Tapestry Weaves Consumer Data Through the Value Chain
Tapestry is leveraging consumer data through the full value chain and embedding data into the decision making that's happening day-to-day, CEO Joanne Crevoiserat said.
The move seems to be paying off.
The Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman parent raised its annual earnings guidance, after a strong holiday season, during which the retailer delivered “record second quarter earnings despite a challenging backdrop,” said Crevoiserat.
Tapestry’s second quarter 2023 marked the first holiday season that all of its brands were on its digital enterprise platform, designed to "enhance engagement and simplify the customer journey."
“We leveraged new data analytics capabilities to optimize our product allocation processes, such as utilizing artificial intelligence to forecast customer demand, and better position inventory and stores,” Crevoiserat said in the company’s earnings call. “This led to an increase of inventory availability and help to ensure our product was in the right place at the right time, as we match supply with demand to help deliver superior customer experiences.”
The retailer is leaning into its customer data platform and tapping the consumer data it has and its understanding of its consumer in a number of ways.
Future Investment
Tapestry’s expects its CapEx and cloud computing costs to be in the area of $300 million and approximately one-third of this spend will be related to openings and renovations with the balance dedicated to ongoing digital and IT initiatives, including investment in a new fulfillment center in Las Vegas, NV.
“We are leveraging [consumer data] through the full value chain from product creation as we understand and do market mapping and understand what our consumers are looking for from our brand as well as from our product — including the younger consumer — and we are leveraging it as we think about how we market and which products resonate with which consumer bases,” she noted.
Tapestry has a technology infrastructure that is allowing it to harness consumer data and embed it into the decision making that's happening day-to-day,” she explained. The capability is revealing opportunities to drive higher lifetime value.
“We understand how customers are coming into our brands, what they're likely to purchase next in terms of driving frequency, and how we engage them more fully in our brand and not just in one product at one price.”
This capability hinges on having a direct-to-consumer platform and a modern technology infrastructure that allows Tapestry to move very quickly to apply new technology, to allow it to utilize that data even better, she explained.
Coach CEO and brand president Todd Kahn noted data is informing the brand upfront, not just in hindsight, and the company is tapping it to inform pricing, promotions, and placement.
“It really informs everything we do,” he said. “I'm very excited by the platform.”
Kate Spade Enters Resale
In addition to leveraging data through the value chain, Tapestry’s Kate Spade brand is getting more circular. The brand announced last week it is teaming up with online resale platform thredUP on a new resale program.
Dubbed “Pre-Loved,” the program allows customers to shop secondhand products directly through a dedicated site and resell select items — from any eligible brand — for Kate Spade shopping credit.
“Pre-Loved” is supported by thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service (RaaS), which enables brands to plug into thredUP’s proprietary operating platform and deliver scalable, customized resale experiences to its customers.
Customers in the United States can currently shop resale online at katespade.thredup.com. To earn Kate Spade shopping credit, they can generate a prepaid shipping label from the site, fill any shippable box or bag with women’s and kid’s items from any brand, and ship it to thredUP for free. For items that sell on thredUP, customers receive Kate Spade shopping credits that can be used both online and in-store.
“At Kate Spade new york, we are on a journey to driving progress by giving our products a second life and contributing to meaningful change,” said CEO and brand president Liz Fraser. “We continue to identify ways that our brand can show up for our community and help minimize our footprint on the planet. We are thrilled to partner with thredUP, a company that shares our values, to work towards a more responsible future.”