Technology firm, First Insight, and Optitex, a leading provider of digital solutions for the fashion industry, has announced a partnership with M&S.
According to the companies, M&S will leverage the combination of First Insight’s digital product testing solution and Optitex’s 3D computer-aided design (CAD) software to better understand its customers, increase speed to market, support digital workflows, create sustainable sampling processes and reduce waste.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated and expedited a shift from high-touch to low-touch across every aspect of retail, including the product development process,” said Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight. “Our partnership with Optitex allows retailers like Marks & Spencer to digitise their product development cycle, which eliminates the need to create and traffic physical samples, host showroom visits and conduct in-store product testing—all of which are crucial capabilities not only during the Coronavirus outbreak, but also for long-term sustainability and efficiency.”
Marks & Spencer has already been utilising First Insight’s consumer-driven predictive analytics software solution to make design, buying and pricing decisions across categories including apparel, lingerie, footwear, accessories, food, home and beauty. First Insight said the platform has enabled M&S to “test tens of thousands of products” across more than 50 departments and use that information to shape collections and assortments that meet customers’ desires and to offer those items at the right prices.
According to First Insight, the retailer achieved successful results from new product testing using its solution and Optitex 2D CAD technology. Based on that success, M&S has begun using 3D CAD visualisations in its product testing for a number of departments. The transition to 3D imagery has resulted in increased test completion rates and boosted respondents’ comments by 50 per cent, providing richer product feedback to the company’s product development and merchant teams. The use of 3D CAD technology has also reduced cost and lead time in Marks & Spencer’s product development process.
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