In an effort to appeal to the millennial shopper, women’s luxury clothing designer Rebecca Minkoff launched connected stores in New York City and San Francisco. Complete with a suite of digital tools purposed to deliver greater efficiency and convenience, the store is a seamless, omni-channel shopping experience for the customer. Leading with the insight that their customers consult their mobile devices over 150 times per day, Rebecca Minkoff brings the convenience of the online world to a traditionally offline customer shopping experience.
THE GOALS
Create a luxury customer experience
Respond to the needs of the millennial shopper
THE APPROACH
Incorporate the best features of the online world, into the offline world
THE RESULTS
6-7X increase of ready to wear sales in the course of 5-6 months
The boutique features oversized, interactive touch screens that allow shoppers to open an application in-store, request inventory in their desired size and color, and investigate ratings and reviews prior to purchase. There is also a “favorite looks” subtab, which customers can tap for outfit inspiration. Once inside the fitting room, “smart tags” attached to each piece of merchandise use radio-frequency technology (RFID) to monitor which items customers try on and with what frequency. Clients can also request assistance, swap sizes, or ask for advice from staff using an interactive mirror inside the changing room. This not only allows the customer to get all the information she needs in real time, but helps the business monitor how well the application’s interface and functionalities serve the target customer, as well as evaluate the accuracy of the inventory.
"The new definition for luxury is being able to be empowered to select the service level that she wants, when she wants, on the device that she wants."
- Emily Culp, SVP Commerce and Omni-Channel Marketing, Rebecca Minkoff
The connected stores also optimise the client’s time. In-store systems hold a shopper’s place in a fitting room queue and alert her via text message when the nearest changing room is open. If the customer is undecided about a particular item, she can save her fitting room session to her mobile phone and come back to any store at a later time or simply access the item online to make a purchase.
Rebecca Minkoff has used insights about its consumers’ behaviour to respond to their needs more effectively. As a result, ready to wear clothing sales have increased 6-7X in the course of 5-6 months, great success for the business, and a welcome convenience to the millennial shopper.
