On National Teacher Day, meet the 2024-25 Kenan Fellows
Team a plush day 5
1. Plush
Team - A
Plush.com will be a personal,
on-line shopping destination for
the professional plus size Customers, Suppliers
women & Industry Experts:
Yesterday: 21
Total: 61
Helen Autumn Shashi Jennifer Sandro
Bibilouri Cherrington Srikantan Tuft Pireno
2. Plush
Plus-sized women’s clothing is a $7.5bn
industry; market expected to grow 5.2%
annually, reaching $9.7 billion of revenue
by 2017
At the consumer level:
•women between the ages of 25 and 54 represent 69.5% of the market for plus
sized women’s clothing
•women between the ages of 35 and 54 representing 51% of the industry.
Analysts estimate that customers who bought plus-size clothes in 2010
were:
•12 million women (ages 18 to 34)
•20 million women (ages 35 to 54)
•21 million women (aged 55 and older)
4. Who is she?
Plush
She is a professional woman who is successful in life, but
frustrated with finding well-fitting, good quality, clothing in
her size (12+). She is over 30 years old and lives in the US.
How does she buy?
She has a household income of above $85,000 and spends
above $3,000 a year on clothing.
What matters most to her?
Fit, quality, and flattery of the clothing is important. She
wants to feel confident and put together. It is important to
her that she have a successful shopping experience the first
time around. She is willing to pay more, and potentially
spend more time on the front end to ensure that what she
purchases is exactly what she wants. Shopping is a personal
experience and she know her body best.
Who influences her?
She wants advice on how to look her best given her body
type, but doesn’t necessarily follow fashion or celebrity
trends. She will read blogs occasionally to keep up with
new brands and latest developments in the plus size
5. Plush
A day in the life…
She wakes up in the morning, works a full day,
hits the gym, and then heads out to dinner with
friends. It is important to her to wear an outfit,
which will transition seamlessly from day to night
and of course, will include a comfortable and cute
pair of shoes. She knows what items in her closet
she wants to wear, but is unsure of how to put
together a polished, professional, and flattering
ensemble. She would love to have an online
shopping destination tailored to her tastes, body,
and multi-faceted, high-paced lifestyle.
Ultimately, she wants to know that the clothes she
orders will fit and flatter her.
6. Plush
Day 1
What we thought
• Our value proposition is an online, pleasant shopping experience for
hard to shop plus sizes with superior customer service.
• Our demographic is affluent, plus sized woman, aged 35-54 years.
• Our customers not be open to sharing the site or their purchases with
others.
• Our customers want fashion-forward, trendier options, along with
timeless classics, which are very high end.
• Our customers enjoy and appreciate the convenience of shopping
online.
• Procurement of inventory will be our biggest challenge as we will need
to purchase inventory outright in order to compete.
8. Plush
Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
What we learned What we learned What we learned
• Have three customer • Customers want accurate • It is possible to “borrow”
segments. details on clothing. pieces from manufacturers to
test sales.
• May be able to leverage new • Price isn’t a primary driver
customers to procure of decisions. • Influential tastemakers are
inventory. likely to be the best
• Woman are willing to share earlyvangelists for Plush.
• Customers interested in purchases with personal
premium services like network who share their • Starting with MVP allows a
personal stylists. needs. significant reduction in cost
structure.
• Some key partners such as • Customers prefer:
distributors can be • Contemporary basics • Affiliate marketing could be
eliminated at this stage. and quality over a source of revenue.
trendy.
• Physical stores to • Emphasis should be on
online, but could be proper fit, high quality
converted if they found brands, and contemporary
a site they trusted. basics and education.
12. Plush
Day 5
Where we ended up
• Customers want a tailored experience, and are willing to pay a premium for
this. Our value proposition now includes:
• An online, customized shopping experience
• Superior customer service
• Acquisition will require a combination of web advertising, Google AdWords,
social media, and targeted influencer marketing.
• Retention will involve providing a tailored experience, personalized interaction,
loyalty programs, and superior customer service.
• We will launch our venture in three stages:
1. MVP – Wardrobe capsules complemented by a concierge service.
2. Wholesale – Use increasing traffic data to entice manufacturers.
3. Flash Sales – Add a flash sale component to compliment offerings.
13. Plush DAY - 5 Team - A
• An online, customized • Targeted influencer
•Procurement • Professional and
shopping destination for marketing(feet on the st.)
•Early Evangelist: •Supply Chain fashionable plus-sized
•Website Production
professional & • Adwords American Women
- Influential fashionable plus sized • Social Media
- Brand Appropriate •Customized Advice • Less price sensitive
women • Retention: • High quality clothes
- Active Driver •Marketing • Superior Customer • Customer Service
•Fulfillment • Contemporary basics
•Advertising Service • Service Innovation • Prefer tailored
•Shipping • Personal Stylist (know • Targeted loyalty
•Website experience
your customer in detail) communications
•End User (Customers) • Mature Brands
Pain Points: • Leveraging data and new
• Frustrating shopping customer assets • Department Stores
•Manufacturers
•Retail Stores experience
•Designer Brands • Ill fitting, poor quality
clothing
•Warehouse • Too many returns
•Web Service Provider •Content (inv, images) • Web Sales
•Start-up funding • Acquisition of customer
•Founding Team segment
•Fulfillment • Elimination of excess
•Customer Service inventory
•Advertising/Marketing • Market and data
•Vendor Agreements research
•Developer •Marketing Platform •Look Book • Product Sales
•Procurement • E-Commerce •Website Content •Returns • Premium Services
•Advertising •Shipping •Customer Service
•CRM •Warehouse •Full site Production
•Inventory •Office Space
End Users Suppliers Full Product Launch
14. Plush Competitive Analysis
Plus Size Educational
Specialty Personal Shopper Web Sales Content
Plush Yes Yes, National Yes Yes
In-Person; only in
The Curvy Fashionista Yes Bay Area No Yes
The Plus Size Fashion Diva Yes No No Yes
Yes, but a 4 week
Outblush Yes waitlist Indirect Yes
UniquelyMe Yes No Indirect No
Yes, but only in South Yes, but only
Myles Ahead Yes Florida own brand No
Total Imaging Consulting No Yes No Yes
Yes, but only a
handful for blog
Momma's Rolling Stone No editorial No Yes
P.S. It's Fashion Yes Yes, but only in NJ No No
Style for Hire No Yes No No
MadisonPlus Yes No Indirect Yes
Note: Competitive Analysis includes 200+ sites
15. Plush
Marketing Plan will include test & learn campaigns
within the following channels:
Adwords
Educational content within site
Collateral for influencers
Industry events
PR in selected publications and blogs
Social media and communities (i.e. Pinterest)
Hyper-contextual targeting of niche groups (i.e. Linked In)
Facebook & LinkedIn sites
16. Plush Operations Overview Early Evangelist
E C
n u
I t Manufacturing Key Words d s
n o Plush
t
v r Blogs
Retail Store Inventory Customers U o
e y Cross-Platform s m
Promotion
n Designer Brand e e
Digital
Advertising r r
Shipping &
Fulfillment
