THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR
We grabbed a few minutes with our founders to reflect on 2017 and share some plans for the upcoming year. Here’s what they had to say.
Q: What changes have you seen in the industry?
Matt
- Renewed focus on supply chain speed / responsiveness
- Increased proactive efforts across brands to understand, reach, and appeal to a younger customer base
- The effectiveness and proliferation of micro-influencers as a marketing tool across the industry (particularly on social media)
- Growing commitment from senior leadership to invest in data (both internal and external) as a necessary pillar paired alongside creative intuition
Dan
- Focus on tighter, more productive assortments and rationalized store footprints
- Brands re-thinking wholesale distribution strategy (with deciding whether to sell directly on Amazon an increasingly urgent strategic decision)
Q: What are your predictions for 2018?
Matt
- Continued brand focus on increasing responsiveness and reaction speed to customer trends
- Continued expansion of smaller, more curated retail locations
Dan
- Brands increasing their focus + investment in creating meaningful direct relationships with customers (transactional + non-transactional)
- More partnership between brands and retailers around data sharing, particularly regarding customer data and purchase patterns
Q: Favorite TV show of 2017?
Stranger Things, Season 2 -Matt
Abstract (particularly the Tinker Hatfield documentary) -Dan
+ what are you planning to binge watch in 2018?
2018 Olympics -Dan
The Crown -Matt
