Lessons in Fashion Loyalty with Represent Clothing

The fashion industry faces significant challenges when it comes to customer retention. With trends constantly shifting, competition fierce, and customer expectations evolving, brands need to go the extra mile to keep shoppers loyal. While discounts and sales can boost short-term results, they don’t necessarily translate to long-lasting relationships. Today, loyalty means creating unique experiences, connecting with communities, and building a brand that shoppers feel proud to support.

Represent Clothing, a premium streetwear brand, has mastered this art by building a robust loyalty program that goes beyond conventional rewards. We recently caught up with Ricky Jennings, Head of Ecommerce at Represent Clothing to find out more about how they evolved their loyalty strategy with LoyaltyLion, and what other fashion brands who want to emulate this can learn from their journey.

The Represent story: From graphic tees to global Success

Represent Clothing was born in 2011, when brothers George and Mike Heaton began designing graphic T-shirts as a creative side project. Initially catering to friends and family, the brand soon found its footing in the fashion world, with bold designs and high-quality fabrics becoming a signature of its offerings. The timing was right; just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Represent saw a surge in demand, growing rapidly and earning a loyal following.

What started as a local project quickly became an international brand known for its distinctive style and limited-edition drops. The brand’s growth hasn’t slowed down, with new collections, retail stores, and even category expansions planned for the near future. At the heart of their strategy lies a commitment to fostering customer loyalty in a way that aligns with their brand ethos.

Why Represent chose to relaunch with LoyaltyLion

Represent’s initial foray into loyalty programs began in 2017, well ahead of many competitors in the fashion space. As early adopters, they quickly learned the value of customer retention but faced some challenges:

• Limited Flexibility: Their first loyalty platform lacked the agility needed to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the fashion industry, limiting the potential for creative rewards and customer engagement.
• Subpar Shopify Integration: With most of their business running through Shopify, having a loyalty program that didn’t integrate seamlessly with the platform posed operational challenges.
• The Need for Speed: As the brand prepared for a significant product launch, they needed a loyalty solution that could be deployed rapidly, without disrupting customer experiences.

Partnering with LoyaltyLion in 2021 provided a fresh start. The transition to the new platform was effortless, going live within a week. The revamped program offered flexible customization, better Shopify integration, and powerful tools to connect with customers in new ways.

What makes the Represent loyalty program stand out?

Unlike many loyalty programs that focus solely on points and discounts, Represent’s approach goes beyond transactional rewards. Here’s what sets their program apart:

1. Weekly drops and early access

• Scarcity has become a core component of Represent’s loyalty strategy. Every week, the brand releases limited-edition products, creating a sense of urgency among customers. Prestige members – those in the upper tiers of the loyalty program – gain early access to these coveted drops, giving them an exclusive window to purchase before the items are made available to the general public.
• This approach turns the loyalty program into more than just a points-earning exercise. It creates an experience that taps into the thrill of exclusivity, making customers feel like insiders. The sense of urgency not only drives sales but also strengthens the emotional connection between the brand and its most loyal customers.

2. Community-driven engagement

• Community is at the heart of Represent’s loyalty philosophy. The brand has cultivated an unofficial Facebook group where Prestige members engage in discussions about upcoming drops, share styling tips, and even buy and sell pre-owned Represent items. The organic interaction in this community has become an invaluable asset, creating a sense of belonging and encouraging members to act as brand ambassadors.
• The launch of the upcoming resale platform, Represent Archive, will formalize these community activities. By hosting a resale marketplace directly on their website, Represent will provide customers with a trusted platform to buy and sell pre-owned items while earning loyalty points for their purchases. This initiative not only supports sustainability but also keeps customers engaged within the brand’s ecosystem, even when buying second-hand.

3. Digital loyalty cards and queue jumping

• Represent took their loyalty program a step further with the introduction of digital loyalty cards, developed in collaboration with Novel. These cards offer a seamless way to bridge the online and offline shopping experiences. At physical events, like sample sales, customers with loyalty cards can access perks such as queue jumps, allowing them to skip long lines – a benefit that has proven to be incredibly popular.
• The ability to connect online rewards with in-store experiences adds another layer of luxury and personalization, setting the brand apart from competitors who don’t offer similar integrations.

How customers engage with the program

Represent’s loyalty program is designed to cater to different levels of customer engagement through a tiered rewards system:

• Five tiers of rewards: Starting from Bronze and progressing through Silver, Gold, Platinum, and VIP, each tier offers increasingly valuable perks. For example, customers who accumulate 10,000 points – equivalent to spending £10,000 – receive a 20% discount on full-priced items. This generous reward encourages customers to aim for higher tiers, driving frequent purchases.
• Focus on lifetime value: Represent’s willingness to sacrifice margin for top-tier loyalty members pays off. With a lifetime value that’s four times higher for loyalty members compared to non-members, the investment in exclusive rewards proves to be worth it.
• Omnichannel engagement: Represent is pushing towards a fully omnichannel loyalty experience. With new stores in Los Angeles and Manchester, the brand uses NFC tags at checkout to prompt loyalty program sign-ups. This innovation not only simplifies sign-up processes but also provides opportunities for acquiring new customers who may not have shopped online before.

The future of the prestige program: What’s next?

Represent Clothing has exciting plans for the future of their loyalty program:

• Enhanced experiential benefits: They are actively working to integrate loyalty more deeply into their retail experiences, with plans for a major redesign in 2025. This includes building out experiential rewards and offering unique benefits to top-tier members.
• Integrating loyalty with the represent archive: Represent is about to launch an official resale platform called Archive. This initiative ties into their loyalty program, allowing customers to earn points even when purchasing pre-owned items directly from other community members. It’s an innovative way to extend the loyalty experience and keep customers engaged, even in the resale market.
• Physical store integration: With new stores opening in LA and Manchester, loyalty program integration continues to expand. Instore signups and new Shopify accounts are encouraged through easy-to-use technology, such as tap-to-sign up NFC tags, ensuring that the loyalty program remains front and center.

Results and Successes

Represent’s loyalty program is not only popular among customers but also drives significant business results:

• Increased Lifetime Value (LTV): Loyalty members exhibit an LTV that is four times higher than non-members, demonstrating the power of a well-crafted loyalty strategy.
• Higher order frequency: Prestige customers shop more frequently, leading to consistent revenue growth. This shows the effectiveness of tiered rewards in encouraging repeat purchases.
• Growth through community: The sense of community, fostered through the loyalty program and online groups, has led to organic word-of-mouth marketing and a strong customer base that extends beyond geographical boundaries.

Advice for fashion brands: Think beyond points and discounts

Ricky had some great advice for other fashion brands looking to implement or revamp their loyalty programs:

• Go beyond points and discounts: While these are essential components of any loyalty program, they should not be the sole focus. Invest in community-driven initiatives, such as Facebook groups or brand events, to foster genuine connections.
• Make loyalty part of the brand experience: Loyalty should feel like a natural extension of your brand’s ethos. Represent’s program works because it integrates seamlessly into their limited-edition drops, resale platform, and physical stores.
• Incentivize offline engagement: Don’t limit loyalty rewards to online activities. Use digital loyalty cards or NFC technology in-store to make the program accessible everywhere. This approach not only bridges the online-offline gap but also helps capture valuable in-store data.
• Build a closed-loop system: Consider creating initiatives like Represent Archive, where even pre-owned sales contribute to loyalty rewards. This keeps customers engaged with the brand, even when they aren’t purchasing new products.

Conclusion

Represent Clothing’s loyalty journey showcases the power of a well-executed program that goes beyond traditional rewards. By focusing on community, offering exclusive experiences, and embracing omnichannel strategies, they’ve created a loyalty program that drives growth and deepens customer connections.

For fashion brands looking to unlock similar success, it’s time to think beyond points and discounts and start building a loyalty experience that truly resonates.

To find out more about how LoyaltyLion can help you build a loyalty program as successful as Represent’s for your fashion brand, get in touch today.