Rebecca Minkoff's new stores could prove to be the model for seamlessly integrating consumer technology into retail. If retailers want to maintain or grow their market share, they would do well to make their shopping experience imitate the lives of their consumers. Shoppers have become accustomed to connectivity and immediacy, all enabled through technology. How can retailers “mirror” (pun intended) these attributes in their stores to drive sales?
Well, there's one trailblazer who could be showing the retail industry the path to success in the mobile age.
How one fashion retailer is creating a blueprint for the fully-integrated retail experience
One of the new business clichés is that every company is a tech company now. Indeed, retailers in all verticals have had to go through the growing pains that come with integrating advanced technology in a business where there was very little precedent. For fashion designer and entrepreneur Rebecca Minkoff, however, the marriage of tech and retail was only natural.
"I think we're finding that myself included, our customer, it's how she lives. She has a seamless sort of transition with technology, and her relationship with it is very natural," Minkoff said in an interview with Time Warner Cable News in Buffalo. "So for us as a fashion brand, it was only natural to extend that into technology."
The Wall Street Journal reported that last month, Minkoff opened two new retail locations in New York and San Francisco. On its face, there isn't anything particularly exciting about yet another retailer in the crowded fashion markets of these cultural hubs. But by the time a shopper takes her first step into Minkoff's store, she'll realize that this isn't your average shopping experience.
When a customer walks into Minkoff's flagship Soho location, she is greeted by a touchscreen that offers her a chance to order a latte. From there, she can use the touchscreen to request that her favorite pieces be delivered right to the dressing room, and an automated system will text her when the room is ready. The shopper can have all of this without needing to walk around the store, though there's nothing stopping her from shopping the old-school way.
Once the customer is in the dressing room, smart mirrors automatically notice the RFID tagged garments and suggest matching pieces to the shopper, as well as availability in different sizes. When they're ready to check out, shoppers don't even have to go to a register - the clerks have iPads that allow them to ring up a purchase from anywhere in the store. Minkoff's early customers have raved about these capabilities and the convenience they offer.
"This is a new shopper," Uri Minkoff, chief executive and co-founder of the company, and Rebecca's brother said in the Wall Street Journal. The stores took a problem-solution approach to technology, he said. "What would be the ideal way of shopping that would take away the pain points?"
Customer interaction with store technology allows for data-driven retail
Every time a consumer uses the touchscreen to place an order, or a mirror scans an RFID tag, that information is captured and made readily available for the store's use. It allows the retailer to keep track of inventory, which is essential for supply chain management.
But perhaps even more powerful is that it provides a fine-grained look at customer tastes and preferences. This level of consumer insight is essential for predictive analytics, demand forecasting and a host of other key business processes.
It makes the store more like an e-commerce website. Consider Amazon: A customer makes a purchase or views an item on the site. The site captures that interaction and uses the information to upsell the customer on related products - something that benefits both customers and retailers.
Blurring the line between virtual and brick-and-mortar shopping
The talk about the fully integrated retail shopping experience usually revolves around traditional retailers moving into the tech space and evolving in step with consumers as they become more dependent on their mobile and web-connected devices. But as the Wall Street Journal noted, Amazon's move into the brick-and-mortar space shows that retail shoppers are demanding a complete experience.
The virtual shopping world has collided with the analog one. Customers want the flexibility to research online and buy in stores, or research in stores and make the final purchase online. They want to be able to buy from anywhere instantly. In short, they're looking for a frictionless shopping experience, just like the one Minkoff's store engenders.
