Department stores are increasingly relying on cross-selling and innovation by redesigning their women’s fashion offer. They combine established brands with aspiring labels. The International Association of Department Stores (IADS) has examined how houses such as Bloomingdale’s and Galeries Lafayette implement these hybridization strategies.
Offer innovations without confusing
According to IADS, the department stores adapt their ranges today to offer new products without confusing. While some brands have to arouse curiosity, others have to create trust through recognizability. “Retailers: Inside are successful when innovation takes place in a trustworthy commercial context,” notes the specialist association.
At Bloomingdale’s, the colorful collections of brands such as Farm Rio and Alémais are offered in addition to the rather “traditional” aesthetics of Polo Ralph Lauren.
The hybridization of the offer of the US department store chain also takes place through its sales channels. Only certain fast-fashion brands can be found online, while in the shops areas that are designed as multi-brand concepts have been set up to attract a younger audience and mix new labels with well-known names such as Levi’s.
Combination between new and proven
In Ukraine, the TSUM Kyiv department store relies on recognized luxury brands to ensure a steady customer current and at the same time introduce new names such as Guest in Residence, a cashmere brand with colorful aesthetics. According to IADS, the introduction was successful thanks to striking campaign pictures and good spring timing. It is also worth mentioning that the department store has dedicated an entire floor of Ukrainian designers: dedicated to the inside.
The Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord also confirms how important it is to embed the innovation of young labels into a trustworthy commercial context. According to the company, only this combination can make customers trust brands that they do not know.
After price, but not according to age
In Paris, the full reorganization of the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, who aims to structure the offer according to the price and not according to the age of the customers (and support itself on the analysis of cross-selling data), proves to be a commercial success: “Increased dynamics, better customer flow and more profitable brand environments,” says the association’s report.
The integration of transgenerational brands such as the Skim label is part of this approach, which puts the relevance of fashion in the foreground compared to segmentation according to age.
But what ultimately is a good brand environment based on? According to IADS, largely on the balance between brand image, customer: inside frequency and productivity per square meter. Finally, one should also consider that the growth of online sales reduces the importance of physical neighborhoods and enables more flexible planning of business.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
Fashionunited uses artificial intelligence to accelerate the translation of articles and improve the end result. They help us make the international reporting of fashionunited a German -speaking readership quickly and comprehensively accessible. Articles that have been translated using AI-based tools are read and carefully edited by our editor: Correcting inside before they are published. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me by email to [email protected]