<\/p>\n
\n\tGerman online fashion retailing giant Zalando last week held its annual \u201cPartner Day,\u201d an event at which senior managers from the world\u2019s biggest brands come to hear about the latest developments in online shopping and platform technology.<\/p>\n
\n\tZalando has held the event since 2014 and this year about 750 people attended talks and workshops in Berlin. Attendees included representatives from a variety of fashion brands, from Adidas, Calvin Klein, Levis, Lagerfeld, Lacoste and Guess to New Balance, Nike, Next and Triumph.<\/p>\n
\n\tGiven Zalando is one of Europe\u2019s largest online fashion retailers, it was perhaps not surprising that the present and future use of artificial intelligence, or AI, was a major topic at the event.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAI is changing everything we do,\u201d Zalando co-founder David Schneider proclaimed from the main stage at the start of the event. \u201cThe rise of mobile [technology] changed customer behavior\u2026 the rise of AI is much deeper, a fundamental change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDoes AI help create awareness for my online shop? Does AI help me convert traffic into orders?\u201d Tarek Mueller, managing director at About You, the German online fashion retailer that Zalando acquired in July 2025, asked in his opening remarks. \u201cDoes it help me to get more efficient and improve margins?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe answers to those all-important questions are not all affirmative.<\/p>\n
\n\tMueller explained that right now, commonly used AI applications like ChatGPT by Open AI or Claude by Anthropic \u2014 also known as large language models or LLMS \u2014 send less than 0.5 percent of traffic to online fashion stores. Google and Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, are still the main drivers of traffic for online fashion, Mueller said.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tAbout You managing director Tarek Mueller (left) on the main stage at Zalando\u2019s \u2018Partner Day\u2019 event in Berlin.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut there is another area where AI has already made a serious difference and where it is boosting sales and improving margins \u2013 content production, for both product detail pages and for more complex marketing campaigns and materials.<\/p>\n
\n\tZalando and About You have both almost completely eliminated the dedicated studios they previously ran to produce content and catalogue-style product pictures.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAround 70 percent of what you see behind me was created with AI,\u201d Matthias Haase, Zalando\u2019s vice president for content solutions, said in another seminar, gesturing at the room-sized video panel behind him. It was covered in colorful pictures, some moving, others still. Among the only areas AI isn\u2019t used is on content featuring real-life talent such as Zalando brand ambassador, actress Lily Collins, Haase noted. Collins was also in Berlin for the partner day event.<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s going to be a lot more AI-created lifestyle content coming, too, James Rothwell, the firm\u2019s senior vice president for marketing and content, told the audience during his keynote address in which he explained how advertising and marketing had changed. \u201cEighteen months ago, Zalando was not a content publisher,\u201d Rothwell said. But, thanks to AI, Zalando has been moving away from traditional advertising and into things like making its own short films.<\/p>\n
\n\tUsing generative AI to present products instead of actually photographing them has reduced spend on that by around 90 percent, Mueller said. About You used to spend around 7 million euros on this budget line and AI has saved it around 6 million euros, he told attendees.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbout You had been working with AI-generated model and product shots for about 18 months but it was only about six months ago that the \u201creal breakthrough\u201d came, Mueller stated.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat breakthrough meant that AI wasn\u2019t just reducing costs but also increasing the platform\u2019s conversion rate.<\/p>\n
\n\tMuller explained why. A brand might find a fashion model that really worked with their products, that consumers related to, who made them want to buy more, he recounted. \u201cBut then they move to Milan and you can\u2019t book them again,\u201d he argued. \u201cOr the stylist has a bad day, or certain products are not available. It\u2019s very hard to replicate what works. But AI is learning what works \u2014 and it can replicate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAbout You is also home to Scayle, dedicated software for e-commerce, and Scayle Studio, which uses AI for content creation. <\/p>\n
\n\tScayle Studio offers brands a variety of AI-generated models of all ages \u2014 although admittedly quite a few do look like different generations of one very beautiful family with dark eyebrows and big lips. These models have poses like \u201copen laugh\u201d or \u201cconfident cool.\u201d Styling options, like shoes and sunglasses, can be added as well as lifelike backgrounds; the models will then move around in the garment in a video.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tAn example of campaign content Zalando created using generative AI. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMade with Google AI<\/p>\n
\n\tOne garment or look can be shown in dozens of pictures and the AI will decide what works best and how to present this. How the advanced algorithms make that decision can be based on A-B testing by its owners but it\u2019s also increasingly based on fine-grained data gathered from shoppers, something Zalando has been doing for 18 years.<\/p>\n
\n\tMueller points out that they already know some looks, styling or even poses work better in certain marketplaces than others.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a very individual thing. It\u2019s the same for styling, it really depends on who and what you are,\u201d Mueller told WWD during an interview. And this will become part of how AI is used to increasingly personalize what each customer sees, he noted.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe algorithm becomes much better in recommending you things but also in recommending them to you in a way that is personalized. So it might recommend me a product I like, but also styled in a way I like it, or even styled on me, or maybe a model I relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tZalando has also been able to use this kind of AI-fueled content creation to react more quickly to trends and seasonal events, Haase told WWD. Previously Zalando would shoot a product once. \u201cAnd then it stays there until it\u2019s sold out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tNow Haase gets a special report every morning around 7 a.m., compiled by an AI agent that\u2019s been crawling social media for what\u2019s popular or trending. \u201cThey pull the five most relevant of what we call \u2018micro-trends\u2019,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe AI agents will also predict the potential life cycle of the trend \u2014 that is, whether it will last longer or be gone by tomorrow. Haase\u2019s team also checks if Zalando customers might be searching for the trend, as a way of validating the agents\u2019 information.<\/p>\n
\n\tHaase namechecks the most recent Met Gala in New York as an example. After picking up on the trend for \u201carty fashion,\u201d Zalando launched a marketing campaign the day after the gala, which resulted in a consequential uptick in wish lists and followers for relevant brands.<\/p>\n
\n\tZalando already had a fast turnaround on campaigns, Haase noted, somewhere between six to eight weeks for the fastest. \u201cBut even six to eight weeks is too long to grab a micro trend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tMatthias Haase, Zalando\u2019s vice president for content solutions, speaks at a seminar during Zalando\u2019s \u2018Partner Day\u2019 event in Berlin.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe use of AI to replace live models and catalogue photographers obviously has an impact on human resources. Haase addressed this, saying that of the 90 positions that were lost when Zalando\u2019s product studio was closed, around 60 people were able to be relocated elsewhere in the company. <\/p>\n
\n\tAnd human creativity does remain important, he argued: \u201cMaybe [what the AI selects] fits the trend, it fits the style but it just doesn\u2019t look good. That\u2019s where the human comes in and says, \u2018out, out, out\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the future, company insiders say, the algorithms will get even better at analyzing your data and predicting what you want before you want it.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe more data an LLM is trained on, the smarter it becomes \u2014 and there is still more customer data incoming at Zalando. <\/p>\n
\n\tFor example, right now, Zalando isn\u2019t really using the text conversations shoppers are having with its online assistant but is likely to do so in the future. <\/p>\n
\n\tAnd the more people shop, the larger data trail they leave behind from which personalized recommendations can be made. At another keynote during the Zalando event David Fisher, founder of media and fashion brand High Snobiety, spoke about how beauty, sport and groceries are markers of status and offer even more usable insights. Zalando is working hard on pushing the two former categories.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut there are other aspects of AI in online fashion shopping that are not yet fully operational and likely won\u2019t come as fast or possibly ever be as useful. One of those is AI-powered shopping assistants or agents.<\/p>\n
\n\tAn AI agent is basically a program or software that uses an LLM\u2019s computing power and reasoning to execute a certain task for its owner. Mueller pointed out that Open AI has already moved away from plans for AI-driven shopping assistants and has instead been selling advertising. Google continues to work on a shopping assistant but at the moment, while those sorts of assistants can search for a product, they cannot do the transaction for you. Mueller thinks that even when those shopping assistants do improve \u2014he predicts within five years or so \u2014 they might not be much help to anybody truly looking for wardrobe inspiration.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think shopping can be divided into two [use] cases \u2014 one that\u2019s about transactions in general, like booking flights or hotels. It\u2019s a job to get done. But in fashion, the majority of money is not spent like this,\u201d he pointed out. It\u2019s more about inspiration and style and the shopping \u201cjourney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat\u2019s the background to Mueller\u2019s three predictions for the near-term future of AI in fashion.<\/p>\n
\n\tAI-driven content creation is the first because what he calls \u201ca combination of a fashion magazine and e-commerce\u201d is important for inspiration and the shopping journey.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cSecondly, everything becomes more personalized,\u201d Muller continued. \u201cSo through things like virtual try on, what your online shop recommends to you, everything will become much more personalized and tailored to you. That\u2019s a mega trend. And I would say the third trend we are seeing is on the delivery side. Recycling gets faster, more reliable, and everything becomes more frictionless.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe future of AI involves a combination of all three, he concluded: \u201cMore inspirational, more personalized and less friction.\u201d<\/p>\n
#Online #Fashion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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