Today’s customers prefer to order clothes every day via many mediums. They are very vocal about their choices and like to engage in conversations with the brand owners. The communication between the brands and consumers has drastically changed. They can buy or return their apparel online or offline. Yet, all these interactions have the same high-level understanding and appreciation for a customer. Similarly, online apparel design software can be easily integrated with an apparel ERP to streamline the entire production process.
The continuous engagement required by the consumers is the primary reason why apparel and fashion brands and retailers must now build into their operations. As the expectations from the buyers are increasing, having a single retailing channel would be insufficient. Operating in a multichannel is no longer enough because these channels are helpful in the selling of apparel. But they fall short in unifying information about customers and handling interactions with the same customer from one channel to another. Only omnichannel can create the same satisfying experience for your customers, irrespective of the channel they use, such as face to face, web, email, phone, and text message—no matter which stage of the buying cycle they are.
As a result, the conventional bricks and mortar retailer are expanding their horizons in the ecommerce domain. Meanwhile, retailers operating online are investigating auxiliary physical outlets. The challenge in each case is to develop a seamless omnichannel fulfilment solution that gives customers what they want while keeping internal processes efficient and profitable.
How Apparel ERP leads to Omnichannel Success?
Any fashion or apparel firm would agree that the customer is the king, and they must entertain and engage him in various channels. However, there is a world of difference between bolting that truth onto the touchpoints. To build what the customer is expecting and his afterthought and then to turn it into the operational DNA of the organization is a challenging task. Customer preferences can quickly change to further spice things up. This puts pressure on the enterprise to be agile in adapting services, product availability, and delivery in all the different channels.
Here simple yet effective strategies that will help you in becoming Omnipresent through various channels:
- Target Positive Channel
When a brand adds online or offline channels just because other leading brands are doing so, then it wouldn’t serve the purpose. They have to treat each channel as an opportunity for growth in profits and revenue. According to Graeme Davidson, head of product management for Pro Display at Epson, “Our research has found that experientialism is crucial to changing shoppers’ behaviour, with 65 per cent of respondents saying they’d change their shopping behaviour if more shops had an experiential element.”
- Know Who is Best for the Job
Apparel companies that have already led the similar changes can bespoke why it is essential to find the right person for the right job. For the companies who are looking for still looking for venturing in this domain, take it from those with omnichannel experience, or who have led similar changes, should be at the top of your list. It takes people with relevant supply chain know-how, business sense, and customer empathy to define the right processes and choose the right technology. The online apparel design software remains in sync with ERP and helps you grow in the market.
- Align Processes
To eradicate information silos and isolated islands of retailing, the apparel brands should align their processes to support omnichannel. For its success, processes that encourage or even enforce internal collaboration and synchronization will be essential.
- Use the right technology
Remember that technology must serve your omnichannel business goals, not vice versa. If you have existing technology that you cannot change at the moment, new systems may let you bridge the gap between what you’ve been doing and what consumers want.
- Uniformity of Data
If omnichannel fulfilment is to work correctly, there must be “one version of the truth” across the organization. Customer, order, payment, and shipping data must be the same, whether it is used to confirm an online order, answer a phone call about shipping, or handle an item returned to a physical store location. Order and inventory fulfilment are good examples where this can happen. A modern ERP will support the fulfilment requirements to succeed with today’s expectations.
- Environment Friendly
The strategy also helps in keeping the environment safe and friendly. The consumers prefer to buy products from brands that realize their moral duties and take the necessary steps to correct their operations. A recent survey by McKinsey & Company of 64 chief purchasing officers in the apparel space — who manage a cumulative $100 billion-plus in sourcing value — found that environmentally friendly sourcing was a top priority and the area in greatest need of improvement in their companies.
Conclusion
In today’s omnichannel business environment, fashion companies regularly witness challenges to meet end-user’s demands. They want more innovative products and more frequent product releases. They want higher quality and higher perceived value. Apparel ERP backs the online apparel design software by iDesigniBuy and is designed to help top fashion brands overcome these operations and market challenges with real-time enterprise visibility so that companies can gain greater control of their supply chain.
If you wish to succeed in the apparel market,