Practical Application at Theory

From the runway to Main Street, fashion is constantly and rapidly evolving: all it takes is for a celebrity to wear a new dress in a film or on the red carpet. In an environment like this, retailers and apparel designers need to react almost instantly to what customers want.

With the help of Sky I.T. Group, high-end apparel designer Theory is learning to use software solutions to measure exactly what styles today’s consumers are looking for. By breaking down purchases based on metrics like color, size, style and geography, Theory can quickly adjust its business to meet current fashion trends and tastes.

Founded in 1997, Theory is noted for its signature stretch fabrics containing Lycra which have developed a cult following among women for its slimmer, more comfortable shapes. The men’s collection was launched in 1999, and Theory opened its first retail stores in 2002. Expanding its presence throughout the world, the company launched Theory’s Accessories in 2004 offering a selection of shoes and handbags. Theory now operates more than 30 retail stores and sells its products through retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s.

Being able to react to the wants and needs of those looking for the latest fashions means having a clear and constant view of what is happening on the front line of retail.

Because Theory operates as a hybrid wholesale and retail business, there is a need to gather information from wholesale partners, says CIO Keitaro Shigemasa. Only by doing that can it fully understand how different styles are selling by size, color, season and location, but the previous reporting system was tedious: Theory had to manually merge the data into its own system.

Then marketing managers, sales managers and merchandisers who needed particular pieces of information would have to sift through generic reports to compile and analyze the data that they were looking for. The process worked, but was inefficient and frustrating.

“We would get this data in raw form once a week and would have to do a lot of manipulating and analyzing based on that,” Shigemasa says. “An analyst would update it and there would just be Excel sheets flying around” to and between the various departments.

In 2007, Theory turned to New York-based Sky I.T. Group to further enhance these reporting measures by leveraging technology and software. One of Sky I.T.’s primary products is SKYPAD, a business intelligence solution that presents information for analysis through a powerful online tool. Sky I.T. provides the infrastructure and software and performs data collection, cleansing, formatting and warehousing functions. With SKYPAD Sales Chain data, all types of information can be analyzed at the SKU level and used to enable and affect the decision-making process, increasing business performance.