In today’s rapidly evolving landscape of fashion retail, the convergence of offline and online experiences stands as a pivotal challenge and opportunity for brands seeking to stay ahead of the curve. A fireside chat at India Fashion Forum delved deep into this dynamic arena, spotlighting innovations driving offline fashion retail and illuminating the future of consumer engagement.
Leading the discussion was Amisha Jain, Senior Vice President and Managing Director for SAMEA at Levi Strauss & Co. She was joined by the host of the session, Naman Mawandia, Co-Founder of magicpin. With a shared objective of unraveling the essence of Levi’s and the visionary leadership behind it, the stage was set for an insightful exploration of strategies, principles, and technological advancements shaping the retail landscape. Through Amisha Jain’s extensive industry experience and profound insights, coupled with magicpin’s role in enhancing the consumer experience, this fireside chat promised to unveil the roadmap for the future of offline fashion retail and consumer engagement.
Amisha Jain: A Journey in Consumer Retail
Amisha Jain heads Levis for South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and East Europe, and has been with the company for two years, as of February’24. Before Levi’s, she worked at McKinsey in the US, and Levi’s used to be her client, so she worked with them on the other side as well.
Her journey into consumer retail began with a fervent passion for understanding and addressing consumer needs, a journey that has seen her spearhead notable turnarounds in the industry. She articulates her transition from McKinsey to Nike, where she played a pivotal role in shaping the brand’s commercial footprint in India, followed by her tenure at the Arvind Group, where she led transformative initiatives including the revival of Zivame.
Celebrating Levi’s Legacy
“At Levi’s, we celebrate 170 years of our brand’s existence and 150 years of our iconic 501 franchise,” Jain remarked, while she highlighted the brand’s enduring legacy of authenticity, originality, and quality. Levi’s, positioned as a premium brand in India, boasts an impressive 96% loyalty rate among its consumers, underscoring the enduring bond fostered through its red tab program.
The core principles of the brand include reducing water usage, ensuring sustainable practices, and the most important philosophy the brand has, which is ‘profits through principles’.
Proȃ ts Through Principles
“In today’s world, it’s very difficult for a brand that is sitting on a stock market to say that we will live by profits through principles, right? As the most common question asked is about the profits,” explained Jain.
To adhere to this philosophy, the brand has given up on multiple opportunities at times. “We’ve not gone after real aggressive short-term growth if something is not sustainable. Also, we’ve given up on products and collections which we believed were probably a little out of bounds in terms of how we contribute to the community,” she added.
Immersive Consumer Engagement
According to Amisha Jain, the last pillar from a brand’s point of view is ‘being at the center of culture,’ therefore, “the way Levi’s connects from a consumer and a community’s point of view, is unique,” she explained.
For example, recently, the brand did a tailor shop set up at a music festival to connect with its consumers. “It’s a classic example of connecting with the community and the way our tailor shop came to life over there, the way consumers were able to connect with the artists, with music designers that we collaborated with, and were able to create customized pieces for themselves at the festival, taking a piece of the festival back with them while living it through the brand they love,” she explained.
“Currently, Levi’s stands strong with a network of 420 stores across the country, along with thousands of wholesale outlets, while also being huge on its e-commerce business as well,” she added.
She further explained that for brands, consumer engagement and networking should be deep as this is an era where people seek opportunities to network. “You cannot just do speed dating with consumers or while networking, you have to establish a deeper relationship with the consumer where they feel that they can trust the brand and its authenticity,” she said.
“Our stores are probably the temple of how we want the consumer to experience the brand and our new Indigo format creates an immersive experience in the stores,” she said. The brand ensures that the consumer engages with its products and the innovative products through the trial room. “To create a surprise element, our store staff will kind of go and plant products within the trial room before the consumer enters, and that’s what we’re known for.”
The brand is currently focusing on bringing more retail innovations to its stores while delving deeper into the markets. Currently, it is operating in 150 cities with 420 stores. Whereas, its largest store in Asia is located in Bengaluru at Brigade Road.
“For us, stores are very critical and creating an immersive experience at them. Given that most of our stores have tailor shops, which is a very important term for us because there the consumers can go and customize their products,” said Amisha Jain.
She further explained on the tailor shop concept, “When I say customize, it’s not just pins and patches, but you can customize a jacket. You can talk to the artist there and figure out what is your style, and find the right product for you. It is beyond the collaborations we do, this is the customer’s creativity and innovation.”
Furthermore, for customers to find their style at Levi’s store, the brand sometimes brings local artists to the store for two days so customers can get their products customized.
Omnichannel Integration & Technological Innovations
“We are a true Omni-channel brand and we ensure that consumers can transition between online and offline platforms seamlessly,” said Amisha Jain.
“We want to make sure we are not a clutter of technology, but we are using technology for the right things. For instance, we are evaluating things like how to bridge the gap between bringing consumers from a localized form,” she said speaking on technology innovations.
Levi’s is aiming to go deeper into the market by adapting to the local brand status, to be able to bring consumers into the store. “Whether it is visually interactive screens or ensuring that we deploy technology when it comes to customizing products for the consumer, we ensure that some of those things are in place,” she explained.
“We’re trying to innovate to ensure that our backend is seamless. Furthermore, we’re using data very heavily in terms of understanding preferences,” she added.
The brand is studying the preferences of its consumers, depending on the regions, and respectively featuring different merchandise at different stores to come across as an understanding retailer.
“We have gone deeper into how we ensure we merchandise these stores based on the consumer preference, the kind of profile, the kind of local consumer that we see. And I think a lot of that learning has happened because of the various tech partners that we have,” she explained.
To not lose the personal touch with the consumer, Levi’s believes in bringing innovation to the extent it is relevant.
Instead of using technology in trial rooms and implementing the IoT/AR/VR tools, Levi’s is more focused on using it to scout for data that assists the brand to identify prime locations for new stores, which merchandise to display, how to market itself better and providing the personalization experience to the consumers.
Magicpin’s Role in Enhancing Consumer Experience
Naman Mawandia, Co-Founder of magicpin, shed light on the symbiotic relationship between technology and retail, emphasizing magicpin’s role in bridging the gap between online and offline platforms. “Through data-driven insights and targeted engagement strategies, magicpin aims to enrich the consumer experience and drive footfall to offline store partners,” he said, underscoring the collaborative eǹ orts between magicpin and Levi’s (and other brands like it) to enhance the retail experience.
Conclusion: Levi’s Commitment to Consumer Satisfaction
In navigating the dynamic terrain of offline fashion retail, Levi’s remains steadfast in its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and consumer-centricity. With a rich legacy spanning over a century, Levi’s continues to chart new horizons, guided by its enduring principles and unwavering dedication to consumer satisfaction.
