As introduced in the previous post Co-Design: Innovation at the intersection, hyper-consumption and hyper-individualism enabled by technology in the phygital arena are offering customers infinite choices. It´s the long tail of brands and products that create the long tail of customers (from a mass/cebra target to YOU). Nowadays, some leading companies are already segmenting their … More Hyper-customization
A “Tech” exec to replace a “design” exec as Nike CEO… From Design to Technology When I started this blog the aim was to explain how the creative side – Fashion – merges with the scientific side – Retail – of the business of Fashion or Apparel. The Fashion Retailer Blog. A merge of Fashion … More Fashion pivots to Technology
Burberry announced recently a partnership with luxury resale site The RealReal, to promote circular economy in fashion and sustainability. Resale is a rising trend within the Fashion as a Service landscape. It’s about nownership and environmental consumption, contributing to increase product lifespan. Many legacy retailers are supporting circular economy, even fast-fashion brands selling to mass-market … More Legacy brands embrace fashion resale
Following last post about Inditex 2018 financial results, the aim of this post is understanding the leading fashion retailer performance in a deepest level. Retail Physical Footprint If we analyse the chart below we can make two deductions: Inditex is reducing its physical footprint growth from an average of +5% to approximately 0% from the … More Inditex 2018 Financial Results (2)
Ramir De Porrata-Doria is based in Barcelona. In 1992 he majored in Telecommunications Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC). In 2000, he majored in Economics and Business Sciences, at the University of Barcelona. In 1997 he finished his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He specialized in radiofrequency technologies, remote sensing, and radar. Ramir is today … More A few words with Keonn co-founder and CEO
Inditex is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers. It has eight retail formats or brands (Zara & Zara Home, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe) which sell their collections in 202 markets over an integrated offline-online store network. As of year-end 2018, it had a network of 7,490 stores and was selling … More Inditex 2018 Financial Results (1)
On July, Custo Barcelona announced that will license its brand to Aeffe Group and move its activity to Italy. Custo was founded in the 80s as a result of an inspirational trip to USA by the Dalmau brothers. Two decades later, the company had revenues of 40 million euros and presented its collection during New … More Fashion Platforms and brands
Huge thanks to everybody out there, TFR has reached the 100 post. The Fashion Retailer blog was founded in 2017 with the purpose of bringing a realistic approach to the Fashion Retail industry by embracing the creative and analytical sides of the business. Here a small recap of all the topics we have gone thru: … More The Fashion Retailer post #100
Reviewing a list of hot topics and trends from 2015 onwards, fashion technology and sustainability are amongst the most popular ones. As commented in The Fashtech Ecosystem: Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, 3D Printing Augmented and Virtual Reality and Internet of Things are some of the technologies that are changing the way customers shop, interact with the product and brands. Sustainable and Meaningful Fashion Brands … More What if sustainability starts in your closet?
Many fashion retailers define their strategy starting from their value proposition and key positioning levers (assortment, price, experience, speed, channels…) to differentiate themselves from competition. It’s part of their DNA but also define their purpose and business model. The segmentation of fashion brands is illustrated on a pyramid where the more expensive brands are on … More The Fashion Pyramid of brands
The role of the store is evolving and going beyond sales transactions (See a list of stores with the best customer experience in New York). Physical stores can have different roles like flagship, brandship, showroom, fulfillment center, pop-up store. In fact, the biggest store is in our pocket and it´s a cell phone. Reinventing retail … More Nordstrom reinvents retail stores
What if the question “what is your size” doesn´t make sense any more? If people can scan their bodies, their size would be unique. Economies of scale don´t apply in this business model but customer trends (personalization, sustainability…) are taking a different path than the McDonaldization of fashion (or “one size fits all”). Technology is … More Zozosuit, 3D Sizing and AI to improve customization in Fashion
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 Christmas gift. Department store’s business model is explained in many … More Why is there a lack of excitement when Millennials visit Department Stores?
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
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
The Evolution of Supply Chain in the Fashion Industry Traditional Supply Chains are based on made-to-stock model, economies of scale and mass-production. This model is unidirectional and sequential. Companies have a concept, then design, plan, produce, stock, stock, stock, distribute….and somewhere you will find the customer. Nowadays, Supply Chain has totally changed into a platform, … More The Fashion Retail Value Chain Revolution
Everlane is a brand built upon an awareness of a new kind of consumer. The kind of person who cares where her coffee and chickens come from, and also her clothes. -TheFader Everlane was founded in 2010 in San Francisco, California, USA, as a pure player with the aim of selling its own designed, affordable … More Everlane goes Offline
Jorge Gay de Montellá Estany is Expansion Manager at Mango. 32 years old, bachelor´s degree in Law and MBA from IESE. Married and about to have his first kid. Runner and motocross fanatic. Jorge Gay de Montellá: I live in Barcelona, where I was born and raised. I love the sea, the country side, and … More A few words with an Expansion Manager at Mango
Cecilia Cano is Operations Manager at Brownie. 31, degree in Business Administration, fitness fan, fashion retail and cooking passionate. Cecilia started her professional career at Deloitte Audit Services, in finance, but switched to fashion retail and found her path. She spent 7 years at Oysho, Inditex, as a Buyer and Project & Product Manager for … More A few words with Brownie’s Head of Operations
The Fashion disruption Polish-born sociologist Zigmunt Bauman described our modern life as “liquid modernity“, where change is occurring more and more rapidly. Social entities are flexible, plastic. “Each new structure which replaces the previous one as soon as it is declared old-fashioned and past its use-by date is only another momentary settlement – acknowledged as temporary … More Fast Fashion, the art of liquidity
Growth evolution: Dinosarus and aliens in Fashion Industry Long Tail The chart above shows the Compound Annual Growth Rate and revenues (size of the bubbles), from 2007 to 2015, of some of the global leading retailers, including fashion, electronics and foods retailers. Inditex is still the king of fashion retail, H&M is fighting for the … More The Fashion Retail Long Tail
Many brands have evolved into groups that focus on different customer profiles. On the one hand, we have companies such as GAP, H&M, Inditex, Mango, Armani…that are focus on many segments in order to respond to different income, gender, style (e.g. COS vs H&M), size (e.g. Violeta by Mango) or categories (e.g. beauty, homewear) profiles. … More Diversification and Segmentation in Fashion retail