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Dive Brief:
- Abercrombie & Fitch announced its entrance into the wedding category on Thursday according to a company press release. “The A&F Wedding Shop,” consists of over 100 items aimed at brides, bachelorettes and wedding guests.
- Products in the collection range from $80 to $150. Alongside bridal and guest dresses, the assortment includes pieces for other wedding weekend celebrations like bikinis, pajamas, pantsuit separates, skirts and crochet-style cover-ups.
- The company reported earnings on Wednesday, announcing that revenue went up 21% year over year to $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter. This was led by a 35% growth in Abercrombie brands while comparable sales rose 16%.
Dive Insight:
Abercrombie’s online wedding shop allows users to sort items by occasion with buttons such as the rehearsal dinner, wedding reception, bachelorette, bridal shower, honeymoon and getting ready.
“Our customers live for the long weekend and when we asked them about their exciting upcoming getaways, we heard so many of them speak about wedding weekends, wedding-adjacent occasions, and the all-important question of what to wear, which this collection is perfectly designed to answer,” Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Chief Marketing Officer Carey Collins Krug said in a statement.
Many other brands are also taking the step to enter the bridal category or further their wedding-related offering. Last month, Lulu’s opened its first bridal retail space in Los Angeles. Held on the upper level of its Melrose location, the bridal boutique offers curated gowns, bridesmaids dresses, accessories and more. Also in February, Anthropologie’s bridal collection held a four day pop-up in collaboration with Pinterest in New York City. Anthropologie Weddings displayed three bridal trends at the pop-up curated by Pinterest Predicts and held interactive sessions, one-on-one consultations and offered stylist appointments.
Wedding and gift registry offerings have also grown in popularity from retailers. In May last year, Etsy added an online wedding registry feature to its marketplace for couples to customize their lists with handmade items. A month later, e-commerce site Minted added a wedding marketplace to its product assortment. The online hub allows shoppers to organize items handmade by artists on their wishlist, receive advice from the company’s concierge service and order customized stationery. Early this year, Crate and Barrel launched a gift registry across all of its brands as well
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Xanayra Marin-Lopez, Khareem Sudlow
