Dive Brief:
- Gap Inc.’s improvements to online and digital CX contributed to the Gap, Old Navy, Athleta and Banana Republic brands’ net sales growth, executives said on a Q3 2024 earnings call last week.
- Athleta updated the product imagery on its site and remodeled 15% of its stores, Old Navy is improving communication to offer more clarity around its pricing, and Gap is refining its store service and aesthetics, according to CEO Richard Dickson.
- Dickson applauded the retailers’ strides on product and marketing, and said that Gap Inc. will shift its focus to improving experiences in the coming quarters as part of its brand reinvigoration strategy.
Dive Insight:
Gap Inc.’s customer experience improvements are just getting started.
The company is experimenting with merchandising at Old Navy stores, testing a new aesthetic at Banana Republic stores and completed a refresh of its Gap store in New York City’s Flatiron District last week.
The brand launched a brand reinvigoration playbook in 2023 that emphasizes giving each of its brands a unique identity and purpose, including through better in-store presentation and engaging cross-channel experiences. Ongoing store remodels are a major part of its current and ongoing CX plan.
“[We’re] learning as we go, testing and measuring the success of both things that are working and not working, so that we could accelerate the progress and create really exciting consumer experiences that excite and delight our customers moving forward,” Dickson said.
The revamped in-store experience has paid off for Athleta in particular. The brand returned to same-store sales growth in its latest quarter, up 5% year-over-year, according to an earnings report released last week.
Athleta’s growth was “really built around the efforts the team has been working around product, marketing, in-store experience,” Dickson said. “All of this really came together in the quarter and it showed up in the results.”
The brand reinvigoration effort under Dickson started in 2023, when executives committed to drawing upon the individual identities of Gap’s brands to create unique experiences. Storytelling was one of the strategy’s early priorities.
