Custom Made Apparel and Individualized Service at Lands' End

The case describes a hugely successful example of IT-driven strategy, the Lands’ End custom tailored apparel initiative. In less than a year, 40% of Lands’ End customers buying chinos and jeans from the firm’s web site were buying tailored products. Over 20% of these customers never made a purchase over the web before. The case explores mass customization and web-based customer service initiatives while providing a rich opportunity to discuss the sustainability of competitive advantage derived from IT-driven strategic initiatives. The case also describes the cross-organizational and cross-border supply chain that Lands’ End and its business partner, Archetype Solutions, Inc constructed as well as Archetype’s extension of that chain to other retailers.