lululemon goes on a sale

Canadian athleisure brand lululemon athletica has announced a flash sale for a limited period, as the brand stated “Our online sale is here. But not for long.” The brand is offering come of its “summer favourites” on sale from July 9-13, 2020.

The big question is – what does the lululemon five-day sale imply?

Historically, lululemon is one of those brands that rarely go on sale and stays away from discounting. It is likely that the brand is struggling to manage excess inventory, which led to this rare sale.

The COVID-19 related temporary store closures happened at a critical time around the launch of the spring/summer collection. This meant most of the new collections remained “largely trapped inside closed stores, and summer collections, those that could not be cancelled, were trapped on ships and inside warehouses,” as Coresight Research indicated.

In fact, owing to the COVID-19 related temporary store closures, lululemon’s revenue declined 17% during the first quarter of fiscal 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. However, the brand’s direct to consumer net revenue increased 68%, which indicates that consumers continued to purchase online on lululemon.

As the lululemon stores, around the world, are reopening, the brand is now attempting to move stock in a healthy manner, instead of engaging in deep discounting for a continuous period of time.

Further, understanding the market sentiments and a change in consumption pattern, lululemon has also invested $500 million – amidst the pandemic – to buy in-home fitness MIRROR.

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