Internship at an online fashion store, 2/3

During the last couple of weeks of my internship I’ve got the opportunity to participate in the company’s customer event at their showroom. What became clear for me was how significant the relationship with the customer is, and how events and personal meetings are used to create both engagement and sales.

The company has both smaller events during the evenings, but also larger ones a few times a year. Leading up to the large one, there’s a lot of preparations, such as styling and doing visual merchandising in their showroom, contacting sponsors and preparing goodiebags, and inviting brands to show their clothes. It was a fun week of preparations before the event and many things I haven’t thought about that need to be prepared before an event. 

During the event I observed that there were a lot of returning customers that already had a relationship with the company and employees. Several customers tried on clothes, asked for styling help and interacted with the employees. I also experienced that the event was not only about selling, but also creating an experience and strengthening the relationship with the customer. By assisting in styling, personal conversation and an inspiring environment I think it created a more exclusive and personal feeling around the company and the products. 

Another thing I observed was how products were placed strategically in order to promote specific brands and garments. Products that the company wanted to sell more of were placed more visible and were recommended more often to the customer. It made me more aware of how customer meetings and marketing in fashion retail is not only about inspiration and service, but also impacting customers' attention and purchase decisions.

After participating and working these events I think I have gotten a deeper understanding of how customer relationships and events works in premium fashion retail. It has also made me reflect more on how closely connected customer experience, marketing and sales are in practice.