Research Outline

Patagonia Sales Funnel

Goals

In order to inform a marketing plan pitch, determine the revenue and merchandise split between Patagonia's sales channels as well as describe their sales funnels through these different channels.

Early Findings

Overview

  • Patagonia has three different sales channels: their own retail stores, their own website, and " third-party wholesale partners primarily focused on the specialty outdoor market who resell our products online and in their own brick-and-mortar stores."
  • North America makes up 75% of Patagonia's sales, The rest comes from Japan and Asia-Pacific (15%), Europe (8%) and Latin America (2%).
  • They have 32 stores in the US and 75 stores worldwide.
  • Patagonia has a total of 2,200 employees. 25% are based out of their headquarters in Ventura, California, while another 25% are based out of their distribution and service center in Reno, Nevada. They have 500 retail employees around the world, and 400 employees at regional offices located in Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia, Argentina and Chile.
  • All products are shipped globally through the one distribution center in Reno, including both direct-to-customer orders and orders to third party suppliers. However, they have an additional storage center in Verdi.
  • Patagonia identified that one of their biggest pain points was customers have different experiences with the brand depending on the location. They worked to fix this by creating a customer-focused, cloud-based digital platform to standardize experience across their sales channels.

Revenue Split

  • In 2018, Patagonia earned 41% of their total global sales through our direct-to-consumer channels and 59% of sales through wholesale partners.

Customer Journey

We were unable to find any pre-compiled information on Patagonia's store or merchandising funnel. However, we were able to find information on their customer journey.
  • Patagonia draws in customers by creating products that fulfill a need. This is demonstrated by the company's origins, creating their reusable own rock-climbing equipment, as well as by the company's current "commitment to utility". This commitment is further illustrated on the website in their minimalist design, organized collections, and easy-to-navigate menus.
  • In the store, the commitment to utility is evident through their in-store displays that highlight the products "front-and-center", so customers spend less time hunting for the correct product.
  • New customers, both in store and online, are able to easily identify what products they need to purchase for different activities because Patagonia includes detailed descriptions on all of their products that include the time of year the product is intended for and what type of environment the product may be worn in.
  • Patagonia also offers educational materials and entertainment publications about the sports for which they carry merchandise. These free products can help draw new customers in, as well as retain customers.
  • Even after the customer purchases the product, Patagonia ensures that they will return by offering an "Ironclad Guarantee" on their products. They will repair, replace or refund all of their products if they do not perform to the customer's standard, as well as repair products that are worn for a small fee.
  • Patagonia also brings customers back by running their recycling program, where customers can return merchandise to any Patagonia store to be recycled.
In addition to this public search, we scanned our proprietary research database of over 1 million sources and were unable to find any specific research reports that address your goals.