Global trend forecasting agency WGSN staged its biannual business presentation in Melbourne recently. Melinda Oliver reports on the key talking points.
Bridge the gap
With e-commerce sites, shopping blogs and mobile technologies screaming for consumer attention, WGSN senior catwalks editor Sue Evans urged traditional retailers to provide something the digital world can’t.
The UK-based trend analyst told an industry audience that no-nonsense advertising, honest communication and creating opportunities for interaction are vital to lure consumers in-store. Most essential to new-era customer engagement, however, is exploiting the digital revolution.
“The new customer is really a product of our time,” she said. “She is very tech savvy, with all that time spent researching online and shopping.”
Evans said the 2010 customer wants to be part of the brand’s ‘world’. To facilitate this, companies must be transparent with their operations and the online medium is the perfect tool.
“One way of opening up your world is already being exploited by big fashion brands and that is the live streaming of catwalk shows,” she said. “At the Alexander McQueen show, live-streamed last October, it got so many hits it actually crashed the internet.”
Taking it a step further, luxury label Burberry Prorsum opened up its recent catwalk show to public viewing online – then made two of its signature trench coats available to order on its website immediately after. UK fast fashion retailer Topshop put its shop window displays on its website, allowing remote customers to literally “windowshop”, yet buy from home.
Respect the blogger
Evans warned retailers to ignore the booming army of fashion bloggers “at your peril”.
“American Vogue certainly aren’t [ignoring bloggers]. Their March edition ... features the hottest new bloggers which are currently creating fashion news and videos 24/7 at the click of a mouse. They are now the new style advisers,” she said.
“You have to ask yourself, which bloggers are writing about your brand, and if they are not, why not?”
Cross-promotional opportunities forged between major retailers and bloggers is growing in strength, she said. UK department store Selfridges adopted this strategy when it collaborated with vintage blogger Supermarket Sarah, who created an in-store art installation of products. The items used were photographed and made available to purchase on the Supermarket Sarah blog.
Another strategy is directly encouraging customers to blog about a brand. Evans said the Burberry ‘Art of the Trench’ blog is a key example of this. People were encouraged to upload pictures of themselves in a trench coat to the site and provide feedback on other people’s images.
“It is turning into a collaborative visual merchandising world. Have you got creative customers? Are you talking to them?”
Strive higher
Customer service in bricks and mortar stores is moving beyond the traditional to embrace the digital sphere. Evans said a prime example is Macy’s in New York, which placed internet portals all throughout the department store. These allow customers to compare product prices with other stores.
“It’s a great move on Macy’s part,” she said. “They know if their customers do find a product cheaper elsewhere, it would need to be much cheaper for them to get up and trudge to another shop rather than buy it there at Macy’s.”
Another example Evans explored is Italian retailer Pinko, with its innovative Store Stylist system. The in-store online format shows customers how to put current collection looks together and enables them to make orders on the spot, which has resulted in a 20 per cent average increase in sales.
Beyond digital elements, Evans said post-financial crisis shoppers want simple to interpret and easy to navigate visual merchandising displays and product layouts.
“Lane Crawford [department store] in Hong Kong have noticed a real change in consumer behaviour,” she said.
“Today’s customers have less shopping time and are more conservative with their purchases.”
She said the store has made its displays more streamlined so customers can shop faster and with more confidence that they are making pertinent choices.
Further, Evans said signposting seasonal trends and ‘must have’ items on the shop floor is vital in this economic climate. For example, Japanese retailer Uniqlo displays its latest products in clear categories and colour blocks to spell out the options.
With customers spending more time shopping online, Evans said a key move is to take retailing opportunities to them, rather than waiting for them to one day visit a store.
“Pop-up stores aren’t a new concept, but nowadays they have more relevance than ever,” she said. “You need to push forward [with creative innovations]. People are making pop-up stores an event.”
Team benefit
Collaborations between high street retailers and premium or designer brands have shifted in purpose, to see the practice more mutually beneficial for both parties.
Evans said it is now about “smart collaborations with more depth and meaning behind them”. These are of two-way benefit, rather then just being good for the lower-end retailer. For example, when European designer Sonia Rykiel collaborated on a collection with high street retailer H&M, the range was not only sold in the price-conscious retailer’s stores, but also in Rykiel’s upmarket boutiques.
“[It] adds credibility to the ‘trading up’ customer. The high street customer can feel confident that buying into a designer collaboration is credible and not just a designer name stuck on a very average product. There is more meaning for her money.”
For a breakdown of the key fashion trends presented at the seminar, pick up a copy of Ragtrader’s next issue.