On the 24th of May Tailorfit organized the event ‘Omnichannel in Practice’, in collaboration with EASI, Pay.be, Koel Retail Technologies and the overarching Belgian fashion federation, Creamoda.
As a specialist in implementing omnichannel business solutions for the fashion industry, TailorFIT suggested to address this much-discussed topic. However, this time, it was all about the practice. How do you work with omnichannel as a player on the fashion market? Which strategy and implementation are best suited to your business and how far do you have to take it? These questions were answered by a specialist in the field: Gino Van Ossel.
Gino Van Ossel is a professor at the Vlerick Business School and author of the ‘Management Book of the Year’, ‘Omnichannel in Retail’ and a top reference in Europe regarding this topic. In a very inspiring manner he succeeded in explaining the current situation regarding omnichannel in the fashion industry, through different sales models.
Using well known fashion examples that use a good mix between on- and offline sales, such as De Bijenkorf and FNG Group, the theory became a lot more tangible. The event lived up to the name ‘Omnichannel in Practice’, as two cases were presented by professionals with years of experience in the industry.
CEO of the ‘male brand’ State of Art Martijn Mateman presented a detailed and insightful explanation on how the company succeeded in maintaining its strong position, despite a quickly changing fashion landscape. Martijn emphasized the importance of an underlying central system from which all data, information and actions are managed.
Mimi Lamote, CEO of Mayerline, was questioned by specialist Gino Van Ossel during a round of questions regarding the topic. Mimi clearly stated in her answers that Mayerline, using its own omnichannel strategy and support from the right partners, is very well prepared for new tendencies within a fluctuating fashion market.
During the following networking reception, the guests were able to try the new, revolutionary fashion cash register that optimally supports omnichannel: realtime changes in the supplies, web shop and kiosk-integration, single-view-on-the-customer, fashion-flexible promotions and loyalty, fully automated delivery from every warehouse and store point.
The conclusion of this inspiring and motivating evening was the following: going digital is an opportunity, not a threat. Take charge of your company’s omnichannel strategy. Translate it to the right mix between on- and offline and implement it using the right partners.
