It’s no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically transformed the fashion industry, leading many industry leaders to rethink their priorities. One key area many started prioritizing was the advancement of technological innovations.
Staying ahead of the curve, Bally, a Swiss luxury clothing, shoe and accessories brand founded in 1851, began looking for a solution that would allow it to dynamically manage its collections and pricing strategy. With its outdated IT system, Bally struggled to manage the large amount of data generated by its different systems and sectors. Adding fuel to the fire, competitive intelligence was also carried out manually and compiled with Excel, which was a tedious and time-consuming task that required constant updates.
To combat this problem, the brand started looking for unique tools that would support activities from its collection of lifecycle and competitive intelligence to gain better transparency of its merchandise from start to finish. It also sought to monitor international competitor markets, ultimately staying on top of consumer demands.
That’s when Bally decided to partner with technology provider Lectra to implement its Kubix Link product lifecycle management (PLM) system, a solution that enables fashion and apparel process stakeholders to consolidate, share and communicate all product-related data through a single funnel from the first sketch to online sales channel.
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With Kubix Link PLM implemented, Bally now has an easy solution that allows the brand to capitalize on the best practices in the fashion industry. In addition to its fast implementation and ability to manage different types of products through a single solution—including shoes, leather goods and ready-to-wear—Kubix Link PLM is also a key collaboration and communication tool. It allows Bally to optimize its production process by centralizing, consolidating and sharing real-time information through a single funnel from initial sketch to e-commerce.
“Having a PLM tool is a real advantage. It gives our marketing and merchandising teams access to the latest technical product information in real time, preventing delays due to data transfer,” said Alessandro Ponti, Bally’s director of global IT.
A strengthened collaboration
After successfully implementing the Kubix Link PLM solution, Bally decided to continue working with Lectra by supplementing Kubix Link with the automated competitive analysis platform, Retviews.
Previously benchmarking manually, Bally spent a significant amount of time collecting data that quickly became obsolete. By integrating Retviews, the brand was able to get a real-time view of competitors’ strategies, and in turn, fine-tune its collections and manage its international pricing strategy, staying on top of consumer demand. Additionally, Bally can also make decisions based on precise, actionable data in a fraction of the time spent benchmarking manually.
“Integrating Retviews into the Kubix Link solution has proved essential for compiling all the information on what our competitors are doing in terms of assortment, prices and discounts, allowing us to fine-tune our collections so they are always in step with customer demand,” said Ponti. “In the end, all our information is now easily available on a single platform and is used by all the teams involved in the value chain. It feels like all our dreams have come true.”
This article was written by Olivia Boieru, fashion marketer, Lectra.
Click here to learn more about how Lectra helped Bally digitally transform.