If polyester pants, itchy sweaters, and hours of waiting in line for fittings come to mind when you think of school uniforms, you’re probably not alone. But Adam Weil and the team at Lands’ End School Uniforms are prepared to change your mind as they reinvent the back-to-school season with a more modern approach to an old-school issue. Weil was appointed director of Lands’ End School Uniforms at the end of 2009 with a mandate to develop a platform that would place the focused division at the front of parents’ minds, and he had a solid base from which to start.
Lands’ End School Uniforms’ apparel includes polos made from 100% cotton; dress, knit, casual, and cropped pants that reflect current fashion trends; and hooded zip-front sweatshirts that are brushed for softness. So Weil and his team set out to upgrading the division’s interface.
The fruits of their labors are online and in-store platforms that make parents happy while taking the responsibility away from schools. “We developed our online platform by listening to what parents and schools needed and using simplicity as our base,” Weil said.
Online shopping continues to gain popularity, and the number of schools switching to uniforms grows year after year. By improving its web solution, Lands’ End made a hectic time of year a little bit easier.
Win ‘em over
Lands’ End’s revamped web platform starts working as soon as a Preferred School makes its selections. Preferred Schools are those that participate in the program by outlining the details of their uniform program, from color scheme to logo requirements.Once the details are completed, parents can head to Lands’ End School Uniforms’ website and plug some basic information into the online dress code finder. By typing in the state, city, and school name into the template, parents have immediate access to a PDF that outlines all of the school’s dress code guidelines—much simpler than having to hunt down an already overtaxed administrator for basic information.
Weil said by making it this easy, Lands’ End helps put parents at ease when thinking about sending their child back to school, which is a surefire way to build brand loyalty. “We sometimes represent the first thing a parent sees and learns about a particular school,” he said. “If we can be clear about these rules and provide a uniform that kids will be comfortable in, we’re starting that relationship on a good note.”The online platform isn’t just handy for students and parents. Lands’ End School Uniforms can also outfit administration, club members, and even alumni. Former students wanting to show school spirit can go online and order a T-shirt with a school logo, and teachers wanting a fleece with the school uniform logo embroidered underneath their name have somewhere to go as well.
“We provide a holistic school uniform solution for our families, students, and schools,” said Weil. “We are aware of our customers’ needs, and we try to give them the best experience possible.”
Apples to apples
Lands’ End School Uniforms offers a wide variety of school colors, from navy blue to heather gray, as well as expertise in logo embroidery for schools with more detailed dress code requirements. But after visiting 400 schools this year to figure out how it could improve its school uniform platform, Weil and his team went back to the drawing board and came up with a few revisions.The biggest change was the addition of physical education (PE) clothing to its product assortment. Now, in addition to ordering a polo, pants, jumper, or sweater in their school’s colors, students can order their PE shorts, pants, sweatshirts, and sweatpants. We can already hear athletic directors across the country breathing a collective sigh of relief.
In the past, administrators and teachers were in charge of ordering, handing out, and replacing myriad pieces of clothing. “If mom wasn’t happy or something went wrong, these educators were responsible for replacing or re-ordering the clothing,” said Weil. “If they’re dealing with minimums, ordering 144 at a time, and they run out of mediums, they have to order another 144. Now they’ve ordered 288, and that inventory starts to build.”
In addition to taking the burden off busy school administrators, all Lands’ End clothing comes with a “Guaranteed. Period.” promise of satisfaction, which has been in place since the company started back in 1963. Regardless of whether a piece of clothing has been washed, worn, heat transferred, or even embroidered, Lands’ End guarantees satisfaction for the life of the product.
“If mom goes online to buy a piece of PE clothing and there’s an issue with that product this year or five years from now, we’ll take it back,” said Weil. “It’s not even an apples-to-apples conversation when comparing what we do with school uniforms to other retailers. What Lands’ End does is amazing.”
Eliminate the middleman
The elimination of schools as the middlemen between parents and school uniforms frees up administrators to focus on what’s really important—education. The satisfaction guarantee frees up parents’ minds from having to worry about over-spending on clothes kids often don’t want to wear. But it’s the quality and selection of the products that makes Lands’ End’s school uniforms stand above the rest.“We use the same production standards that we use across Lands’ End for our school uniforms division,” said Weil. “You can see the quality and consistency difference. Lands’ End has been around since 1963, and we know what we’re doing.”
From a size perspective, Lands’ End School Uniforms already had husky and slim pants and bottoms, but after seeing enough painful school fittings, Weil said it was clear more was needed. “A child that wears husky pants didn’t used to have a polo shirt that also fit his figure,” Weil said. “Our merchandising team developed a wider range of size options for tops and bottoms to remove some of the trepidation kids have about wearing ill-fitting uniforms.”
But even the widest selection can’t always bring an awkward kid and doting parent comfort. So starting July 8, Lands’ End launched an in-store program at each of its 209 LE at Sears stores with the biggest selection of school uniforms it’s ever had. And rather than making school uniforms a seasonal presence, the store-within-a-store will be up all year.
“If you just need polos and chinos, you can go online and purchase them,” said Weil. “But if you want to try them on or order logo-ed apparel, you can use a kiosk at an LE at Sears location and get free shipping.”
Heart of the matter
The crux of all of Lands’ End School Uniforms’ actions is customer service. This year, each time parents or students go online and shop using their school’s preferred school number, Lands’ End will give 3% of money from that purchase back to the school.Coupled with the company’s goal to give back $1 million to schools in 2010 through programs such as Way to Grow, which gives 15 schools up to $2,500 for their gardening and science programs, or Double the Difference, where Lands’ End matches the funds of schools doing fundraising, Lands’ End is doing more than outfitting the students that wear it’s uniforms; it’s giving their schools resources to enhance their education.
“Many schools are struggling to make budgets,” said Weil. “This program is about us having great relationships with the schools and getting them to realize we’re in it with them.”
