Intro
It’s hard to forget how dominant Lululemon was for much of the 2010s. From high school girls to pilates moms, Lulemon’s signature logo was a quintessential status symbol. However, in recent years new players Alo Yoga and Outdoor Voices have emerged to challenge Lululemon’s supremacy. Can the pioneer of athleisure maintain its throne, or will these newcomers reshape the athletic wear landscape?
Purpose of Analysis
I used our program (Cotera) to figure this out and ran a sentiment analysis of thousands of reviews across all three brands. I decided to focus on product-specific attributes and excluded irrelevant factors such as shipping speed and customer service. Here’s the 6 performance indicators I used to evaluate the brands:
Fit and Sizing: How well clothing fits, consistency of sizing across styles, size range offered.
Material Quality: Texture, thickness, breathability, wickability and durability of fabric.
Style and Design: Aesthetics, trendiness and versatility of pieces.
Color Options: Range and appeal of colors offered.
Comfort: How pieces feel while wearing them (stretch, support, itchiness etc.).
Durability: How products hold up through repeated wear and washing. Resistance to stains, pilling, fading and seam integrity.
The Analysis
Brand By Brand Analysis
Alo Yoga: Overall leader
Dominates in 4/6 categories
Comes in second place in all other categories
Minor weaknesses in color options and durability
Lululemon: Mixed performance
Leads in fit and comfort
Major issues with material quality and durability
Strong brand name but showing weakness
Outdoor Voices: Competitive in a few specific areas
Strong color options and durability
Significant room for improvement in fit and comfort
Overall weakest choice amongst the three
Deep Dive: Lululemon’s Durability Issues
Surprisingly, Lululemon really struggles when it comes to material quality and durability - a concerning shift for a brand that once set the industry standard. I used Cotera to dig a little deeper and found these reviews that provide a pretty good explanation for why this is:
Review #1:
“These pants are the perfect fit, and they are so comfy and flattering. But they are constantly
stained. [...] I would buy more pairs. But they’re way too much work.”
Review #2:
“There must be an inherent flaw with this fabric that limits its ability to release marks/stains”
It seems that while the functionality of Lululemon’s leggings are solid, the fabric could be improved significantly especially in regards to stain resistance.
Price Value Analysis
The price of each legging also gives us a little more context about each brand . I used leggings prices (arguably the most notable athleisure product) as a proxy for overall prices. Here’s how they measure up:
Alo Yoga: ~$130 / pair of leggings
Lululemon: ~$100 / pair of leggings
Outdoor Voices: ~$100 / pair of leggings
This suggests Alo Yoga's superior performance comes at a cost (aka a 30% premium), while Lululemon and Outdoor Voices maintain relatively more accessible price points in exchange for quality.
Meaningfulness of Results
Alo Yoga: On the right trajectory. Their premium product justifies its high price.
Lululemon: Paramount that durability issues are addressed to maintain market dominance.
Outdoor Voices: Some potential to capture market share, leveraging its current dominance in product variety.
While Alo Yoga is consistently strong across all metrics, each brand has its distinct advantages in the market. Lululemon's durability issues present a significant vulnerability in their market position, while their strength in comfort and fit suggests potential for recovery with improvements targeted at material quality. Outdoor Voices is the weakest of the three, but shows potential to eventually become a significant competitor.