Lane Bryant will work with Rithum’s Commerce Solutions network to launch a drop-shipping program.
The Ascena Retail Group portfolio merchant sees the collaboration as a step toward carrying a larger assortment of products, enabling it to ship products not stocked within its own warehouse inventory. Lane Bryant is a mall stalwart specializing in women’s apparel and intimates.
“Retailers today need flexibility to test and expand assortments without taking on inventory risk,” said Steve Davis, an assistant vice president at Lane Bryant. He oversees footwear, accessories and drop-ship development. “Our partnership with Rithum allows us to strengthen our ecommerce ecosystem while giving our customers broader access to products they love.”
Lane Bryant, along with Ann Taylor and Loft, is part of the Ascena Retail Group, which ranks No. 32 in the Top 2000 Database. The database tracks North America’s largest online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales and more.
How Lane Bryant will use Rithum’s network and solutions
Rithum also lauded the new collaboration, saying it will give Lane Bryant newfound flexibility.
“Fashion is a challenging industry where trends shift rapidly, making it hard for retailers to align supply with demand,” said Blaine Nielsen, president of retailers at Rithum. “Often, retailers bulk purchase specific styles of shirts or shoes, only for them to fall out of favor with consumers.”
Nielsen told Digital Commerce 360 that this often results in excess inventory that must be discounted, reducing profit margins.
“Conversely, when consumers seek the latest trends that aren’t available on the retailer’s website, the retailer loses potential revenue and risks training customers to shop elsewhere,” he explained.
These are the challenges Lane Bryant aims to address through its partnership with Rithum.
“Through this partnership, Lane Bryant will expand product assortment and increase the number of SKUs and styles available on LaneBryant.com,” Nielsen stated.
He added that Lane Bryant plans to manage numerous manufacturers and suppliers via Rithum’s platform tools. In addition, Rithum’s platform trains manufacturers to be reliable partners in this third-party process, ensuring consumers receive their products as expected.
Speed and efficiency for Lane Bryant
Nielsen noted that with Rithum’s retail network, Lane Bryant can onboard high-performing suppliers faster, unify product and order data, and orchestrate drop-ship and marketplace workflows end to end. In doing so, it will try to reduce stockouts, shortening time to launch, and improving unit economics.
“For B2B partners, the integration streamlines connectivity — content, orders, compliance, shipping — and adds real-time performance insights, making it easier for brands to participate and scale responsibly,” Nielsen said.
Ultimately, he said, he hopes to see Lane Bryant gain speed, selection and operational discipline, while maintaining control of quality and customer experience. In the meantime, success could mean suppliers gain a clearer, more efficient path to reach Lane Bryant’s customers.
Flexibility for product testing
Emmanuel Tamrat, founder of the ecommerce brand advisory firm Blindspot Agency, said the partnership should provide Lane Bryant with the flexibility to test products.
“Lane Bryant can rapidly test new categories, styles and price points without taking on significant inventory, a challenge that has plagued many large retailers following the COVID boom,” Tamrat stated.
As he assessed, category expansion at scale typically requires months or years of coordination to resolve technical, logistical and product-specific challenges, demanding substantial time and resources.
“This makes the drop-shipping model especially attractive,” he explained.
Tamrat said another ripple through the omnichannel ecosystem will be when more products and brands drive additional organic search traffic.
“Rapid assortment expansion should significantly boost both branded and non-branded search traffic, as customers search for specific brands as well as generic attributes like materials, colors, and use cases,” Tamrat said.
He sees partner brands benefiting from this exposure by accessing a large audience with effectively zero customer acquisition cost. That result, he said, would allow Lane Bryant to reinvest in search engine optimization (SEO) or redirect spending toward paid growth channels.
Open questions as Lane Bryant proceeds
Tamrat also anticipates that Lane Bryant will have to navigate new challenges as well.
“The impact on shipping and returns is difficult to predict,” he said. “While the model could improve shipping options, it also risks creating friction around returns.”
In that context of risks to manage, he cited fraud, counterfeits and customer service complexity, all of which have the potential to lead to negative reviews and increased customer experience costs.
He views outcomes related to those risks as important as the impact of Rithum’s solutions on Lane Bryant’s bottom line eventually comes into focus.
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