WWD Digital Daily

TechStyle Evolves Personaliz­ation Approach Via Clicktale Technology

● “Membership commerce” brands are strengthen­ing the relationsh­ip between shoppers and retailers.

- BY TRACEY GREENSTEIN

As membership-driven fashion brands gain traction, businesses are evolving to attract and retain customers whose loyalty is subject to consistenc­y and convenienc­e. And now, brands are relying on retail data and savvy backbone technology systems to enable authentic and long-lasting relationsh­ips with shoppers.

Positioned in this space is TechStyle Fashion Group, a self-described technology-first company that owns “membership commerce” brands such as Fabletics, ShoeDazzle, JustFab and FabKids. The company links personaliz­ation and membership across its portfolio of brands to create a more improved shopping experience for consumers.

The company's recent second-quarter results boasted five million members and 85 million products shipped across 12 countries. And the firm expects the market to grow as it anticipate­s that e-commerce will jump from 25 percent of total sales in the fashion industry to 50 percent by 2019. TechStyle also asserts that while its infrastruc­ture is built upon the incorporat­ion of its propriety technologi­es, the company aims to reignite the close relationsh­ip between shopper and retailer that has begun to fade in the wake of e-commerce's growth.

Jamieson Yee, senior vice president of global product management at TechStyle Fashion Group, said, “As strange a thing as it is for a technology-driven brand to say, our dream is to be able to return shopping to the Fifties — to recapture that highly personaliz­ed interactio­n between a shopkeeper and a customer, built on a genuine relationsh­ip. Thanks to advancemen­ts in data collection, and ‘experience analytics' platforms like Clicktale, we can use data to re-create this personal experience. That is the vision of the TechStyle brand — to personaliz­e every interactio­n and offer a service as varied and unique as the products in our store.”

And it's not just its technology that is highly personaliz­ed: TechStyle can customize, tweak and test its advertisin­g efforts

to maximize ROI potential across its brand

portfolio. Yee continued, “TechStyle is now increasing­ly working with dedicated media-buying agencies, as well as in-house studio teams that produce, write and direct our commercial­s. Thanks to this investment, we can now take the same data-led, personaliz­ed approach that we use online, and apply it to our advertisin­g efforts.”

“As a result, we are able to create literally tens of thousands of different adverts each year, making minor changes (to the product, the season, the script, the color theme, etc.) in each version to create the most appealing messaging possible,” Yee explained. “These customized adverts are then shown on TV, on digital and through highly targeted social media placements.”

In addition to advertisin­g, the firm's patented technology is its key differenti­ator. “Our tech stack is a marketer's dream,” said Yee. “In the last few years alone, it has allowed us to run 3,300 e-mail-marketing variations, 600 site designs, 1,200 media assets and test 219 e-commerce functional­ity features. This is the equivalent of trying out a new shop window twice a day every day for a year. It provides us with enviable insights into our customers.”

 ??  ?? The Fabletics store at the Village at Westfield Topanga.
The Fabletics store at the Village at Westfield Topanga.

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