Entrepreneur Takes on the Formalwear Industry and Creates ‘Perfect Tux’

After 10 years of chasing a music career, Steven Burton was burned out. He decided to change direction and focus on the next step in his career, which was starting his own business. Leaning on knowledge he previously gained as a fashion salesman, his strong professional network, and a deep understanding of the modern shopping experience, he created Perfect Tux.

Black Enterprise contributor Nicole K. Webb caught up with the Perfect Tux founder and CEO to learn more about his journey.

Who is your primary target market?

Our primary customers are individuals who are interested in formalwear. Obviously, that’s a big umbrella, but our main target market includes brides and grooms preparing for a wedding, high school seniors preparing for prom, and parents in need of formalwear for their boys.

What is your company’s competitive advantage?

The formal wear industry is very old and slow to change. For example, when I launched in 2016, my top two direct competitors didn’t have a mobile-friendly website. Our competitive advantage is our technology, a better user experience, and data-driven strategies that convert intent buyers at a higher rate. My company was able to give customers what they wanted through an online experience, mobile friendly, easy to navigate, high-resolution photos, and a lot of product detail, etc.

I also know how to reach the customer through search engines to social media marketing. Remarketing strategies that keep potential customers in my funnel. I also have some very innovative ideas that are going to revolutionize the online formalwear retail industry, which we’ll be implementing in the near future. It’s going to make the customer experience even more convenient and will allow us to build trust with the customer.

Finally, my company provides customers the ability to own their tuxedo instead of renting it. Why rent when you can own? Perfect Tux throws out the traditional tuxedo rental model in favor of reasonably priced, unique and trendy items for purchase. We sell the items you can’t rent anywhere. We offer over 100 styles of men’s tuxedos, suits, and blazers.

What has been your greatest business challenge?

Getting traction and building awareness about a new e-commerce company is really hard nowadays. There aren’t as many free marketing opportunities to obtain a large number of website visitors like there were in the early 2000s. Now that we have built more awareness around Perfect Tux, the challenges have changed. I’m more focused on scaling the business, obtaining capital to do so, and implementing the technology ideas I have to take Perfect Tux to the next level.

What’s next for Perfect Tux?

Perfect Tux’s mission is to revolutionize the formalwear industry by using technology and the creative minds of our team. We want to become the go-to online marketplace for formalwear and make the customer’s buying experience easy and simple. We want to be to formal wear what Zappos.com is to shoes. We will change the way customers shop for formal wear online. I was able to prove my assumption that I could provide a better customer experience than my competitors and that Perfect Tux could gain instant success in the market space. Now, it’s time for us to really make an impact in the wedding industry specifically. I have some really big goals and ideas for the company that we plan to start working on this year. It’s really going to transform the retail side of the formalwear industry.