Fashion Focus – how do we solve the sizing issue AND personalise the customer journey? With Sarah Curran (episode 357)
Sarah Curran, MBE has a phenomenal history in fashion retail –founder of My Wardrobe, 4 years at director level at Shop Direct (that’s very.co.uk), AND non-exec director at French Connection. Right now she is mostly the Managing Director EMEA at True Fit the world’s largest connected data set for fashion that’s helping retailers improve customer experience and sustainability.
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About Sarah
Sarah began her eCommerce journey with the opening of her own fashion store in North London.
After 18 months, she wanted to expand her business and bringing it online was the next best move. Sarah says eCommerce was still very young at that time, but she was already spending quite a lot online, purchasing from the likes of Ocado (UK grocer) and Net-A-Porter. She launched My-Wardrobe in 2006, and has been focused on digital and eCommerce since then.
About True Fit
True Fit is the first size and fit solution of its kind, with the technology developed back in 2005. Over the last 15 years, the business has grown to hold the world’s largest data set for fashion, footwear, and apparel known as the Fashion Genome.
What True Fit’s technology does is give the customer their own normalized size, depending on which brand and retailer they’re on.
With the acceleration of online shopping, the need to solve size and fit has become an important issue because generalizing size is no longer adequate. People want more personalized recommendations and that’s where True Fit comes in.
How Does True Fit’s Personalization Platform Work?
True Fit acts as a network for all its retail and brand partners.
When a customer becomes a True Fit registered user through any of its partners, the customer is given a one-to-one recommendation which becomes that particular shopper’s standard size. Regardless of where the customer shops, they get suggestions and recommendations specific to them which enhances the overall buying experience.
In the fashion industry where sizing has always been a problem, True Fit’s platform gives retailers much data about the customer that allows for true personalization.
Improving The Business
Retailers benefit from True Fit’s technology by turning customers into uber-shoppers.
When customers get used to the personalized recommendations, the trust factor is developed and enhanced with every transaction. The tendency for these satisfied customers will be to shop more frequently and also spend more.
Further Refining The Experience
For the coming year, Sarah expects retailers to give their customers an even more personalized and therefore exciting experience.
Based on a shopper’s historic data, combined with predictive modeling, the system will be able to recognize preferences and make the best fashion recommendations.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Put focus on certain products through product placement and by having authority influencers
- Pinterest for the engaged users who are aesthetically and impulse-driven
Tool Top Tip
Growth Top Tip
- Drive efficiency and optimize customer retention, and convert the customer into an absolute obsessive shopper
Interview Links
Related episodes
- 304: Want to grow fast? You need to understand your customers – with Ric Rodriguez from Vashi
- 262: Fashion replatforming, customer service and the impact of PR with Needle & Thread’s Mark Liddington
- 227: Bespoke Tailor Hockerty’s Marketing Manager Salva Jovells talks Customer Journey
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