A User-Friendly Dressing Room

photo by Russ Houston

FALL 2018 | DIVIDENDS

A User-Friendly Dressing Room

By Tom Lammert & Emily Daniels

Not all shopping trips are vexing, but many consumers aren’t batting a thousand when it comes to having positive shopping experiences. Sadie Lee Pierce, a recent graduate of Mississippi State University and a former marketing intern for the College of Business, is developing a way to meet the needs of busy customers – and at the same time, help retailers.

It started in 2017, when Pierce and former classmate Allie Seale attended the annual National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show in New York, NY. While perusing the booths that populated the convention’s floorspace, they met two young men who invented a technology that McDonald’s is installing in all its restaurants to expedite orders: digital self-serve ordering stations, which will allow customers to be seated and their food served at their tables.

When Pierce and Seale returned to Starkville, they pondered how they might bring a similar capability to retail stores. Shouldn’t clothing retailers and local shops have an in-house, automated means of browsing and purchasing merchandise? Pierce and Seale came up with a vision for how clothing stores could take advantage of emerging technologies like touchscreens to make shopping experiences more efficient and enjoyable.

Soon after they had devised their concept, called FormIT Tech, Pierce and Seale explained it to Eric Hill, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (E-Center). Impressed by the thoughtfulness and complexity of their idea, he told them they could absolutely bring the concept to market. With guidance from Hill and Dr. Charles Freeman, Associate Professor of Fashion Design and Merchandising in the School of Human Sciences, they began working on a business plan in the E-Center.

“Imagine if you could give your customer a quick, painless and unique shopping experience, all while collecting consumer data and increasing your shopper’s basket size!” Pierce exclaims. “With FormIT Tech, we would be selling the experience to the consumer and the data to the retailer while increasing sales.”

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

67

Pierce describes FormIT Tech as software that uses tablets to automatically scan radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags.

“Retail outlets and boutiques would install FormIT Tech, then mount tablets in their dressing rooms,” she says. “When a customer enters a dressing room, the tablet can sense each item’s RFID tag. This process monitors the products brought into the room, and the tablet displays these products.”

Pierce explains the benefits of tracking and displaying each item. First, FormIT Tech can help companies develop customer profiles. It can track and compile data about what items customers try on and take home, leave at the store or purchase later, either online or at another branch of the

Pierce was made an “honorary College of Business student” in recognition of her many hours in McCool as student, intern and entrepreneur. She is joined here by COB staff members (from left) Kelsey Waters, Erin Henderson, Catherine Williams, Emily Daniels and Laura Rowell.

68

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY | COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

same retailer. The tablet can display the scanned clothes and show the customer variations of the same product. For instance, if a customer enters a dressing room with a red sweater, size medium, and he decides he wants the item in a different size or color, he can touch a call button to ask an employee to bring him the alternative. If he wants to see other red sweaters the store offers, he can browse the store’s inventory to see what else is available. The software is linked to the company’s inventory, so if a shopper makes a purchase, FormIT Tech accounts for this by modifying the store’s inventory.

Pierce thinks this kind of interface can help two types of shoppers. Shopper A likes to pick up everything that appeals and tries on each item, with the intention of buying whatever works – or nothing. Shopper B enters a store with a specific item in mind, determined to find the item, try it on and leave without spending a lot of time.

FormIT Tech can help Shopper A and Shopper B, by reducing the amount of time spent picking out, trying on, swapping out and purchasing clothes.

In developing their idea, Pierce and Seale knew there were similar concepts on the market and determined their product design would include point-of-sale (POS) capabilities to distinguish it from the competition. This would mean that when Shopper B enters a dressing room and likes what she tries on, she can enter her payment information into the tablet. No check-out lines – she’s in and out of the store in minutes.

Pierce was excited about the idea of POS, but she recognized it would complicate the software. To remedy this problem, they sought help from MSU mechanical engineering student Awbrey Foster, who started writing the software.

Around this time, Seale’s other responsibilities as a graduating senior began to grow, and she let

DIVIDENDS | FALL 2018

FALL 2018 | DIVIDENDS

Pierce know that she needed to end her involvement in their venture. Pierce, continuing on her own, was selected as a national finalist in the 2017 Student Entrepreneur Program (SEP) sponsored by the Washington, DC-based Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

“WBENC SEP is an amazing opportunity to learn, network and engage with the WBENC’s 14 Regional Partner Organizations, more than 14,000 certified women business enterprises and 300-plus corporate and government members,” says Andrew Gaeckle, WBENC Strategic Planning Director.

The opportunity to participate in this prestigious conference meant that Pierce would spend five days in Las Vegas, NV, exploring her entrepreneurial career aspirations, making the most of a once in a lifetime opportunity to pitch her ideas for FormIT Tech and networking with representatives of Fortune 500 tech companies like Google and Facebook.

Pierce is not sure when FormIT Tech will release. They continue to work on the software, but whether it happens now or in the future, she is thankful for the experience.

“The opportunity to network with major corporations and the business and promotional background that the College of Business and E-Center have provided have prepared me for a long, successful career in the retail industry,” she remarks.

Prior to graduation, Sadie accepted a position as a Merchandising Assistant for Burke’s Outlet, headquartered in Bradenton, FL, and soon moved up the ranks to Merchandising Analyst. In this role, Pierce allocates goods to stores, analyzing ways to get products to the floor faster. She also puts her marketing talent to use.

“I enjoy working on market research, finding trends and learning what the Beall’s or Burke’s Outlet customer wants to see in stores,” she says. “I’m training under the ladies activewear buyer right now to eventually become a buyer myself.”

Pierce had begun her college career at Texas State University, where she studied psychology, but soon determined that this was not the major for her. She spoke to some of her friends at Mississippi State, and they convinced her to make the 10-hour drive from Houston, TX, for a visit. She fell in love with the campus, transferred and started studying finance. After taking classes with some of her favorite professors – specifically Freeman and the COB’s Dr. Melissa Moore – Pierce altered her focus again, earning a degree in fashion merchandising and design. To supplement this, she double minored in marketing and business administration.

In her senior year she was hired as the marketing intern in the College of Business Dean’s Office. She demonstrated her communication skills and creativity, assisting Marketing & Advancement Coordinator Emily Daniels in promoting the College to alumni and to current and prospective students through social media, advertising and various college events.

Before starting at MSU, Pierce had no idea that by the time she graduated she would have created and pitched a software product plan – a software that perhaps she will eventually use in the boutique she has always wanted to own.

Working for a large retail company has shown Pierce the constant advancements of the fashion industry.

“Old brick-and-mortar is becoming a part of our past,” she states. “New brick-and-mortar needs to be experiential. It needs to be unique, and the customer needs to feel special. The future of retail is evolving, and through this evolution comes an expanding market. With FormIT Tech, I believe we will see a change in the way technology meets retail.”

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

69