Retail & Fashion

We help retailers and fashion companies revolutionize the customer shopping experience, and at the same time to increasingly streamline operations, reduce costs and increase revenues.

Engineering for "Retail & Fashion" aims to support fashion and large-scale distribution players in adopting a new organizational and operational approach in managing the supply chain and the relationship with end customers, thanks to the provision of consultancy and solutions dedicated to the optimization of internal operations (eg. design, planning, governance) and external (e.g. Point of Sales management, customer loyalty, customer analytics, all from an omnichannel perspective).

Engineering collects the set of competencies for Digital Retail & Fashion in a portfolio map that encompassess the phases of Design & Prototyping, Planning & Forecasting, Sourcing & Manufacturing, Deliver & Supply, Customer Engagement & Selling.

Portfolio Map

Retail & Fashion

Expansion Strategy Workforce Management Logistic Processes to Support Operations Supply Chain Optimization Business Process Management Omnichannel Sales Sales Network Management In-store Traffic Analysis SALES & MARKETING FULFILLMENT & SUPPORT
Design & Prototyping The process of designing and developing a comprehensive catalog or inventory of products or services. This involves curating product information, images, descriptions, pricing details, and other relevant data to showcase the available items to potential customers. Introduce a new product to the marketplace step-by-step (idea, research, prototyping, development, testing, analysis, etc.) to meet customers' needs. The strategic and operational processes involved in optimizing the physical and digital presentation of products to maximize their visibility, appeal, and sales potential. The strategic and tactical processes involved in setting, adjusting, and optimizing the prices of products or services sold online or offline. Manage and monitor the whole product lyfe cycle, schedule activities, connect tasks, sharing documents, assigning resources. Estimate revenues and expenses over a specified period of time and, consequently, support the planning of future activities. Plan new products and items procurement to provide them when needed, based on store inventory and expected customer demand. Optimize resource and supply by matching demand and supply cycle and improving sales forecast accuracy. Support activities (modeling, automation, execution, control, measurement) aimed at optimizing business processes and testing reactions to different scenarios. The process of strategically improving and streamlining the flow of products, information, and resources throughout the supply chain to maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. The various activities and procedures involved in managing and coordinating the movement of products, information, and resources within the digital retail ecosystem. Enhance employees' productivity, including: scheduling, performance management, employee engagement, payroll, time and attendance records. Define qualification criteria to analyse suppliers and partners and support negotiation activities. The strategic and operational processes involved in managing relationships with suppliers who provide products or services to digital retailers. The process of negotiating price terms with suppliers, analyzing costs, monitoring market prices, and using technology to optimize price agreements. Manage the complete category lifecycle of the Retailer: definition, role assessment, setting objectives, strategies and tactics, implementation and performance analysis. Verify production capacity constraints, availability of critical components and validation of proposed production and purchase orders. Support overall production process, factory scheduling, shop floor monitoring and product quality control. Support an efficient control and management of goods inside the warehouse. Manage and control different means of transport used to move goods along the supply chain. Inbound and Outbound logistics refer to two of the familiar procedure to move goods throughout the digital retail supply chain. At the surface, they appear to be the same as both processes involve the transportation of the products across different channels. However, the key difference is that inbound deals with supply, while outbound deals with fulfillment. Activities related to tracking, organizing, and optimizing the stock of products available for sale. It involves monitoring stock levels, replenishing inventory, and ensuring that the right products are available at the right time to meet customer demand. The process of launching and establishing a new physical retail location within the digital retail landscape. It involves location selection, store design and layout, inventory planning, technology integration, staffing and training and marketing and promotion. The process of updating and revitalizing an existing physical retail store to enhance its overall appeal, functionality, and customer experience within the digital retail landscape. The deliberate and planned approach to grow the business and increase the market presence. It involves identifying opportunities, setting goals, and implementing strategies to expand into new markets, channels, or product categories. Provide seamless buying experience across different channels (eCommerce, store, etc.) to keep customers moving within the brand ecosystem. Managing and optimizing the various channels through which products are sold to customers, ensuring efficient operations and maximizing sales opportunities within the digital retail landscape. Analyze customers activity inside a retail location to obtain valuable in-store patterns and insights, applying smart analytics. The comprehensive plan and strategies a retailer uses to promote and differentiate their brand in the digital landscape. Market products or services through digital channels and technologies to reach consumers using new ways to interact and understand related needs and behaviours. Plan and create promotional processes for marketing and merchandising, optimising promotional pricing to better meet the demand. The process and systems for efficiently and effectively managing customer orders from point of purchase to delivery. It involves managing the entire order lifecycle, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and customer satisfaction throughout the process. Improve customer experience and profitability offering new products and services, increasing loyalty and upselling, providing tailored services, supporting customer profiling. The activities and strategies necessary to build and maintain strong relationships with customers. It focuses on nurturing customer loyalty, satisfaction, and engagement by establishing meaningful connections and personalized interactions. It is a customer service strategy that involves providing support 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week. A 24/7 support model ensures that a customer is able to get their issue resolved no matter what location, day or time it is. The processes and strategies for handling customer-initiated product returns. It involves managing the entire return lifecycle, from customer inquiry to resolution and refund or exchange. The processes and strategies to collect, analyze, and act upon customer feedback in order to improve products, services, and the overall customer experience. Support operating activities: store design, display placement, customer service, money handling, shoplifting prevention, staff and inventory management and product supply. Apply mathematical tools to calculate costs and support decision making activities, identifying and reducing business expenses to increase profits. Support real estate processes, from contract management, space management and leasing, to asset management, real estate control, operation and maintenance. Manage all activities related to companies' employees, including recruiting, time & travel management, payroll, compensation & benefits, training, etc. Services aimed to design, implement, transform, optimize and operate technology and cloud solutions. Services aimed to enhance, evolve and support end users in the adoption and use of business and technology solutions in the modern workplace. Services aimed to ensure the optimal coverage of Clients' business needs through technology. Services aimed to design, develop, implement and maintain omnichannel (including mobile) applications for connected devices. Services aimed to design software applications and services focusing on the quality of user experience and interfaces. Services aimed to design and implement Clients' strategies related to brand, online positioning and multimedia.
The new challenges of Retail

The crisis brought on by the pandemic has disrupted strategies and productivity across the entire Retail sector, from Luxury markets to large-scale distribution. However, those who can adapt and act proactively rather than reactively will lead a revolution that will create unprecedented intersections between the physical and virtual worlds. This will generate new business opportunities and customer experiences, shaping the store of the future.

Companies will need to become more agile, think digital-first, and anticipate market demands at an ever-increasing pace by leveraging new technologies such as AI & Advanced Analytics, RPA, Digital Twin, and AR/MR/VR.

To learn more, read our White Paper.

Retail & Fashion

Evolving Fashion, Luxury and GDO companies, revolutionizing customer experience and digitizing operations, from the Supply Chain to the Smart Store.

Press Release
13.05.2024

Engineering at Automotive Dealer Day Introduces a New Sales Model for the Sector with Its Retail Platform

Engineering is one of the key players at the Automotive Dealer Day, which will take place in Verona from May 14 to 16.

Press Release
28.07.2022

With Engineering, Pinalli's customer experience becomes omnichannel and multichannel

Engineering has developed for Pinalli a Customer Data Platform that innovates its sales systems to offer customers an increasingly personalized shopping experience.

Press Release
14.07.2021

Blockchain and traceability in the fashion industry

Engineering brings rhe Pattern project to IT4Fashion. Luca Sburlati, Pattern Group's CEO, a company specializing in designing, engineering, developing, prototyping and producing clothing lines for prestigious international brands, talks about the project, developed in collaboration with Engineering to guarantee production traceability and sustainability using blockchain technology.

Cegid Connections Retail 2024

Engineering attending the Community event.

Customer Journey and Omnichannelality, the real challenge for brands

Learn about the trends, challenges and opportunities in the upcoming CRM Observatory webinar.

Executive Dinner: what is the ROI of omnichanneling?

The business benefits of an omnichannel strategy are discussed at the Politecnico di Milano.