Digital Transformation in the Fashion Industry

Gone are the days when brand communication was mostly made up of ads that appeared on billboards, in magazines and/or on television. Today, all of this is augmented with Digital revolution.

The fashion industry is engaging with digital technology in new and different ways, in order to stay competitive and to engage with the ways that consumers are searching for jewelry, clothes, and accessories.

Technology is turning the fashion industry inside out. Today, consumers are most active as digital shoppers in the Fashion industry and are demanding a heartening digital experience across channels. People love the brick-and-mortar stores but also exploit online channels through social media, while on the go and online. These Omni-channel experiences should provide customers with a “wow” factor and Digital Transformation is the way to achieve this objective.

In today’s fashion world, competition is fiercer than ever, giving consumers’ far greater power & they demand only the very best customer service. Most of the fashion brands now have a social media presence on Pinterest, Instagram presence, tapping into our heightened engagement with imagery.

It can take many years to build a successful brand, but only a short time to destroy it. Fashion brands have always needed to be ready and able to respond to issues of uncertainty, risk, and reputation, all at varying times.

Burberry is the posterchild in digital for fashion that started with live streaming runshows. Then came iPads and mobile apps for consumers to try out different outfits.

In Paris, a window front invites passers-by to download the Louis Vuitton Pass app in order to interact with the window and explore.

L’Oréal has put up a 'social wall' on its main website so consumers can share posts while shopping.

Harrods is the latest luxury retailer to transform its in-store experience with digital technology. They have many new super-high resolution stairwell displays at the flagship Knightsbridge, London store

Adidas has a store wall which shows shoe collections in 3D to see shoe designs from all angles.

With this availability of streaming big data and resultant analytics, fashion brands use the insights for hyper-personalization, align consumer experience and to track customer trends. The customer’s data is the core component of digital transformation in the fashion industry. So, hyper-personalization of mobile retail experiences will be huge in the near future.

Today, dressing rooms enhanced with augmented reality and social media features have transformed the shopping experience altogether. L’Oreal, Maybelline have already started testing special kiosks that enable shoppers to virtually try on makeup by simply taking a picture.

Even the most successful digital retail experiences are built from desktop experiences but the future is in mobile with a predicted 80% of sales traffic coming via this medium.

With digital at a side, fashion weeks across London, Paris, Milan & New York witness runway shows streamed online, Instagram & snapchat stories in real time, creating a close connection between consumers and brands.