WHAT'S THE STORY
The Future – Who?
TIYO
“400 PERCENT MORE SALES, 50 PERCENT LESS REDUCTIONS” His nickname should be Mike McQueen. You know, the red race car from the Disney movie “Cars”. Speed is most definitely among Mike Mikkelborg’s passions. With the Tiyo software, he and his team help brands, verticals, and retailers to refine their buying process and become really fast. The entrepreneur sat down with style in progress to talk about life in the fast lane of fashion.
D
esigning fashion only to realise that it is not what customers want sounds very last century, does it not? It baffles me to see that there are still so many retailers and brands that work on an opinion-based “what to buy” model. Those who are not supplying their design and buying teams with consumer demand insights are fighting a losing battle against those who do. Tiyo could therefore be described as a technology that turns the current design principle upside down? Yes, definitely. The tool is easy to use – it requires no additional training or system integration. Tiyo Fast Mover identifies which products are selling fastest. It enables both buyers and sellers to react to the data and put forward products that are truly in demand. If you can identify a trend that immediately sells out and develop it faster than your competitors, you win. Top-performing fashion retailers share two striking points of differentiation that allow them to deliver consistent growth and high stakeholder value. Firstly, they use external consumer data insights when developing and planning what, how much, and from where to buy. Under-performing companies use data too late in the process and rely too heavily on internal, historical data. Tiyo is our turnkey solution for buyers and design-driven suppliers. It goes through the complex data overload and gives actionable insights. We call it “precision buying”. What is the second success factor? The aggressive pursuit of speed-to-market… Top performers deliver product-to-market in less than six to eight weeks. The typical lead time within the industry is more than 40 weeks, which is way too slow to compete in today’s competitive environment. We call this part of Tiyo “Speed-to-Consumer” (S2C). It is our solution for retailers and brands keen to adopt this competitive “superpower”. At the end of the day, it is quite simple. If you know what is in demand and can deliver that to the consumer faster than your competition, you win every day of the year. What are the advantages of a predictive and customer-led fashion system? The benefits are self-evident. If you know what, how much, and for when to buy, it automatically reduces the required discount levels. What is, however, even more powerful is that it dramatically increases your sales rate. Having what is in demand in your store on a continuous basis will also increase the return rate of existing customers, as well as attract new ones.
102
style in progress
Mike Mikkelborg worked for years as a buying agent for major brands. The old-school way of doing things was always a thorn in his side. Reducing the usual lead time of 40 weeks to between six and eight weeks, and thus improving production volume forecasts, is his passion. His Tiyo software makes it possible.
Do design and buying processes, which always prioritise what is already popular, lack creativity? If “precision buying” was limited to using demand insights as to what is primarily in demand right now, then yes, it would be lacking creativity. However, trend forecasting should also apply data such as influencer insights and consumer behaviour on social media. This allows companies to put together a healthy mix of products currently in demand and what is likely to be in demand in the future. When I say future, I mean a maximum of eight weeks. The old-school model of betting on trends six months in advance is something of the past and companies that still rely on this model are not successful. Ok, now I want to hear some numbers. What can your super solution achieve? Clients who have combined Tiyo demand insights with our speed-to-market turnkey solution have experienced dramatic performance improvements. Sales rates, for example, rocketed by up to 400 percent, while sale discounts dropped by up to 50 percent. We are excited to see that an ever-increasing number of retailers and brands are starting to believe in this development. They are willing to root out complexity and replace it with actionable insights, paired with leading speed-to-market.
