A lot of “retail technology” works in other verticals, but not in fashion.
Apparel retail is unique. Each style an apparel retailer sells has seemingly innumerable deviations. Every tee shirt comes in various sizes and colors. Shoppers need to touch and feel clothes before they buy-in. They need to envision how clothes fit in with their existing wardrobe, or the wardrobe they aspire to have. Apparel returns run rampant, even for items purchased in stores.
CB4 is an in-store technology that uses patented artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to enable store managers—and it’s optimized for apparel-sellers. Read on to learn why CB4 fits apparel retail to a T.
CB4 ensures locally popular sizes and colors are always shoppable.
A lot of apparel retailers stock their store with the general assumption that x percent of their shoppers are y size, and that these figures are relatively constant across the board.
Being in a city versus a rural area is one thing. And often, fashion retailers account for these types of differences as they write order for specific sizes and colors in their stores. But it’s impossible for retailers to account for the change in demand patterns for a store that’s situated next to a high school vs. around the corner from a fast food mecca. Either one of these factors could drastically alter how much of a specific color or size is selling in a given store.
Further complicating the matter, popular sizes are plucked from the floor, sometimes at lightning speed. It’s one thing to notice that pink tank tops are absent from their home, but it’s much harder to know easily whether a full size run is represented on a fixture.
Enter CB4. Our app notifies store managers when a style is underselling. It clearly lists all available sizes a style comes in to help the store manager fix any holes on the floor. Gone are the days of having to refer back to planogram, or looking up a pair of jean’s size range in the POS before heading back to the stock room to replenish. With all the information at their fingertips, apparel teams that use CB4’s in-store technology ensure product availability and findability. Whether local shoppers trend toward the small, the tall, and anything in between, store managers will know and be able to stock their floors accordingly.
CB4 keeps store staff focused on demanding apparel shoppers.
There are a lot of mundane tasks that quickly eat up a store manager’s time. Something as routine as snapping a before and after photo of the floor and sharing it with a regional manager, for example, can mean sacrificing other sales-driving initiatives. Sure, it’s an important task, but it doesn’t drive sales.
CB4, on the other hand, sends store managers simple, straightforward recommendations that are clearly linked to dollar revenue gains. When accumulated across your chain, these gains can significantly boost your bottom line.
Our clients love that their store managers can complete each of CB4’s recommendations in just 3-5 minutes, and then get back to focusing on their customers. Usually, the fix is something as simple as moving one color of shorts from the back to the front of a fixture. Double exposing a popular sweater is often all it takes to restore lost sales. Even the most diligent of store managers can’t catch every merchandising or availability issue on their floor.
This is particularly critical in apparel. Clothing shoppers are the most demanding shoppers, often requiring assistance with fit and style advice. The only way for store teams to succeed is to devote quality time to them.
As one retail executive using CB4’s in-store technology put it, “CB4 really helps us identify items that are causing a problem for us allows the store manager—in a very short amount of time—to go address the issue, and then get back to serving the customer.”
The end result is more meaningful and successful customer experiences.
CB4 keeps stores on top of what’s trending in real time.
CB4 doesn’t send recommendations based on yesterday’s trends. Instead, our patented algorithms see a clear picture of what’s currently happening in stores to help each store meet demand. If an item should be selling better than it is right now, CB4 will catch it.
Even the most diligent of store managers can’t catch every merchandising or availability opportunity on their floor. And trend forecasting is even complex for the planners and merchandisers who do it full time.
An actress wearing a lilac dress to the Academy Awards can lead to a lilac demand spike you—and your planogram—didn’t see coming. Store to store, teams have merchandise displayed in slightly different ways. Store managers love to express their tastes by which product they prioritize. But blind spots to recognizing demand in near-real time will cost you. CB4’s in-store technology reveals these blind spots by helping store managers capitalize on hyperlocal demand patterns, while allowing them the autonomy and creative freedom they enjoy.
Conclusion
Yes, CB4 works in nearly all retail verticals. But it rises to some of the most persistent challenges of apparel retail. With time-sensitive, trend-inspired assortments, no vertical is more in need of accurate demand projections. At the same time, apparel shoppers are uniquely demanding. Store managers need to be able to merchandise their store and then quickly go back to serving shoppers. And that’s exactly what our in-store technology helps them do.
CB4 helps apparel retailers like Levi’s ensure that the products shoppers want most are easy to find and buy at every store in the chain. Ready to learn more? Here’s how it works.
