J Crew, Macy’s discuss customer data, product mix at Shoptalk Fall day two

The second day of ​​Shoptalk Fall was just as lively and enlightening as day one of the conference. 

Running from October 16-18, the retail event in Chicago has attracted big players in the retail industry, including, J Crew’s chief information officer Danielle Schelkin, Walmart’s EVP of fashion and private brands Denise Incandela, Macy’s SVP of private brands Emily Erusha-Hilleque, True Religion’s CMO Kristen D’arcy and Pinterest’s vice president of global business marketing Stacy Malone.

These leading retail executives discussed key factors in creating a unified and satisfying customer experience, such as building a multi-tier shopping experience or curating an optimal product selection. 

Building best-in-class unified shopping experiences 

During her panel, J Crew’s chief information officer Danielle Schelkin discussed the importance of a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints, emphasising the use of connected data to understand customer interactions and address friction points.

As Schelkin stated, “It all starts with the data… I truly believe if you have good, connected data, that’s a competitive advantage.”

Data not only explains how the customer interacts with a brand, but it can often also be a way to figure out friction points in the sales process. Taking proper consideration of the data allows a company to prevent points where a customer may “stumble” in the shopping process, whether the shopper forgot about an item in their cart or was left unsure about a purchase due to a lack of information. 

In addition to collecting and analyzing data to create a frictionless shopping experience, the CIO explained that it is vital to meet customers wherever they are, whether shopping with a mobile device or exploring a bricks-and-mortar store.

Schelkin also brought up an old-school and new-school way that retailers can connect with their consumer base, through physical print catalogs, which J Crew recently brought back, and immersive digital landscapes, like J Crew’s virtual beach house or closet. 

However, the CIO cautioned, that no matter where you are meeting your customer, it is best to remain authentic to the brand’s messaging and always provide that human touch consumers are always seeking out. 

How to curate the products your consumers are looking for 

During their shared panel, Denise Incandela, Walmart’s EVP of fashion and private brands, and Emily Erusha-Hilleque, Macy’s SVP of private brands, explained the key components to building a winning product assortment. 

Both fashion-focused executives explained that it includes taking the difficult but often necessary step of cutting underperforming brands. It also involves making more progressive moves such as seeking out innovative new designers to add to your portfolio. Also, depending on the brand and the white spaces they are trying to fill out, this can mean building up a strong arsenal of privately owned brands. 

For example, Macy’s newly launched menswear label, Mode of One, reflects just that, a retailer swiftly moving to fill in white space under its merchandising umbrella. 

During the presentation, Erusha-Hilleque pointed out that where retailers, especially big-box players like Macy’s, once treated private label brands more like vessels, they are now treating these brands as if they had their own heartbeat.

Macy’s SVP explained that brands, private label and otherwise, should reflect the needs and interests of the consumers they are serving because, at the end of the day, these products are so much more than items to purchase, they make up the moments of a consumer’s life.

“Macy’s is more than a store, we’re a story,” Erusha-Hilleque emphasised. 

In today’s increasingly competitive market, retailers need to be fast and flexible when it comes to curating products.

Full-funnel marketing tactics for today’s retail environment

Kristen D’arcy, chief marketing officer of True Religion, and Stacy Malone, vice president of global business marketing for Pinterest, talked about full-funnel marketing tactics for today’s retail environment. 

One key point both executives agreed upon is that it is essential to market to customers via several channels of media content, be it through established platforms like Pinterest or Instagram or testing out entirely new marketing channels.

D’arcy commented that when it comes to marketing, retailers typically fish where the fish are, but “if you’re just going to continue hammering the same people over and over again [with your brand’s message], why not go to a new pond?”

From relaunching a beloved shopping outlet to releasing new private label brands to experimenting with different media channels and content models, every executive agreed that experimentation is key and trend research and analyzation of consumer data is the secret sauce to making these retail experiments a success. 

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