{"id":1799,"date":"2015-12-06T14:01:44","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T19:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/blank-label-designed-in-the-usa-experience-at-made-in-china-prices\/"},"modified":"2015-12-06T14:02:33","modified_gmt":"2015-12-06T19:02:33","slug":"blank-label-designed-in-the-usa-experience-at-made-in-china-prices","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/blank-label-designed-in-the-usa-experience-at-made-in-china-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Blank Label: designed in the USA experience at made in China prices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cIt was like, holy crap, our customers aren\u2019t 22-year-olds who are rebellious and against The Man. Our customers <\/em>are The Man\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Fan Bi, Co-Founder<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Born in London, raised in Babson, built in Boston<\/strong><\/p>\n

With its origins as a rebellious project by two college dropouts to design custom clothes for urban hipsters, Blank Label soon evolved to one of the most successful and fastest growing menswear stores in the US.<\/p>\n

Blank Label is a Boston-based custom menswear boutique that promises high quality, custom-made products with a fit guarantee delivered directly to its customers.\u00a0 Inspired by a trip to Turnbull & Asser during a summer banking internship in London, Fan Li along with his co-founder Danny Wong started Blank Label in 2009 as an online custom shirt business \u2013 their goal:\u00a0 to deliver quality and customisation at accessible prices.<\/p>\n

Within a year, the site was turning over six figures of revenue and was nearing profitability.\u00a0 At this point they discovered they weren\u2019t reaching the original target market of young, rebellious hipsters.\u00a0 Instead, they had developed a core base of 35-45 year old white collar men who appreciated high quality and bespoke fit.<\/p>\n

Through 2011 Blank Label focused on this customer, remaining a purely online e-commerce platform with a direct-to-consumer shipping model.\u00a0 They were turning over $1.1m in sales across a 20,000 strong customer base and with no external funding.<\/p>\n

Despite tremendous growth, Li and Wong felt Blank Label\u2019s potential was inhibited by its operating model.\u00a0 Currently, they could only reach customers who were willing to interact solely online with a relatively unknown brand.\u00a0 They knew was a very small piece of a much bigger pie \u2013 as Li explained:<\/p>\n

Guys really understood the value proposition right away. They totally got it. “My shirts never fit. I have to run right now, but where’s your store?” We said no store yet, you can buy online. Their expression changed from excitement to confusion.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their next move was to evolve into a hybrid offline and online business, opening their first pattern room in Boston in 2013.\u00a0 This had the dual intention of overcoming the first-time-customer barrier of doing everything online and providing an in-person outlet through which they could communicate their value proposition directly to consumers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fulfilling the customer promise through operations design<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Li describes his influencing philosophy as \u201cme<\/em>-commerce\u201d \u2013 using Blank Label as a platform for customers to take the reins in designing their wardrobes. \u00a0Coupling this experience with competitive prices, they are looking to fill a void in the US menswear market.\u00a0 Li and Wong have kept this customer promise as a guiding influence to design their operations.<\/p>\n

There is a great dichotomy between Blank Label\u2019s personalised and opulent in-store experience, and its incredibly lean and efficient back-end operations.\u00a0 Every fitting starts online, where you schedule a 30 minute appointment with a personal tailor.\u00a0 You are greeted in store and seated on a comfortable leather chesterfield, offered a drink and asked a few questions \u2013 the tailor\u2019s job is not only to measure you up, but also to understand your clothing needs.\u00a0 Next, you\u2019re carefully measured up \u2013 every Blank Label shirt offers nine points of custom measurement.\u00a0 Finally you\u2019re guided through a curated selection of fabrics \u2013 your tailor punches your order into her iPad, you swipe your credit card and within seven days your shirt is delivered to your doorstep.\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t fit just right, the shirt is either replaced or altered until it does.<\/p>\n

In order to deliver this high quality experience at an accessible price, Blank Label does everything it can to optimise its operations \u2013 starting with manufacturing.\u00a0 By contracting directly with tailors in Shanghai, Blank Label has cut out the middle man.\u00a0 Despite growing up in Australia, Li\u2019s family roots are in Shanghai, providing a connection which simplified dealings with their offshore suppliers.\u00a0 This move has been a huge driver of customer value \u2013 while tailors on London\u2019s Jermyn Street will typically charge \u00a3180 ($270) for bespoke shirts, Blank Label charges $95 (including shipping).<\/p>\n

When it comes to choosing a fabrics and prints, customers are not inundated with dozens of books of fabric swatches \u2013 instead, they are provided with a curated selection of fabrics based on the type of shirt (formal or casual) and the season.\u00a0 This refined selection has the dual benefit of reducing raw materials costs and simplifying the decision making process for customers.\u00a0 This also allows Blank Label to pre-select fabrics that allow them to charge a constant price for each product \u2013 every shirt is $95, every chino is $125, every base suit is $575.<\/p>\n

This constant and simple pricing structure is also supported by the fact that all of Blank Label\u2019s garments are custom, meaning they keep zero inventory anywhere.\u00a0 No inventory means no inventory stock piles and no need to slash prices.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where to from here\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Blank Label has built a strong operating base upon which to grow. \u00a0Today, they have two permanent pattern rooms \u2013 the original store in downtown Boston and a newer store on K Street in DC.\u00a0 They test expansion into new markets through temporary pop up stores \u2013 easily facilitated through their lean in-store requirements.\u00a0 The current plan is to open up to six permanent stores on the East Coast over the next 1-2 years.\u00a0 As he looks to the future, Li describes their biggest area of investment as refining and developing their retail model.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

In-store interview with tailor (Boston, 04-Dec-2015).<\/p>\n

http:\/\/boston.racked.com\/2014\/1\/16\/7624395\/blank-label-fan-bi<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/blank-label#\/entity<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/angel.co\/blank-label<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.inc.com\/30under30\/eric-markowitz\/fan-bi-danny-wong-founders-blank-label.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2014\/06\/29\/blank-label-custom-mens-wear-shop-starts-expansion.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From its origins as an online custom shirt maker, Blank Label’s has evolved into one of the fastest growing bespoke menswear stores in the US. Blank Label’s operating model has been a key to this success and has directly enabled it to deliver on its core customer promise: providing high quality menswear and exceptional customer service at accessible prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":706,"featured_media":1800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[367,154,104,18,277,4,15,368,133,16,44,336],"class_list":["post-1799","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blank-label","category-china","category-clothing","category-consumer","category-direct-to-consumer","category-effective","category-fashion","category-offshoring","category-operational-alignment","category-retail","category-supply-chain-management","category-tom-winners"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/the-tom-challenge-tom-winners-and-losers-assignment\/","yoast_head":"\nBlank Label: designed in the USA experience at made in China prices - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/blank-label-designed-in-the-usa-experience-at-made-in-china-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blank Label: designed in the USA experience at made in China prices - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From its origins as an online custom shirt maker, Blank Label's has evolved into one of the fastest growing bespoke menswear stores in the US. 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