The carefully orchestrated runway production at Fashion Week, while both beautiful and exciting, is just one aspect of the launch-to-market process. From conceptualizing the scope of a product to achieving the buyer and customer transaction, any designer can attest that there are a host of tasks to complete within the cycle before any given garment, accessory or shoe arrives in store or online. This is why fashion software comes in.
Below, we’ve broken down the importance of Product Launch Planning using technology to help transform and streamline the process:
In this article you’ll learn…
Product Launch Planning (PLP) sits between your PLM and ERP fashion software solutions:
As President of Launchmetrics, Eddie Mullon recently confirmed in The Business of Fashion, Product Launch Planning for the fashion industry uses software to extract information efficiently and provides a comprehensive view of data so that brands make better decisions.
The tech-resistant fashion industry must adopt more agile ways of working and this requires becoming more easily integrated with new technologies both inside and outside the company. PLP will help generate work faster by not wasting hours of your day, whether it’s searching for samples in your office or tracking RSVPs out of an inbox. As a result, you will operate more efficiently as one team and be able to plan and organize your product launch collectively.
Product Launch Planning’s real-time data allows for proactive process innovation. With early insight into top performing products, PLP becomes an immense cost-saving tool as your company can halt the production of items that are not attracting the same attention as others with the help of fashion software. In addition, by knowing exactly where your samples are at your brand and planning where they’re going, you can maximize opportunities and increase the speed at which they’re moving through your business. This results in a quicker and more seamless product launch.
Monitoring products and departments throughout the product launch process
In 2015, it is critical for a brand to monitor the flow of products and data through business departments and processes. So, how does Launchmetrics fashion software fit into this?
As soon as a sample is produced and received from the factory to the brand, it will begin moving back and forth between the different teams:
- Design ensures the sample matches its sketches and is in-line with their original vision.
- Production has to deliver the sample and needs to confirm the sample being produced is up to the desired fabric and trimming quality.
- Merchandising may be placing the orders for the samples and working with the factories to receive them.
- Wholesale/Sales often need samples to show their buyers, showcase at trunk shows, or send to major retailers to be photographed for their website.
- E-comm teams (similarly to Sales) require samples to be shot at studios to upload online for sale.
- PR sends samples all over the world for potential press coverage (for publications, bloggers, and celebrities.
In citing the various back and forth movements of a single sample, we want to exemplify the opportunity for loss during the Product to Launch process. When an item is constantly migrating back and forth between teams, the utilization of Launchmetrics fashion software—Samples— tracks the very movement of that item and in turn, reduces the risk of lost opportunities and samples.
By Launchmetrics Content Team
The Launchmetrics content team is always on the lookout for new trends in the fashion and technology sector. We are geeks with style and lovers of good stories!
