Fashtech, phygital, omnichannel, hybrid retail…I´m sure that sociolinguistics are happy to think about new words to describe Fashion 4.0 and the omnichannel era. It´s seems creativity is everywhere. But as a Sociologist, I can confirm that our society is evolving faster than wording, and we will see many other attributes to describe some of the consequences of fashtech in our lives.
My last post about fashion retail, and specially about Fashtech, is Artificial Intelligence in Fashion. There you will see what are the benefits of AI in the fashion industry and some of the leading companies using AI in Fashion. Many fashion brands are using Artificial Intelligence (e.g. machine learning) for demand forecasting, product design and assortment optimization.
I recommend you an interesting article about how H&M is embracing AI for assortment optimization from Retaildive written by Dan Alamo (9th of May 2018).
H&M turns to big data, AI to tailor store assortments
Dive Brief:
- In an effort to break out of a 10-quarter same-store sales slump, H&M is using big data and artificial intelligence to customize the merchandising mix of individual stores, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company aims to reduce markdowns by using algorithms to analyze store receipts, returns and loyalty-card data.
- The tech is being used in a store in Stockholm’s upscale Östermalm neighborhood. By analyzing purchases and returns in a more granular way, H&M discovered that the store’s customer base was primarily women, and that fashionable items like floral skirts in pastel colors and higher-priced items sold better than the retailer expected. Sales at the store, have improved significantly, the Journal reports.
- H&M is breaking from its past practice of stocking its stores with similar merchandise, which resulted in repeatedly cutting prices to clear out some $4 billion of unsold product. Last year, H&M cut the number of SKUs in the store by 40%, and eliminated most menswear products. In its place, crockery was added, as well as $118 leather bags and $107 cashmere sweaters alongside $6 T-shirts and $12 shorts.
Read more about how H&M turns to big data on retaildive
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