Launchmetrics Product Sneak Peek: Fashion Sample Tracking Software

In today’s competitive market, collections are more than just a series of products; they embody a brand’s essence, driving its storytelling, performance, and revenue. Samples from these collections are pivotal—they fuel editorial features, shape marketing strategies, and secure influencer endorsements, all of which significantly impact customer purchase decisions.

Yet, despite their importance, many brands struggle with sample management due to outdated manual processes and miscommunications. This inefficiency not only wastes time and money but also hinders valuable PR opportunities. Without advanced fashion sample tracking software, brands miss out on prime coverage and the chance to fully capitalize on their samples' potential due to lack of availability. On average, brands face a 5-15% sample loss, which can translate to a staggering $3.5 million in annual losses. So, how can brands ensure they seize every opportunity to enhance visibility and meet sample requests effectively?

The solution lies in Launchmetrics Samples management software. This innovative solution has transformed sample management for fashion and luxury brands, allowing them to operate with unprecedented efficiency and agility, maximizing every editorial and sales opportunity. What used to take teams four hours to track samples has been reduced to 15 minutes and a 95% reduction in sample loss. Moreover, with four times more sample requests fulfilled, PR teams can significantly boost brand performance, so let’s see how Samples can transform your brand and bring it to new heights

What Do We Mean by Fashion Sample Tracking Software?

In the fast-paced fashion industry, agile sample tracking processes are essential for capturing market opportunities. Internally, samples pass through numerous departments—sales, design, production, logistics, and PR—making internal organization crucial, especially for mass market brands due to the high volume of products. For premium and luxury brands, samples are frequently shared externally to gain coverage and for celebrity or influencer seeding. Without a streamlined process, brands risk delays, lack of visibility, and misplaced samples, which can severely impact both internal operations and external exposure.

A well-optimized sample management strategy significantly enhances collection coverage. By utilizing a digital fashion sample tracking software, brands can efficiently handle internal and external requests, or make sample reservations ensuring that key press outlets receive samples promptly. This timely delivery maximizes the impact of samples, boosting brand visibility.

Sample tracking also provides valuable insights into the performance of various styles and pieces. Brands can see where samples have been sent, delivered, and who requested them. By analyzing these patterns, brands can anticipate consumer behavior. If a particular item is frequently requested by editors and influencers, it may reappear across print, online, and social media platforms, potentially sparking a new trend.

By embracing digital sample tracking, brands not only streamline their internal and external processes but also enhance their ability to respond to market demands, ultimately driving brand performance.

Why Is Leveraging Launchmetrics Fashion Sample Tracking Software Imperative to Boost Brand Performance?

1. Plan for the Future: Sample tracking will not only allow you to request or reserve samples in advance to meet deadlines and maximize opportunities, it will also allow you to track your samples impact and its ROI. These are key insights to analyze the performance of your collection and adjust your strategy accordingly. Identifying trends or unexpectedly popular sample items can also help production, sales, and marketing teams to leverage ‘hot’ items for future launches.
2. Maximize sample resources and editorial opportunities: Visually manage sample requests and logistics with external contacts using a calendar format. This ensures the availability and timely delivery of samples, maximizing your editorial opportunities. For instance, if you have a sample out on a shoot with Vogue Italy and then receive a request from Vogue Japan immediately after, you can book your sample in advance and coordinate the shipment directly from one editorial house to another. This seamless coordination helps you leverage every opportunity without delay or confusion, ensuring that your samples are always where they need to be, when they need to be there.
3. Reduce sample losses and operating costs: Monitor and track the status and location of each sample across offices, publications or influencers via a dedicated app. This visibility helps prevent overproduction, saving costs and freeing up time for your team to focus on other valuable tasks.
4. Digitize samples operations: Minimize manual labor by incorporating barcode or RFID tags for check-in and check-out of your samples. Leveraging an RFID-enhanced Sample Management Solution allows you to check 10 or more samples in just one go instead of individually scanning each piece. 
5. Accelerate time-to-market: Streamline the movement of your samples externally and internally across the various departments, to optimize time and fully leverage samples from the runway to press to end consumers. 

How Brands Are Maximizing Their Opportunities Through Samples

Brands of all sizes benefit from Launchmetrics Samples, getting rid of endless spreadsheets and inefficient processes. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. identified several improvement opportunities for its sample processes, such as a lack of standardized processes, no central database, complex distribution, high volumes of samples in circulation, and manual tracking and workflow inefficiencies.

Thanks to the implementation of Launchmetrics Fashion Sample Tracking Software, Abercrombie & Fitch Co.:

• Enhanced organization and cross-department transparency regarding sample location and ownership.
• Improved sample tracking, reducing lost and misplaced samples, leading to annual cost efficiencies.
• Better understanding of sample production inefficiencies, resulting in improved forecasting and reduced overproduction.
• Increased efficiency, with teams finding samples twice as fast, spending 3x less time on creating sample send-outs, and processing sample returns 87% faster.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. & Launchmetrics

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Tips and Tricks to Make the Most out of Launchmetrics Fashion Sample Tracking Software

• Set up Your Samples: Easily upload your samples through an API, FTP or in mass through spreadsheets and see any samples in the software at any given time. You will have access to search filters sorted by department, inventory status, style number, availability status, type, description, collection, barcode, color, season, etc. 

• Search for Samples: You will be able to identify the time when the sample has been sent out, if it's out for delivery, return dates, etc. All of this can be done through a mobile device making it easy and fast to scan the barcodes which can also be provided by Launchmetrics.  

• Create Sample Send-Outs:  Quickly fill in delivery details, including send-out types.

• Set for Delivery: Specify the contact to whom samples are being sent to, internally or externally, and set delivery options. You can set default options like delivery by FedEx and add the date you need the sample back. Then, scan the samples through the camera on your phone or remotely by checking the available pieces in Samples and pressing the “scan” button. A delivery memo will be automatically created, you can customize it and use different templates.
• Review the Efficiency of Your Samples: Through the efficiency reporting, you can see how many samples are being produced and how many actually are getting used. This helps to avoid overproduction and saves costs for your business.

• Measure the Impact and ROI of Your Sample Send Outs: Assess the Media Impact Value® (MIV®) of sent samples and check which pieces actually got displayed in magazines and the ROI generated for your brand.

Inside Launchmetrics Samples

How Does Sample Management Work for Different Departments and Roles Within a Brand

PR and Marketing Team Members:

• Maximize sample use by providing visibility on all samples and their location in the Launchmetrics Samples Cloud
• Enhance internal processes across departments
• Reduce manual processes through the deployment of barcodes or, better yet, RFID technology
• Increase editorial opportunities by securing the availability of samples for upcoming shoots, events and tradeshows.

Merchandise Manager:

• Provide clear sample tracking with visibility of sample details, arrival timeline and current location
• Minimize errors and improve corrective process when issues arise
• Increase efficiency leading to timely product launches and frequently updated retail displays.
• Improve space management by reducing manual processes and improving sample circulation.

Photo Studio Manager:

• Facilitate sample reservation
• Reduce manual work related to sample ownership tracking
• Deliver assets for e-commerce pages, retail partners, and marketing campaigns faster by shortening production and publication timelines

Finance Director:

• Reduce operating costs by optimizing sample production
• Get access to quantitative and qualitative data points
• Minimize sample loss and save +$100K each season

If you're interested in learning more about the Launchmetrics Samples Module, feel free to request a demo and chat with one of our expert consultants. Don't hesitate to reach out!

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