Ready for a revolution in your sector? This is how you do it

How do you shake up an entire sector? Creative thinking, empathy, and most importantly, a different mindset aimed at providing services.

‘As-a-service’ is advancing for a simple reason: Convenience. Take the automotive industry: We are buying fewer cars, and use Lyft or Uber instead. It’s no longer about the product itself, but about fulfilling the underlying need.

You can apply this mindset to traditional businesses, like the clothing retail industry.

Manufacturers make items that they sell to customers via retail channels. Customers purchase garments, and frequently wash them during its lifespan, until the customer is bored with the item, or it’s worn out. At best it’ll be given a second life, perhaps via a charity or in a vintage or thrift shop. Usually, the garment will end up in the dump.

We’re so familiar with this model that we hardly question it. Is this justifiable? I don’t believe so. There are smarter and more sustainable ways that are focused on service in particular.

So, how would one go about attempting to transform a specific sector like fashion? Read on.

Strike a pose: Identify needs

How do you go about clothes-as-a-service? An effective first step is identifying needs. Why do we buy, wear, wash, and replace our clothes? When we know the needs, we can fill these in a different way.

1. Clothes should be functional and offer protection: We need different clothing in winter than summer.
2. Clothes should match our agenda: A funeral, job interview, or an evening out all require different clothes. Our wardrobe should address ever-changing agendas.
3. Need for individuality: We want our clothes to match our preferences in taste, fashion, and identity. Our clothes announce: Hello, world, this is me.
4. Need for variation: We want to wear something new every now and then. Variety is, after all, the spice of life.
5. Need for hygiene: Clothes should be clean. Nobody wants to walk around in dirty clothing.

Does the retail clothing industry optimally fulfill these needs? Not necessarily.

Let’s take the first phase in this process: Buying clothes. A fun event for some, a nightmare for others.

Web shops already somewhat simplify this, although the customer still has to search for the right clothes to fit their style, sizes, weather forecast, and agenda.

E-commerce shops also introduce a logistical issue that traditional retailers are not always aware of: Processing returns. Sizes often run different, and there is always the question of whether the clothing will look as good on us as on the screen. The result: Customers order multiple sizes and colours, and return most items after a fitting session. This involves significant environmental impacts and high costs.

Doing a little turn on the catwalk: Innovations swaying fashion

Presently you can witness careful innovations, including start-ups like The Cloakroom, House of Einstein, or Outfittery. Using a preference profile that has been created by the customer, they deliver boxes of clothing containing pre-selected outfits, taking notice of the ‘search process’. These brands especially target men because they tend to dislike the search process.

You could cautiously call this approach revolutionary. But with a bit of imagination, you can implement this service-directed approach further. Imagine a service that upturns the entire cycle of buying, wearing, washing, and discarding clothes by replacing the phases with a service.

Let’s begin with the first step in the cycle: Choosing clothes. The aforementioned start-ups to some extent deliver a random package. This can be done smarter by fine-tuning the clothes to the user’s agenda. Via an app, customers could indicate if they have an upcoming special event, then receive a package of clothes based on their needs.

All the rage: Sharing is the new buying

A new set of clothes every couple of weeks sounds expensive, but not if using a sharing system, just like SnappCar. With each delivery, clothing from previous cycles are collected, then centrally cleaned. The undamaged clothes make their way back to the delivery cycle. Discoloured or worn-out clothes are recycled or sent to social projects.

1. Focus on sustainability: In the described model, the number of returns from ‘traditional’ online sales is drastically decreasing. Individual items of clothing never have to be returned by post, as they are returned with the next delivery. The model also prevents waste. Clothes that are rarely worn end up with someone else, instead of in a landfill. Moreover, washing machine use is reduced. Centrally washing clothes is more efficient with regard to use of water, energy, and detergents.
2. ‘Pay-per-use’ instead of investing: Customers can rent expensive clothes for a set timeframe. This reduces making costly buys, and makes clothing expenses more predictable, which is always good for the household account.
3. Focus on personal preferences and circumstances: After an initial questionnaire, you can get to know the customer better by asking them to rate all items after each cycle. You can further refine the individual taste profile via a Netflix-like algorithm. These kinds of analyses also provide the room to fine-tune the sizes. Finally, by offering tiered subscription forms, you can connect budgets and preferences.
4. Optimal use of machine learning and AI: Smart algorithms can take over individual custom work. Machine learning and AI play an important role in optimising clothing selection. You could also consider weather predictions for the month ahead.

Is this business model viable? Perhaps.

Maybe consumers place high value on their ‘own’ clothes, or don’t like the idea of using previously worn clothes. It may be a case of too much logistical hassle.

By thinking in terms of services and customer experiences rather than products, you can unchain market revolutions. In my opinion, this is where the key to innovation lies. Those who dare may just be sitting on a goldmine.