Is brick-and-mortar retail gambling away its future success by disregarding the power of individual service?

Alexa, Siri, Cortana and other chatbots have been welcomed in our homes to offer additional services and comfort. This development is not surprising, since we are already used to these friendly chatbots that assist us when shopping on the Internet. They answer every question instantly, assist in product search, and provide further information. Also, they are unobtrusive and can be simply clicked away – without being considered rude.  However, does it make sense to have chatbots in stores too?

Will we be soon dressed by robots?

Individual service has always been the main benefit of brick-and-mortar retail. But how do robots fit in here? Difficult to imagine. However, fashion retailers are convinced in their pioneering role: the chatbot is the perfect complement to their sales team. Via the customer’s smartphone, the chatbot is always ready to communicate. Especially when the sales personnel is busy, the chatbot offers the possibility of a first dialogue with the customer. It keeps the customer engaged and supports the article search and finding them in different colours and sizes. The target group of digital natives are additionally delighted by its chat functionalities and WhatsApp fans will start chatting right away.

Programmed sensitivity

Sales psychology is very complex. Being present, but not too intrusive – the customer should perceive the sales personnel in a pleasant way. *In particular, female customers often want to have a look around first. Shopping for them does not necessarily mean to look for something specific. As a result, individual service is not needed or desired immediately after entering the store. On the other hand, for men, immediate assistance given by the sales personnel is often too early.* Therefore, the support of a pure informative as well as anonymous chatbot assistant is very welcomed. Especially on larger sales floors, chatbots are able to convince customers within significant time. They are highly efficient and show articles that are interesting only for the individual customer. This is known from the web shop and appreciated especially by men. If the customer has decided to try on one or more articles, the chatbot retreats discreetly. The customer controls the dialogue with the chatbot; when it starts and stops or even putting it on hold. *In contrast to beacons, that push communicational content without the customer triggering an actual impulse.*

Online mechanism brought to the store

The chatbot brings a form of intelligence into the store that is well known in online retailing. It delivers several filters for its recommendations: e.g. popular articles, bestsellers, articles on sale or even product variants. Artificial intelligence, however, is not limited to the chatbot itself. What makes it even more exciting is how it communicates with other systems in the background. The chatbot checks the actual article availability in real-time and compiles data about customer cluster and their preferred article combinations. As a result, recommendations become personal and meaningful, since only articles are offered that are actually available in the store – making them immediately available to buy. All this makes the chatbot a reliable ‘sales person’ as well as a tool that the customer will be very likely to use again next time.

Perfect team-work

The digital assistance along the entire shopping process makes perfect sense especially in the fitting room. In there, the customer should not be left alone, since the fitting room is the place where an actual buying decision is made. During fitting, customers are particularly receptive to cross-selling offers, for example matching articles or accessories. For this, the chatbot offers a unique service: using a “bring-me” function, the customer is able to request the sales personnel to bring the desired article directly to the fitting room without the need of leaving it. The chatbot informs the sales personnel using an internal push-messaging service. In perfect team work, a sales person takes over from here and provides individual service until the customer is ready to buy.

The use of chatbots at the point-of-sale supports digital-oriented target groups via their smartphones where help is needed and refers them to the sales personnel as soon as it is required in the sales process. Therefore, chatbot and sales personnel represent an exceptional good team. Convinced virtually and taken care of personally, is the newest form of customer service. And as if there is an unwritten law: this chatbot in the store is of course female! And goes by the name Detega.

Chatbot Detega informs about articles on the sales floor.

Image source: IStock, Copyright: shapecharge

Did we spark your interest?

Nowadays, fashion retail is not restricted to one single sales channel only. Fashion retailers rather provide their customers with a whole variety of different channels. Hereby, the customers’ expectations are clear:  they demand a smooth shopping experience across all channels. Reliable stock information builds the basis for any satisfied omni-channel customer. A successful “one-face-to-the-customer” strategy can only be achieved with a real-time view on the overall stock; regardless of whether it is being checked in the store, in the franchise store, at the wholesaler or in the online shop. The resulting 100% article availability across all channels guarantees a satisfied customer who may buy again.

Which solution fits everyone?

The one-fits-all approach represents a scalable sizing concept within the fashion industry. Transferred to the IT landscape, the challenge is to integrate all channels in a way that the customer perceives them as one single entity.

Integrated system landscape: Real-time stock view for retailers as well as customers.

Why integrate all channels?

  • Brand stores
  • Stores of franchise partners
  • Concession stores
  • Online shop

Customers do not distinguish where and from whom they buy: in the brand store or its online shop, in the department store or in a franchise store. Customers are looking for a specific article and expect a certain price and quick delivery.

System landscape requirements:

  • Real-time view on item-level
  • Constant updating of involved systems with regards to stock movements
  • Central stock view (for stores, franchise partners, wholesalers) on item-level (real-time) as a single-point-of-truth
  • Access to stock information for all sales partners in real-time
  • Real-time information on item-level also for customers
  • Real-time analysis of article movements, aging structure, replenishment performance to optimise article availability

Analysis for everyone

Of course, an evaluation of individual sales channels can be useful to determine its success. However, only an analysis of all the channels, taking into account the entire branch network and all sales partners and online sales, is decisive for the assessment of the collection-, product range- and, above all, the omni-channel success.

Detego InReports

Consumer Engagement for everyone

Successful labels roll out their new collections in a multi-channel strategy across all sales outlets.  In addition, social media as well as viral campaigns inter-relate with one another. The aim is to offer various touchpoints for customers to interact with brand and articles. A stronger relationship with the brand and more time spent – in the store and in the online shop – lead to more sales.

Detego offers fashion retailers a reliable platform for inventory management, analytics and customer engagement across all channels.

Platform advantages:

  • Scalable: Just as your business requires. Start small. The platform expands itself.
  • Modular:  In-store management, analytics & reports, consumer engagement – choose what is necessary.
  • Flexible: SaaS for switching on and off specific services as needed.
  • Manageable: All services on one single platform. Accessible for everyone.
  • Economical: Investment protection for the seamless integration of existing systems.

Did we spark your interest?

I’ll be right with you…

Did you know that on average a sales assistant in a fashion shop only spends 30% of his or her time on customer sales advice and 70% on administrative activities? He or she compares delivery notes with order lists, tries to get new merchandise on the sales floor as soon as possible and arranges returns for incorrectly supplied articles. Moreover he or she searches for items in the store, the backstore and the shop window. There’s only little time remaining for the customer.

More time for the customer

Detego Suite reverses this model: 70% of the time is spent with the customer and only 30% for administrative duties. The shop assistant’s time is freed up by an acceleration in incoming goods processing.  Boxes do not even have to be opened in order to identify the complete merchandise delivered. Accurate goods receipt prevents that wrongly delivered goods need to be returned. Permanent inventory provides an entire view on the complete inventory – in real time. Due to automated replenishment recommendations, the manual inspection of the inventory in the store is no longer required. Thanks to the system NOS-items are always on the shop floor. Early warning systems prevent out-of-stock situations. The store is always ready for customers. The store personnel can devote itself entirely to the customer.

Stores benefit greatly from improved customer service

  • Move your sales personnel closer to the customers
  • Enable cross-selling potential through proficient salespersons
  • Free your store personnel of administrative duties
  • Accelerate the goods receipt process

When Renting is More Attractive than Buying

Imagine being able to simply rent what you need for customer satisfaction instead of buying:

  • In-store software for your branch network
  • Mobile hardware for article scanning
  • RFID readers (Fixed Reader Infrastructure)
  • Smart Fitting Room technology
  • Black Friday infrastructure (temporary)
  • Updates and services

Makes economic sense

From an economic point of view, instead of buying, renting is a reasonable option since you can retain the operational flexibility of your retail business. You can either “connect” individual store-services with a complete in-store solution for a newly opened store; or quickly “disconnect” it when the store needs to be closed down, without any long-term related costs.

Related expenditures can be booked as OPEX (Operational Expenses), rather than CAPEX (Capital Expenses) that represent investments which can put a heavy burden on the balance sheet.

Of course, software investments should be agile and should allow you to easily adapt to any given circumstances with regards to your store business.

Mainstream software providers like Microsoft lead the way with SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) models like Office 365: Buying is out, renting is in!

Custom Fit: Managed Services

Fashion Designer Measuring Dress Form

Managed services can be independently assembled and are flexible in terms of timeframes – either for a temporary, or long-term implementation.

In the following, you will find some examples of how some of our customers benefit:

  • 24 hours “Black-Friday” infrastructure (temporary)
  • Real-time analysis of store performance (one-off, within a campaign period)
  • Real-time article transparency across entire store network (e.g. for 60 months)
  • Smart Fitting Room technology
  • Fixed Reader Infrastructure. Definition of zones in stores

An individually defined managed service does not have to consist solely of software. It may also include the necessary hardware (e.g. RFID readers) which can be rented as a bundle. We will take charge of the technical coordination of all components and make sure that everything is running smoothly.

Taking measure for the perfect fit

When financing your in-store solution, first we see what best fits your needs in order to get the perfect match for your store as well as your operations.

And what fits best for you?

  • Flexible times: 36, 48 or 60 months
  • Software components for a fixed monthly fee: one or more Detego products
  • Hardware components: number and type of readers. Replacing outdated devices during rental period
  • Definition of zones in the store via Fixed Reader Infrastructure at a fixed price per m2
  • Smart Fitting Room technology
  • Different service components

How does this fit into your IT landscape?

We work with leading cloud-providers to ensure our software is:

  • highly available
  • highly scalable
  • secure
  • and as cost-effective as possible

This, on the one hand, minimises the IT infrastructure in the stores as well as any associated costs, while on the other hand, provides the highest level of flexibility to meet the dynamics of your store business.

Our team ensures that infrastructure and software is available at all times, allowing you to concentrate entirely on your business and your customers.

The connection of stores with restricted Internet connectivity is also represented by our hybrid architecture. Another advantage is that you always receive updates and further developments of our software, in order to stay up-to-date and benefit from new functions and possibilities.

Cloud and the protection of your data

Despite all the benefits of cloud computing, there are nonetheless some concerns about security that need to be overcome. This is why we ensure that your data is always transmitted in an encrypted form – using the latest state-of-the-art technology – and stored securely and redundantly.

Backup and fail-over mechanisms ensure that your operating business can continue without interruption in the event of a system failure.

Data Ownership

Would you rather continue being the master of your (virtual) infrastructure and your data?

No problem – our solution can also be operated on-premise, i.e. using your own infrastructure (e.g. your own data centre).

Customised – for you and your specific requirements.

Managed Services – how does it work?

An important part of our offer is our service & support. From experience, we know that in daily operations, questions – and sometimes even new challenges – may arise. Our service organisation is available to assist you in these matters. 24 hours a day. Every day.

Proof-of-Concept in Pilot Store

Test an individual rental model in a pilot store and find out how we can jointly increase your article availability and offer your customers a new shopping experience.

Our fashion retail customers appreciate this offer of a proof-of-concept. It means they can get relevant data for the decision-making process before they scale the rental model across their entire store network.

Retail Manager

iStock; Copyright: MonikaBaticPhotography iStock; Copyright: Rawpixel iStock; Copyright: pixdeluxe

Did we spark your interest?

For more information on a test please contact us directly.

Usually, the fitting room is the place where purchasing decisions are made by customers. That is enough reason for fashion retailers to leave nothing to chance. The “Smart Fitting Room” offers possibilities of real customer interaction and to gain additional competitive advantage by meeting the exact wants and needs of today’s shoppers.

However, the “Smart Fitting Room” not only changes the shopping experience for customers, it also provides retailers with important insights on customer preferences.

It’s a highlight in the store for both  the customer and the retailer.

Benefits for customers

Via integrated sensors, the Smart Fitting Room identifies the exact articles a customer brings into the fitting room. On screens or mirrors, it then indicates which colours, models and sizes are available directly in the store, in the web shop, or in other stores. Similar to ecommerce, customers receive recommendations for suitable articles based on their preferences, and can browse through the full range of articles, check article availability in real-time and request that sales personnel bring specific articles directly into the fitting room via a call-for-assistance function. The customer perceives this digital shopping experience as the merging of different sales channels. The store, with all its multisensory impressions, presents itself as also being “online” and therefore ensures a completely positive customer journey in the long run.

 

“Smart” for the customer

  • Shows different product combinations
  • Makes product recommendations
  • Article availability check
  • Shows full range of articles to browse through  
  • Additional information, videos, social media integration
  • Customer-friendly fitting (Article-Bring-Service)
  • Enables digitally supported purchase decisions
  • Direct reservation or ordering of articles
  • Different delivery options (delivery to home address, from another store, etc.)
Smart Fitting Room Gif

Benefits for retailers

With the Smart Fitting Room, retailers recognise the potential for up- and cross-selling and use this opportunity to drive the digital transformation in the store through modern forms of communication between customers and the sales personnel. In particular, young fashion brands of the smartphone generation can use the Smart Fitting Room as a powerful tool for the enhancement of customer loyalty. Customer requirements like “ship-from-store” or recommendations in real-time on social media platforms can help retailers stand out from the competition. Small stores situated in expensive A-locations are able to present their full range to customers – an opportunity for additional sales.

What’s more, the Smart Fitting Room provides valuable data: e.g. which articles are often tried-on but rarely bought. The consideration of customer preferences increases the retailer’s “operational excellence” making it possible to offer customers what they really want. In addition, analysis also supports merchandise optimisation.

The concept of the Smart Fitting Room can also be expanded for future personalisation. When logged into their account, customers can receive offers based on their individual fashion preferences.

“Smart“ for the retailer

  • Promotes up- and cross-selling potential
  • Interactive dialogue between customers and store personnel
  • Shows full range of products (Virtual-Endless-Shelf)
  • Retail analytics: insights on customer preferences
  • Increased operational excellence, optimisation of merchandise plan
  • Omni-channel: Integration of online and brick-and-mortar retail  
  • Engagement with store and brand
  • Personalised customer offers

The challenge of today’s modern retail is to get customers in the store. This enhances a retailer’s chance for “conversion”. The Smart Fitting Room, with its integrated services, is the perfect tool for that.

Want to find out more about Detego’s Smart Fitting Room solution?

Smart Fitting Room Display

More from the blog

Just smoke and mirrors? Breaking down the business case of Smart Fitting Rooms

Smart Fitting Rooms are finally live in the retail market. So what exactly are they, what do they do, and what kind of value do they add to retail business?

How does the store change through omni-channel technologies?

Stores have always appealed to the senses, particularly for “seeing” and “touching”. These sensory experiences are now enhanced by interactive, digital touchpoints (e.g. via the virtual endless shelf) which enable us to browse through a complete assortment, to get online recommendations in the fitting room, or to have the possibility of returning online purchased items to a store.

But what does the introduction of mobile, digital signage and IoT mean for the set up of stores and for staff?

These technologies offer a great opportunity for the perfect interplay between product presentation, personal advice and the customer´s desire for self-service, which makes it easier to offer a customer journey that fits well with the brand’s promise.  Let´s consider an example: A customer checks the availability of a skirt in a particular size and color via her smartphone before entering a store.  When she visits the store, her smartphone shows a 360 degree presentation of her desired article on digital signage. Recommendations of matching items are presented too and she takes them to the fitting room. The “smart fitting room” recognises the articles via IoT technology and encourages her to browse through the complete assortment on an interactive screen. Other sizes, variants or accessories are shown and a sales assistant can be alerted through a wearable device to bring desired articles to the fitting room.  IoT facilitates a new way of sales dialogue and service.

Woman with dress standing in front of the mirror in the checkroom

What kind of technologies are already out there and which ones are coming soon?  What benefits do they offer?

Splitting the store into zones to automatically capture merchandise movements via ceiling readers is already here, as is the analysis of real-time data to optimise the presentation of merchandise and fulfill in-store KPIs. Smart fitting rooms, as an essential link to other omni-channel services, are already being used by some innovative retailers. More exact planning tools are underway and predictive analytics is the future.

Will customers do everything themselves via their smartphones and will there no longer be any store staff in future?

No, but store staff will need to adapt to a new role. Their job and sales advice will be digitally supported. For example, click & collect article reservations will be done via a tablet. Customers will be able to act in an independent manner using their smartphone e.g. to check article availability in real time. If the customer wants sales advice, though, store staff will be there for service and support.

Image sources: Fotolia; Copyright: zhudifeng / AdobeStock; Copyright: Nomad_Soul

Understanding your customer remains paramount

Today’s “always-on” customers jump between sales channels on a whim, forcing retailers to meet growing expectations for “shopping anywhere, anytime”. The focus is no longer so much on which articles a retailer wants to sell, but rather to whom they want to sell as well as their individual wants and needs. Any friction between offline and online retailing consequently leads to lost sales. Customer centricity demands a complete realignment of in-store processes, technologies and personnel.  More specific trends triggered by this “customer centricity” are described below.

Trend #1 Mobile Interactions

Using the internet, customers are accustomed to fast answers; especially when it comes to the availability of a desired article – if no information can be found promptly, the customer will be lost to the competition. Spoiled by the speed of getting information online, the customer now expects the same service in a store. This trend will mean even more mobile devices – such as tablets and smartphones – being used by sales personnel to provide information on individual articles at the point-of-sale (POS). The use of mobile RFID readers for inventory or goods-inbound procedures in the store accelerates in-store processes and ensures real-time information. New forms of mobile interactions will increase due to digitised customer cards via smartphones, just as mobile payments will be used more extensively.

Trend #2 Omni-channel Forward

Omni-channel retailing will continue to develop. Services such as ‘click & collect’ are known and have been widely implemented. This service will be followed by ‘return-to-store’ (eCommerce returns) and ‘ship-from-store’ to provide customers with a consistently positive shopping experience.  Fulfilment from the store (ship-from-store) is necessary in order to make prompt deliveries and so that retailers can offer services requested by the customer such as same-day-delivery. An efficient implementation of omni-channel services requires real-time transparency of inventory. The integration of all channels, as well as digitalisation in the store, not only ensures a successful customer journey, but also reduces over-stocking and generates additional knowledge about the customer. 

Trend #3 Real-Time In-Store Analytics

Asking the question “what does the customer actually want?” will lead bricks-and-mortar retailers to more digital intelligence, especially at the POS. Up until now, a customer entering a store was often an unknown entity with regards to their buying intentions. Reliable data in real-time, its evaluations and the derivation of recommendations to take will allow bricks-and-mortar retailers to use similar customer profiles to those typically used by online retailers. Retailers will be able to actively manage their store business based on evaluations on availability of items from the current collection, or the number of items that have been tried-on but not bought, as well as article dwell times on the sales floor. The use of real-time data at the POS is the basic requirement for merchandise planning, controlling and presentation.

Trend #4 Internet of Things (IoT)

More and more retailers will use the numerous possibilities of the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based services to better understand their customers, increase effectiveness and further improve their customer’s shopping experience. The buying behaviour in the store can be evaluated in real-time with the use of IoT: e.g. RFID sensors combined with analytical software to optimise the shopping experience of customers. In addition, IoT enables the personalisation of offers and digital signage that increases the probability of self-service and more intelligent and extensive interaction with consumers in the store. Using mobile devices at the POS, retailers can inform customers directly or send individual offers to them. The Internet of Things is undoubtedly here to stay.

Trend #5 Consumer Engagement

The trend for interacting with customers – the so-called consumer engagement – involves adapting processes as well as technologies (see IoT trend above) and customer-oriented sales personnel (see mobility trend). Sales staff need to be able to inform customers about the availability of articles in real-time – regardless of whether the article is available in a store, in the warehouse, or at a franchise store. Interactive systems (e.g. in the fitting room) collect information on customer preferences and can recommend suitable items to customers accordingly. The customer can communicate directly from the fitting room with store staff who can support the buying and decision-making process.

Trend #6 Predictive Recommendations

Artificial intelligence will gain importance in the retail industry as part of a digital transformation. Self-learning systems and predictive recommendations will establish themselves, starting from customer requirements and sales-oriented forecasts for purchasing and merchandising up to buying recommendations for consumers in a store, fitting room or online store.

Trend #7 Cloud-based Services

In the future, cloud-based in-store services will be the most affordable and flexible solution for medium-sized and larger store chains. When expanding, services can simply be switched on or off when a new store is opening or closing using Software-as-a-Service models. Roll-outs, maintenance and reliability are generally more cost-efficient and cloud-based services will continue unabated as a trend. 

Did we spark your interest?

After reading the latest post by fashion-blogger Andy Torres, Mia, 17, believes she urgently needs a new pair of jeans. Together with two girlfriends and – of course – her smartphone, Mia starts her shopping trip. It does not take long until the first beacon pops up on her smartphone to lure her into a store and direct her to the promotion. The jeans are super-trendy and the right size is available too. Mia takes them to the fitting room to try them on right away. In the meantime, her girlfriends are chilling while watching video clips of fashion shows until they hear Mia cry out. Unfortunately, the “slim-cut” of the jeans does not look good at all. Well, what other jeans styles are there? Touch, browse, swipe, click. It’s all right there on the interactive screen in the fitting room. All three of them find that totally hip, and furthermore, Mia does not have to get dressed again and dig through the whole jeans assortment on the shelves herself. She finds all the articles right here in the fitting room. A bit like a virtual, endless shelf. Using the button for “store assistant”, the desired jeans are then brought to Mia by the sales personnel. Whilst waiting, Mia is checking out various shirts, belts and bags – all from the current collection. Wow, Mia found a sweater she likes very much. Is it still available in size ‘small’? And in what colour? That’s just awesome; she immediately gets feedback that the sweater is in stock and can be found on the upper level, right here in the store. There’s also a XXL-Bag she likes as well. However, it is only available in the web shop. Five pieces are left and Mia is considering getting the bag too via the in-store ordering service, offered directly here on the screen in the fitting room.

 

Understand customers. Improve service. Sell more.

 

Most people in sales, marketing, IT and logistics departments at the headquarters of any fashion brands would agree that providing a consistent positive customer experience is only possible through digital change in the store and throughout the entire supply chain in order to boost sales and let customers relate with the brand. Using the Internet-of-Things (IoT) in the store, digital intelligence is provided on the sales floor. So called smart objects – i.e. garments equipped with RFID labels – generate useful data and trigger measures, such as displaying information about the item and/or matching accessories on interactive touchscreens. Furthermore, intelligent RFID ceiling reading devices allow data to be collated in real-time, capturing all movements of the “intelligent garments” and evaluating all relevant information with analytical software. For instance, which zones in the store are highly frequented, and which are less popular? What articles are often tried-on, but rarely bought? Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) generated in the store – such as conversion rates in the fitting room, or dwell time of articles on the sales floor – reveal a lot of information about customer behaviour and offer the potential for improvements in customer service. If a customer decides to go to a store, he/she often really just wants to know one thing: is a specific article available in the store and if so, where? A transparent article management process provides information on the availability of sought-after items in the fitting room, in the store, as well as in the web shop. At the same time, cross-selling opportunities can be actively pursued and, in case of critical minimum quantities of items on the sales floor, notifications are sent for timely replenishment.  If a store is stocked appropriately and the product assortment is presented nicely and according to consumers’ preferences, articles are sold at their calculated prices and do not end up in sales-outlets. In the background, IoT-based services do their magic. Mia had a great shopping experience and is happy with her purchase. She gives the store the best rating and shares her purchase via smartphone immediately. She will definitely come back again.

Image source: IStock, Copyright: JackF

Did we spark your interest?

In fashion retail, still more than 80 percent of the total revenue is made in brick-and-mortar stores, and only 20 percent from online retailing1. Despite this fact, reports about consumer behaviour and how they interact with the merchandise are mainly focused on web shops and most resellers do not have in-store KPIs to give them valuable insights into their store business. How fashion retailers might counter this analytical imbalance between online and offline retailing. 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are an important management tool for any business-driven entity. Ultimately, the business areas that account for the most revenue should also be the focus for analyses regarding optimisation and future growth potential. However, in the omni-channel environment, the analytical focus is still largely on the online channel, even though for most fashion brands, physical stores drive far more sales than any web store. Online KPIs (such as conversion rate, cost-per-click, bounce rate, etc.) are evaluated by experts using analytics software on a daily basis in order to reach the desired goal – the optimisation of the web store.

 

Why the imbalance?

Web shops often go that much further in terms of search engine optimisation (SEO) and optimal presentation of merchandise. They also use complex algorithms to replace the physical sales staff and to influence consumers with virtual sales psychology: for example, making recommendations, such as “Customers that were interested in this product also bought these products”. All these efforts and expenses are measured in terms of marketing effectiveness. After all, they have to pay off in the end. In web shops, tracking and measuring is easy, since customers not only leave a trace, but also their individual profiles. Physical stores lack this kind of analytical transparency and the information that’s needed in order to efficiently manage and optimise the business.

How to bring the same level of analytical transparency from online retailing into physical stores

With an increasing number of collections in ever shorter time frames, fashion retailers have to put in an enormous amount of marketing effort to promote campaigns and bring customers into their stores. Therefore, it’s only rational to implement common measures of performance as well in the store, such as:

  1. What is the conversion rate per campaign (Marketing Effectiveness)?
  2. What kind of cross-selling offers are well received by customers and which are not?
  3. What is the bounce rate – abandonment in the fitting room?
  4. Which articles of a specific campaign are actively moved?

These factors, originally from the world of online retailing, also represent valuable KPIs for in-store operations. Findings and effects are totally new to the fashion retail industry, but make perfect sense. Retailers gain a transparent view on various aspects: for instance, what articles, or combinations of articles, are being taken to the fitting room; and what articles remain untouched by the customer. From this information, retailers learn how to optimise their presentation of merchandise on the sales floor and how to get more cross-selling opportunities – even when no sales people are available at that moment.

Detego Reports - Fitting Room Conversions

Detego InReports delivers store KPIs such as the conversion rate per campaign and the service quality of sales personnel

Meaningful reports require good data

In order to create meaningful dashboards, a satisfactory database is required. It’s self-explanatory that the higher the quality of the data, the higher the quality of the reports. In omni-channel retailing, for valuable data, you really need to monitor article inventory at the item-level, in real-time. With inventory accuracy approaching 100 percent – without the need for manual scanning – retailers are finally equipped with data quality that provides the basis for reliable information and meaningful reports. Having real-time information on total stocks at item-level for all stores (including franchise partners) offers another advantage: customers, or sales personnel, no longer have to look for items since the exact whereabouts of an article can be displayed on a mobile device (like a tablet PC, or smartphone), or terminal. Articles can even be located, at any time, thanks to the integration of fixed readers in a store’s ceiling. Real-time information displayed on tablet PCs allows staff to answer consumers’ questions about sought-after articles. It also means being able to make reservations throughout the entire store network and to ensure availability commitments are met – and that’s essential for omni-channel retailing.

 

Enhanced services for customers

The digital store’s analytical insights provide great opportunities for individual customer service too. Touchscreen displays in the fitting room can allow the customer to instantly check on article availability and check for other sizes. If the article is out-of-stock in a particular store, information showing where else it’s still available is displayed. The customer can also make reservations, so they can pick up the article in a chosen store later, or get the article delivered to their home address.

In addition, customers can press the “call-for-assistance” button in a fitting room, in order to get further help from sales personnel (e.g. to get a similar article, or the same article, in a different colour). These digital functions enable stores to capitalise on their core strength: that is, individual service. This newly gained level of service can also be evaluated as service quality. Analytical insights enable new possibilities, such as optimisation of article availability, automatic replenishment, as well as better customer service. They also support store staff in their role as an adviser. Tablet PCs can recognise any article thanks to an automatic article identification process and give recommendations on other items, as well as accessories, which may complete the look and promote cross-selling. This recommendation function (e.g. “Customers who bought/ were interested in this article also bought/ were interested in these articles”) is well-known among web stores, who have long since used the process to tempt customers to buy more. So why not to use it in the store as well?

If these services could be rated by consumers in the physical store, just like in the online store, they’d be sure to get the highest rating possible.

1 Source: Bundesverband des Deutschen Textileinzelhandels, in „BTE-Pressemitteilung zum Textilumsatz 2015“ unter www.bte.de.

Image sources: Fotolia, Copyright: Rawpixel

Did we spark your interest?

In the web store, fashion retailers are able to track the purchasing preferences of their customers, as well as how they navigate through the product range, or which articles they are interested in and how long they engage with specific items. All this accumulated data can be evaluated and linked to individual customer and purchasing profiles. As a result, fashion retailers know their customers and are able to address them individually according to their requirements.

And what about the physical stores?

After years of having basically no idea what customers actually want, the Internet of Things now provides the opportunity to gain new in-store insights through data generated by smart objects – e.g. RFID labelled garments – and how shoppers interact with them. Combined with real-time analytics, this newly acquired data allows fashion retailers to learn more about their customers and to consequently improve the customer journey with better services in their physical stores.

IoT – opportunities for fashion retailers

Customer Experience

  • Improved digital shopping experience in the store via various interaction options
  • Real-time information in order to keep promises made to customers
  • Increased customer satisfaction through high levels of article availability

  

Store Management

  • High data accuracy in all systems for better decision-making
  • Less discounting – more items sold at full price
  • Digital shopping experience creates a competitive advantage

  

Logistics

  • Reduced logistics costs and administration
  • Increased control of entire supply chain, supplier rating

IoT – opportunities for consumers

  • Article availability checks at the item-level (across all stores and web shop)
  • Direct reservation options
  • Retrieving delivery options
  • Direct interaction with either the fashion retailer and/ or the logistics company (during delivery)
  • Checking item combinations in the fitting room (without the need to actually try them on; options to choose desired delivery location, or items are directly brought to the fitting room)
  • Simplified returning process using 24/7 packing stations

Want to experience IoT in retail?

We would like to show you how the Internet of Things helps fashion retailers improve business processes, obtain relevant data and information as a basis for decision-making and for providing a better shopping experience for customers.

We’d be happy to take you on a tour of the Intel IoT Ignition Lab in London, where the technology can be witnessed first-hand.

Did we spark your interest?