Q: What are the “big themes” being discussed at the PI Apparel event this year?

Susan Olivier:   In general, we’re talking to our customers about the modernization of collaboration. For the Fashion Industry, that means much more image-based communications which integrates the growing interest in using 3D models along with traditional 2D drawings and photographs.  Our 3DEXPERIENCE platform gives design teams an intuitive way to use these images for informal and more Social collaboration…curating ideas, expressing concepts, collecting feedback…without the formal structure of a PLM solution.

Once the ideas have matured into products, businesses can use these images combined with classic product development information, along with potential merchandising and sourcing metrics from PLM and other systems, and display them in the context of a merchandising wall or an in-store environment. This gives teams  a way of communicating visually that feels far more natural than the rows and columns views of many  PLM solutions today.

Q: How do you grow revenue and increase margins in world where the very existence of retail stores is being challenged?

Susan Olivier: With e-commerce expanding, and the “Amazon effect” changing the dynamics of physical retail, an omni-channel mindset is critical to a cohesive consumer experience.  Online, retailers are challenged to increase customer interaction in a ‘natural’ way. In-store, they are challenged to offer the full breadth of assortment ‘anywhere/any time’.  Consumers want to be recognized as unique individuals regardless of which channel they use to interact with a brand…and they increasingly want the ability to personalize their products.  Rapid advances in cognitive computing help to recognize different behaviors in order to adjust messages, incentives and increase conversion. But too few brands and retailers are using those same market insights to develop winning products!  And even fewer are turning their retail environments into interactive experiences.

Q: Where do brand and retail teams get their inspiration?  How can they collect it, share it, and democratize it to accelerate innovation?

Susan Olivier: Consumers are communicating with brands and retailers all the time.  They speak loudly with what they purchase but also with what they abandon in their shopping carts.  And when they talk about your products or competitive products, or hot trends online they are really trying to shape what’s next.  Too few retailers are taking advantage of this social stream for social ideation and social innovation.  We believe that it’s easier than many brands and retailers think to leverage this ‘voice of the consumer’, and quick to get started.

Q: How do you optimize productivity with increasingly social and visual ways of working?

Susan Olivier:  Even within a company’s internal teams they’re seldom  fully leveraging natural and intuitive ways of working. Humans are social and visual by nature but we’ve created systems like email and excel and legacy applications based on rows, columns and text with images off to one side.  Why not base the whole product development, sourcing and merchandising process on the image?  And especially an image with information in context of the product, the plan and the positioning?    How much would that streamline decision-making?

Q: How do you capitalize on the currency of data in a digital world where there is so much content that’s both structured and unstructured?

Susan Olivier: Whether it’s the unstructured social voice of the consumer, or the structured assortment plans, store plans and product details, there’s a lot of data in the digital world….and it has value.  The problem is not lack of data it’s too much, coming at us too fast.  And if I can’t see the signal for the noise, so to speak, I can’t extract the value from my data; and if I wait for formal reporting it may take too long.  We need to use modern solutions that put the power into the hands of the end-users to identify what’s important to them and provide iterative and intuitive views and triggers, combining the structured with the unstructured, and keeping it visual at the same time.

Register with our special discount to attend the PR Apparel event and visit us in at our booth to discuss how to leverage these industry trends and challenges. To learn more about Dassault Systèmes’ role in the CGR industry, click here to learn about the “My Collection”, “My Store” and “My Retail Theater” industry solution experiences.