Luxury fashion has traditionally been synonymous with innovation in terms of style rather than technology. Emerging digital breakthroughs like AI-driven analytics and customer insights drive a new era of data and high-end fashion brands. As these new strategies begin to shape the future of high-end consumer tracking, new tech is suddenly en vogue in today’s modern fashion scene.
New digital technologies make it easy for luxury fashion brands to understand their customers better, streamline inventory management strategies, and improve their online presence across all channels. These advancements allow brands to personalize customer interactions, enhance in-store experiences, and optimize the supply chain, improving customers’ shopping journeys and bringing a new efficiency level to back-end and behind-the-scenes processes that slow businesses down when done manually.
As we open a new chapter in the age of digital technology for businesses, let’s examine the emerging trends in technology that will shape the success of high-end fashion brands in 2023 and beyond.
Improved data means improved efficiency
The era of manual data analytics, inventory management, and customer service is over. These processes and user-centric tactics, such as customer targeting and personalization, are optimized and put into warp speed when paired with the proper AI programs. Certain aspects of the retail business, such as tracking customer behavior, used to be a guessing game. Today, with AI, we can immediately gather insights that make adjustments to improve the consumer buying process and even match individual buyers with specific brand products that suit them best.
Many similar, easy-to-use AI programs also allow instant inventory monitoring and up-to-the-minute industry forecasts based on mountains of data and other digital trends. Learning and implementing these new solutions is a no-brainer for luxury fashion brands.
Ensuring authenticity through digital tech
In the world of high-end fashion, authenticity and brand cachet is king. New digital technology lends brands transparent, traceable methods to track their products and preserve an item’s digital identity. Businesses can monitor products and supply chains by creating a physical-digital link that records every production stage. This tactic regularly results in improved brand sentiment and a boost in sustainability efforts.
New methods to personalize the shopping experience
A general rule in retail is that 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers, a more disparate ratio in luxury fashion. Maintaining a positive standing with their loyal customer base is a requirement for high-end retailers — not an option. Social media and mobile applications have become vital to the success of luxury brands as a way to connect to consumers in new ways. An influential presence on both social and in the App Store leads to opportunities for micro-targeting and hyper-personalization that targets a buyer’s interest for limited releases and exclusive offers. It also quickly identifies when customers are in specific stores and delivers targeted recommendations based on a user’s purchasing history and preferences. The most contemporary platforms can gather customer information through facial recognition software and sentiment analysis.
Using tech to track consumer behavior
The amount and power of AI-driven customer data tracking are exceptional. Still, even the most sophisticated tech tools are only as good as the data quality collected. Because the shopping experience is vital in the luxury space, the in-store experience remains an essential component of the consumer data collection puzzle. Some of the most exciting and impactful modern data tracking innovations are those that monitor in-store data collection and the individual customer experience.
More than ever, brands rely on digital software and social media to track consumer attitudes. These new methods also include using sensors, computer vision, and RFID technology to measure foot traffic inside and outside stores. The best data solutions can track conversion rates, monitor inventory, and gauge sentiment, leading to new insights that enhance the shopping experience and improve the store’s overall design.
Investing in a more transparent future
We’re in a period where luxury retailers must create seamless experiences for the user — from searching on the web to buying a product in-store. Investing in new technologies that improve customers’ buying experience and streamlining data gathering for retailers will build positive brand associations in the future. It also allows brands to cater to individual consumer profiles with customized products and store experiences explicitly designed for their needs.
It’s abundantly clear that impactful technology innovation is the next big thing in the high-end fashion sector. For decision-makers, choosing which tools make operational and financial sense for their business starts with determining how well a solution enables them to:
- Learn more about customers
- Introduce inventory management strategies
- Monitor and optimize the supply chain
- Promote in-store customer engagement
- Create customized, user-specific shopping journeys
- Support brand-building efforts across all marketing channels
If that answer isn’t clear to you — reach out to an experienced tech partner to help you and your brand decide what’s best for your situation and your customers. The future of consumer data is here; embrace it now, then enjoy growth and success later.
Fabio Caversan is a digital business and innovation vice president at Stefanini, a $1 billion global technology company specializing in digital solutions in 41 countries across the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia. Creator of Sophie, Stefanini’s AI virtual assistant, Fabio began working with AI in 2003, Fabio believes AI can fundamentally change how people interact with technology.
