Q1 2018 Update
Thank you to everyone who completed our survey in January. We’re grateful to have thoughtful customers helping us make the best merino product available. Two immediate priorities came out of the survey results: fit consistency and better care instructions.
Here’s how we’re thinking about fit:
We have two main product categories, woven tops and knit tops. The button-downs, work shirts, and dress shirts are woven. The tees, henleys, and polos are knit. Each product category has a different template for specs (sleeve length, chest width, etc) and grading (the difference in spec between sizes).
Wovens Fit: We updated our woven fit in 2016 with regular and slim options and in 2017, we added tall fit. The fit consistency within the woven category is good. (i.e. you can find your desired fit and expect the same fit next time you purchase within the woven category.)
Knits Fit: Consistency within the knit category has room for improvement. (Knits are more challenging due to the material’s stretchiness.) Here are a couple issues we’re tackling:
Styles that don’t fit like the other knits:
You’ll see on a few product pages that we’ve included a note about the fit. For example, the heavy crew fits long and slim.
Inconsistent fit within style:
Our pacific blue and sea green crew necks ran an inch short compared to our other tees. We noted this fit difference on their respective product pages.
The fit goal: Consistency within category and style. (You may find that you like size large in knits and size medium in wovens. We’re okay with that, as long as it’s consistent.)
What we’re doing:
Improved quality control practices
If a garment is off spec, our manufacturing partners share in the “loss”
Clear communication with customers: If there’s inconsistent fit within a style, we’ll move the off-spec items to our retiring section so it’s clear that the fit isn’t something to expect in the future.
Here’s how we’re thinking about care instructions:
Some of you expressed disappointment that your shirt didn’t maintain the original look, feel, or size after washing or dry cleaning. To help you guys get the most out of your wool, we’re building out a comprehensive care page with tips and best practices.
This brings up another question. How many wears do you expect to get out of a button-down? 100? 300? 1000?
Curious if you guys have any tips or tricks to get more life out of your shirts (Wool&Prince or not)?
Other survey-related thoughts:
Thank you to all the survey participants for bringing fit consistency and care instructions to the top of our priority list. To get better, we ask for constructive feedback. However, a couple of our customers couldn’t hold back the praise, and we’d like to share some of their comments:
“Great product. I've probably paid for almost three shirts in what I've saved by not taking cotton shirts to the cleaners every week. I actually did the math and averaged over $300 in cleaning bills each year for the last few years. Washed the shirts on delicate and touched up with iron when needed and they look great.” -Brian E.
“I cannot think of a single fault with any of the products I own. I also can't say that about any other similar brands.” -J.B.
"Keep doing what you’re doing! I’m up to five button down shirts and love them all.I recommend them to a lot of people and wish there were more options so we didn’t end up with the same shirt!" -Brandon H.
Growth
2018 Q1 Sales vs 2017 Q4 Sales: Up 4%
New product:
In the last quarterly update, I asked if you wanted the pocket tee OR the ss henley. Good news: We made both as well as restocking the v-neck. See color assortment below. You can expect these to be available in mid-May.
New button-down colors:
Available in August (black/charcoal herringbone, navy and gray gingham, and navy and red check)
New Made in USA Work Shirt Patterns
Customer Experiments:
Stephen wanted a heavy weight t-shirt so we made a deal with him: We'd provide a free heavy crew if he followed up with before-and-after photos. Looking good, Stephen! You guys have any other ideas?
International Fulfillment:
Okay, we’re getting serious about shipping to Europe. We’re exploring fulfillment warehouses / 3PLs in Europe. We’ll ship product from our factories directly to the warehouse and ship duty paid to our EU customers. Our goal is to go live by December 2018. Know any warehouses in the EU?
“Defective” Product Renewed:
Here’s a dirty secret of the apparel industry: returned items with hair, odor, cologne scent, and dust are set aside as “defective” and written off as part of doing business. The truth is that the majority of these “defective” items are still wearable and just need to be sorted, washed, and resold, but this seemingly simple process can be quite complex for an organization at scale. So companies choose to ignore, destroy, or send “defective” garments to fabric recyclers.
Some companies donate clothing which can be beneficial, but companies afraid of diluting their brand image in developed markets will donate “defective” merchandise to poor countries, which can swamp a country with excess apparel and wipe out local apparel manufacturing. A few countries have even proposed banning secondhand clothing imports.
So we’re trying an experiment here. Meg (pictured below) sorted our “defective” merchandise from the last couple months and set up some bundles for you guys to check out. We priced them at 50% off. All the merchandise is in good condition (5 of 6 bundles have sold 4/18/18):
https://woolandprince.com/collections/renewed
We’re also talking with Oregon based, Renewal Workshop about scaling this concept up at their commercial renewal operation.
New Faces:
We’re onboarding new remote customer experience agents, Drake, Matt, and Meg.
We found our brand director. Welcome Chris.
Other Highlights
Renewal Workshop visit. Pictured in front of their Tersus Solutions CO2 cleaner. (Hi Michelle!)
Team hangouts
Vendor Meetings
Hot yoga fabric testing (please excuse the creepy photo...)
The Astoria Column
#vanlife goals
Bete-Lukas Ethiopian (5 star meal for a good price in Portland)
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