Expanding beyond the designer gowns and fashionable work clothes that have established it in the market, Rent the Runway is entering into a collaboration with the furniture and home accessories company West Elm to bring attractive décor to customers’ homes, at least temporarily.
The existing service provided by Rent the Runway allows subscribers to order and keep up to four items at a time, for as long as they want. Women rely on the service to keep their work wardrobes up to date and dynamic, as well as to give them access to a designer gown for a one-time gala or event. The company’s success has prompted various considerations about how to expand and grow, including suggestions that it might include menswear.
Rather than going that route though, Rent the Runway thinks it can appeal best to its existing and potential customers by giving them access to fashionable products to make their homes look as great as they do. The collaboration adds items such as throw pillows, quilts, and blankets to the inventory of choices, so subscribers can make these products one of the four items they take out with each order. A Rent the Runway consumer thus might order a suit, a nice dress, a fashionable top, and a bundle of pillow shams and blankets, all at the same time.
The partnership with West Elm is strategic; the company, owned by Williams-Sonoma, seeks to appeal to the same target market that has made Rent the Runway so successful. That is, it targets women around 29 years of age, with disposable income but not a lot of time. By enabling them to refresh and furnish their homes and apartments with just a click on a site that they probably already use, the collaboration adds substantial value and meets an ongoing need that these consumers express.
The partnership offers another key benefit for both companies: new insights into what consumers want. In particular, Rent the Runway learns more about its shoppers’ preferences in realms beyond fashion. West Elm gains access to Rent the Runway’s vast data regarding which items shoppers like, as well as increased potential to transform renters into buyers.

Discussion Question:

1. Why is Rent the Runway partnering with West Elm?
2. What type of growth strategy is Rent the Runway employing?
3. Would you rent West Elm–type merchandise? Why or why not?

Source: Melissa Fares, Reuters, March 7, 2019