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Industry: Apparel & Accessories, International, Furnishings & Decor Solution: Dynamic Imaging, Visual Configurator  Challenges:
Founded in 1992 as a family-owned boutique in Florence, Italy, Forzieri is described as a "luxury dream loft", bringing high end (and hard to find) Italian and European brands to a hungry global community of fashionistas in more than 150 countries, with flagships in Italy, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, China, Japan and Australia. Carrying top names such as Gucci, Emporio Armani, and Dolce & Gabbana as well as exclusive brands such as Bentley, Lamborghini and Francesco Biasia with Forzieri's own lines, Forzieri offers several ways for their customers to shop, including traditional shop by product categories and broader solutions the likes of "Him", "Her" and "Trends." To deliver the thrill and prestige of a high-end department store to the web, Forzieri recently created the "Luxury Avenue," aesthetically inspired by the Renaissance architecture of Florence's historic panorama, and comprised of a highly selected group of luxury brands and designers to create a must-stop shopping experience that offers an irresistible peek into today’s ultra luxe lifestyle. Best Practices: Luxury goods are difficult enough to sell in any economy, but to make a pure online shopping experience fabulous for clients living in New York, London, Paris and other capitals around the world, it means undertaking a tremendous promise and task on Forzieri’s part. "Avoiding the ordinary and departing the uncommon" is Forzieri's mission statement and the founders inherently understand that they need a merchandising solution as forward-thinking as they are in selling luxury goods; a solution that can make their site rich with detail and far from ordinary. Together with Adobe Scene7, Forzieri has created an online world where the thrill of style discovery can be experienced. Forzieri, and more specifically Luxury Avenue, possesses the uncanny ability of delivering the sensation of stepping into the most luxurious and exclusive boutiques in Italy. Each shop has its own unique environment, using Scene7 to dynamically generate backgrounds that reflect the look and feel of the brand. Having always embraced authentic style and personality innate to Italian luxury culture, it is critical to Forzieri to bring this authenticity to the web—far beyond static imagery and simple text descriptions. With 200 exclusive brand names and 90 categories carrying a great variety of products, Forzieri has ensured that shoppers may obtain as much product information as desired in order to make an informed purchase decision. Prior to "finding Scene7", Forzieri had redesigned the website several times in an effort to meet customer expectations on their own—exhausting resources and budgets. Eager for a solution that could free them from the common content production limitations including number of images they could serve, multiple size requirements, and inabilty to see details, it quickly became apparent that Scene7 was the answer that Forzieri was looking for. Out of the gate, Scene7's Dynamic Imaging with Zoom became a key component in Forzieri’s site refresh. "Being able to zoom in on the inside of a luxury handbag or the stitching on an exquisite wallet is critical to our business because understanding the quality of our merchandise is one of the primary decision-making levers," Andrea Forzieri, CEO & Founder, Forzieri. Previewing products at a glance without having to drill down to the product page level is another facet of the site that makes shopping simpler; you can get a "quick look" at items of interest right from the department page—saving time if you're on the hunt for something specific or even just "window shopping." Nominated in 2009 as a Top 3 Merchant of the Year with LinkShare Golden Link Awards (to put this in perspective, Walmart.com won for Most Innovative Advertiser last year), this family-run business has made big waves in the industry and is being honored with a very prestigious nod from a recognized leader. Forzieri was one of the first websites (if not the first) to ever feature alternative product views, and is now blazing a new trail in the world of customization by offering one of the most robust shirt configurators on the market leveraging Scene7; enabling customers who don’t usually shop online or can’t find what they need offline, to design an Italian-cut custom shirt of choice. From extra fine fabric and specific cut and size, to button preferences and monogramming options, discerning shoppers can literally watch their creations come to life online and know for certain that what arrives by mail is precisely what was ordered. There is even an option to mail in one's favorite shirt and have it replicated exactly. With 50-60 fabrics available now, Forzieri is already leagues ahead of any other pureplay merchandiser—but add to that the fact that in the next year that number will be magnified 10 fold and customers will be able to choose the tailor of their choice and they now have a solution so comprehensive and cutting edge it's truly ground breaking. Results: Scene7's Dynamic Imaging and Visual Configurators have revolutionized the way in which Forzieri can merchandise to customers globally. "It is critical to our success to present an interactive site in which our products are featured in the most detail-rich format imaginable… and Scene7 has helped us achieve that," Andrea Forzieri. Forzieri has saved at least 30% annually with Scene7, and the resources once required to manage the massive image database (and associated components) have been redistributed to other projects, thereby creating a more profitable, streamlined business model. Product Zoom alone has lifted conversion on the site between 15% and 20% because this critical function makes it possible for customers to intimately view products of interest. Most of the brands featured on the Forzieri site are exclusive to Forzieri, rendering it impossible to find them in-store, so the detail that Zoom provides is truly critical to the decision making process. From showcasing exotic skins like snake and crocodile, to prominently positioning precious stones and one-of-a-kind handbags, this level of granularity affords shoppers the luxury of knowing exactly what they are buying–and when the ticket item is $200+ it has been proven to reduce returns. Forzieri’s return rate is a mere 5% (was 7.5%) which is a stunning 11% less than the industry average for luxury merchandisers. "From my familiarity with other merchandising solutions I can say that none rival the ease-of-implementation of Scene7 and shortly after the integration, we experienced an immediate lift in conversion," Andrea Forzieri. A decade ago Forzieri was in the business of selling ties and scarves to a small, yet receptive audience. Now, ten years later, boasting 200 brands and 90 product categories, luxury goods and a keen attention to detail are what set Forzieri apart as a destination people want to come back to again and again. |
