LULU Belt Bag: New Product Provides Access to Younger Demographic Leading to Topline Success
The rapid rise in popularity of lululemon’s Everywhere Belt Bag through 2022 had key impacts on the business - both from a topline perspective and as a conduit to younger and lower income consumers and more repeat business.
Bags share of T30D US sales, total and by channel
Our data suggested bag share of U.S. sales skyrocketed in F1Q 2022 - reaching ~9% by November, led by online sales. LULU reported that accessories grew 43%, 50% and 52% on a 3Y CAGR basis through the first 3 fiscal quarters of 2022, respectively, well above the comparable growth rates for the broader Mens and Womens segments. Management also appeared to confirm the success of the belt bag specifically during their F3Q earnings call:
“In terms of the Everywhere Belt Bag, it's been a great style for us. Accessories growth, obviously, very strong. It's our #1 sale and we continue to innovate across all of our assortments as we move into Q4 and then into 2023 as well ” - Meghan Frank , CFO, F3Q22 earnings call 12/8/2022.
Trailing 90-day online bags mix by product type
While it appears that the original Everywhere Belt Bag’s T90 share of bag sales peaked in June-2022, other belt bag variants, including the “Large” and “Fleece” more than made up the difference - with the combined mix of all belt bag variants at 85% of all bags thru mid-November.
% of Online Belt Bag Purchases that were first Online Order
The rise of the belt bag not only supported top line growth but also ushered in younger and lower income consumers, a positive for lululemon’s total addressable market.
Belt bag orders saw a 6% greater share in our panel from consumers under 44 than non-belt bag orders
Belt bag orders saw a 7% greater share from consumer with household income under $100K vs. other orders
Furthermore, our data suggests that almost 60% of online belt bag purchasers online were making their first online LULU purchase in F4Q22 (in at least 12 months), up from 50% and below through FY2021 - signaling the belt bags ability to drive new and/or reactivated user acquisition. Management also confirmed this trend:
“The success of the everywhere belt bag has added to new guest acquisition.” - Calvin R. McDonald, CEO, F3Q22 earnings call 12/8/2022
YipitData’s coverage of lululemon’s Everywhere Belt Bag is a prime example of how our email and physical receipt panels can offer granular insights into item level sales, demographics, and channel mix trends and can help long term investors with key parts of any investment thesis on any of the companies you care about. Learn more about how we help long-term investors.
