rates, lack of consumer personalisation, and address increased online shopping. Whilst it presents opportunities to differentiate from competition, brands may struggle to encourage customers to utilise a technology unfamiliar to them.
Digitising Stores:
Brands are faced with declining in store footfall due to increased online shopping and must transform stores to remain competitive. They must turn attention from utilitarian to hedonic technologies which focus more on “interactivity, enjoyment, and fun”. This can be achieved through implementing in store technologies (ISTs) which include “interactive touch screens, self checkouts, and magic mirrors”. The increase of flagship stores (“stores of the future”), especially within the fitness apparel industry, have facilitated the shift towards implementing ISTs due to being “powered by technology”. Whilst offering immersive experiences, the challenge is finding the right balance between the physical environment and the immersive technological reality within stores.
Smart mirrors:
ISTs can be incorporated through smart mirror fitting rooms which use “IoT technology”. These technologies, explained in this video, allow customers to login and utilise “AI technology to recommend clothes” based on previous purchases and appearance, thus overcoming sizing concerns. It provides more informative and personalised services, enabling customers to see how products look on them, and purchase items before leaving the dressing room which increases convenience and sales. Overall, this can provide brands with the opportunity for increased engagement which translates into competitive advantage. However, concerns arise about who has access to account data and if these technologies are making us consumer more. Therefore, challenges relating to sustainability and data privacy must be considered.
Lululemon:
Lululemon, an athleisure pioneer, has actively utilised digital media and technology including “virtual waitlists” for physical stores and “memorable ISTs” to overcome challenges and opportunities, which has contributed to their “impressive” growth rate, which even increased during the pandemic where many companies struggled. Their flagship stores “bring together the latest technology” and incorporates “interactive fitting rooms” which creates engaging experiences. This exemplifies that if fitness apparel brands utilise technology to their advantage, they can overcome the challenges and benefit from the opportunities, remaining successful.
E-textiles:
The fitness apparel industry faces constant competition, particularly from large marketplaces like Amazon challenging standalone companies like Lululemon. Technology and the IoT presents an opportunity to overcome this through E-textile product innovation. IoT enables “smart clothing” creation by integrating sensors into garments which communicate with devices and collect data including heart rate and movement. For example, Wearable X created “smart yoga pants” which use vibrations to instruct movements. This market is rapidly growing, potentially revolutionising the industry. This presents an opportunity for companies like Lululemon to extend their offerings, gaining competitive advantage through product innovation. As data collecting products, there are increased concerns around data storing, which demands consideration of “data management” and transparency around data access and usage.
Big data:
Fitness apparel brands must cultivate more personalised shopping experiences to drive engagement and success which can be achieved through data collection, but online companies don’t use data effectively. The rise of AI technology provides brands with the opportunity to analyse and collect large volumes of data, overcoming this challenge. A peer highlighted that big data analysis has “transformed consumer targeting, allowing companies to deliver personalised experiences”. However, acknowledging concerns around data privacy and security is crucial. Therefore, fitness apparel brands must prioritise data protection measures and comply with regulations to earn trust within the digital age.
Overall:
Strategic planning, creativity, and the application of rapidly advancing technology are crucial to navigate the opportunities and challenges within the fitness apparel industry. From examples within the sector, brands which utilise digital media and technology are more likely to succeed and remain ahead of competition. Additionally, companies could learn from Lululemon and Wearable X to understand how they can capitalise on digital transformation opportunities to sustainably strengthen their position within the market.
