Express launches clothing rental service Express Style Trial

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Oct 4, 2018

Fashion retailer Express has launched a new clothing rental service, Express Style Trial.

The new service allows customers to rent three items at a rate of $69.95 per month. Shoppers can then return clothing at any time and rent three new pieces, with unlimited exchanges. Users also have the option to purchase the items they have rented.

Express's new rental system will function through a technology and logistics platform created by tech company Caastle, which also provides clothing rental programming to fellow retailers Ann Taylor and New York & Co. 

In an interview with CNBC, Caastle founder and CEO Christine Hunsicker said their system increased new customer sales by 50 percent for Ann Taylor and New York & Co., mostly from shoppers between the ages of 28 and 40 years old.

"Retailers are treating this subscription rental business as a new channel, akin to what e-commerce was when it first started." Hunsicker said.

The company's new business channel opens as Express revives itself after closing all 17 of its Canada stores in 2017.

Express offers a range of men's and women's clothing targeted at a youth demographic. The Express Style Trial service follows the company's move to extend its size range for both men's and women's apparel earlier this year.