Urban Outfitters is a fashionable brand in retailing, but it wasn't until recently that I was introduced to Anthropologie. If you haven't heard, seen, or visited an Anthropologie store, you are missing an experience, I kid you not.
After visiting the store, I dug up some statistics that surprised me. Here's one that had a significant impact on me: the average Anthropologie customer spends 80 minutes in the store per trip. Eighty -- that's one and a third hours on just one visit. Can you guess how much time the typical shopper spends with other retailers? Fifteen minutes. That's an amazing number that should convey loads about the feel of the stores.
Anthropologie was formed to capitalize on patrons of the Urban Outfitters store who outgrew UA's fashions. As such, the target market for Anthropologie clothing is a 30 to 40'ish professional woman with high disposable income. Not a bad market to target!
Ask ten women how they feel about Anthropologie and you'll probably get . . . one opinion! Almost unanimously, people love the store, but aren't crazy about the prices. Granted, they are high, but for good reason. Anthropologie is extremely selective and exclusive with their fashion lines, and just about all of the clothing you find in a retail location is a limited edition run. Heck, they even have some one-of-a-kind items!
These items tend to sell out very quickly, leaving oddball items scattered about, but that leads to an opportunity for buyers: namely, sales racks. There are quite a few sale items if you don't mind hunting, which I'm sure is responsible in part for the average length of stay.
What I like most about Anthropologie clothes is the distinctive styling. Their clothes include a lot of floral prints, laces, and delicate details, but look elegant and sexy at the same time. The impression that I get is that it's a clothing line for confident women who aren't compelled to reveal half of their bodies to look sexy. Touchdown, I think.
If you're really looking for a bargain, you can find discount Anthropologie clothing online – not through the Anthropologie store, but through other outlets. I can't imagine that this stuff is wholesale, and with the high turnover in clothing, I would doubt it's made up of last season's items either, but the price is right!
Bottom line: if you haven't yet stepped foot in an Anthropologie store, determine if there's one near you. It really is a great shopping experience. But beware of the prices!
Smruti Evans runs the discount Gucci bags web store and maintains several popular weblogs, including the Discount Designer Clothing blog.
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