“Retail will not disappear completely, but it will change,” said Daniel Grieder, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Global and PVH Europe, in a recent interview with the Handelszeitung. Trying on clothes will still be a traditional component of shops in the future, but the digital space will also gain a foothold by offering customers the chance to examine collections on a big screen. There will be an experiential component too: a lounge, bar, meeting place. “It's about atmosphere and experience,” says Grieder.
Tommy Hilfiger is also focussing on the concept of 'See now, buy now' – the items shown on the catwalk can be bought in shops at the same time. For Hilfiger, this is revolutionary, as it previously took up to six months before the designs were available in store. The transition will not be easy: “We have to adjust the organisation and the logistics, and retrain the staff. That's no walk in the park.”
While two years ago, Grieder was wowing customers with the digital showroom, today they can photograph designs at fashion shows via the Tommyland app. The app recognises the product and the customer can order it straight away.
Grieder is certain that the focus on sales per square metre is outdated: “Today it's not about sales per square metre, but about innovation and surprise in store. That's the new currency in retail.”
The digital transformation requires a lot of investment, but Grieder is taking this in his stride: “My motto is: the biggest risk is not taking any risks.”
Grieder explains what Tommy Hilfiger's digital showroom looks like and how it works in this video:
Daniel Grieder: “The biggest risk is not taking any risks”
Tommy Hilfiger's digital showroom was only the beginning of the fashion label's transformation. At the GDI International Retail Summit, Hilfiger CEO Daniel Grieder will show how his company is keeping pace with innovation and digitalisation.
1 August, 2017
by
GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute