Gilt Groupe’s Secret To Engaging Male Shoppers: Stylish Content

Gilt Groupe, a powerhouse fashion e-commerce site with more than 3.5 million members, grew its mens shopping destination, Gilt Man, with not just a little help from content. The site features witty commentary and helpful how-to advice for men who want to dress sharp. It’s editorial content meant to engage readers and build trust in the mother brand.

Clearly Gilt’s strategy is working. The brand launched another editorial site this month, a niche in male luxury apparel with a new site called Park & Bond.

A step above the typical retail site, Park & Bond ramps up the editorial component with a series of how-to articles, aiding the style-savvy man in not only selecting current trends but knowing how to wear them. What good is an Alexander McQueen sweater if paired with the wrong pants?

With a team hailing from the likes of GQ and Esquire, editors at Park & Bond take style seriously — both written and worn. The company takes a broad approach to its content strategy, tackling both the mundane (how to wash your jeans) and the edgy (how to dress your age, minus a few years). The site has a mens style magazine look and feel, serving as a one-stop-shop for the discerning man looking for the right clothes to wear on a date, to a business meeting or on vacation.

The beauty, and perhaps the most beneficial feature of Park & Bond, however, is that the site literally serves as the stylish female (or gay) friend most guys want but many don’t actually have.

Park & Bond’s content strategy is a genius approach appealing to the male luxury consumer. Men who are willing and able to spend on luxury apparel, yet may or may not have a clue about how to wear it, benefit from what is literally a GQ-esque style guide with incentive to purchase on the spot.

Most brilliant of all: Park & Bond has eliminated the middle-man; in this case, the hassle of buying a style magazine, finding something similar and making the best guess at fitting it all together.

It’s an opportunity many retail sites haven’t yet capitalized on: Why sell the clothes without telling people how to wear them? It makes sense for men, and it makes sense for Park & Bond’s bottom line.

Park & Bond is one of the first e-commerce retailers to really tackle both the commerce and content component so effectively. According to InternetRetailer.com, Park & Bond is incorporating an online store affiliated with GQ and will offer a virtual fitting room via Fits.me,with the goal of providing the in-store shopping experience complete with stylish  friend/personal shopper/stylist.