Athleta, a Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) brand, today announced a new partnership with thredUP and online collaboration with Shop Premium Outlets, supporting Athleta’s long-term growth strategy to reach new customers and expand its community of empowered women and girls. Both ventures will deliver new value to customers shopping in stores and online, underscoring the brand’s commitment to omnichannel excellence.
Athleta Launches “Preloved” Shopping Experience Pilot with thredUP
Athleta’s first-ever resale platform, Always Athleta, is a new 360-resale program enabled by thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service (RaaS), which empowers some of the world’s leading brands and retailers to deliver quality, seamless resale experiences to their customers. Athleta plans to leverage the platform as a test-and-learn opportunity to better understand customer purchasing behavior and attract new customers to the brand.
Starting today, a limited group of randomly selected customers will receive access to the pilot platform when visiting Athleta.com. Select customers can choose “Preloved” from the website’s navigation bar to be directed to the Always Athleta platform, where they can shop a wide range of gently used Athleta products up to 90% off estimated retail price.
“As a certified B Corporation, Athleta believes in using business as a force of good,” said Kim Waldmann, chief digital officer at Athleta. “The launch of our first-ever resale pilot, Always Athleta, marks a major milestone toward our vision for a more sustainable future. We’re thrilled to partner with thredUP on this innovative platform that invites consumers to make a positive environmental impact without compromising on performance or style.”
The new Always Athleta platform builds upon the brand’s and Gap Inc. sister brands, Banana Republic and Gap’s, existing partnership with thredUP’s RaaS. Nearly half of Athleta customers already participate in the circular economy, underscoring the demand for the brand’s exciting new platform for shopping its beautiful, technical and sustainable assortment.
“As an early adopter of resale, Athleta started its journey with a Clean Out program more than two years ago. This program has built phenomenal customer engagement with circularity and helped introduce thousands of new customers to the Athleta brand,” said James Reinhart, CEO of thredUP. “We’re proud to see the successful results of their initial program and look forward to supporting the company as it continues to innovate and advance its sustainability initiatives with resale.”
Through Athleta’s in-store Clean Out program, thredUP has processed more than 125,000 Clean Out Kits and sold more than one million secondhand items on its marketplace since February 2020. With the launch of Always Athleta, customers can also continue to turn in gently used apparel, shoes, and accessories from any brand in their closet and receive Athleta shopping credit for items sold on thredUP.
According to thredUP’s 2022 Resale Report, the secondhand apparel market is expected to more than double to $82 billion by 2026.
Athleta Launches New Omnichannel Collaboration with Shop Premium Outlets
Following the launch of its new outlet store format this year, Athleta is teaming up with Shop Premium Outlets, a joint venture between Simon® and Rue Gilt Groupe, to bring the outlet shopping experience to customers across the U.S. Starting in early October, customers can shop a curated assortment of Athleta’s premium performance and lifestyle product, including most-loved styles like the Salutation Stash Tight and Brooklyn Ankle Pant, via the brand’s dedicated storefront on ShopPremiumOutlets.com. The remaining online outlet assortment will offer customers unique value on existing high-quality and on-trend Athleta styles.
“Expanding our customer base is critical to our long-term growth, and we’re always looking for new avenues to introduce women to our brand and products,” continued Waldmann. “Investing in new digital collaborations with companies like Shop Premium Outlets serves as a customer acquisition and loyalty driver, introducing her to our versatile performance and performance lifestyle product as we continue to track toward Athleta’s goal of opening 30-40 new stores this year.”
”At Shop Premium Outlets, we connect our customers to the brands they love in one, convenient online marketplace,” said Neel Grover, CEO, Shop Premium Outlets. “We’re thrilled to team up with Athleta to digitize their outlet experience and offer a curation of their most-loved styles at incredible prices.”
