Multi Clustering Recommendation System for Fashion Retail

Fashion retail has a large and ever-increasing popularity and relevance, allowing customers to buy anytime finding the best offers and providing satisfactory experiences in the shops. Consequently, Customer Relationship Management solutions have been enhanced by means of several technologies to better understand the behaviour and requirements of customers, engaging and influencing them to improve their shopping experience, as well as increasing the retailers’ profitability. Current solutions on marketing provide a too general approach, pushing and suggesting on most cases, the popular or most purchased items, losing the focus on the customer centricity and personality. In this paper, a recommendation system for fashion retail shops is proposed, based on a multi clustering approach of items and users’ profiles in online and on physical stores. The proposed solution relies on mining techniques, allowing to predict the purchase behaviour of newly acquired customers, thus solving the cold start problems which is typical of the systems at the state of the art. The presented work has been developed in the context of Feedback project partially founded by Regione Toscana, and it has been conducted on real retail company Tessilform, Patrizia Pepe mark. The recommendation system has been validated in store, as well as online.

Factors Effecting Omnichannel Customer Experience: Evidence from Fashion Retail

This research work was designed to investigate the changing dynamics of the retail landscape driven by omnichannel retailing, and to determine the effects on the omnichannel customer’s experience. The role of omnichannel customer behavior in the relation between omnichannel retailing and customer experience was assessed through a survey of 265 omnichannel customers of different fashion retail brands in Pakistan. The results of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) showed a strong mediating effect of omnichannel customer behavior in channeling the drivers of omnichannel retailing towards an enhanced customer experience. Omnichannel retailing helps to enhance the customer experience via determinants of omnichannel integration, order fulfilment, usability and seamlessness. The research findings underpin the positive significant effect of all factors of omnichannel retailing on the customer experience. Among the four omnichannel retailing constructs, seamlessness emerged as a major direct and indirect contributor, followed by omnichannel integration and usability dimensions. Notwithstanding the small sample size, this research contributes to the omnichannel retailing landscape of Pakistan’s fashion retail industry by suggesting a functional approach for creating a fully integrated shopping experience and omnichannel strategies for fashion brands. Furthermore, it will also provide brands an opportunity to strengthen their customers’ experience throughout the buying channel.

Antecedents and consequences of experiential value in fashion retailing: a study on Indian consumers

PurposeCustomer's experiential value is influenced by external as well as internal factors. This study was an effort to explore the impacts of two relevant internal factors (lifestyle and involvement) and one important external factor (atmospherics) on experiential value. Further, it investigates the influence of experiential value on two pertinent outcomes (customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth).Design/methodology/approachA survey-based questionnaire was used to collect the data (n = 354) from fashion retail shoppers in NCR region in India and was analysed using structural equation modelling.FindingsThe results revealed that positive influence of atmospherics, involvement and lifestyle on experiential value dimensions. Subsequently, the study showed experiential value influences customer satisfaction, which further leads to positive word of mouth.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was carried out in fashion retail stores in National Capital Region in India. Therefore, further investigation is required for generalising the results. Theoretical and managerial contributions of the study are further discussed in the paper.Originality/valueArguably, this paper is an initial attempt to explore the antecedents and consequences of experiential value in the context of fashion retailing.

Clicks-and-bricks: a case study of the Amaro brand

The rise of e-commerce has dematerialized retail shopping locations, transposing them to the digital layer in the so-called 'brick-to-click' movement. However, the opposite path, 'click-and-brick', arouses curiosity for the re-association of the physical store with e-commerce, directing attention to new meanings of materiality in fashion retail. In this context, this paper discusses the multidimensional materiality of fashion retail within the e-commerce theme from two main movements: the emergence of physical spaces that complement online stores and the orientation of e-commerce operations towards big data. To illustrate the concepts and reflection on these themes, the authors carry out a case study on the omnichannel operations of a brazilian fashion brand called AMARO.

Fashion retail competition on product greenness with overconfidence

In this paper, we study the impacts of overconfidence in a competitive retailer setting of green fashion. We model a green fashion supply chain comprising one unbiased manufacturer and two biased retailers, to explore how overconfidence affects greenness level of fashion products and expected profit of retailers. An overconfident retailer has a cognitive bias in which it believes consumers are more sensitive to greenness of fashion products than it really is. Our findings show that the competition between two retailers discourages greenness level of fashion products, while overconfidence can provide a counterbalance to the negative impact caused by competition. We also find, a retailer's overconfidence is not only conducive to the greenness level of its own fashion products, but also can benefit to its rival. Moreover, it shows a low level of overconfidence can be a comparative advantage of the retailer's profit. Even though one of the retailers is unbiased and has an advantage of information, it can still earn less than its overconfident rival.

La sombra de la industria de la moda, textil y fashion retail

Si bien se tiene un prejuicio cuando hablamos de la industria de la moda, textil o fashion<br />retail, dado que lo asociamos a algo glamoroso y superfluo, eso solo pertenece a una<br />estrategia de marketing que invita a los consumidores a comprar sus productos, siendo<br />simplemente un tema de percepción dado que nadie adquiere un bien para que lo haga<br />infeliz o lo ponga triste, la verdad es que esta industria es un negocio como cualquier otro,<br />que tiene sus propias particulares y características. En ese sentido, el Derecho de la Moda<br />surge como una nueva especialización del derecho que brinda de manera aterrizada<br />asesoría legal a todos las agentes que intervienen en este sector desde empresas textiles y<br />centros comerciales pasando por fashion retailers, fabricantes, importadores,<br />franquiciantes, modelos, fotógrafos, fashion bloggers, entre otros. En este artículo se<br />explicará el detrás de cámaras de esta industria, desarrollando el tema de la vulneración<br />de los derechos humanos y laborales de las personas que trabajan en las empresas textiles<br />y que forman parte de la gran cadena de producción y suministro de las prendas de vestir,<br />calzado y/o accesorios en general exponiendo los casos de Bangladesh, Uzbekistán y China<br />y cómo la moda ética, que es uno de los pilares del derecho de la moda, influye de manera<br />positiva para revertir esta situación.

Executive decision-making in fashion retail: a phenomenological exploration of resources and strategies

PurposeDecision-makers must be well-informed to successfully impact the future of the business. The purpose of this study was to explore experiences of US fashion retail executives when making business decisions to understand what resources and strategies are utilized within the decision-making process. Additionally, the role of academic research within executive decision-making process was explored.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized a phenomenological approach to understand the experiences of fashion retail executives when engaging in business decision-making. Fifteen US fashion retail executives participated in the study. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews and thematically coded to gain a holistic perspective of the decision-making process within the fashion retail industry.FindingsAs the result of the data analysis and interpretation, three topical areas emerged:: “Incredible Amounts of Information,” “Industry Specific Academic Research” and “Have a Clear Road Map.” The findings suggested that while the facts gleaned from internal and external data are of great importance to fashion professionals, insights gathered from social media are equally influential within the decision-making process. The authors identified five major strategies utilized consistently by fashion retail executives regardless of the type of business they represented: collaboration, adaptability, speed, gut instinct and creativity.Research limitations/implicationsThe results are important to fashion retail companies for improving internal decision-making processes. The identified resources and strategies of the decision-making process can be incorporated into fashion program curricula and considered as learning outcomes when preparing future industry professionals.Originality/valueLimited studies have explored the decision-making process specific to the fashion retail environment, an uncertain and ever-changing industry. Further, the study shed light on the opportunity for academic research use in fashion retail decision-making and contributes to the literature by developing a fashion retail decision-making model.