Content Meets Commerce in Luxury Fashion Retail

Luxury retail consumers want unique, exclusive experiences, whether they enter a retail store or browse for items online. Yet many luxury fashion brands struggle to provide digital experiences that match the elegance and sophistication of in-store visits. A leading luxury fashion company has set out to change that with its unique technology platform. Selling products from more than 700 boutiques and brands around the world, the UK-based company supports some of the biggest names in luxury fashion, from Burberry and Gucci to Valentino and Versace.

But that kind of growth doesn’t come without challenges. True to their heritage, the retailer built their platform from the ground up, supported by a team of hundreds of developers who coded their eCommerce and content management platforms. However, as the company grew, their content management system (CMS) couldn’t scale quickly enough for them to deliver content at the pace they needed. When marketers wanted to send out a new campaign, they would have to put in a request to IT and wait until the team had time to fulfill it.

Keeping Up With the Speed of Content

To meet the increased demand for content, the retailer’s developers planned on building a new CMS. The headless CMS would allow editors to create content once and push it out to digital storefronts across multiple channels, regions, and languages. However, they quickly found that developing the CMS themselves was becoming time and cost prohibitive. So, they set out to find a CMS that met their requirements.

They needed an agile CMS that would allow them to update and manage content in real time, but also translate and localize content across 140 global
sites. With a complex page hierarchy, they wanted a solution that would integrate with their existing custom-built eCommerce system, allowing them to automate their product details globally.

Finally, marketers and merchandisers wanted to create and push out more content-enriched campaigns to affiliated boutiques quickly and consistently without having to rely on IT. All while providing the upscale experiences luxury shoppers demand.

Meeting the Needs of Marketers and Developers

After realizing that their digital platforms were not scaling at the speed they wanted, the company decided to move forward with implementing CoreMedia Content Cloud. They chose CoreMedia because it easily integrated with their custom eCommerce system — something they found no other solution could do. The platform also allowed them to standardize their corporate identity through reusable templates and provided business users with a flexible, easy-to-use editorial interface.

For marketers, CoreMedia offered the ability to save time creating and localizing content for their global audience, as well as preview experiences across devices and channels before publishing. On the developer side, open APIs and standard technologies would make it easier to plug into their existing and future systems.

Through a guided evaluation process, both developers and marketers were able to experience firsthand what the platform offered, helping them make a more informed decision. The CoreMedia team spent two days with content editors and two with developers, walking them through typical tasks like translating and localizing content, or integrating and coding a template.

“The CoreMedia team explained the platform from a business and development perspective — and in some cases went through the code line by line — to ensure the retailer understood exactly what the platform offered,” said Philipp Hofmann, Senior Solution Architect at CoreMedia. “This reassured them that they were making the right decision for their needs.”

With CoreMedia, the retailer had everything they needed to make their project successful — without relying on additional systems integrations partners for implementation. And, because CoreMedia met their requirements technically and socially, they were able to choose a partner that fit in with their culture.

Empowering Teams to Create Engaging Experiences

In nine months, the company implemented and migrated their content to CoreMedia Content Cloud. They now use the platform to deliver consistent, engaging shopping and brand experiences across all their global web properties and digital channels — including in-store digital experiences. They’ve also increased efficiency, reduced time to web, and increased sales.

Specifically, they use CoreMedia to manage 140 websites in more than 12 languages across 200 countries. They also use the platform to manage about 30,000 content objects, making it easier for their team to develop luxury-worthy experiences for the designers and boutiques they support.

Now that editors and merchandisers are empowered to create, edit, and publish their own digital experiences, they’ve saved an immense amount of time and have increased workflow efficiency while updating content in real time. Because they can preview content before publishing to various channels, they no longer have to guess how the content will display.

“Marketers that previously had to depend on IT to make any kind of content changes are now empowered to create and update experiences in the moment they need to,” said Pal. “It’s as though the platform has given them a new lease on work life.”

The headless CMS allows them to create content once and deliver to any endpoint, including their website and recently launched mobile app. Through the mobile app, the luxury fashion retailer’s customers can browse the latest styles, get app-specific offers and promotions, and use visual search to find exactly what they want. For the retailer, the app provides a more direct method of communication with customers, and a more streamlined way to collect the data they need to deliver more relevant content experiences.

Leading the Way in the Future of Fashion

With CoreMedia’s help, this retailer has become one of the most successful eCommerce brands in the world of luxury fashion and is leading the effort to shape the digital future of the fashion industry. With CoreMedia as their digital experience platform, they’re well positioned to move on to the next phase in their digital journey: delivering unique, personalized web experiences