On-demand products reduce oversupply and wastage
YR is the world's first live all-over print fashion brand that lets a person curate and create one-off high-quality garments in minutes. It enables brands/retailers build stronger relationships with audiences through customisation experiences. Founder Tim Williams sheds light on the emerging personalised fashion market, millennials and the future of custom-fashion.
Can you tell us how you ended up thinking about YR Store & YR Live?
My business partner Tom and I set up a business some years ago to make exciting, artistic, interactive pieces for events and retail. Tom is a digital artist and created incredible project-based works in Bristol. So, we decided to commercialise that. As our business grew, many of our clients were in the fashion and sportswear industry. We got into fashion tech by accident! We wanted YR to be much more than just a company which offered printing services, and what sets us apart is our vision for customisation and on-demand printing from end to end.
Is the mass customisation trend catching on to just big brands/retailers or do you work with small boutique brands too?
Customisation experiences are totally bespoke; so, we can work with brands of all shapes and sizes. We worked with Calvin Klein at Coachella this year and have launched a global partnership with Levi's and are now in 38 stores across the world. Naturally, with clients like this, budgets are bigger, and we can be more creative and outlandish with the strategy. Having said that, there are more accessible ways of working with boutiques and independent retailers who are keen to innovate, and we'd love to have a conversation with them.
What kind of analysis does your software provide to brands and retailers?
The YR software provides great insight through data. We perform all kinds of analytics on customisation performed in-store or online. So, for example, we can easily show the most used graphics, colours, garments, but more than that we also show any patterns in purchase behaviour and brands can use that data in real time to tweak their offer. This means any unpopular designs can quickly be changed or flexed depending on the audience at a particular time. Online or in-store we can track number of consumers, amount of time they interact with the YR installation or software, how many go through to purchase and how much they spend. Optionally, we can request user data at the end of the design process-this makes for highly informative insight into consumers and product purchasing patterns. This is the supply chain in real time.
How big is the on-demand printing/engraving/embroidery market?
The on-demand printing industry is growing rapidly and promotional products for example (pens, t-shirts, tote bags etc) are worth in excess of $40 billion globally. The on-demand production market (clothing literally manufactured to order) is growing rapidly-it will disrupt every single supply chain globally if it hasn't already. In my experience, the demand for personalised products is largely being driven by millennials and brands have no choice but to provide that offering. Some have been slower to adapt than others (Debenhams being a good example), but ultimately it is a trend that has staying power and that's exciting for us.
What kind of sales does custom fashion pull in-store and online?
Custom fashion appeals to multiple segments-with a strong focus on younger consumers who are adventurous and want to create their own look. While customisation is a strong revenue generator, consumers are likely to spend more time in store and therefore more money. Online it's a similar story-the longer a customer is looking at a brand's website, then typically they will spend more over their whole lifetime with that brand. In general, custom products can make up 10-15 percent of a brand's revenue, and as custom becomes synonymous with on-demand, this percentage will increase.
Which countries are your major markets, especially in the apparel/footwear categories?
As it stands, our biggest markets are probably America and Asia. The appetite for customisation is phenomenal and we've now launched offices in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo and most recently Hong Kong. Long term, we want to build strong relationships with brands in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It's an important market to us and we certainly see us launching an operation in one of those regions. Over the next 12 months, we will continue to raise our profile internationally and fly the flag for customisation in fashion. For brands who are sustainability conscious, it's a must-have conversation.
Is custom fashion just a trend to pull customers in-store or attract traffic online or is it here to stay?
Custom fashion will definitely drive customers to stores, though, unlike fashion trends is unlikely to fall out of style. This is due to the nature of how it works, customisation and tech will naturally change and adapt with the times meaning it can always stay up to date with what's in.
Customisation at event, or in-store is experience-led-it's theatre which drives customers into the store, engages with them and has an amazing take away. If we take that experience and apply it to on-demand, where customers are buying online and then having it delivered very quickly to their doorstep, it shows that customisation is the tip of a much bigger industry which is here to stay.
What kind of customisation services do you provide for apparel and footwear companies?
The YR customisation service starts with our bespoke design software which works though a large touch screen-these not only have great visual impact and draw in customers, but are also really easy and fun to use. We can create custom designs for almost any piece of apparel-be it t-shirts, jackets or jeans. Once they have designed their ideal piece, customers are then guided to the next steps of the process and make their payment through the retailer's preferred method.
The production is automated as much as possible. The print or embroidery takes between 2 and 10 minutes depending on the complexity. Often, the designing takes longer than the printing! The YR software can collect a mobile phone number; so, the customer can carry on shopping and get notified as soon the garment is ready, further improving the customer journey. YR works in much more than just print-we enable multiple print technologies including embroidery, heat print and 3D printing and cutting, and we can work with almost any digital output.
The number of pieces that can be produced per day is only limited by the space allocated to the equipment and cost. So, an out-of-town production facility could be scaled to meet any demand.
Are shoppers willing to pay more for a customised fashion item? Can you give us an idea of the demographics of the shoppers of such custom fashion items?
I do believe consumers will pay more for goods made just for them, with a great fit and customised experience and final design. A big reason for this is the custom design, but also as the products are made on demand, they are more sustainable than mass-produced garments. Environment-friendly products have become more important than ever to the modern fashion buyer and the fashion industry is known to be a very wasteful one. Research conducted by Neilson (2015) found that 74 per cent of millennials are willing to spend more on a sustainable product. This suggests that millennial shoppers will be looking for greener, on-demand products in the future and will be happy to spend more on them.
How are customisation technologies and on-demand manufacturing changing the fashion industry? What is next in fashion retail?
The move to a demand-driven model is a really positive change for the fashion industry as it tackles the long-running issue of sustainability. On-demand products reduce oversupply and wastage as they are only made when they are needed. It means a move towards brands investing more in blank goods (which can be held for longer) and designing the final printed item closer to the time of purchase. On demand printing tech is already fast. However, looking forward, it is likely to be nearly instantaneous and become a hyperlocal service. It's an exciting time for the industry and as technology develops, customisation services will become higher quality and more efficient.
What is new in the pipeline in terms of services at YR Store & YR Live?
We are very lucky to have worked with some of the world's greatest fashion and lifestyle brands, as well as a huge number of other clients in a wide variety of industries. We have worked with brands like Levi's to roll out highly innovative print bars across Europe and the US stores, and the feedback has been super-positive. As we move into new technologies and offer our platform online, we expect to carry on exciting our customers and innovating in this space.
The future for YR is super-exciting, not least because of the shift to on-demand that we are seeing happen at a rapid pace. This year we will showcase some of our newer projects with our great customers as we strengthen our global coverage. Along the way this year, we have some exciting innovations particularly around earlier stage manufacturing and new production technologies. Our vision for YR is to be the global customisation and on-demand partner of choice for brands, retailers and content owners. We are building the team and our tech platform to enable this. (HO)
What has been the most challenging customisation service so far provided to a brand?
YR has been fortunate to work with some incredible brands all over the world, and while print is still the most common embellishment, we have worked on some interesting products and techniques. For a major global luxury brand, we had to create extremely high-quality stick-on leather patches, and create a software experience to match-that was difficult and fun at the same time. The challenge is always to ensure consistency of quality on every item produced everywhere in the world. We are working on some really interesting projects at the moment. So, keep an eye on our social feeds.
