Testing a Hypothesis
An alternative to cheaply made T-shirts!!
The Opportunity:
Ok, so this year in particular I've developed a bit of an obsession with trendy, comfy T-shirts. I love being able to just toss on a cute and relevant tee (and I'm not talking about the basic sorority girl oversized comfort colors shirt). I'm talking like t-shirts that my dad would have worn way back when, or even just a basic, plain shirt. I love them, as do many others. My beef with the majority of these shirts is that they're either a) extremely overpriced or b) super cheaply made. I want a place which specializes in cute and affordable shirts that won't get holes in them after one trip in the wash.
The Opportunity:
The Who: T-shirt lovers
The What: Can't find reasonably priced and quality made T-shirts
The Why: Most retailers will either focus on quality and sacrifice price, or they will focus on having a cheap price point and deliver a poorly made product
Testing the Hypothesis:
Testing the Who: I believe that there are others who have this need. Those who are in my 'who' are the ones who I believe share in the need for better quality t-shirts. To be more specific, I think that those who share in my belief would probably be girls in the same age demographic as me; early 20s and below.
Testing the What: I don't think that that all t-shirts are poorly made or expensive. I have a few tees that didn't break the bank and are still intact, but it's hard to find these shirts. There are companies who are trying to fill this need already. For instance, theres a a company called TagPop, which specializes in reselling cute, quality thrift store shirts. The reason that they don't fix the issue is that, because the shirts are thrifted, they are one of a kind and the customer doesn't get to hand select the product. I have ordered two mystery t-shirts from this shop. The first one I loved and wear all the time, the second one I really didn't like. There are other stores, like Wyco Vintage, which does a similar thing as TagPop, reselling old school tees. These ones are at a particularly high price (a Nirvana shirt was priced at $900!).
Testing the Why: Other people who are around my age demographic will probably agree with my Why. Retailers or other t-shirt stores would disagree, they would say that there isn't a way to provide both cheap and quality clothing. Also, some retailer might like having high price points on their items to create a "high end" brand.
Interviews:
Number One: I spoke with one of my roommates first. She has a slightly different style than I do. Whereas I'm more into being cute and comfy, she's more of the type to just wear big comfort colors tees when heading to class and then dress trendy for a night out at Mid. I asked her if she would be interested in a t-shirt company which specialized in cheap and cute tees. She responded that she would be interested, but only if there was more variety than just a typical t-shits. She said that, for the most part, she never goes out of her way to purchase trendy tees online. She usually will just purchase the typical sorority shirts after an event and will leave the online shopping for going out clothes. She said that as far as quality goes, she would like to have an alternative to the clothes that are sold in the majority of retailers like Pacsun or Forever 21, which fall apart after one day of wear.
Number Two: The second person I talked to was my friend who goes to USC. She has one of the most aesthetic Instagrams out of all of my friends and we share in the same sort of style. I asked her if she would be interested in more affordable and cute t-shirts and she said yes. She said that she wears trendy tees often and that, if there was an online retailer who made them at a affordable price she would for sure want to check them out. Currently, she buys her shirts from a variety of different places. She like to go thrifting but it takes a lot of time and dedication to find good clothing items. If there was a place where she could just order the sort of things that she looks for in a thrift store, then it would make her life at lot easier.
Number 3: I talked to my cousin, whose fourteen. She's a very good skateboarder and has more of a punk rock skater style. I asked her about what she thought of the clothing industry and what she looks for when buying t-shirts. She said that she looks for quality first and that the majority of her shirts are just purchased from Forever 21 or are ones that she got from different events. She said that she really doesn't want to have to go out of her way to get clothes and that convince is very important to her. Her favorite shirts are the ones that used to be her dad's. Both of our fathers were in a band and were super into punk rock culture in the 90's. They kept a lot of their t-shirts (like the Violent Femmes one) and these shirts are what my cousin was referring to. She said she'd like a place to buy cool shirts online because it would be super easy and she wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in a store looking for clothes.
Number 4: I talked to one of my guy friends, just to see what the male perspective would be. he said that, speaking just for himself personally, he wasn't to concerned with being "trendy." He said he did like the idea of having a place that sold quality shirts, as even for men, many of the stylish shirts sold at big retailers are still poorly made. He said that while he probably wouldn't be a customer in particular, he could see how other people would be interested. He said that he might consider making a purchase if the shirts weren't just focused on being trendy and stylish, but were focused on being comedic as well. He said that he'd purchase a cool shirt if it comedically referenced a meme or something that was interested in.
Number 5: Finally, I spoke with another one of my guy friends who lives in Orlando. I consider him to be a pretty stylish guy. He plays guitar in a band in his free time and likes to surf, which pretty much sums up his sort of style. He likes vintage tees and is the one who introduced me to TagPop and took me to thrift stores. He said that he would love a store which sold, as he phrased it, "vintage knock off shirts." He would definitely be a customer as he feels that many real vintage shirts are so expensive. He's not a fan of Forever 21 like places because of their cheap material.
Summary:
All-in-all, I still think that the opportunity exists. I think that it would either have to cater to a fairly specific style, or have many different types of clothes/t-shirt aesthetics. I didn't even consider the convince of an online retailer as opposed to actually having to go thrifting or search for the few good shirts in a box store. The fact that people can just choose the shirt online and then order it would make shopping a lot easier. I think that the style presences of people are very broad and so some sort of retailer like this would have to cater to a specific consumer base rather than trying to make something for everyone. I think that this is because some people, like my one friend, don't really care about being stylish, and others, like my roommate, don't typically buy trendy tees. I still think the opportunity exists, I just think that the customer base might be pretty niche if the retailer focuses on just t-shirts.
Interviews:
Number One: I spoke with one of my roommates first. She has a slightly different style than I do. Whereas I'm more into being cute and comfy, she's more of the type to just wear big comfort colors tees when heading to class and then dress trendy for a night out at Mid. I asked her if she would be interested in a t-shirt company which specialized in cheap and cute tees. She responded that she would be interested, but only if there was more variety than just a typical t-shits. She said that, for the most part, she never goes out of her way to purchase trendy tees online. She usually will just purchase the typical sorority shirts after an event and will leave the online shopping for going out clothes. She said that as far as quality goes, she would like to have an alternative to the clothes that are sold in the majority of retailers like Pacsun or Forever 21, which fall apart after one day of wear.
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| super aesthetic gram bruh |
Number 3: I talked to my cousin, whose fourteen. She's a very good skateboarder and has more of a punk rock skater style. I asked her about what she thought of the clothing industry and what she looks for when buying t-shirts. She said that she looks for quality first and that the majority of her shirts are just purchased from Forever 21 or are ones that she got from different events. She said that she really doesn't want to have to go out of her way to get clothes and that convince is very important to her. Her favorite shirts are the ones that used to be her dad's. Both of our fathers were in a band and were super into punk rock culture in the 90's. They kept a lot of their t-shirts (like the Violent Femmes one) and these shirts are what my cousin was referring to. She said she'd like a place to buy cool shirts online because it would be super easy and she wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in a store looking for clothes.Number 4: I talked to one of my guy friends, just to see what the male perspective would be. he said that, speaking just for himself personally, he wasn't to concerned with being "trendy." He said he did like the idea of having a place that sold quality shirts, as even for men, many of the stylish shirts sold at big retailers are still poorly made. He said that while he probably wouldn't be a customer in particular, he could see how other people would be interested. He said that he might consider making a purchase if the shirts weren't just focused on being trendy and stylish, but were focused on being comedic as well. He said that he'd purchase a cool shirt if it comedically referenced a meme or something that was interested in.
Number 5: Finally, I spoke with another one of my guy friends who lives in Orlando. I consider him to be a pretty stylish guy. He plays guitar in a band in his free time and likes to surf, which pretty much sums up his sort of style. He likes vintage tees and is the one who introduced me to TagPop and took me to thrift stores. He said that he would love a store which sold, as he phrased it, "vintage knock off shirts." He would definitely be a customer as he feels that many real vintage shirts are so expensive. He's not a fan of Forever 21 like places because of their cheap material.
Summary:
All-in-all, I still think that the opportunity exists. I think that it would either have to cater to a fairly specific style, or have many different types of clothes/t-shirt aesthetics. I didn't even consider the convince of an online retailer as opposed to actually having to go thrifting or search for the few good shirts in a box store. The fact that people can just choose the shirt online and then order it would make shopping a lot easier. I think that the style presences of people are very broad and so some sort of retailer like this would have to cater to a specific consumer base rather than trying to make something for everyone. I think that this is because some people, like my one friend, don't really care about being stylish, and others, like my roommate, don't typically buy trendy tees. I still think the opportunity exists, I just think that the customer base might be pretty niche if the retailer focuses on just t-shirts.
I like the idea of making comfortable clothing, and making it easy to shop for. I know when I go shopping I go to the mall for hours and maybe only find a couple shirts that are comfortable and that I would actually wear. I think that you are missing out on the male part of the market cause we like comfy t-shirts also lol.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. Growing up I remember losing countless shirts disappearing from my sister, her friends and my own friends. I never did realize how expensive those shirts were for girls when you go to the all but you look at the prices and they are upwards of $35 for a t-shirt! I about s**t myself! Awesome idea, and explains why I only have about 50% of my shirts I used to have.
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