PRETTY PRETTY RETAIL

Keeping up with the latest retail trends, fashion campaigns and commercial tech developments

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Made in Bulgaria

More and more fashion brands are turning to manufacturers in Eastern Europe and Central America for greater agility and speed to market. Near-shore sourcing offers brands the flexibility and advantages to design late in-season and replenish best-sellers, whilst meeting high quality demands. 

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Gucci in 90 minutes

Farfetch unveiled F90, a delivery service for Gucci in which Farfetch will facilitate the delivery and return of products directly from the Gucci store to a customer in 90 minutes across 10 cities. “Timely delivery of product remains the top of all criteria for luxury consumers,” said José Neves, founder of Farfetch. Is that so? Vanessa Friedman shares a critical view of the ever-faster alternating fashion cycle - great read! 

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For Generation Z, YouTube tutorials appear to be the social media muse of the moment.

A study surveying 15.000 U.S. female college students revealed that 49% of them said that YouTube videos “totally influence [their beauty] purchase decisions”. 

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LVMH acquires Dior

By taking over Christian Dior luxury goods giant LVMH - that already owns the perfume part of Dior - will also add the brand’s fashion and leather goods categories to its portfolio. In total, the deal is valued at around $13 billion.

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Type with your brain

Facebook announced some ground-breaking and scary technologies that aim to shape the way we communicate in the future. Type with your brain or hear with your skin? Sounds crazy, but this is what Facebook shared at its F8 keynote summit in San Jose. Furthermore, the decoding of semantics will allow people to overcome language barriers: "One day not so far away, it may be possible for me to think in Mandarin and for you to feel it instantly in Spanish," said Dugan, head of Facebook’s newly created hardware division Building 8.

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Women now spend more on beauty products than apparel. 

Fashion brands are jumping onto the bandwagon and expand their beauty offering. With its Beauty Talks series Chanel for example showcases how content and commerce can come together: shoppable videos leveraged through high-profile influencers, tutorials and curated make-up tips - all supported through social. Pretty pretty beautiful!

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Orsay goes Omnichannel

Orsay has been evolving to a great German example of how the seamless integration of on- and offline channels can work. Why?

Orsay’s app serves as both e-shop and digital club membership card

Customers can choose between click-and-collect and home delivery

Predictive data analytics increases the relevance of offers

If the right size is not available in store, customers can simply scan the item’s barcode and order through the app – home delivery is complementary of course

“In the early days, IT was used mainly to reduce costs and complexity. Today, Orsay applies innovative technology rather as a means to drive sales and to increase the customer experience”, the brand’s COO and CIO said. Source: Salesforce 12/16.    

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Coded Couture

H&M’s digital fashion brand Ivyrevel is partnering with Google to introduce a ‘Data Dress’ that will be customized according to a customer’s location, activities and lifestyle. The Android app that is currently in development will use the Snapchat API to track users’ personal data; after one week of learning about the user’s living habits and circumstances the dress will be ready to order through the app. 

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Instant beautification

ModiFace introduces real-time support for livestreams on social platforms like Facebook and Youtube. Using augmented reality the new capability allows anyone to broadcast a live video demonstration of different makeup styles by virtually applying them to the customer’s face. One-on-one video conversations with e.g. brand consultants will further enrich the customer experience.

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Athleisure is the new casual

Why not combine your Lululemon yoga pants with a silk shirt and wear it to work? With the easing of dress codes in many offices, more and more people are choosing stylish but sporty designs with comfortable and technologically improved fabrics over the traditional formal wear. This mix between business casual and athletic wear is becoming the new casual. Namaste.

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Accused for racism

After being attacked on social media for racial insensitivity, this week NIVEA withdrew an ad that was posted on its Middle East Facebook page. The skin care brand should have better followed its own claim that accompanied the campaign: "Keep it clean, keep it bright. Don't let anything ruin it." In general, I wonder though, if brands have become too sensitive to negative reactions on social networks, what do you think? 

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Loyalty à L’Oréal

L’Oréal Paris has launched its new Worth It Rewards program, which will cover the brand’s 4 categories cosmetics, hair color, hair care and skin care. Shoppers will be rewarded for their purchases and be provided philanthropic opportunities, allowing them to donate rewards points directly to charities among the brand’s Women of Worth honorees. 

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H&M launches ARKET

The Swedish fast-fashion giant is launching a new brand called ARKET. Focus: "style beyond trend." ARKET’s products will sell at slightly higher prices than the core H&M brand items, and will come alongside a selection of products from non-H&M brands. ARKET’s first store will open in London’s Regent Street this summer.

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Differentiate by simplifying

ACNE makes a statement by stripping down its denim offer to only 3 styles per gender. With this decision the Swedish brand focusses on its roots and reacts to the slow turnover of denim trends: Skinny jeans have been around for a while now, which is why consumers in this saturated market have switched to replenishment mode rather than adding new styles to their wardrobes. By minimizing their assortment ACNE signals the importance of the chosen offering. 

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Storefactory 

By leveraging technology to improve the efficient use of resources, Adidas “Knit for You” project fosters value fashion instead of fast fashion. The idea is to implement the production facility into the store where customers can get a personalized merino wool sweater within one day. A body scanner guarantees the perfect fit. “It is very individual. It is like knitting your own sweater,” one Adidas customer said. 

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We need to reverse course and radically shift the way stuff gets made and used.

Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, highlights the importance of replacing linear value chains through circular ones in order to reduce waste, and to keep products and materials at their highest value as long as possible.