It’s interesting to note that selling to obese people hasn’t been more popular. If you’re to believe all the made up statistics concerning obesity, you would think it would be a huge market. For instance, this AP article entitled, “Brand of plenty” says the following:
An estimated two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, compared with 47 percent from a survey done in the late 1970s, according to federal statistics.
Wow, so why hasn’t a company catered to the obese?
There are a number of mom and pop sales sites on the internet that sell obesity related products, but no major company has gotten into the mix until now. Casual Male has rolled out their LivingXL site, which sell products that cater to the obese. Take a minute to go look, and the come back.
Notice anything odd about the LivingXL site? Yep, you’re right. There aren’t any obese people shown. Dig deeper and look at the individual product links and you won’t see anyone coming close to obese. The product selection is good, but where are the reviews catered to the obese? How about a place to comment on what you’ve bought such as Amazon?
I think we all know the answer.
The article listed above pointed me to the Ample Stuff site. I had no idea sites like this existed, but I guess it makes sense. Look at their front page and the first model you see is more along the lines of what you expect. Digging deeper into the site, check out the Telescoping Stool section. The model is appropriate, but more importantly look at the section at the end. Clear, useful advice about the product.
Think about this, if the obesity epidemic is as large as the government says, why aren’t there more stores focused on this “nice” market?