Digital Integration at the Forefront: A Conversation with Wietse Smits on Advancing Suitsupply’s eCommerce Strategy with AI
During Shoptalk 2024 at the MACH Alliance studio, Pierre Kremer, EPAM’s VP of Digital Engagement – CPG & Retail, interviewed Wietse Smits, Product Owner of eCommerce at Suitsupply. They explored how the retailer is integrating AI and unified commerce to enhance customer experiences by merging online and offline strategies. Here are some key insights:
Suitsupply’s blends online and offline retail experiences by leveraging a recommendation engine called Look Builder, which provides personalized customer styling.
Historically, growth within Suitsupply has progressed along parallel paths – in its online presence and its retail stores through shared inventory management. The retailer’s current challenge is not just to facilitate individual growth in these areas but to harmonize them into a cohesive customer experience. This is a common challenge for businesses that operate both brick-and-mortar and digital storefronts – to provide an in-store experience that doesn’t just mimic the online experience, but rather, provide one that is seamlessly merged. A pivotal tool for Suitsupply has been its Look Builder, which was designed specifically to address this challenge. Central to this integration is a new recommendation engine, tailored to bridge the gap between online convenience and offline personalization. In practice, this means not just selling products but curating complete outfits for specific occasions. The goal is for customers to leave not just satisfied with their purchases, but confident in how they present themselves in their Suitsupply styles.
The recommendation system uses Suitsupply’s signature styling guidelines, enriched by detailed customer profiles — from wardrobe preferences to potentially even local weather considerations. The system is engineered to provide consistent styling advice across all platforms, whether in-store, online or through email communication. Initially, Suitsupply began with an MVP of the system that focused on leveraging existing capabilities while keeping an eye on the future to utilize advanced AI technologies. The company already has deep insights into inventory and customer data, which can be leveraged to enhance recommendations provided by AI, ensuring they are well-aligned with the strategic vision and the real-time needs of stores and customers. Through this solution, Suitsupply is setting a foundation not just for technological integration but for creating a holistic, unified shopping environment that stands at the forefront of retail innovation.
Suitsupply is exploring a range of technologies beyond AI and adopting a composable approach with best-of-breed solutions.
Suitsupply is carefully and gradually integrating AI into its operations to enhance existing styling experiences both in-store and online, without compromising quality. By using a composable approach, Suitsupply does not need to replace existing systems but rather can focus on optimizing certain components of the solution to enhance decision-making processes. Additionally, it helps Suitsupply seamlessly introduce new features across both online and offline physical store environments, which ensures uniformity across the entire experience from the customer's perspective.
Unified commerce, which emphasizes POS system integration, aims to expand Suitsupply’s capabilities.
The integration of POS systems is essential for Suitsupply as it ensures that sales representatives have access to the same information as customers, mitigating any discrepancies between online offerings and in-store information. This alignment, which includes consistent product details like a PDP (Product Detail Page) across all platforms, is facilitated by a composable architecture to enhance information consistency throughout the customer experience.
To wrap up the insightful discussion, Wietse Smits shared his outlook on the future of Suitsupply. He expressed measured optimism, grounded in continual innovation and incremental implementation of AI, that ensures Suitsupply stays at the cutting edge of customer experience and eCommerce strategy. Thank you to Wietse for sharing your insights with us during this interview.
Watch the full video below:
