H&M announced in March 2018, during its quarterly results, a huge problem: $4.3 Billion in unsold clothes. There are many causes of unsold inventory like a wrong collection/product, bad forecasting, wrong allocations, decrease in traffic, wrong prices… But, the trend has changed and the Swedish fashion retailer announced a 9% sales increase (VAT included), 32% … More H&M embraces Fashtech
The Fashion Retailer: Awarded Top 100 Retail Blog In March 2017, there was a conference at IESE on Fashion and Luxury Goods where, Patrizio di Marco (Dolce & Gabbana), Alessandro Varisco (TWINSET Simona Barbieri), Giorgio Presca (Golden Goose), Sian Keane (Farfetch), Luca Solca, amongst others, talked about how to manage talent in fashion and luxury companies. At … More Awarded Top 100 best retail blogs to Follow in 2018
Deep analysis of Amazon Fashion Business: performance insights and challenges to compete in the apparel industry When Amazon started selling high-end brands in 2012, Jeff Bezos said “company’s new effort is not about selling clothes at deep discounts but at prices that ensure that the designer brands are happy”. Nowadays, the online giant is selling … More Amazon Fashion: The Omnichannel Fashion Retail Revolution is on
Best customer experience in retail Customer Experience matters and today more than ever before. But many companies are too big to change, or too slow to adapt. The latest “Retail Apocalypse” news is about SEARS, the iconic American retailer, going bankruptcy. Retailers will shrink their physical footprints while transforming their stores in brandships. Many think … More Innovative Customer Experience in NYC
A few words with Greg Mercer, CEO and Founder of Jungle Scout: Amazon Product Finder & Research Tool. While writing a deep dive about Amazon Fashion that I will publish soon, I met Jungle Scout, which provided me with an interesting data report regarding Amazon’s private label fashion presence. Retail should embrace technology as I … More A few words with Jungle Scout´s Founder and CEO
“The King is dead, long live the King?” Large retailers are celebrating the new american retail market share redistribution but many of them are coming to an end. The traditional proclamation “the King is dead, long live the King” dates back to the XIII-XIV century in Europe and was used as a way to maintain the … More Sears Goes Bankrupt
Bonobos launches a new extended sizing line to include bigger/taller men, continuing their natural customer-centric business approach focused on better-fitting menswear. Founded by Brian Spaly (also founder of Trunk Club) and Andy Dunn, Bonobos is a menswear brand offering the perfect fit pants, a personal guideshop and customer service Ninjas. • Perfect fit: The objective … More Bonobos. Fit for every man
A Few words with Alexander Yashin, Operations RFID expert at LPP Alexander Yashin is 31 years old, Russian, master degree in engineering of IT systems. He has joined fashion retail industry in 2007 as a cashier in a store. Since 2014 he has been working on RFID solutions in retail. The Fashion Retailer: What is … More A few words with LPP´s RFID Expert
Step by step, Amazon is building its Fashion business with the first “Amazon Fashion” Pop-up Store in Europe. I guess many others will open soon, and maybe, its first retail permanent store too. But, to succeed, Amazon will need to acquire much expertise in the fashion business industry. The Pop-up store opened “5 days, 5 nights” last … More Amazon Fashion Pop-Up Store
The World is rapidly evolving and the new environment requirements (industry, economy, new business models, analytics, digital platforms, uberization…) oblige companies to adapt their operating model to survive. The future workforce will be a mix of bots, external and internal talent that will face new roles and new needed skills. Walmart, the retail behemoth from … More Virtual Training: building a Digital Workforce at Walmart
While reading the latest Monocle´s report on Global Retail: Let´s talk shops, I decided it was the right time to take a step back and have perspective on the latest news that are impacting the fashion retail industry. This is just a sample of some of the latest topics and news that I feel “key” … More The New Fashion Retail Paradigm
Nike recently opened its first new concept store: Nike by Melrose, in Melrose Avenue (LA). The retail approach is brand new and takes into account the latest trends in fashion such are customization, localized assortment and omnichannel. In this store, product (footwear and apparel) mix is unique and exclusive, different from other Nike stores, and … More Nike´s new retail approach: curated stores
The Curated Hyper-Segmentation era is here The Long Tail illustrates how traditional business based on Blockbuster, built under massive media, celebrities, mass-market products, Hollywood, MTV, have lost their strength and even disappeared. The Pareto principle resulted in a global mainstream, clone society: a Zebra Society (Zebra as a metaphor for a non-differentiated, extremely homogeneous society), empowered … More Amazon Storefronts
Uniqlo recently presented its latest innovation in manufacturing: 3D Knit. Some weeks ago, I posted 3D knitting or printing in fashion: benefits and success cases where you can find more details about this trend. With Uniqlo´s 3D Knit dresses and sweaters launch, it´s clear that this is not science fiction any more. As a fashion technology (fashtech) … More 3D Knitting by Uniqlo
Every industry has its main players, but also disruptors, innovators, niche players that find a different business model, innovate in fabrics, have a different approach to the customer… We can mention the value proposition of Warby Parker (Pure player, high quality, good price), Bonobos (Easy shopping, better fit), Rent the Runway (Fashion-as-a-service), Everlane (Radical Transparency), … More Retail Game Changers 2018
Fashtech, or Fashion Technology, is a reality. Businesses, enabled by technology, have changed the way fashion retailers design, source, move, stock, deliver and service products. Today, every Business is a Digital Business. Niche brands are joining the long tail of specialization under a clear objective: Stretch, breathability, comfort, sustainability… in short, customer-centricity. It´s not only about Artificial Intelligence, Augmented and … More Ministry of Supply, Technology Apparel
Following the series about best brands for triathlon, we introduce sport #3: Running. Unlike cycling, running is cheap, and probably the cheapest sport you can practice. Consequently, the number of runners has been multiplied recently due to the economic crisis and more niche brands have appeared in the Footwear industry. During a triathlon race, running … More Top triathlon brands for Running
Following the series about best brands for triathlon, we introduce sport #2: Cycling. This is probably the most expensive sport to practice as a triathlon amateur and brands are working hard to offer high quality fabrics, components, materials, but also experiences. Bikes are men´s main diamonds (at a high-end level, prices are around $10.000 per … More Top triathlon brands for Cycling
According to Forbes, Sport Industry is expected to reach $73.5 billion by 2019 in the US. “Body cult” is dominating the modern society and the industry of leisure is continuously evolving and still growing: new sports such as extreme activities, tourism of sport, wearables, tracking Apps, Fitness Apps, new niche brands, sport medicine, 24/7 fitness centers and more. … More Top Triathlon brands for Swimming
Liquidity, everything is getting liquid. Bauman described our modern life as “liquid modernity“, where change is happening faster than ever. Relations, connections, organizations are ephemeral, flexible, plastic. As Politics, Economy and the organization of Society, businesses are already including “liquidity” in their value chain, from defining processes to defining their resources and capabilities. In the … More Fashion Co-Creation: As-a-Service Liquid Design Model
A few moths ago, I published an article about the long tail effect in fashion retail and how niche brands are disrupting the industry. Direct-to-Consumer and digitally native brands are writing the rules of the Transformation Economy where the HOW is more important than the WHAT. In this case, HOW would include not only the … More A few words with Wado founders
Fashion Technology: Innovation in Fashion Retail The objective of the Fashion 4.0 or Fashtech series was to simply describe what technologies and how digitization are disrupting the Fashion Retail industry, but also how they are transforming our daily lifes. What is Fashtech? Fashtech is the intersection of Fashion and Technology in the era of Digitization. Digital … More The Fashtech Ecosystem
This is the last post in a series about Fashion 4.0 in The Fashion Retailer blog: IoT and Fashion. In previous posts about Fashion Technology, we have reviewed how Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, 3D Printing and Blockchain are transforming the Fashion Retail industry. Those technologies are not hermetic and create synergies like the … More Internet of Things (IoT) in Fashion Retail
This is the 4th post about Fashion Technology or Fashtech in The Fashion Retailer. If Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and 3D Printing are some of the technologies that represent the 4th industrial revolution, Blockchain is the most trendy right now, and cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin) has something to do with it… What about Blockchain for Fashion … More Blockchain in Fashion Retail
This is the 3rd post about Fashion Technology or Fashtech for The Fashion Retailer: 3D Printing (or Knitting) for Fahion Retail. New technologies are enabling disruptive scenarios in the “Industry 4.0” for Fashion. The two first posts about Fashion 4.0 were focusing on Artificial Intelligence in Fashion and Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Fashion. … More 3D Printing in Fashion Retail
Oriol Puig is the Global Production Director at Privalia. With a degree in Business Administration and Certified in Digital Marketing by the Google Squared program, he’s worked in marketing, sales and operations for companies in the tourism, retail, and ecommerce sectors. He’s the father of a 1 year old and when he’s not working or … More A few words with Privalia´s Global Production Director
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 … More H&M uses Artificial Intelligence to optimize the assortment
This is my second post about Fashion 4.0 or Fashtech for The Fashion Retailer: Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Fashion Retail Retail is evolving and adapting to digitalization or the phygital. Online is destroying the way retailers, or some of them, understood physical shopping. Business Models that successfully grew during the 20th century are … More AR and VR in Fashion Retail
Fashion Retail is adapting it´s business model at the pace of digitalization. As Darwin said, it is the most adaptable to change that will survive. After reading IESE insight “5 Building Blocks for Cyber-Physical Value Chains”, from Professor M. Sachon (Issue 33, Second Quarter 2017), I decided to start writing a series of articles about … More Artificial Intelligence in Fashion Retail
As I commented in a previous post at fashion retail news, Strategic Acquisitions: Walmart vs Amazon, M&A is one of the main strategic options for companies that want to ensure their success in a very competitive and globalized market. As digital technology continues to evolve and manufacturing 4.0 is reshaping the value chain of every … More Nike´s Direct Consumer Offense
Clara Bertrana, 27 years old, degree in Business management and economics in IQS and Loyola University of Chicago. Currently, studying an Online Marketing program. Worked in different fashion retailers such as Hollister, Abercrombie&Fitch, TCN and Nice Things. Runner & cross fit enthusiast, curious traveler, mountain and sea lover and passionate about fashion and home decoration. … More A few words with a Sales Export Manager at Boboli
The Bird´s Cage Strategy is over. Millennials are running away from Department Stores. A day in the life of a Millennial visiting a Department Store Last week, I had (and say HAD/must) to visit a department store in Barcelona because I needed to change a Xmast gift. Department store´s business model is explained in many business … More Why is there a lack of excitement when Millennials visit Department Stores?
ANALYTICS IS KILLING CREATIVITY The Fashion Industry is evolving as retail landscape is also in reconstruction. Big data, machine learning and technology 4.0 are leadind the change and users are accelerating it thru e-commerce and the online arena. All the steps and participants along the fashion value chain are impacted and evolution is a need … More Is Data killing creativity in Fashion?
When people hear about fashion, they expect a guru or a designer wearing funny clothing. This is part of it, but some would argue that the main competitive advantage of international retailers, such as Zara, is Operations. In fact, Zara doesn´t have a best-in-class designer like Gucci has Alessandro Michele. Inditex best-in-class business model is … More A few words with a Master in Fashion Operations
Patagonia´s famous ad in 2011. Don´t buy it if you don´t need it. Millennials are driving companies to sustainable practices even their business model is based on volume. An example is The Social and Labour Converge Project signed by leading fashion companies such as H&M, Gap, Nike, Adidas, Levi Strauss, amongst others. Also Primark joined … More Sustainable Fashion
Last October, I spent a few days in NYC exploring the retail environment: Mostly new concept stores. I did a very interesting retail safari while visiting Warby Parker, Bonobos, Kith, Supreme, Lululemon lab, Amazon books, Rent the runway, Eataly, Dover St Market, The Row, All birds, Opening Ceremony and so on. A customer Journey in … More The Customer Journey of a Millennial
M&A is one of the main strategic options for companies that want to ensure their success in a very competitive and globalized market. Even more, in a hyper-connected society and customer centric economy. The retail industry is not any more about increasing the number of macrostores in order to have more efficient economies of scale, … More Strategic Acquisitions: Amazon vs Walmart
Who says retail is dead? It´s the retail apocalypse for many department stores or fashion retailers in USA that couldn´t manage their different channels and pricing…but Supreme is the example of retail excellence in the Millenials era. An era where niche players have the power as I wrote in the Fashion retail long tail. According … More Niche fashion is the new black for investors
A day in the life of Carlota, Kids Accessories Manager at Mango. Carlota Casals. Mango Kids Accessories Manager. 30 years old. Married and mother of a boy. Fashion fan. Enjoys traveling, exploring new restaurants and visiting fashion stores. The Fashion Retailer: Could you define what is Mango? Carlota Casals: Punto Fa S.L., trading as MANGO, … More A few words with a Kids Accessories Manager at Mango
Uniqlo, the fashtech (fashion technology) japanese retailer opens its first store in Barcelona, next Zara and H&M flagship stores. “For all major companies, starting point has to be Barcelona. We want to grow with this city of art”, has secured this Tuesday, founder of Uniqlo Tadashi Yanai (source: Turkey Telegraph). Therefore, the japanese retailer is positioned … More Uniqlo, the fashtech retailer, opens in Barcelona
