Challenges:

• Reduce costs for producing clothing samples
• Centralize all product images and videos for internal and external use
• Attract new agents and expand reach into new countries
• Enable agents to easily distribute media to end users
• Add flair to brand

Based in the Netherlands, Waalwear Kids manufactures high-end children's clothing sold in large retail stores throughout Europe and in the United States. The company also operates a consumer-facing eCommerce site in the Netherlands. Waalwear Kids wanted to improve its image management system, create a more flexible, agile business and add flair to its site.

Wholesale, business-to-business apparel selling is steeped in tradition with practices that involve manufacturing samples of next season's clothing line and shipping them around the world to sales agents who then travel from one retailer to another with hundreds of physical samples. Waalwear Kids' selling model was no different. In many instances, its agents were unable to carry and show an entire collection, and merchants had to make their buying decisions based on limited examples. And, because Waalwear Kids manufactured samples in limited quantities based on the number of agents at the time of production, the company was unable to add agents in new geographic regions after samples were produced.

Best Practices:

Prior to implementing Adobe Scene7, Waalwear Kids manufactured clothing samples for each seasonal collection and had limited quantities available for its set number of agents. After seeing a glimpse of Adobe Scene7's dynamic imaging capabilities in 2009, the company immediately saw the platform's vast potential to not only improve its internal image management, but also revolutionize the way it sold its collections through its agents.

Leveraging Adobe Scene7, Waalwear Kids created a central repository to manage its assets and dynamically size and deliver more than 7,000 images, including on-model imagery, and 600-700 videos of its clothing collections. Now, the company can show details of its entire collection via a laptop computer, making it possible for its agents to display entire collections without a physical sample of every item. Agents are able to pre-sell clothing based on collections that merchants can preview online via Waalwear Kids's interactive business-to-business site. This password-protected site features rich imagery, including hero, on-model product images and alternate views with dynamic zoom and pan, and engaging videos presenting entire collections hosted and served by Scene7. In addition, Waalwear Kids is able to use the images more pervasively, including in email confirmations that are sent to clients after placing an order, providing visual validation of their purchase.

The Scene7 platform has also made it possible for Waalwear Kids to improve its internal image management and distribution processes. Previously, there was no central asset repository or asset naming convention in place; many images were missing and internal groups such as marketing and public relations had to rely on external hard drives, DVDs or their agency when they needed product images. Now with Scene7 Media Portal, all departments have easy access to upload, browse, search, preview and export assets in corporate-approved formats via a self-serve environment. In addition, agents in every country has access to the media based on administrator-controlled permissions and are able to distribute them as needed to their retail clients without hassle.

By streamlining its image and video management and adding dynamic sizing and zoom technology, Waalwear Kids is able to use the rich images and videos on its consumer site in the Netherlands as well.

With Adobe Scene7, agents no longer have to carry hundreds of clothing samples with them. Instead, they simply use a laptop to display entire collections, plus just a few samples to demonstrate fabrics and production quality. As a result, Waalwear Kids has cut its sample manufacturing costs significantly.

Additionally, by using an online visual showroom, Waalwear Kids has been able to attract and add new agents where it was limited before by not having physical samples available. After getting a laptop from the company, agents can start selling immediately. This has allowed Waalwear Kids to build a more flexible and agile business, increase the number of sales agents, and extend its reach into new geographic markets, while adding flair and fun to its commerce site and building buzz around its brand.

"In a traditional market, the introduction of a modern tool has not been a deterrent, and we have attracted new customers because they view our unique system as hip and something they want to be a part of," said Jeroen ten Napel, ICT Manager for Waalwear Kids BV. "Although there were investment costs upfront to deploy the new system, the cost savings from not producing samples has been significant and we realized a return on our investment after one collection. Also the rich content that is readily available for use on our consumer site in the Netherlands gives us a competitive advantage."

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