Urban Outfitters is promoting new price drops in Q4 ahead of the height of the holiday season.
A green banner at the top of a page of the retailer’s website reads: “We heard you. We were a lot. We’re lowering prices on over a hundred of your favorite styles.” The offering is centered on men’s and women’s apparel, including graphic T-shirts, pants, dresses, sweaters, sweatshirts and jackets.
More than 100 items were listed online as of Thursday. They included a $25 plain T-shirt in nearly a dozen color options; a $29 mesh cropped cami, a $39 short sleeve polo T-shirt; and a $69 strapless midi dress.
While the company did not immediately respond to Retail Dive’s Thursday request for more information, Urban Outfitters has previously acknowledged it needed to respond to perceptions about the price points of its namesake brand.
“Yes, we've done a lot of research, and we heard very clearly that customers perceive us as expensive,” Shea Jensen, president of the Urban Outfitters brand for North America, said in August according to a call transcript. “We are attacking that full force, and we've made the commitment to offer the best price value for every item we sell.”
Urban Outfitters’ target demographic is young adults aged 18 to 28. The retailer said it targets its audience by offering a unique merchandise mix and compelling store environment and through social media, third-party digital platforms and mobile apps. A large portion of merchandise is exclusive to Urban Outfitters and its stores are typically placed in street locations in metropolitan areas.
Comp sales for the Urban Outfitters banner fell 9.3% in the second quarter. In addition to its namesake brand, the company’s portfolio includes Anthropologie, Free People and Nuuly, a subscription-based clothing rental site. Still, for the enterprise overall, retail net sales rose 6.3% year over year to $1.35 billion in its latest quarter, which the company said was a record.
