Voice of London

The advancement in technology has led the fashion industry to adopt a ‘see now, buy now’ model. More beneficial for the designers and the customers, the model allows designers to sell and showcase their work through online methods.

Many fashion houses have spoken highly and have adopted it to market their products and increase sales. From big companies such as Kering, which owns Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, to smaller fashion companies, the model has worked in their favour, and sales are increasing tremendously.

photo by Rex Features

Initially, many fashion houses were quite sceptical about shifting from the conventional way of marketing designs. Tom Ford stated: “The current way of showing a collection four months before it is available to customers is an antiquated idea and one that no longer makes sense.” A few days later, he announced that he would make his designs available through online platforms. With this new strategy, he joined big names in the industry including Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. The move came after critical analysis of the online market, which has led to a significant increase in sales for the fashion houses that have adopted the ‘see now, buy now’ model.

A good example of the success of the ‘see now buy now’ model is Tommy Hilfiger’s sale results for the month of October. The brand’s profits have absolutely skyrocketed. Sales have increased by 900 percent in one month and multiple designs sell out within 24 hours. The growth in sales is notable in America, China and Japan, countries that have a high technology level and were a lot of people online.

Tommy Hilfiger has already reported a four percent rise in sales for November even before the end of the month. The current sales are standing at $927 million. It is a huge rise when compared with the amount the company makes using the conventional method of reaching the customer. Moreover, the sales are boosted by international growth. Thanks to online marketing, more customers have access to the products than when the customers reach the designs by attending fashion shows and physically going to the stores.

Many designers have praised the model, saying that it does not only work in favour of the designers but also the customers. A famous designer by the name Ms Loehnis has recently said that the model allows customers to access the designs as soon as they are introduced in the market. Comparatively, the conventional method of selling designs makes the outfits available for sale long after they have been showcased in runways. Accordingly, the customers are not as enthusiastic about them and they seem out-dated as fashion considering that fashion evolves quite rapidly.

It also gives the customers a chance to acquire the different designs right after they are introduced in the market. Clearly, the model is quite beneficial to many fashion houses and it continues to be accepted globally. More so, it is the future of marketing in the fashion industry and therefore should be fully embraced.

Questions to a customer: Do you like ‘see now, buy now’ model? Why? How is it feeling?

Words: You Zhou | Subbing: Victoire Bret, Zoey Valkova