In 2017 Lane Crawford launched its mobile app as part of its digital transformation. We spoke with Lane Crawford and Mulesoft, which partnered for the initiative, to know more about omnichannel experience.
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With the booming of e-commerce, retailers are looking for ways to enhance their customer experience. Not just via physical retail, but also having a handy mobile app where customers can browse and shop on the go.
By significantly investing in digital technology, Lane Crawford is poised to become a luxury lifestyle destination across all channels, becoming the first luxury omnichannel fashion retailer in Greater China.
Q&A with Andy Massey, Director of Innovation, Lane Crawford
RiA : As Lane Crawford is very well known for its offline experience, what digital is adding up to that?
Andy : At Lane Crawford, our goal has always been to provide customers with a personalised, relevant experience. Customers preferences have evolved with the advancement of technology.
We are focused on meeting our customers where they are, whether they be in-store, online at LaneCrawford.com or via mobile. Lane Crawford have significantly invested in digital technology to become a luxury fashion and lifestyle destination across all channels becoming the first omnichannel fashion luxury retailer in Greater China.
To continue to advance the omnichannel experience we pioneered in Greater China, we selected MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform to launch our first-ever mobile shopping app. By creating an application network with APIs, we have created digital services that are composable and re-composable so we can easily add new channels and experiences for our customers as technology continues to advance.
RiA : In the attempt to bring the experience towards digital, is there any risk to dilute the luxury experience?
I do not see any risk in terms of diluting the luxury experience by going digital. As we continue to develop and enhance the range of specialised, digital services we offer, these will complement the considered approach we take to the physical retail (in-store) experience.
The power and beauty of creating an omnichannel experience, is that it can be even more personalised and seamless, further enhancing the luxury experience that our customers are looking for.
Having the right technology in place enables us to select the right product, service for our consumers’ preferences, better forecast inventory so products are in-stock when and where customers want them and to provide personalised shopping recommendations to customers across all channels.
RiA : What are the news that Lane Crawford customers will get through this partnership?
MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform allows us to deliver new digital services to customers faster and enables Lane Crawford customers to shop whenever and wherever they choose as we continue to provide an industry-leading omnichannel shopping experience for them, no matter how technology continues to evolve.
Q&A with Chris Curtis, Regional Vice President Asia, MuleSoft
RiA : What’s Mulesoft and what is its contribution to Lane Crawford omnichannel strategy?
Chris : MuleSoft is a company that provides an application network platform for connecting applications, data and devices. Its mission is to help organisations change and innovate faster by making it easy to connect the world’s applications, data and devices.
Lane Crawford has selected our MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform to power its industry-leading omnichannel customer experience, including the launch of its new mobile app. Anypoint Platform has enabled Lane Crawford to bring luxury shopping to their customers’ and consumers’ fingertips.
By adopting an API-led approach to connectivity, Lane Crawford can reuse APIs across channels to enable a consistent experience and deliver new products to market faster. By creating an application network where applications, data and devices are can be plugged in and out of the network quickly and securely, Lane Crawford can deliver an industry-leading omnichannel experience.
Through this platform we are able to obtain 360-degree views of customers, inventories, loyalty balances and shopping history. The APIs we’ve created on Anypoint Platform can be leveraged across digital channels including our new mobile app, website, and WeChat, bringing convenience and a seamless experience to our audience.
RiA : What’s the next frontier for retail in terms of omnichannel and digital?
Chris : The retail industry is constantly changing. Major retailers are recognizing that the industry has become very competitive, partly due to technological disruptions, demanding customers, and changing shopping behavior.
I think the next frontier is for retailers to build omnichannel retail strategies that look beyond having an online- or store-only presence.
Instead, they should provide an integrated and seamless shopping experience for their customers by maintaining a strong physical store presence, at the same time leveraging multiple online channels, and leveraging the latest digital touchpoints such as kiosks or smart shelf technologies.
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In order to achieve that, taking an API-led connectivity approach to integration is critical. Through API-led connectivity, retailers can standardize their digital retail experience and link their online and physical presences through plug-and-play functionality by connecting various systems and applications such as websites, mobile applications, into an application network easily.
This allows retailers to bring online multiple experiences and applications in an agile, sustainable, reusable, and future-proof fashion.