Kate Hudson’s Fabletics line, a brand offering inexpensive athleisure wear to both male and female consumers, has experienced existential success and growth over the past year, but has also come against some harsh criticism, due to the tactics used to entice consumers to keep buying the active wear.
The line of athleisure wear is attractive to the individual seeking to a save a few bucks while ensuring to still be able to rock fashionable threads to the gym and on casual days. Hudson’s line is in direct competition with the massively successful Canadian brand Lululemon, seeing as Hudson’s line offers the quality and fashionable look at a much lower cost. Forbes relays how the two moguls compare .
“A pair of Fabletics leggings listed at $79.95 costs $49.95 with a VIP membership. By way of comparison, black yoga pants from market leader Lululemon, made with the Canadian workout giant’s proprietary sweat-wicking Luon fabric, start at $88.”
This all sounds like Fabletics has got the consumer in mind. However, as Inquisitrrecently shared, and Forbesrelays in detail, Hudson’s brand has used a tactic that keeps the first-time buyer of the brand making purchases, even if the consumer is unaware.
“The rub, for Fabletics subscribers: if a member doesn’t want to buy a discounted sports bra in any given month but forgets to notify JustFab within the first five days, he or she is charged anyway. Members receive credit towards future purchases if they forget to bypass a month.”
This has obviously not gone over well with some buyers of the brand and the business practice has drawn scrutiny from a number of publications, including Gawker who states that the parent to Fabletics, Just Fab, is “the biggest scam online.”
That all aside, the brand has still manages to entice repeat consumers and success has been the result to the point that seven retail outlets have already been opened by Fabletics and there are 100 set to be opened in due time.
Co-CEO and cofounder Adam Goldenberg shares that the brand intends to utilize the online model as inspiration for their brick and mortar stores.
“We want to completely mirror the stores to the online experience.”
By stating this, Goldenberg means that the store will assist in recruiting more VIP members, or subscribers, to become added to its month direct debit program.
Forbes outlines the strategy for the Just Fab brand across all its outlets and online stores.
“Every brand under the JustFab umbrella, including 2013 acquisition ShoeDazzle, offers discounts on clothes and shoes if a shopper signs up for a recurring subscription priced at between $39.95 and $49.95 a month.”
About the controversy that’s come from complaints about his company’s business practices, Goldenberg has defended the tactics used to ensure consumers are visiting the sites and stores monthly, noting that the number of complaints have dropped to around 10 a month “with some regarding shipping or customer service rather than the monthly fee.”
The Better Business Bureau confirmed this to Forbes , but adds that these lower numbers are the result of JustFab starting to “list its subsidiaries separately.”
Prior to these new statistics regarding complaints, BuzzFeed had conducted an investigative report on the business and found staggering numbers of complaints against the company , Fabletics. The news site “unearthed 1,400 Better Business Bureau complaints against JustFab in just over three years.”
However, Goldenberg remains focused on growing his business and insists that the customer is his priority and educating consumers on the way the company works is something that he intends his company to take more time doing.
“We want every single one of our customers to understand how the program works.”
[Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images]