Urban Outfitters Launches Text-Messaging Program

Urban Outfitters Launches Text-Messaging Program
June 19, 2007

Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters Inc. launched a text-messaging program called UO TXT last week, according to Women's Wear Daily. Consumers who sign up for the UO TXT program in stores or online receive immediate confirmation via text message. The messages will give consumers early notice on sales, alerts for special in-store events and other offers. No more than two text messages will be sent to a shopper's phone each month. Julie Bornstein, managing director of Urban Outfitters Direct, which includes the brand's Web site and catalog business, said the program is only a test, and that there are no immediate plans to offer mobile commerce--where consumers could shop by cell phone. "The reality is that most phones don't have the capacity to do what you want," she said. "We see the mobile phone being instrumental in the future. We will evolve as technology evolves." Recently, other retailers, including Meijer and Moosejaw Mountaineering, have also tested out text-messaging programs.