Lessons Learned From GANNI at NRF 2020
Posted by Stephan Schambach on Jan 30, 2020
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As we all know, the rise of e-commerce brought the downfall of the store. The biggest differential was technology. Ecommerce was data-driven and feature-rich, a reality that didn’t exist in the physical environment. But there are many brands bucking the store closure trend, including Scandinavian brand GANNI. For it, the store isn’t only a place for transactions. It is about experience and acquiring customers. It is a new store.
This topic was largely on display recently at NRF 2020, retail’s big show. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage at the event with Kristian Kehlet Bechsgaard and Anders Lindberg Madsen from GANNI, as well as Rob Garf from Salesforce. We spoke about the brand’s path to omnichannel – let me share some of the highlights in case you missed the talk.
GANNI is one of the fastest-growing fashion brands. It is deepening its direct to consumer business and plans to add dozens of metropolitan flagship stores to its retail footprint over the next couple of years. As Kristian and Anders shared at NRF, company co-founder Nicolaj Reffstrup set the team out on a journey to create a seamless online and in-store brand experience. But omnichannel isn’t easy. It being hard is the reason why we keep talking about it.
Knowing this, GANNI selected the NewStore Omnichannel Platform for its stores, with seamless integration to Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Today, GANNI’s point of service is an iPhone in its U.S. stores, combined with an omni order management system on the back-end. Per Anders, it is the smallest store tech stack the team has encountered – and also the most productive. Store associates can handle sales, returns, inventory management, and customer data capture all from the palm of their hand.
It’s only the beginning of GANNI’s omnichannel transformation. But with a platform at the core, 2020 will see the brand unlock features such as endless aisle, buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS), ship from store, and more. The team expects each solution to mutually benefit store and online conversions, upselling opportunities, and much more. It will be exciting to see it all unfold.
What is clear is GANNI is a trailblazer when it comes to its omnichannel strategy and global expansion. There are a few things we can learn from the brand as we bring the retail of 2020 into focus. Let’s review them.
1. Retail will run on cloud-based iPhone apps. I am really convinced of this because other industries have done it. Look at the evolution of the taxi industry. It used to run on clunky distance and time meters, but now we have the Uber application. Uber represents everything consumers want and expect, from convenience and instant gratification to service and experience. In due course, we will minimize the dependency on third-party hardware and cash in retail. But truly, everything can be done via apps. We can see the future in the GANNI store where an iPhone empowers and enables store associates every day.
2. Omnichannel is strategic and DTC success depends on it. Omnichannel is not the integration of legacy tech stacks. You can’t patch together systems that were not built to bring data from various channels together to be acted on in real-time. Your system of record needs to be purpose-built for a modern, mobile-first retail environment. “Unified” is one of GANNI’s core tech principles – this kind of mindset makes all the difference and is why the brand is poised for success as it grows.
3. Stores will run like websites, with rich data and seamless experiences. This is the success model for fast-growing brands. While many started online, when it comes to brick-and-mortar they don’t follow traditional retail rules. Instead, they apply the many things they did and learned online to their stores. Applying a digital perspective to physical retail is what will ultimately bring the joy back to the experience of buying and selling.
