What are digital showrooms, how are they changing and should you consider offering one?
We’ve all read the headlines: the promise of Digital Showrooms is huge. Present your collection online, take more orders, get more press coverage. But let’s start with the basics: there’s nothing better than being in front of a buyer or journalist and showing them your latest collection in the flesh (save showing them the collection with the aid of a digital showroom on a tablet…).
That aside, as we’ve all experienced in recent weeks, being there sometimes isn’t an option. And that’s not just due to lockdown: relying on in-person only showrooms means you’re missing out on a growing number of important international buyers and journalists without the time or budget to attend in person events.
Thankfully there is a solution that opens up the market and lets you connect globally online to present your collection in the best possible light: the Magnetiq Digital Showroom.
What is a Digital Showroom?
At its most basic, the digital showroom (also known as a virtual showroom) does the job of a physical showroom through the power of an online product showcase.
Through an online portal or web link, buyers or journalists can view products with detailed 360 degree images, zoom in on textures and explore different colourways.
This basic functionality is powerful enough on its own, allowing connection with the people that matter across continents and time zones. But the recent growth in remote working has led to the development of a new generation of features, such as those found in Magnetiq’s Digital Showroom.
Beyond The Showcase – The New Digital Showroom
Working closely with a major global fashion brand, the Magnetiq team built a new generation of digital showroom designed to be much more than just a product showcase. Magnetiq Digital Showroom allows potential buyers and journalists to immerse themselves into the collection and the inspiration behind it.
Brands can add rich content such as the catwalk video, mood boards, descriptions of the creative spark behind the collection, look-book style imagery of the products on models and much more.
These features add up to a deeply engaging experience for journalists and buyers, encouraging more press and more sales.
As you’d expect from a modern cloud based application, teams can edit the presentation from anywhere in the world, allowing creative directors in Tokyo to update lookbook photography while designers in Paris tweak the mood board. It’s all reflected in real time and fashion brands using the product report, perhaps unsurprisingly, that better collaboration makes for a better presented collection.
Driving Action – Collect Feedback and Order Requests
The Digital Showroom from Magnetiq is built from the ground up to drive action.
Buyers can highlight the pieces they’re interested in and indicate quantities, journalists can ask for more information or samples of specific pieces and download high resolution images to use in articles the very same day they see the collection. The people that matter can have their say and take action, all within the Digital Showroom.
Tweaking and improving your collection is easier than it’s ever been. Real-time collection analysis is baked into the Magnetiq Digital Showroom, meaning brands can simply see what products are receiving the most positive reactions and address the sales pitch or approach to PR to match the latest trends.
Flexible Presentation – In Showroom, Guided Online Call or Self-Guided Shared Presentation
The final innovation pioneered by the Magnetiq Digital Showroom team is in the flexible presentation style.
A single digital showroom presented on a tablet during a physical showroom visit can be used to add digital depth to a collection walk through. The presentation can then be shared as a ‘follow up’ link with much more impact than a PDF.
Or if an online meeting is planned, that same presentation can be the reference point for a video call between brands and buyers or press.
Finally, if it’s hard to schedule meeting together, or if your contacts prefer to explore the collection in their own time, you can share the presentation using a custom link for each buyer or journalist. This personalised link will allow them to view, comment and place orders, all in their own time from the comfort of their own office.
Getting Started – How Do I Set Up A Digital Showroom?
If all of this sounds like it could help your business, you might be wondering what the next steps are to get cracking.
To get started set up a quick call with the Magnetiq team – they’ll not only walk you through the simple and powerful Magnetiq Digital Showroom software, but they’ll teach you everything you need to get going, all within about 30 minutes.