The Trends: Fashion Digital Roundtable: How Fashion and Netcomm see clienteling

First highlights from Fashion Digital Excellence Roundtable: Tobias Bayer, Fashion, and Roberto Liscia, Netcomm

In November, the Digital Excellence Roundtable of Fashion and fashionmagazine.it, sister publications of The SPIN OFF, took place in Milan, focusing on a crucial theme–clienteling.

Tobias Bayer, editor-in-chief and director, Fashion and The SPIN OFF, opened the session by bringing up a parallelism that emerged from an article published in November 1974 by Gianni Bertasso’s GT-Textile Newspaper-industry publication from which Fashion magazine was later born.

There was talk of an “air of crisis,” of “currency debased on its real purchasing power,” of “the search for products of lesser quality but at cheaper prices,” as well as of clothing companies “that despite the crisis, are doing well and others that because of the crisis are in great difficulty.” 

Nothing new under the sun, one might say today, but according to Roberto Liscia, president of Netcomm (Consortium of Italian Digital Commerce, which brings together more than 480 companies in the sector), it is necessary to make distinctions and be optimistic: even thanks to digital technologies, which perhaps no one would have imagined in the early 1970s, opportunities can arise from the crisis.

Roberto Liscia, president, Netcomm:
“Digital facilitates storytelling, loyalty, customer relationships, and product customization.”

“The problems are the same as in the past, but we are seeing a greater speed of change, fed by digital. It has created almost a perfect storm in the fashion industry. Some large luxury groups, such as LVMH and Kering, have been in line with the industry slowdown, while Hermès has been resilient. Impacting this is the decline in consumption in China, where luxury shame [Editor’s note: the non-ostentation of luxury, typical of times of economic crisis] is emerging.” 

“Research by Netcomm on retail and fashion also shows that consumers are becoming more informed before making purchasing decisions, which are ultimately more erratic and dispersed than in the past, tied to different channels. The global slowdown also impacts the strategic visions of fashion groups, which find themselves transforming their brand portfolios to make them more stable. However, as markets are uncertain, the composition of the portfolio is also uncertain.”

“For small Italian fashion brands with growth potential, however, opportunities are opening up. With new technologies, much of the relationship can be disintermediated, which also benefits the consumer, who can now more easily choose according to their needs.”

“SMEs are able to leverage personalization and make more informed, effective and efficient choices. At the same time, there are more digital tools on the market that facilitate in storytelling, loyalty, customer relationships, and product personalization.”

“This is happening while it is emerging that it costs less to manage a customer you already have than to acquire a new one. Other hot topics include size management, as evidenced by the increase in the phenomenon of returns, which impacts the sustainability of the business.”

“Another key issue concerns data: it is increasingly important but expensive to manage, and with a skills’ shortage problem.”

“Speaking of omnichannel, the overpriced drunkenness seems to be over. You have to know how to select your customers and channels. And then tell the right story, as transparently as possible.”

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