“I think the online-only days are over. I think soon, the no-other-outside retail partner days are going to be over too.”
Since joining Digiday in 2015, Hilary Milnes has worked her way from retail reporter to Managing Editor of Glossy, Digiday Media’s online publication covering the impact of technology on the fashion, beauty, and luxury industries. As the host of the Glossy podcast, she talks to founders, designers, and industry leaders at the forefront of that change. On this episode of Well Made, she’s discussing the resurgence of the retail store and where the luxury world is at in the transition from wholesale to direct-to-consumer.
On this episode, Hilary talks about brands realigning their physical retail strategy to evolve with their digital strategy (1:30). She talks about the cost of customer acquisition changing how a sustainable digital-first brand gets built. (4:13). Stephan and Hilary talk about retail concepts moving away from the showroom model (8:42), multi-brand retailers as an offline solution for brands without a large product offering (13:20), and how brands can navigate partnerships with and against Amazon (20:20). With dozens of private labels popping up, Hilary answers if Amazon can sell luxury and be a fashion destination (26:40). She illuminates on the areas brands will need to focus on in order to scale and gain exposure (36:47), and lastly, she predicts how brands will evolve in this increasingly complex digital world (41:55).
You can follow Hilary on Twitter.
Also mentioned on the show:
- Well Made Episode 41 with Lauren Sherman: Going Direct to Consumer
- Well Made Episode 48 with Web Smith: Converting Influence
- 'You can't forget to sell a product': E-commerce brands struggle to bring stories to life in-store
- Everlane
- Ssense
- Nordstrom
- What fashion brands can learn from Nike's first six months as an Amazon partner
- ‘This was a pivotal time’: Amazon’s year in fashion
- Why Calvin Klein is selling underwear exclusively on Amazon
- Lyst
- Farfetch
- ‘Nobody is using it’: Amazon Spark is not taking off with brands, agencies
- Well Made Episode 45 with Helen Rice: Breathing Life into Brands
- Why Does Every Lifestyle Startup Look the Same?
- Tearsheet
- Subscribe to the Amazon Briefing newsletter from Digiday Media
Header photo via Glossy.
You can find this and all future episodes on iTunes, Google Play, and here on the Lumi blog. This episode was edited by Evan Goodchild.
