Case Study - How Eileen Fisher Evolved into a True Omnichannel Retailer

How Eileen Fisher Evolved into a True Omnichannel Retailer

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Eileen Fisher’s commitment to transforming the clothing industry framed itself as a leader in the retail space, but the retailer needed to catalyze its capabilities in order to keep thriving. Together, we helped the company evolve into a true omnichannel retailer, able to deliver on the promise “whatever she wants, when and where she wants it.”

The Imperative for Change

Eileen Fisher has a reputation for creating ethical, well-made and timeless products. However, traditional styles of shopping don’t deliver like they used to. The retail journey has gone from leading with brick-and-mortar stores to emphasizing online presence, while setting a precedent for seamless experiences across all channels.

Eileen Fisher was operating via disparate sources of technology to track inventory, focusing on each of their separate channels. This lack of a cohesive, overarching view ultimately lead to a lack of efficiency across the boards. The imperative was understood; rethink strategic objectives, unify its business model, embrace an omnichannel solution and level-up its technology systems to continue best serving its loyal customer base.

The Transformation Solution

As a partner in Eileen Fisher’s transformation, we needed to understand as much as we could to reframe its obstacles as opportunities. We conducted a detailed discovery of current supply chain processes, identified the technology landscape and assessed omnichannel maturity to prioritize and draw out a new business transformation roadmap.

We redefined and selected the technology architecture, which paved the way for us to successfully implement Consolidated Inventory Visibility, a “Ship from Store” feature as well as eCommerce features like Endless Aisles and Save the Sales, which both maximize customer satisfaction by merging online and in-store shopping opportunities. Thanks to cross-functional collaboration, Eileen Fisher’s capabilities are now at par with its commitment to excellence.

Store fulfillment app

This industry-leading desktop and mobile app enables associates to be where they’re needed most, and gives managers a workload snapshot to improve capacity management.

“From the outset, we were clear that we wanted an expert partner to support us on our transformation journey, and Publicis Sapient offered us the end-to-end service we were looking for,” McIntyre continues. “Publicis Sapient has been with us every step of the way—from the pre-study and roadmap-building to implementation and technical support.

Working with Publicis Sapient, Eileen Fisher successfully transitioned to a single, central order management hub powered by IBM Order Management, and integrated with the retailer’s Magento e-commerce platform. Because Eileen Fisher had not made significant technology investments in the past, it required a larger IBM Order Management footprint than other retailers of a similar size.”

Keir McIntyre, Sr. Director - Direct to Consumer Technology, Eileen Fisher

The Business Impact

The results and impact of our work with Eileen Fisher can be divided into 3 categories: Increased margins, improved customer experience, and optimized internal operations.

Eileen Fisher increased margins by leveraging consolidated inventory to seamlessly service both online and retail orders, drastically reducing order cancellations and improving inventory accuracy.

For improved customer experience, Eileen Fisher streamlined its image, voice and brand presence so customers experience a cohesive journey no matter where she chooses to view or purchase. Publicis Sapient also enabled a roadmap to the future that consistently provides creative and dynamic initiatives to serve the Eileen Fisher consumer, no matter when or where.

Lastly, Eileen Fisher optimized operations by setting a steady cadence of program improvements. Procedures that have been traditionally manual will become automated, enabling employees more quality time with customers. Information systems, will be decluttered and consolidated, keeping the quantity at use to a minimum, all laying the solid architectural foundation for whatever change the future ushers in.