Comment: Peloton is missing an opportunity with merchandise

This week, I’ve had two different shipments arrive from Peloton’s apparel store, and I am really happy with the various shirts and shorts I received. As I was working out last night, I was thinking about Peloton’s missed opportunity with merchandise through the Peloton interface.

One of the challenges with shopping for Peloton apparel is actually being able to buy it in your size. Peloton only produces a limited run of each item, and they are scooped up immediately. I referred a few people to buy a Peloton bike, so I had two apparel codes to redeem and I struggled to find things in my size that were in stock. I placed two orders a few hours apart, and the order numbers were different by triple digitals, so it’s clear Peloton customers love Peloton apparel.

A missed opportunity for Peloton to sell even more merchandise is allowing sales through the Peloton bike and treadmill. Peloton instructors always have some sort of Peloton apparel on, so it would be a perfect opportunity to sell merchandise before or after classes.

Peloton instructors could wear in-stock merchandise, and the UI could have a shopping cart icon in one of the corners that would allow customers to add items to their cart and checkout without ever leaving the class. Water bottles, towels, heart rate monitors, apparel, and other Peloton branded merchandise could all be options to sell pre and post-class. Peloton could also experiment with giving discounts if you set a new personal record by offering 5% off whatever shirt the instructor was wearing.

Some might argue this plan would seem to “gimmicky” and make it seem like all Peloton wanted to do was to sell apparel, but I think if it was done tastefully, it could be a boon for Peloton’s apparel business. It wouldn’t have to be an in your face sales pitch from the instructor, but they could simply mention “if you need new workout gear, like the shirt I am wearing, it’s available for purchase by tapping the shopping cart icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.”

Clothes are high margin items, and if they could convert any % of their customers to purchase items from their UI, it would lead to increased profits and increased brand loyalty. As I’ve argued in the past, the Peloton workout equipment is a loss leader for the subscription which is the top of the funnel for Peloton’s future opportunities.