Data in the Fashion Industry

            Data and fashion have never gone together in the past, but circumstances are changing, and a new junction between the digital and fashion sectors is forming. The industry has become more reliant on data to make educated judgments about customer preferences and market forecasts, but it still lacks a thorough knowledge of what constitutes "good" data and what constitutes "poor" data. For several years, data protection has been the subject of numerous regulations. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect in 2018 in the European Union, required shops to inventory and potentially delete personal data about customers. Customers might also get a duplicate of their information. According to research from throughout the world, the post-COVID-19 scenario for consumer firms, particularly luxury products, and services businesses, is a possible minefield owing to fast-rising customer worries about personal data protection. Consumers are turning activists on a variety of social problems, including data privacy, with all reliable institutions' studies identifying privacy as a hot topic across all generations in 2019-2020, making it unavoidable for consumer-facing firms (The Fashion Law, 2021).

 

Profiles of data decoding: 

 

        According to Rod Sides, vice chairman at Deloitte, customers usually do not submit enough information to fashion shops to allow for effective demographic profiling. It's especially true in the luxury market, where purchases are made less often and with greater thought than in quick fashion. To obtain a better understanding of their consumer base, companies have traditionally purchased data from advertising tech firms and other third-party data providers. Data may assist shops in displaying relevant items to clients and understanding the sorts of designers that work well with specific segments of a company's audience (Arnett, G., 2020). Some companies utilize their customers' information to send them regular emails that remind them of products they've looked at or goods that are comparable to what they've bought in the past (Allday, F., 2018). Retail companies and companies have been increasingly relying on data collecting in recent years. Data-driven clothing is not a trend, but a fundamental industry change toward digitization and a more customer-centric strategy, as seen by prominent examples like Amazon and Zalando, who have offered customized search options to adjust products for each consumer (Bringé, A., 2020). With the GDPR, due to the new restrictions, more conventional, less invasive kinds of targeted advertising are required, which includes looking at more real advertising seen in physical businesses.

 

 

(Olivares, 2021)

Paralysis of data: 

 

            Data collection is only one side of the equation; strategic information use is the other. In fact, most of the brands focus on getting as much data as possible but only a small percentage of them really use the information they acquire about their consumers. Consumers may be astonished by the extent of data gathering to which they have agreed, and a recent Deloitte research revealed a large gap between what merchants use data for and why consumers believe it is collected. However, fashion shops are typically thought to be behind the curve when it comes to using it. When consumers think about how personalization is utilized, fashion companies aren't the first thing that comes to mind. Companies that have strong personalization strategies are more likely to aggressively solicit data from their customers. As a result, customers are far more willing to share information. Brands and customers develop a relationship through a highly personalized purchasing experience. In order to get the customers’ data, brands require openness and clarity about what customers will receive in return (Arnett, G., 2020). 

Marketing experts, particularly those on the fashion industry's business side, enjoy looking at data but are frequently unclear of how to effectively use it. In the fashion sector, data gathering is just getting started with the purpose of collecting, cleaning, enriching, and transforming data in an attempt to draw meaningful conclusions and improve decision-making. Yet, not every data collection is meant to accomplish this; as customers spend more time online and connect with companies, there is an increasing quantity of "bad data" — information that isn't qualified, described, or simply misread (Bringé, A., 2020).

 

What companies can do now?

 

        When it comes to customer data protection, go on the offensive rather than defensive. Several publications published in the last several years have demonstrated that the knowledge to undertake Advanced Personalization currently exists. Brands must, however, lay the groundwork for that future today with a few basic privacy policy procedures. To begin, create an ethical and legal privacy policy. Then, without the obfuscating legalese, plainly express the protection and data usage policy. Explain that only authentic and explicit consent, not forced or false consent, will be used to acquire customer data (The Fashion Law, 2021). 

Create personal information pods for customers to access on their own devices, allowing them to quickly obtain and manage their data in a useful, organised fashion. Ask customers if the brand can give them a learning experience and crucial insights about themselves using non-invasive methods that enhance their lives without compromising their wishes or beliefs. Use such insights to make forecasts and suggestions that will improve the customer's life, suit their best interests, and are given with emotional intelligence and empathy. Seek and accept genuine consumer input on the real value being generated on a regular basis.

Then, when genuine value is created for the customer using their existing data, and the consumer's confidence grows, start a transparent and clear conversation about what more data is required to produce even more tailored value.

Reach out to the reluctant customers and discuss use cases when additional data is gathered from the more believing consumers, such as position, surfing, and other actual information. When applicable, get real-life testimonies about how the company is adding value to other shoppers' privacy and security through responsible data sharing. Rinse and repeat is a beneficial move in this scenario. This is a never-ending iterative education and trust-building procedure. It fosters long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships and recommendations.

        It's time to give up playing a lose-lose game with privacy regulations and instead create the groundwork for Advanced Personalization by establishing a foundation of confidence and permission-based customer data access. The brand's health and image are much too important to leave to the doubters. CEOs must seize responsibility for their online destiny today, or else their more sophisticated and intelligent competitors will.

#data #dataprotection #datasecurity #gdpr #fashionindustry #datadecoding #fashioncompanies #webmarketing

Manon Bally

 

References: 

 

Allday, F., 2018. Is the Fashion Industry Ready for GDPR?. [online] Euromonitor. Available at: <https://www.euromonitor.com/article/fashion-industry-ready-gdpr> [Accessed 24 October 2021].

Arnett, G., 2020. What fashion retailers know about you. [online] Vogue Business. Available at: <https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/what-fashion-retailers-know-about-you-gdpr-farfetch-net-a-porter-matchesfashion-asos-john-lewis> [Accessed 21 October 2021].

 

Bringé, A., 2020. Council Post: Data Is A Techy Domain, But Can The Fashion Industry Handle It?. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/11/10/data-is-a-techy-domain-but-can-the-fashion-industry-handle-it/> [Accessed 24 October 2021].

Olivares, J., 2021. A universal system for decoding any type of data sent across a network. [image] Available at: <https://news.mit.edu/2021/grand-decoding-data-0909> [Accessed 29 October 2021].

 

The Fashion Law. 2021. Luxury Institute: For Brands, Data Privacy is a Reputation Issue, Not a Compliance Issue - The Fashion Law. [online] Available at: <https://www.thefashionlaw.com/luxury-institute-for-brands-data-privacy-is-a-reputation-issue-not-a-compliance-issue/> [Accessed 24 October 2021].