Case Study: rue21 achieves rapid customer-driven product validation, shorter lead times and sales growth with First Insight

rue21 Uses University of Liverpool’s Action Learning Methodology To Drive Growth and Usage of First Insight

rue21, which was emerging from bankruptcy and facing a turnaround, needed faster, cheaper and more customer-informed product decisions; its traditional testing took six to nine months, was costly, and produced a high failure rate with little qualitative feedback. To address adoption barriers among skeptical merchants, Chief Analytics Officer Mark Chrystal introduced the University of Liverpool’s Action Learning methodology alongside First Insight’s consumer-driven predictive analytics (InsightSuite) to pilot the new approach.

First Insight’s InsightSuite gathered preference, pricing and sentiment data and delivered predictive results in 24–72 hours, allowing rue21 to get voice-of-customer feedback in about two days and shorten its supply chain to 90–120 days from 270–300 days. With Action Learning driving rapid team adoption, rue21 achieved widespread use within three months and saw measurable impact: back-to-school sales trending several percent higher and improved gross margins, plus a much clearer understanding of customer preferences.

rue21

Mark Chrystal

Chief Analytics Officer