(photo: StyleCaster.com)
I attended the State of Style Summit this past week, a new edition this year (and deemed the unoffical kick-off) to New York Fashion Week put on by StyleCaster and the 92nd Street Y. It was a day packed with fashion insight and best ways to leverage technology from some of the best in the field.
(photo: StyleCaster.com)
The panel I most enjoyed and had the best takeaways was "From Social Commerce to Soho: Where Does Digital Drive Traffic." Lauren Indvik, Media and Fashion Editor at Mashable moderated with panelists: Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Co-Founder and CMO of Gilt Groupe and Catherine Moellering, EVP, Tobe Report of Doneger Group. Wilson said Gilt's value proposition has become a place for brands to get the word out and market to consumers, a leap from where they started as a discount ecommerce site. She shared some data that I found interesting (and validates the mobile device usage surge), 30% of sales on the weekends are from mobile devices. And if you can believe it men buy more via Gilt mobile. Her advice to anyone in fashion is to be helpful – help drive consumers to a brand's retail store, website, social media or mobile app.
Catherine shared a ton of great data from The Tobe Report her company publishes on retail trends. Her advice for anyone who wants to see what consumers want for free, use Pinterest. She feels it is the best way to forecast trends, see what people are interested in and see what people are sharing. She would love to see conversion data shared to determine if people are actually buying the products they pin.
If you would like to read more about the event and see photos, Stylecaster has a great wrap-up and slideshow.
~Leigh
