The future is not about the big taking over the small but the fast taking over the slow, said Daniel Grieder, CEO, Tommy Hilfiger Global and PVH Europe, as he outlined how the fashion brand envisages its future to World Retail Congress delegates in Amsterdam.
He also showcased the planned campus for PVH Europe which will create a headquarters designed to include the company's innovation centre but also oriented around mindfulness and staff health and wellbeing as the company seeks to attract and retain the best talent going forwards.
He said that the challenging global markets required companies “ready for everything that is happening” and said that a cornerstone of the Tommy Hilfiger business will be to “keep a spirit of adaptability” as he warned “the biggest risk for us is to take no risk”.
Grieder said that the company's omni-channel approach would still include stores but they are likely to be smaller and easier to navigate, as the company rethinks the role of its estate within the brand's strategy. The company recently closed its Manhattan flagship and has pledged to continue enhancing the links between its online, stores and events activities.
“Are consumers really opting for online sales over visiting brick-and-mortar locations? We might be overlooking Generation X,” added Carla Buzasi, managing director of WGSN, as she shared her knowledge about Gen X, which seems to be the forgotten spend.
She said that this generation might not be seen as the generation of the future, given It is the smallest generation of our time, which covers only 25% of all consumers worldwide.
However, Gen X has the largest spending power and the money to actually buy product, right now. “The thing that they want most is to be time affluent. They want you to make their life easier. This generation, when it comes to spending money, want it to be as simple as possible.” Buzasi said.
Clean and curated commerce has shown results of increasing sales, just by making things simpler. Overwhelming amount of choice can be confusing. This generation want you to take the decision-making process out of it, by adopting a direct-to-consumer strategy, she said. Gen X is definitely digital-savvy. Nevertheless, their main focus when shopping online, is that it’s time saving compared to going to an actual store.
“More importantly, when focusing too much on millennials, you are underestimating the power of the XZ-factor,” said Buzasi. “Gen Z is much more like Gen X, compared to millennials. Look at Stuart Weisman, who paired Kate Moss with Gigi Hadid for their shoe campaign, serving both Gen X and Gen Z by combining their generations most iconic influencers.”
She said that same thing is true of middle youth. There are such few brands that are using models in their early 40 for their international campaigns, while it’s a great opportunity to speak to both Gen Z and Gen X at the same time, she added.
“Gen Z wants to be part of an established brand and will therefore buy cheaper brand products such as fragrances and makeup, while its Gen X that will actually get your cashflow going, when buying the more expensive clothing,” said Buzasi. “When it comes to today’s retailing, it’s about bridging that gap between Gen X and Gen Z.”
