What role does technology such as customer-controlled lighting in fitting rooms play in the store image of Rebecca Minkoff?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Rebecca Minkoff operating its own stores and e-commerce business as well as selling products

wholesale to hundreds of other retailers?

Would you recommend that Rebecca Minkoff test direct selling through at-home consultants?

At a time when many retail organizations are favoring e-commerce and cutting back on store locations, the upscale fashion retailer Rebecca Minkoff is on the cutting edge of brick-and-mortar retailing. The New York-based firm was cofounded by designer Rebecca Minkoff and her brother, Uri Minkoff, who has a background in software. She kicked off her design career in 2001 with a line of women's apparel, followed by a line of stylish handbags that made her name in the fashion world.

Today, Rebecca Minkoff is the creative force behind the branded clothing, watches, and other accessories sold in her stores, while her brother concentrates on the retail side of the business, overseeing both the stores and the e-commerce operation. The company has opened Rebecca Minkoff stores in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, plus nine stores overseas. To reach a wider audience, the designer also wholesales her products to dozens of department stores for resale worldwide.

CEO Uri Minkoff is always looking for ways to attract and retain customers by making the in-store experience more engaging and more convenient. For example, in partnership with eBay, Rebecca Minkoff stores feature an interactive wall where customers can touch to view the latest products, request refreshments, and order clothing to try on in the fitting room. Customers receive a text when their requested items are set up in the fitting room, ready to be tried on.

Each fitting room is outfitted with sophisticated technology that helps customers make more informed buying decisions, while generating data that helps the retailer learn more about its customers. Customers can tap the "smart" mirror to see various styles in stock, view styling suggestions, request a different size, ask for assistance, or add selected items and personal preferences to a "saved" menu for future visits. Customers can also touch the mirror to change the lighting, enabling them to see how the new outfit they're considering would look on a "Brooklyn morning" or a "Hudson River sunset."

These tech tools allow Rebecca Minkoff to collect data about the products that customers try on and the mix-and-match combinations they try, which items they buy, and what they don't buy. If customers tend to pair certain tops and bottoms, for instance, this may give the company insights into how to merchandise differently or spark design ideas for future fashion collections. Uri Minkoff emphasizes that information collected through such customer interactions serves as a starting point in understanding and anticipating what the retailer's customers will need and want in the future.

Rebecca Minkoff is in the vanguard of a trend known as "see now, buy now." In the past, designers would introduce a new seasonal collection with a splashy fashion show, but ship the new styles to stores months later. Since 2016, Rebecca Minkoff's latest fashions have been stocked in her stores, ready for immediate purchase, as soon as the styles are shown on the runway.

The retailer has built a huge social-media audience of more than 800,000 Instagram followers, 435,000 Facebook likes, and 900,000 Twitter followers. This enthusiastic audience spreads the word about the designer's products and special in-store events, such as art shows and talks by female entrepreneurs. "We want to make our stores a hub of community," explains Rebecca Minkoff. Despite the dramatic rise of e-commerce, she knows many customers still want to walk into her stores, see the products in person, consult with an employee, and try on clothing before they buy.