Retail and Fashion & Luxury Industry Results in 2019 show traditional retailers in crisis, in favor of omnichannel Retail companies.
A total of 4,200 stores closed in the US in the first quarter of 2019 alone. That’s a 23% increase compared to the same time last year. 2018 was a very difficult year for the retail sector, resulting in the closure of numerous shopping centers. However, the crisis has mainly affected retail giants, who have got into difficulty because they are less adaptable and flexible.
In actual fact, more stores are opening than closing, and this fits in with a new trend that sees online companies opening physical stores, rather than the other way around.
Omnichannel retailers have been successful for some years now.
The Harvard Business Review* collaborated with a major US company that manages hundreds of retail stores to produce a study showing that omnichannel retail strategies are beneficial to companies.
The first six months of 2019 saw the fashion and accessory textile sector cement its growing export trends, with a 7.2% growth rate and a total value of almost 33.5 billion euros**.
The sector saw such positive results due to an increase in the value of goods, which allowed the Italian fashion sector to reposition itself at a higher value, compensating for the sharp decline in purchase volumes as a result.
“We’re very proud of these results because they prove that we have a quality supply chain that is able to survive market adversities caused by factors such as Brexit and changing tariffs,” states Claudio Marenzi, CEO of Confindustria Moda.
Deloitte further confirmed the trend, stating that the world’s 100 largest luxury goods companies generated 247 billion dollars in sales in 2017, with an average of 2.47 billion dollars per company.
Thanks to stable exchange rates, the top 100 leading companies saw a growth rate of 10.8%, which is a significant improvement on the 1% growth rate recorded last year.
“In an era of rapid change and evolution, companies operating in the luxury sector face numerous economic, social and generational pressures.
We’re dealing with a new generation of consumers with radically different consumption habits and profoundly influenced by social media and data sharing. This means that companies have no choice but to make targeted investments in digital technologies that allow them to implement new, effective strategies based on the intelligent use of shared data. By adopting these strategies, companies will gain the loyalty and satisfaction of new consumers,” states Giovanni Faccioli, Deloitte Fashion and Luxury Leader Italy.
Made in Italy brands and new digital technologies are contributing to the success of international businesses.
Despite the aforementioned results, the journey towards curating a mature, and high-performance omnichannel experience is still ongoing. Omnichannel experiences such as BOPIS (Buy Online Pick Up In-Store) are now considered fundamental by many consumers but have still only been implemented by 42% of retailers.
Investments in this area of the retail sector still need strengthening to allow customers to choose when and where they want to receive their purchases within the speediest possible timeframe.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping to accelerate the adoption of omnichannel solutions thanks to IT performance monitoring, inventory optimization, stock visibility, fraud detection and much more.
Bizeta helps companies operating in the fashion and luxury sector to implement customized development and internationalization projects.
Contact us for more information.
*Sopadjieva, Dholakia and Benjamin, 2017
**Teleborsa/Confindustria Moda
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