FITA NEWS
By
Nicole Yazolino
Jul 14, 2021
3 min read
Here at Fit Analytics, we love seeing the innovative ways our partners help the apparel retail industry evolve. We recently sat down with Australian sport retailer rebel to talk about their exciting approach to women in sport.
In the sport clothing sphere, women make up a huge segment of shoppers, yet they are often under-represented in retailer branding. Fit Analytics’ partner rebel is working to change this by using a special approach to e-commerce, thereby creating a supportive, educational space for female shoppers.
Interview
Fit Analytics: You’ve made some updates to your women’s section of your site. Tell us about them.
rebel: We launched a new initiative in February of this year as part of a bigger project focusing on the shift towards women in sport retail. The space is a women’s concept store housed within our primary website. We felt it was important to offer the best clothing options, and really use our platform to tell the story of women from professional athletes to those who are just starting on their fitness journey. By elevating their needs, preferences, and stories, we hope to empower women from all walks of life to embrace the transformative power of sport.
FitA: How does this look from an e-commerce perspective?
rebel: Our objective was to make the women’s category more shoppable. Not only did we want this dedicated space to tell her story, but ultimately build an online sport home where shoppers can discover new sport apparel. We foster discovery by featuring various product launches, campaigns, and options to shop-by-category, sport and brand. We also offer educational materials and blogs about fitness and training.
We made various UX advancements including better visual representation of products through on-body images and video content, optimized navigation in line with customer behavior and needs, improved filters for shopping, and the launch of Fit Finder for size advice.
FitA: How does the branding work in the new space?
rebel: rebel has always been quite a masculine brand. However, women make up a majority of our customers, shopping for both themselves and their families. We wanted these shoppers to feel at home when they visit rebel, whether they shop in-store or online.
‘Sport is calling’ is our platform – and this applies to people of all fitness levels. Our platform is inclusive, supportive, and diverse with a focus on overall fitness. ‘Sport is calling’ doesn’t mean you have to make sport your life – even 10 minutes a day of movement is helpful. Health is extremely important to us – more than getting people to buy products. We created our women’s approach because we wanted our brand to make more space for women in sport while encouraging all shoppers to get fit. This space expands on our mission by adding elements like storytelling and curated content to round-out our product offering and to provide inspiration.
FitA: Are there other ways rebel has advocated for women in sport?
rebel: Absolutely. Supporting women’s participation has been a big consideration for us from a brand standpoint. We have always championed women through initiatives such as partnerships with sport organizations to openly display the diversity of female athletes.
Over the years, we’ve supported women in sport by partnering with sporting codes such as the AFLW, NRLW, W-League who all champion female athletes. Women need more visibility in the sport industry and the more the general public gets accustomed to female athletes and how important their global voice is, the closer we will get to equality in sport. We are using the resources we have available to add power behind the important voices advocating for women in sport.
FitA: What other initiatives is rebel working on?
rebel: We have a number of initiatives to address different pillars of our business strategy. As previously mentioned, one is our women’s space on our website. We are committed to continued focus on women and creating a destination for her sporting needs. We do have other projects in many different areas aimed at optimizing our business and generally making the shopping experience better for our community.
We integrated Fit Finder earlier this year and it’s been very well received amongst our customer base – particularly on our women’s space. Adding Fit Finder to the online experience enables us to ensure our customers are happy with the fit and style of their clothes. This is important to help them achieve their fitness goals.
Another initiative was the creation of our concept stores which we launched in November 2020. These new stores make shopping more interactive. We wanted to go beyond your traditional bricks and mortar store – the RCX stores boast dedicated sport hubs where customers can shoot hoops, play FIFA, and even test out soccer boots.
About rebel
rebel is nationally recognized in Australia as the destination for all sport clothing and equipment. Part of the Super Retail Group, with over 150 stores and an ever-growing online destination for all sporting needs, rebel offers its customers a one-stop-shop with the widest range of product categories serving everyone from the casual fitness enthusiast to the pro athlete. rebel has a genuine passion for a healthy lifestyle and recently launched their platform ‘Sport is Calling,’ which speaks to the transformative power of sport.
Images credit John Arano, Jonathan Borba, Jonathan Tomas
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