Each month, The Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS)gathers global retail trends to keep abreast of retailing best practice and innovations.
Marking the start of a new partnership with Ragtrader, here, Erika Pacini from the ACRS spotlights a few of the best for local retailers. For the full and exclusive report, check out the Ragtrader April edition, out March 27.
Instagram is fast becoming a popular social media platform for fashion brand engagement, particularly among fashion brands and retailers. For example, U.S. department store Bloomingdale’s encouraged consumers to help style blogger Danielle Bernstein for Fashion Week live on Instagram to encourage comments and participation on the social media platform.
Bernstein, who blogs on her website as “We Wore What”, has approximately 375,000 followers on Instagram compared with Bloomingdale’s 96,000. In the lead up to the event, Bernstein posted a photo of herself at Bloomingdale’s on her Instagram, directing her fans to Bloomingdale’s account.
The event involved fans voting on items of clothing photographed and posted by Bloomingdale’s, which created an outfit for the blogger to wear at Fashion Week.
The event began with a photo of Bernstein in a dressing room wearing a robe, alerting fans that she was a “blank slate” to be dressed. Bloomingdale’s then prompted fans to select a pair of pants, with the two most popular pairs captured with a video of Bernstein wearing them. Bloomingdale’s continued to post images in this way as the final look developed.
The event ended with a video of Bernstein thanking fans for helping choose her Fashion Week outfit and Bloomingdale’s encouraged its followers watch out for Bernstein wearing the outfit live. Bloomingdale’s used the branded hashtag #BloomiesLiveStyling throughout its posts for continuity, which also helped to build social media commentary and following.Technology is allowing fashion brands to preview experiences and products in a virtual format. For example, U.K. fashion retailer Topshop claimed a world-first in February when they live-streamed its ‘Topshop Unique’ catwalk show in virtual reality from the Turbine Hall at London's Tate Modern to its flagship Oxford Street store.
The installation allowed customers to live the experience from their virtual front-row seat, with the “unique telepresence experience” transported the viewer to the show. Participants wore specially commissioned head-sets to enter the 360 degree virtual world, which was a hybrid of live feed of the runway, backstage action, VIP arrivals, set design, and animated features. Meanwhile, the online experience for at-home participants offered an immersive journey that was both personal and social.
Everything from the clothes and make-up to the music was able to be purchased and shared across every Topshop online platform, channel or device. Topshop believes that this unique virtual reality technology has the potential to open up fashion shows to consumers wherever they are.
Product customisation is also being propelled by various technologies among is popular among fashion brands. For instance, US footwear label Stuart Weitzman is offering customers the option to customise a version of the pump sandal often seen on celebrities at red carpet events.
From February 12 to March 12, consumers were able to create their own version of the Stuart Weitzman “Nudist” pump, choosing their own colors and heel height. The uniquely designed shoes are handcrafted in Spain by Stuart Weitzman artisans.
The campaign titled “SW x You” launched with a featured box on the brand’s homepage below an image of Kate Moss wearing the shoe in Stuart Weitzman’s spring campaign.
When a consumer opens the online shoe customisation tab, they are invited to begin designing and they were given until March 12 to place their order to be delivered by end of May. The tool first requires consumers to select a heel height and followed by a colour, with both available in options well beyond the premade pump. Prices for different materials range from US$385 to US$625.
Finally, consumers select their size, which is followed by an image of the completed design and compliments prior to preceding to the checkout or saving the design online. A saved design can be purchased with one click from the gallery if a consumer returns to purchase them at a later time. Stuart Weitzman has also incorporated social sharing features, which allow consumers to share their designs with their social networks.
Erika Pacini is a research consultant at the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS), Monash University.