Cher just illustrated the biggest issue facing Kate Hudson's athleisure brand in one tweet
The entertainer - who is famously excellent at expressing herself via Twitter - told her 3.09 million (and counting) followers that she did not have a good experience when she was shopping at Fabletics.
Here's what she said:
Cher, like the retail-savvy Kanye West before her, raises an interesting point.
Fabletics' parent company, JustFab requires consumers to sign up for subscriptions - called VIP Memberships here - in order to get its apparel at such affordable prices. Following signing up, each VIP is billed on a monthly basis.
The subscription method itself has come under fire; in September, a lengthy Buzzfeed report shed light on the fact that many consumers felt duped and found it extremely hard to end their memberships. People also called it a scam.
The company has taken several measures to fix its problems and its reputation. It planned an audit last fall, and then newly-appointed Corporate Marketing Officer Shawn Gold told Business Insider in May that it made sure that it had lots of notifications to let people know that they were signing up for the memberships. But perhaps the many notifications are backfiring?
Gold also told Business Insider that the company was testing online cancellations, as a chief customer complaint was that consumers had to call in to cancel their memberships.
Still, the process of shopping at Fabletics is a little long. First, you have to take a multiple-question quiz about your style. Below are two of several questions that shoppers answer before even seeing the apparel that's on sale.
But many people are rallying behind Cher's tweet, saying they had similar experiences. Further, the complaints that have come after Cher's tweet send a resounding truth echoing through the walls of the Internet: even if Fabletics has taken multiple steps to improve its business, there are a lot of consumers who still haven't changed the way they perceive the brand.
One person had a suggestion - that Cher should start her own line:
In the meantime, Fabletics has plans to open up to 100 brick and mortar stores over the next three years. Gold told Business Insider in May that the stores would be more akin to showrooms.