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From the invention of the worldwide web in 1989 to where stand now, digital technologies have profoundly changed the way we work, think, communicate, learn, etc. But most inevitably, it has changed the way we shop. The ever-changing world of retail had to adapt and the fashion sector makes no exception.
Nowadays, brands that want to strive have to focus on their customers in a sustainable and scalable way by realising a full integration of digital technologies as part of their digital transformation. More than ever before, the customer experience needs to be immersive, personalised and interactive.
But what role do digital technologies actually hold in this landscape and how do they enhance the customer/user experience? This work aims at answering this question, both for in-store and online experience.
The first part will start by examining the context with fashion retailers and the fashion retail market in figures. E-commerce drivers and barriers will also be reviewed along with Belgian consumers expenditures in fashion retail. Then, we will review the academic literature dedicated to customer experience, omnichannel retailing and digital technologies.
In the second part, the aim is to take a closer look at the situation with the use of case studies. The first chapter of this section will give an overview of the most avant-garde actors in the fashion retail industry all over the world by showcasing one pure player (ASOS) and one omnichannel retailer (H&M) that are currently using state-of-the-art technology. We will also list other actors identified during this research that are using technology to improve the customer experience. As for the remainder of this part, we will consider a promising digital technology: 3D body scanning.

customer experience --- digital technologies --- omnichannel --- fashion retail --- 3D body scanning --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Marketing

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The fashion industry is a very harmful sector both environmentally and socially speaking. The management of the end of life of fashion articles has been singled out recently by the scientific literature and the press as being problematic. The objective of this dissertation is to identify the processes used by the fashion industry with regard to the management of excess stock and to discover which practices are the most eco-responsible. A comparative study between the fast fashion movement and the slow fashion movement is presented.

The scientific literature has identified destruction as a predominantly used process in fast fashion companies. The main reason for this disposal is the financial aspect because excess stock means an opportunity cost. The giants of fast fashion are also opting for intensive promotional sales during sales periods. They also use textile recyclers to whom they sell at low prices or give excess stock. These items are then sent to developing countries for recycling into rags, or resold as is in markets to an impoverished population. The slow fashion movement favors recycling and recovery in order to manage excess stock and thus extend the life of items. The benefits of fashion for hire, which is an alternative to item destruction, appear to depend on the type of item involved as well as how often it is used.

Based on interviews conducted with eight companies from slow fashion and seven companies from fast fashion, several discoveries were made. It turns out that the average of unsold items is stable from one movement to another because it depends mainly on a company and not on a movement. Low-cost selling is practiced as much by slow fashion companies as by fast fashion companies in the first place to eliminate excess stock. Then, the sample of fast fashion companies opt for destruction and sale to « destockers » and the slow fashion companies favor personal use as well as donation (to influencers). The rate of returns of items made after the purchase is higher in fast fashion companies because the purchase is induced by an impulse explained by the democratic price.

It is undeniable that the slow fashion movement (which bases its sustainable strategy mainly at the start of the supply chain) is positively beneficial to the environment as well as to the conditions of workers. As a result, fast fashion companies will no doubt have to follow the same pattern in the future, avoiding the use of greenwashing practices.

Logistique --- mode --- fin du cycle de vie --- gestion des articles invendus --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Production, distribution & gestion de la chaîne logistique