Lululemon Athletica Inc. is popularly known as Lululemon. The headquarters of the Canadian American multinational premium athletic apparel retailer brand is in British Columbia. The most expensive athleisure brand was founded by Chip Wilson in 1998, in Vancouver. Lululemon is the proud distributor of athletic apparel, yoga pants, yoga wear, lifestyle April accessories, and various other personal care products. The company has more than 711 stores worldwide and also sells its products online.
The aesthetically pleasing designs of Lululemon’s products are very appealing and are gravitating the customers towards the brand. There are many celebrities and content creators, like Lori Harvey, Kate Middleton, and The Kar-Jenners share their hauls of heavily priced athleisure. One can easily check the prices of Lululemon’s products through their website. The high waist legging from the popular brand cost almost $98 to $128. In this article, we will get to know why Lululemon is so expensive. And despite being expensive, why do people buy its products?
Why is Lululemon So Expensive?
The motive of Chip Wilson was to provide the most comfortable and durable attire for yoga lovers. The brand started its journey as a yoga-inspired clothing store, but gradually it became an all-in-one store to fulfill all the needs of customers. Here are some of the reasons why Lululemon is so expensive:
1. The cost of production is very high
Lululemon apparel needs expensive machines and fabric-developing techniques to manufacture the product. After manufacturing the products also went through quality and product testing, in order to ensure that the clients get a high quality of product. The president of the global brand also stated that every product of Lululemon went through 13 to 15 tests before proceeding to the market. The expensive machines need experienced technicians to maintain them.
2. Constant innovations and research
The continuous innovations and research make the products of Lululemon unique. Every single day the company tries to upgrade the quality of its apparel and improve its products. An enthusiastic team is always there to design new products and research the market about client’s needs. As a result of this, the company always comes off with trendy and better-quality products. The company invests a large amount of money in improving the functionality, comfort performance, and style of products. The highly educated and skilled workers charge additional costs that lead to salary expenses.
3. Quality of fabric
Lululemon uses fabric that is breathable, and elastic, which does not fade or spill after several washes. Clothes are super comfy while stitching, exercising, and carrying out today’s activity. The company spends a lot of money experimenting with the quality of fabrics. Lululemon uses various fabrics such as lycra, nulu, versus, and nylon in manufacturing. However, the company imports a unique fabric from Taiwan, known as luon which is a combination of 14% lycra and 86% nylon. The specialty of this fabric is that it quickly wicks away moisture during workouts. The high material quality and durability of the product translate it to one of the most expensive brands.
4. Image of the brand
Luxurious brands spend high prices to maintain their image. People’s only motive for spending higher charges on a brand is their brand name, which symbolizes their economic status in society. So, brands have to spend millions of bucks to maintain their standards so that they can attract customers. Advertising demands a huge amount of money.
5. Limited discount offers
Lululemon really provides discounts on their products except Black Friday sale. No discount means customers have to pay full prices for their products. However, they provide some discounts on their less popular items.
6. Expensive marketing strategy
The brand continuously collaborates with expensive social media influencers and collaborators to promote its brand so that it gets recognition globally. Celebrities continuously praising and admiring a particular brand attract customers towards the brand, who are always there to purchase the items worn by their favorite celebrities. Hiring these influencers and celebrities ultimately costs the company high prices.
7. Different media scandals
As they say, no publicity is bad publicity; this is followed by the founder of Lululemon. Chad Wilson, the founder of Lululemon is always in controversy because of the statements he made publicly. He has made various statements regarding women’s bodies, child labor, smoking, and birth control. His statements have generated anger in people but also got a lot of media coverage which proved to be very beneficial for his brand. All these controversies attracted the attention of people and product demands also increased in the market, despite various criticisms.
8. Scarcity of product
Certain Lululemon items have a very limited production. So, there is higher competition in the market between customers who want to acquire the product even by paying a huge amount of money. This is one strategy of the company to produce a finite number of items so that the demand will get higher. The company uses this strategy to jack the prices of certain products.
Conclusion
Several factors contribute to the high pricing of Lululemon’s products. The advanced technology, continuous innovations, strong brand image and ethical production process makes the product very unique and appealing to the customers, who don’t even hesitate for a second to pay a high amount of money to buy the luxurious products of Lululemon. Some people also argue that the products of Lululemon are overpriced, but the continuous demands customers proudly describe about the quality of products.
