Despite a recession and inflation, Dia & Co. reports that plus size customers are spending in the ... [+]
Despite inflation and the recession, Dia & Co. says the plus size customer is spending more in the luxury category. Dia & Co. houses over 200 brands, making it the largest dedicated plus size fashion retailer. Luxury purchases now make up 25% of the site’s total sales.
Nadia Boujarwah is the CEO and Co-Founder of Dia & Co., and says that the company has a strong vantage point from which to speak on the plus size fashion market and the plus size customer. She says that it’s easy to read recent news coverage that tells the negative version of the story about plus size consumers, but she says the data suggests that there’s a way better version of that story.
The company is seeing 70% average order value (AOV) growth since its acquisition of luxury plus size brand, 11 Honoré, last summer. “I think if you talk to any company, the idea of being able to move your average order value that much is really not what you would expect in this moment,” says Boujarwah.
She encourages brands and customers to think of plus size fashion - especially in the midst of an economic downturn - as being in its own lane.
“In some ways, our category has always been on its own cycle and path,” says Boujarwah. “Obviously nobody is immune to higher gas prices, but the recession just isn’t being correctly contextualized for the plus-size market. You really have to think about the context of the plus consumer very differently than one does the mainstream straight sized consumer.” Unlike plus size fashion, the straight size category has historically had the full breadth of industry options. This difference matters when it comes to benchmarking wins and losses.
When I asked Boujarwah what the appropriate metric of success is for the plus size category, she replied with one word: choices.
“We have made so much progress in this category, and I think it just comes back to options. I don't think it can be understated how important it is to have options. Five years ago, if you asked most plus size consumers, they would tell you they shop at the same three places where 100 million women shop. To get from there to where we are today is huge.” Boujarwah says that the newly available options in the luxury category are a big part the overall plus size spending dynamic.
Boujarwah says unequivocally that given full access to the marketplace - including the luxury category - the plus size customer is a strong one. “When given more options, the plus size customer is spending more in a very dramatic way, and she's trading to higher price point products.”
