In-Store Purchases & Manufacturing Planning

As the future of fashion weaves itself more closely into the digital realm, fashion brands are trying to stay competitive through this time of rapid change. Almost everyone in fashion agrees that to thrive even in times of disruption, brands need to focus more on e-commerce. We found that 70% of fashion executives anticipate more than 20% growth in their e-commerce channels. Indeed, the world’s leading fashion expert calls e-commerce the “biggest opportunity by far” for brands. And with brands racing to make their mark in the digital realm, physical retail is suffering. Compared to 2019 levels, offline store sales in Europe are likely to fall by 8 to 13 percent, and US offline sales are expected to fall 22 to 27 percent.

However, even though fashion brands are experiencing a decline in offline sales rates, brands still recognize the importance of their retail footprint. Physical retail remains critical to a brand’s growth strategy, says Laura Pomerantz, Forbes contributor and retail real estate strategist. “Investors are demanding retailers reassess their real estate to maximize their space,” Pomerantz said. But to maximize their retail space, how should fashion brands leverage manufacturing, especially at a time when online sales are replacing in-store purchases?

Focus on the Omnichannel Customer Journey

Traditionally, a retail store’s success has depended on how much product it sells. But with the expansion of the internet in the 1990s, brands quickly realized that they had to create multiple access channels through which customers could buy products, including online stores. Through a multi-channel shopping experience, brands give consumers the choice to engage in the channels they prefer. And once customers select their preferred channel, brands optimize the shopping experience within that particular channel to increase engagement. While customers at this point have access to multiple shopping channels, these channels are not necessarily integrated. The multichannel approach treats channels as independent silos, and this limits the potential for increased engagement between channels. As such, brands are shifting to an omnichannel approach, which allows them to integrate a multichannel approach and offer consumers more personalized products, offers and messages.

To optimize the retail space, fashion brands must drastically increase in-store omnichannel integration as consumers need a compelling reason to shop offline. They are used to buying a wide variety of products online, and consumers will not visit a physical retail store unless the fashion brand gives them a good reason. To radically accelerate this integration, fashion brands should consider the following:

Reconsider the role of the store.

Since consumers need a compelling reason to come to the store, fashion brands need to consider the role of the store as more than just a transactional site. Instead, stores should improve the way consumers find products in-store. This product discovery process may incorporate more access to exclusive merchandise (for example, through the acquisition of “in-store only” products). Exclusivity for consumers can also mean cutting down on retail space, which can effectively provide a more exclusive shopping experience.

Maximize in-store pickup.

Consumers are increasingly demanding contactless fulfillment options, and stores can play an important role in the fulfillment process. Including options such as curbside pick-up or in-store pick-up from online orders can enhance omnichannel integration and enable a more personalized shopping experience for customers as sales associates can engage with customers during pick-up.

Personalize in-store touchpoints for consumers.

Store associates should have access to customer data such as loyalty and purchasing behavior to attract customers’ attention prior to their store visit. Important customer data obtained prior to their in-store visit can assist in a more personalized product discovery process that starts online but finishes in-store, creating a more integrated shopping experience.

As fashion brands take practical steps towards in-store omnichannel integration, they will need to continuously rethink their store footprint to adapt to consumers.

Production Plan with Your Manufacturer to Optimize Your Retail Space.

When working with predictive methods that help make these accelerated decisions, fashion brands should consider shortening planning cycles and partnering with smaller manufacturers. Thus, fashion brands can make themselves agile enough to respond to rapid industry changes and better inform which sales channels to focus on. Not to mention that smaller manufacturers are often more receptive to fashion brand changes in production planning, especially as smaller manufacturers focus more on quality standards than volume quotas.

In addition, smaller manufacturers maintain a relatively closed network of highly verified suppliers and other manufacturing specialists. In building partnerships with smaller manufacturers, fashion brands are accessing those insular networks and more collaborative cultures, as smaller manufacturers nurture networks built on self-interest and self-interest. Therefore, these smaller manufacturers can play an important role in the fashion brand’s manufacturing success as they offer brands more personalized solutions, show more willingness to work harder, and even solve problems with fashion brands to find potential manufacturing solutions.

Planning

To plan production effectively with manufacturers, especially in the rapidly changing environment of the fashion industry, fashion brands must make efficient use of critical customer information. Considering that the core of an omnichannel approach is prioritizing the customer over the product, fashion brands must ultimately remember to put the needs of their customers first. Fashion brands must maintain a very detailed understanding of the needs of their customers, both now and in the future. This detailed understanding plays an important role in achieving omnichannel excellence, as customer information will help fashion brands decide which channels to serve, which products to serve, and where to offer them.

This critical customer information “should be combined with customer behavioral insights drawn from customer interviews, observations and recent research from market experts, as well as analysis of competitors’ e-commerce offerings. .” By leveraging this multidisciplinary approach to analytics, fashion brands can gain a clear understanding of customer expectations, anticipate their changes, and respond appropriately, all without having to face tightening online privacy regulations.