TheIndustry.fashion LIVE! 2024 - The Year of Growth

As consumer confidence slowly builds, 2024 is the year for fashion brands and retailers to focus on growth, be that boosting domestic sales or building an international presence.

Gathering at The Hoxton in East London, a crowd of fashion industry professionals from the likes of Harrods, N Brown, Dune London, and more spent the day learning all about how brands and retailers can boost growth in 2024 and beyond.

Hosted in partnership with Glopal, Scurri and Supercycle, with panellists including Rixo Founder Henrietta Rix and Just Hype Co-founder Bav Samani, today's event explored five key themes, from identifying and maximising growth opportunities to finding growth through circular models and getting personal in the last mile and beyond.

The sessions

Identifying opportunities

During the first panel of the day, Jenny Cossons, Chief Partnerships Officer at Lyst, and Jake Posner, Founder of No One True Anything, helped the audience identify new growth opportunities - whether that be through new marketing channels or adapting new ways of thinking.

Posner has created new marketing channels by bringing in a community of underrepresented neurodiverse customers, for example. Meanwhile, Cossons delved into more ways retailers can utilise opportunities, such as using Lyst’s data collection from both its brand and customer base to create advanced shopper profiles. Rather than following the crowd by advertising through Facebook or Google, she urges people to go against the grain.

Cossons said: "There is so much opportunity for growth. You don’t have to follow what everyone else is doing."

Maximising growth opportunities

Natashia Redfern, Glopal's Enterprise Growth Director, presented ways in which retailers can utilise international markets to grow. You may think that most e-tailers already do this, but are they getting all they can from overseas shoppers? Redfern said if they’re not localising, then no.

This session revealed how retailers can get closer to their customers, in a global sense, whether this be through language or currencies.

"The numbers of non-English speakers, for example, are quite frankly, shocking. If you’re not stirring up your native language and marketing you’re missing out on big markets," Redfern said.

Getting personal in the last mile and beyond

For the third session of the day, delivery management platform Scurri hosted an insightful, data-fueled presentation on the importance of personalisation in delivery and returns to help brands and retailers attract new and existing customers.

It also spotlighted findings from its latest report, 'Getting Personal in the Last Mile and Beyond', which suggests that brands and retailers leaving post-purchase updates to third-party couriers are missing out on valuable customer engagement opportunities.

"81% of consumers will always open emails from a retailer or brand if they are updating them on the progress of their delivery," said Scurri Chief Marketing Officer, Gavin Murphy

"To ensure a smooth post-purchase experience, it's important that brands and retailers manage this process well - whether that's by managing the carrier, making sure delivery information and data is accurate, and regularly communicating with customers."

Finding growth through circular models

Henrietta Rix is the Co-founder of RIXO – the premium womenswear business that creates vintage-inspired fashion pieces. A circular model is a big part of her brand's growth, allowing the it to reach and entice more conscious customers.

Ryan Atkins is the Founder of Supercycle – a company powering the next wave of circular commerce by bringing rental business models to Shopify. Together, the two unveiled insights on how rental can grow a retailer’s reach and desirability.

"There's a lot more appetite for resale... Owning an item is a big decision. But if you offer the customer another option you’re likely to see a higher conversion rate," Atkins said.

Gaining a growth mindset

During an insightful and entertaining last session with Bav Samani, the Co-founder of Just Hype, guests learned all about the brand's rapid journey to success since its launch in 2011.

From taking risks and hiring the right people to launching mega brand partnerships to raise brand awareness, Samani says running a business has not been without its challenges but "you've always got to believe in yourself and never give up."

"In the beginning, we were a small team and could take all the risks. However, when you reach a certain size, you have to step back and look at the bigger picture. You need to bring in the right people, the right expertise for the continued success of the business," he added.