Apparel Companies Turn to Mobile for Marketing, Production
Going mobile is the next frontier for many apparel retailers, brands and manufacturers. Mobile technology—from mobile applications for shoppers and “augmented reality” applications that deliver coupons and novel shopping experiences to new PLM (product lifecycle management) software that allows users to upload images from remote locations—presents unique opportunities and challenges for the apparel industry.
“The most important part of the conversation today is not the tech, it’s not whether you have an iPhone or an iPad or an iPhone 7—it is all about the inspiration you can create with your shopper through this new [mobile] technology,” said Jim Crawford, executive director of the Global Retail Executive Council.
According to Crawford, the United States has a $3.3 trillion retail market, with the majority of those dollars being spent at bricksand- mortar stores. “Mobile [retail] is not going to replace the store experience—that’s not the goal—but it changes [the store experience],” he said. And that change, Crawford said, is coming very quickly.
In one year, mobile commerce grew 300 percent—reaching a value of $1.2 billion in 2009, up from $400 million in 2008. That isn’t to say mobile commerce, which can include shopping applications and purchases made on smart phones, is inspiring consumers to spend more money, according to Crawford. “We’re not creating a new channel with mobile,” he said. Rather, mobile is leaching sales away from more-traditional forms for retail. That is why it is key for retailers, brands and manufacturers alike to develop a mobile strategy.
“An ’app’ is not a strategy ... mobile retail is not just an app,” Crawford said. The vast majority of mobile applications, between 85 and 90 percent, are deleted from a phone within one month of download. Shopping applications, though they tend to last longer on smart phones, are not always the ideal way to reach mobile shoppers. (There are some exceptions to the rule. Amazon.com, for example, has done extremely well with an application that allows shoppers to scan barcodes or photograph products with a smart phone and comparison- shop its online store, where prices are often lower than competitors’.)
Crawford—who delivered the keynote address to a roomful of retailers, brands and manufacturers during Apparel’s 2011 Tech Conference West at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles on March 29—said a true mobile retail strategy is unique for every company but addresses who the mobile user is, utilizes the full potential of smart phones and provides the right information on the go. “There’s a lot of money at stake and a tremendous amount of brand equity and status at stake,” he said.
Crawford offered a few universal pointers, however. Chiefly, retailers and brands should avoid the use of the Flash platform on their sites’ store-locator pages. Most smart phones can’t read the program, he said, and will not be able to access the store-locator information when they need it most. Consumers don’t respond well to text messages—even if they are providing coupons or deals. One novel exception are “location-aware” text messages that are sent to shoppers while they are inside a store. “This can create a unique experience for VIP shoppers,” Crawford said.
Manufacturers going mobile
Retailers aren’t the only apparel segment looking at mobile for growth. Apparel manufacturers and brands, too, are looking for ways to incorporate mobile applications and technology into their business operations.
Brands looking to speak directly with consumers—something they rarely get to do within wholesale channels—can opt for barcode tags that can be scanned by smart phones to deliver unique content, whether it be additional product information or marketing material, to create an interactive experience.
James Horne, vice president of marketing and technology and director of business development for framework technologies at Centric Software, said the company is focusing on adding mobility and mobile applications to its PLM solutions. The Melrose, Ma.–based software maker has hired five developers that will focus exclusively on mobile applications.
Trend Capture, a new iPhone-enabled feature in Centric’s PLM solution, allows users to snap iPhone images and upload them into the PLM image database for a variety of uses. Using Trend Capture, designers can take on-the-go inspiration pics that can be added to the software’s web-based inspiration board, quality-control managers can snap photos at factories to record and report defects, and fit sessions can photographed and archived.
Collection Book, a new mobile application for the iPad, collects PLM data and images to create lookbooks. Traditional lookbooks are printed on paper and are “static,” Horne said. They don’t always reflect the most current pricing, colorways or data. Collection Book, by pulling up-to-date data, creates virtual lookbooks on the iPad that buyers can flip through easily, and a “shopping cart” feature allows orders to be placed directly on the iPad. High-resolution images can be enlarged to view garment details. Lookbooks created using Collection Book are automatically updated as PLM data changes.
Mobile applications are an “open door,” Horne said. —Erin Barajas
