How Alphalete Built a Multi-Million Dollar Apparel Brand

How Alphalete Used Content & Community to Grow a Multi-Million Dollar Apparel Brand

Building an ecommerce brand is about way more than products on a store.

Today's online world is one of accessibility, high-competition and dropshippers at every turn. So you've got to do something special to stand out.

Case in point: Alphalete Athletics.

Despite operating in the hyper-competitive fitness apparel sector - dominated by the likes of Rhone, Alpha Clothing, Lululemon and Gymshark, Alphalete have managed to flourish:

We're going to delve into the success story of Alphalete Athletics and uncover the key strategies that have propelled them to multi-million dollar annual revenue and a highly engaged 750k Instagram following.

In this digital age, however, strategic success goes hand in hand with powerful tools. In a landscape teeming with options, a robust ecommerce and inventory management platform is essential to amplify and sustain the strategies we'll explore.

Enter Veeqo – the game-changer that complements and enhances the very strategies discussed in this blog post.

So let's teardown Alphalete's model to see what's behind the success. And how they use quality content and community creation to drive sales in a competitive marketplace.

Alphalete: The background

Who owns Alphalete?

The entrepreneurial force behind Alphalete is Christian Guzman.

He began with a simple Youtube channel - giving viewers an introspective look at his bodybuilding training in tandem with everyday life. Then started coaching and opened a gym.

Alphalete started out as a small apparel brand

This then transcended into offering CG Fitness branded apparel both online and as secondary spend purchases at his gym, which sparked his passion for creating athletic apparel.

Blue CGFITNESS shirts now available on http://t.co/3DukPx9RVm pic.twitter.com/Tl79j6pXN9

— Christian Guzman (@Guzmanfitness) June 20, 2014

Then came a strategic re-branding: and Alphalete was born:

Guzman built a niche brand for his audience

Branding is crucial in the modern ecommerce world - consumers want to support companies they personally resonate with.

And so Guzman's mission was to niche down on creating apparel that stayed true to the style his bodybuilding and hardcore fitness-obsessed audience had come to love.

The Alphalete brand mission

Behind the logo, Alphalete was created with a clear mission:

Guzman's objective was to create an elite line he would wear himself as both functional work out pieces and lifestyle attire.

From the very beginning, his objective was for the quality of product to speak for itself.

And with the popularity of activewear and workout gear on the rise, he knew he could gain repeat customers if quality exceeded price points. So huge focus was placed on:

Once the idea, mission and general purpose for the brand was cemented, it was time to start making sales.

Growth Tactic #1: Document the journey

Alphalete officially launched in the beginning of 2015. And Guzman conscientiously documented every aspect of its growth through his vlogs.

So viewers and potential customers were exposed to first-hand successes and growing pains of the business. Also gaining insight into the personalities and people behind the brand - showcasing the family-oriented and close-knit feel to the company.

The brand immediately benefited from this candid exposure: Guzman transferring his raw honesty to Alphalete, making potential customers feel like it was a dependable brand they could trust.

Growth Tactic #2: Launch-based ecommerce

Alphalete was initially intended to subscribe to a traditional ecommerce model.

So it was all about the standard set-up:

However:

Given the nature and style of the brand, Guzman changed his approach to become a launch-based company with occasional restocks in between releases.

So no more pouring money into continuous marketing efforts stressing customers to buy year-round. Instead, they reallocated budget to:

  1. Continue growing and engaging their audience through quality content on social media.
  2. Run extensive campaigns to hype-up "launch weeks" for new products periodically throughout the year.

As the company grows, so does the scale of its launches in terms of volume, diversity/range of products and global reach, which can make it trickier to manage their inventory and shipping to ensure the reduction of dreaded stockouts.

Growth Tactic #3: FOMO-based marketing

A launch-based business model instils a sense of urgency within customers, incentivizing them to act fast before the product is gone.

And so Alphalete leans on this perfectly by employing FOMO (fear of missing out) in their marketing:

The consumer view of products is transformed by making low stock seem exclusive, therefore more enticing.

And this “exclusivity” also negates the need to utilize sales or discount codes the way other ecommerce brands commonly do to lure in customers.

Growth Tactic #4: Authenticity with the tribe

Alphalete has completely embraced its model as a launch-based company.

Guzman prides himself on never launching the same product twice. So the company can play the FOMO and urgency cards with 100% authenticity.

In addition to brand-new pieces, every launch also features recurring products that have been redesigned to or slightly embellished.

Even bestselling products will undergo some degree of modifications before a new release.

Often times, these alterations are the direct response to customer feedback - demonstrating the brand’s dedication to client interaction and perception of the product.

It also gets the influencers talking and reviewing with each launch:

Growth Tactic #5: Create quality content

Alphalete produces as much graphic and video content as possible to grow their audience - going extra hard when it comes to launch weeks.

This content is usually comprised of:

Athletic apparel that hugs and squeezes every inch of our bodies is infamous for fitting every body type differently. Making purchasing online a challenge for the consumer.

So in the weeks leading up to launches, Alphalete will release meticulous and detailed sizing videos:

These feature models with different body types and sizes wearing and reviewing each product.

Growth Tactic #6: Go big with influencers

Guzman credits much of Alphalete’s success to two key things:

  1. Quality of the apparel itself.
  2. Influencer marketing.

With the latter easily the most significant revenue driver in the company’s exponential growth over the last 18 months.

They began building the influencer team in November 2017, referring to them as 'sponsored athletes'. And it's been continually expanding since:

Influencer selection

Of course, the first consideration in influencer selection is social media notoriety.

But Alphalete’s sponsored athletes still exhibit a lot of personal range amongst each other:

Growth Tactic #7: Real, in-person experiences

Alphalete thrives on community and customer interaction.

So they started creating in-person experiences for customers. Helping to bridge the gap between being an online store and a tangible community.

This set the precedent for the brand to hold meet-ups and sponsored events as a consistent community-builder in the future. These meet-ups aren't even strictly about making sales on the actual day. They're more focused on:

Cementing this omnichannel strategy is the Alphalete Gym, which boasts a 19,000 square foot location in Texas:

The gym itself again focuses heavily on the idea of community. With members often featured in social content and Guzman's vlogs to strengthen the online and offline brand. Members and attendees also get discounts on Alphalete products and exclusive merchandise at the front desk. All creating revenue that can be easily tracked through their gym software.

Alphalete are not slowing down

Alphalete shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

In fact, Guzman candidly admitted in a 2019 video that he feels pressure to make sure the infrastructure of the company grows with it. And to fix operational problems they're currently facing.

But Alphalete's success is a great example of how to stand out in a saturated market via:

Applying these principles to any ecommerce brand is bound to have positive effects - regardless of what niche you're in.