A Wren Says

More specifically, I can report that Lululemon is doing a swap. Those who come out to the Century City Mall on May 6 and 7, 2023 can bring their dupes for the popular Lululemon Align pant and receive an genuine pair. They are confident in the quality of their product and want people to experience if for themselves.  The article mentioned that the brand expect to give out 1000 pairs. And wow, with the pants costing $98 each, that is a value of $98,000 being given out.

This is clearly part of their overall strategy for the line and a way to address dupe culture. I have written about dupes before, but this is an astonishingly direct way to address the issue. The #aligndupe is rampant. But the company believes the so-called dupes have nothing on the real thing when compared head to head.

I wonder though, does this address the reason that people go for the dupes? I mean this is a free pair of leggings. If the options are the $20 Amazon pair and free pair of the real thing, they are going to go real thing. But, when they continue to wear the genuine article, and assuming they haven’t increased their disposable income, will those who turned in their dupes turn into lululemon customers? How will the brand overcome the affordability issue without devaluing their product? That I don’t know.

I would be curious if they somehow collect data from those who take part in the swap and are able to use that for tracking purposes. Ideally, this is something that will turn into future sales, but there has to be real way to know if it worked. Perhaps they will send out follow-up emails with traceable links to e-commerce site. Or maybe they will follow up with a coupon code that can be used on time in store. Or perhaps, they goal is to just shift the social media conversation away from dupes and towards the real thing. This is a big bet and I am looking forward to see how this affects company strategy moving forward.