Things are happening faster than ever for Frank + Oak.
After a quiet early April expansion from just two countries (Canada and the U.S.) to 40 around the world, mainly in Europe and Asia, the Montreal-based menswear retailer today made a number of changes to refresh the brand and improve the customer experience—including two-hour home delivery.
For now, the fast-delivery service is limited to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver and “a curated assortment of core apparel and grooming items” rather than the full catalogue, but the new offering reinforces one of Frank + Oak’s core brand promises of being “the most useful brand in the category,” by making the shopping experience as simple and as engaging as possible.
“Our vision was to make shopping easier for men,” said Ethan Song, co-founder and CEO. And with the proliferation of delivery as a service—see food industry apps for evidence—Frank + Oak decided it needed to make its stylish clothing and accessories as accessible as fish tacos, Pho or anything that Amazon drones might soon be dropping at our front doors. “It is a big trend,” said Song of the easy delivery movement. “People will want much simpler interfaces…. they want everything in their lives in two hours.”
“The curated assortment of products available for two-hour delivery does include some shirts and pants,” said Song, ideal for anyone dealing with a spilled coffee crisis at work, for example. There will also be underwear and products from the Frank + Oak grooming line, perfect, said Song, for anyone suffering a lost luggage mishap, or someone figuring out what to do after a “midnight rendez-vous gone long.” (Wink.)
Aside from the two-hour shipping, Frank + Oak has redesigned its website, launched a new app, unveiled a new visual identity and store concept near Montreal, and invested heavily in its personal styling service at all consumer touchpoints. The last enhancement in particular drives home a second core brand promise of providing fashion guidance for its customers.
Whether shoppers are online, in store or using the new app, Frank + Oak wants them to quickly and easily have access to whatever style advice they need to feel better about what they are buying. In the digital context, that advice is based on answers to questions about personal tastes, combined with purchase history and enhanced with live personal advice from 20 stylists sharing real-time suggestions through live chat.
“We want to unlock the power of that investment [in style advice] by making it one tap away,” said Frank + Oak CMO Eric Alper. “We want shopping with us to feel like shopping with a good, trusted friend in tow.”
As for the visual identity, Frank + Oak—with the ampersand in its name replaced by a plus sign—did not work with any agency, relying instead on in-house designers with some input from external experts.
“The new logo is highly symbolic,” said Alper, of the Oak raised above the Frank. “When you and Frank + Oak come together, you reach the next level,” he said.
While Frank + Oak got its start online and found its early momentum as a fashion club and subscription commerce service for men—it’s up to 2.5 million members now—the company only recently made a strong move into bricks-and-mortar. It’s second store only opened in late 2014 in Toronto and since then its physical presence has grown to nine stores in Canada and three others in the U.S.
Aside from being a draw for customers who want the physical shopping experience, the stores will make the fast-delivery option more feasible. The new 3,000 sq. ft. store opening today in CF Carrefour Laval is the first in an indoor mall and features four distinct zones: a personal styling zone, a grooming zone, a browsing zone and a lounge offering coffee and treats.
Meanwhile the brand went global April 6 with the expansion to most of Europe; Asia, including India, Japan and Indonesia; South Africa; Australia and New Zealand as well as Brazil and Mexico in Latin America. Frank + Oak said import restrictions in each market limited their product assortment slightly, but estimated 70% of its offering is available.
Though Frank + Oak only launched in 2012, the changes to the brand demonstrate its commitment to “innovating in purposeful ways,” said Alper. “Our philosophy is that if you don’t disrupt yourself, someone else will.”
