Even as outdoor apparel brand Eddie Bauer may be struggling to keep its physical stores open, it is moving forward with digital plans, adding Deck Commerce to its technology stack.
O5 Group, which holds the license for Eddie Bauer’s North America wholesale and ecommerce businesses, has tapped Deck Commerce as the order orchestration platform to power Eddie Bauer’s North American direct-to-consumer (DTC) operations. In practice, it will use the platform to manage order flows across Shopify storefronts, Amazon and marketplace platforms, such as Cymbio.
In addition, Deck Commerce will help to coordinate with third-party logistics partners throughout the U.S. and Canada. The first milestone is expected to be a new Eddie Bauer Shopify storefront that went live just over two months after contracts were signed.
Eddie Bauer ranks No. 151 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database. The database ranks the most successful online retailers in North America by annual web sales.
Why Eddie Bauer is using Deck Commerce
“Modern commerce requires systems that can handle rapid growth and operational complexity,” said Zulfiqar Ahmad, chief customer officer at Deck Commerce, in a press release. “We’re proud to support O5 Group and Eddie Bauer as they continue to expand their digital commerce capabilities.”
Anne DeSpain of digital retail consultancy DeSpain Consulting noted that bringing in Deck Commerce to handle order orchestration is a smart move for a brand in Eddie Bauer’s position.
“When you’re operating across Shopify storefronts, Amazon, Cymbio and multiple 3PL partners, you can’t afford operational chaos on the backend,” DeSpain said. “Getting that infrastructure right is table stakes for digital growth.”
She added that the more difficult question is whether the operational fix will prove to be enough.
“A brand that has been through multiple bankruptcies carries weight that takes a lot to get out from underneath,” she explained. “Consumer trust erodes with each hit. The product story gets muddled. Talent becomes harder to keep and find.”
Additional needs at Eddie Bauer
Ultimately, DeSpain does not believe that shoring up a retailer’s tech stack will automatically course-correct brand equity.
“What Eddie Bauer actually needs to answer, quickly, is who their customer is today and who they want it to be tomorrow — especially if they have an aging core customer they are not replenishing on the other end,” DeSpain said.
She sees the outdoor lifestyle space as crowded with strong retailers competing on authenticity.
“LL Bean, REI, Arc’teryx, Columbia — all have a clearer lane right now,” she stated. “Operational scale only pays off when the brand, the product, the marketing and the customer are aligned across all channels.”
In that context, O5 Group is taking a strategic approach with Eddie Bauer.
“The multi-channel approach they’re building through O5 Group — direct-to-consumer, wholesale and marketplaces — is the right architecture for resilience,” DeSpain said.
She added that brands that went into the COVID-19 pandemic relying on a single channel learned that lesson the hard way.
DeSpain believes that Eddie Bauer still needs to answer the big brand questions: What do they stand for? Who are they for? Why should a customer choose them over a brand that hasn’t carried the baggage of repeated restructuring?
“The infrastructure investment buys them time,” she said. “The product and brand work is what will determine whether they use it well.”
What will determine Eddie Bauer’s digital success?
Yates Jarvis, founder and principal at 2 Visions, a business-to-consumer and direct-to-consumer consulting firm, said that while the partnership with Deck Commerce looks solid on the surface, it also raises questions.
“It’s a head scratcher,” he said. “Yes, Eddie Bauer is getting the modern operational stack they need. And while it’s impressive what they’ll get live in a matter of months, on the whole it’s just getting them caught up.”
He sees a greater challenge ahead.
“The miss here amongst all of this is brand strategy,” Jarvis assessed.
Speaking from his experience in daily ecommerce consulting, he said he sees Eddie Bauer possibly repeating a familiar pattern.
“Infrastructure getting capex attention with lots of promises to deliver big results while the harder questions go unasked,” Jarvis summarized.
He noted that Eddie Bauer’s aging customer base was built through 200+ physical stores.
“How are they going to find the brand on Shopify with zero physical touchpoint?” he asked. “Meanwhile, Patagonia, Arc’teryx, and Cotopaxi already own the young outdoor consumer who bought into the brand stories and communities behind those companies, not supply chain speed.”
Jarvis proposed that O5 Group should keep that in mind alongside a legitimate shift for the brand.
“That’s asking a lot and often too much for a company in this position,” he admitted. “And even if they can, I’m wondering if anyone under 40 has reason to care.”
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