Veröffentlicht am

Why fashion retails should ignore sales quotes for budgeting decisions

We believe that data driven decision making will become more and more important in the years to come. One of the industries that has been playing catch-up in the last few years is fashion retail. We currently work with a great number of fashion distributors and fashion retailers and consult them on there buying decisions for their omni channel stores.

We have come to notice that many budget decisions are taken on the bases of last season’s sales and sales quotes. Most of our customers have always used last year‘s numbers to decide on how much of a certain brand to buy and nothing more. We believe that there is a more efficient way of taking budgeting decisions for fashion retailer.

In this article we will explain the three most important things to consider when taking budget decisions. In essence we want you to forget about sales quotes and ignore them entirely.

„Why fashion retails should ignore sales quotes for budgeting decisions“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

How do you know you are in control of your data?

Want to find out whether you are really in control of your own data? In this short YouTube-Video we dive into the topic of data ownership.

As a decisionmaker, Data Quality is probably the one topic that is holding you back most on a day to day basis. If you want to be able to judge whether data is truly clean, you need to know where it came from. In our opinion you need to understand how data is collected to determine the quality of your data.

Therefore the first simple question we generally ask when we get started on a project is: Who do we need to go to for the insights that we need to be able to help you?  In this short video we dive into the answers we get and some straightforward implications of poor data ownership.

„How do you know you are in control of your data?“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

How setting targets can help optimize your omnichannel resources effectively

Resource allocation and optimization is a topic that many retailers do not look at often enough. Budget allocation decisions are generally taken once or twice a year. This is usually done when it is time to purchasing the goods for the next season.

In our opinion, one of the core capabilities of an omnichannel organization is being able to perform analytical optimization. Analytical optimization might sound very technical, but by that we mean that you should look at each part of your business through the eyes of a business intelligence expert. Of course not every organization has these resources and capabilities in-house. However, if you go about these processes pragmatically, there is a lot to be gained.

We believe that it is important to plan more regularly and in shorter cycles.

For retail businesses this means using the off-season dips to plan and optimize your business. The summer months are great for that. Especially in fashion retail, businesses focus too much on top level revenue and inventory levels. The Winter months are the ones in which the money is made. Therefore you need to plan ahead, build up cash reserves and give yourself time to breath in the summer months. „How setting targets can help optimize your omnichannel resources effectively“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

This is why the future of retail is digital

We believe that it’s important for retailers to continue to do that what they do best. Digital transformation is a process not a goal.

Yet, for many retailers this is not very easy to grasp. We see that a great number of retailers think that digital is the future or at least online purchases are the future. To a certain extend there is some truth to that. However we believe that customers are not fully ready to go all-in on online.

Next to that, they enjoy the possibility to shop in stationary shops. It might currently look as though pure online players are “winning”, but there are some clear limitations. Traditional retailers might not be fully out of the game, just yet. That is, if they continue to do what they have been doing best for many decades. „This is why the future of retail is digital“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

Data-driven sourcing and inventory management for fashion retailers

Sourcing is one of the most important success factors for a fashion retailer. The main challenge in sourcing is of course to buy the right styles and high quality collections that suit your customer base. 

Sourcing is by far the most crucial element of a healthy retail business. Therefore it deserves a good bit of strategic senior management attention.

Fashion Retailers have a number very industry specific challenges on their hands. For starters: the relatively short product life cycles paired with long production times and lead times make it very hard to plan. Understanding your inventory risk at an early stage in the season or even before placing your orders, is absolutely essential. „Data-driven sourcing and inventory management for fashion retailers“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

How data cleansing will help your fashion retail business take the right decisions

Multi or Omni-Channel businesses tend to focus on one business unit most strongly. It is tempting and natural to focus on the unit that brings the highest turnover. However we see that many business opportunities are foreseen when doing so.

In fashion, we oftentimes see that sourcing is generally done for the stationary stores. It is assumed that the customers that buy online are the same ones as offline.

Yet we have come to believe that this is not necessarily the case. Next to that, the customer behavior is generally different between online and offline stores. It is generally important to develop a sourcing strategy that takes both businesses into consideration.

Omni-Channel data management is very difficult. Especially for businesses that have both brick and mortar stores as well as online webshops. The challenge is usually that customer and transactional data is not stored centrally. This can be due to the fact that the offline stores were there first and online followed just “recently”.

However, we have come to know that there is a lot of optimization potential for multi-channel businesses that combine the insights of both business units.

By using cross-functional sources of information, we are able to identify hidden potentials. These could range from short term sourcing quick wins to long term marketing budget allocation potentials. At the basis of it all are a variety of sources of information. The source of this data could be: transactional data, sourcing data as well as customer data. „How data cleansing will help your fashion retail business take the right decisions“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

How Amazon Prime Day will make you think twice about purchasing something in the next few days

Amazon Prime day is going into its third round. The last two years the exclusive sales event for Amazons Prime Members became one of ecommerce most important sales days of the year. Both larger and smaller retailers alike (who sell on amazon) cannot wait for this monster sales peak.

The overall growth rate of the Prime Day is impressive to say the least. With hundreds of thousands of deals within a time period of only 30 hours, these super sales are a feast to anyone who needs “something”. From clothes to tech, and all you need to join in on the fun is a Prime Account (which comes in at 45 EUR p/year).

Prime day will be bigger than Black Friday

At the top of the list of most hated days in the year (for traditional retailers that is) is surely Black Friday (or the online equivalent Cyber Monday). This sales event is nothing more but a cry for help for an entire industry that is battling their over-stocks. Turnover pressure has become tremendous, with investors wanting to see growth to cover for their investments. Retailers see very little alternative than to simply selling all of their over-stock at ridiculously low prices.  „How Amazon Prime Day will make you think twice about purchasing something in the next few days“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

EU Fines Google Over Shopping-Feature

The European Union and Google (Alphabet) have not been the best of friends so far. Today though, this latest EU-Commission ruling tops them all.

Don’t feel like reading: listen to this post (07:13 minutes)

The EU-commission has said that Google is using its dominant role to promote its own products once more. This time Google’s retail marketplace Google Shopping is at the center of the discussion. The EU is criticizing that Google is putting Product Listing Ads (PLAs) above the regular search results.

The EU-commission argues that this placement cannot solely be used to promote products that are listed on Google (or a service by Google). The placement should promote a wider diversity of product offerings. „EU Fines Google Over Shopping-Feature“ weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht am

Amazon Prime Wardrobe: Fashion Nightmare or Blessing?

With Amazons new Prime Wardrobe offer the marketplace giant will show retailers how to disrupt yet another industry. In the world of online shopping and fashion, convenience is a key differentiator. It is this exact customer laziness convenience that the Tech-Giant addresses with its new Prime Wardrobe Service.

In essence the service is very straightforward. Amazon Prime customers who order more than 3 pieces receive their goods without being charged for shipping. Upon receiving the cloths, you have 7 days to try them on. Whatever you don’t like you can simply send back (Amazon picks the returns up for you), again free of charge. You just keep what fit best and you liked most. „Amazon Prime Wardrobe: Fashion Nightmare or Blessing?“ weiterlesen