SPS Commerce & Kate Spade: A Network Success Story

Kate Spade & Company has become a mainstay in women’s and men’s fashion around the world. The brand is instantly recognized for its fresh colors and bold patterns that create a sense of playful sophistication.

  • Customer Type:
    Supplier
  • Industry:
    Apparel, Fashion
  • Headquarters:
    New York City, NY
  • SPS Product:
    Analytics
  • Retail Channels:
    Retail Stores, E-Commerce, Drop-Ship
  • Customer Since:
    2003

Kate Spade & Company products are sold directly in more than 140 retail shops in the U.S. and 175 shops internationally, as well as throughout retail chains including Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, among others. The colorful designs, patterns, and stories also translate well to a digital retail environment.

Reaching a new customer

In a rapidly changing fashion industry with notoriously short seasons and fickle tastes, Kate Spade & Company is constantly seeking ways to make faster, more informed strategic decisions and also strives to connect with a broader demographic. This recently led to a joint venture to place Kate Spade & Company mobile accessories in front of a younger female customer base through Macy’s department stores.

Since there was a limited precedent to guide the venture, access to real-time door selling analytics and exception-based reporting was essential, so that assortments could be tweaked as needed by location.

“We knew there wouldn’t be time to rely on the old method of mining and translating spreadsheets before exchanging intelligence with our trading partners,” said Beth Frissora, senior director of planning for Kate Spade & Company. “We needed to know what was selling right away, which would require careful orchestration not only with Macy’s but with all our suppliers and logistics providers.”

Advanced analytics, elevated performance

According to Frissora, Kate Spade & Company found the ideal solution for the Macy’s joint venture through SPS Commerce Analytics.

The cloud-based SPS Analytics platform provides user-friendly access to real-time, data-driven insights on inventory levels, merchandising, pricing and product lineups. By knowing what is and is not selling at each individual location, merchant teams can make fact-based decisions to keep assortments optimized within Macy’s stores on an ongoing basis, helping to improve sell-through and eliminate stock-outs.

What’s more, Kate Spade & Company can easily share this intelligence with Macy’s, boosting bottom-line performance for all while aligning stakeholder efforts to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

The Interviewee:

Beth Frissora, Senior Director of Planning

The Challenge:

Place Kate Spade & Company mobile accessories in front of a younger female customer base through Macy’s department stores.

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The Solution:

Access to real-time door selling analytics and exception-based reporting so that assortments could be tweaked as needed by location.

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The Results:

Made fact-based decisions to keep assortments optimized within Macy’s stores on an ongoing basis, helping to improve sell-through and eliminate stock-outs.

“This has truly been a game changer for us. We are now dealing with far fewer unknowns, and the improved visibility into performance gives us more flexibility than ever to pursue new ventures and opportunities.”

– Beth Frissora