{"id":15969,"date":"2016-11-18T17:28:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T22:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/our-bras-are-better\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T17:28:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T22:28:31","slug":"bras-in-a-digital-world","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Bras in a Digital World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disrupting the Women\u2019s Lingerie Business with Technology:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

peach is a venture backed start up changing the way women shop for intimates and basics. The US lingerie market is $13B and has been dominated by unimaginative players such as Victoria\u2019s Secret for years.[i]<\/a>\u00a0 peach takes cutting edge technology, innovative product design and the skills of creative and caring bra experts to offer its consumers a shopping experience that builds them up, literally.<\/p>\n

\"peach-photo-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A personal commerce company, peach uses firsthand relationships for selling.\u00a0 Rather than selling via brick and mortar stores, peach utilizes a network of over 300 highly trained bra experts who visit potential customers in their homes and fit women for new bras, harnessing, \u201cthe power of women selling to other women\u201d.[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

These bra experts have two ways to earn money, they can sell bras that actually fit people, or they can recruit women to become bra salespeople themselves.\u00a0 The challenge, however, is that both of these activities are more difficult when limited by geography. \u00a0One’s client base is fixed to the number of people that live within driving distance of one’s house.\u00a0 How do you change your business model and operating model to account for this?\u00a0 Enter the biggest innovation in bra technology since the push up bra: virtual fittings.[iii]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.discoverpeach.com\/how-it-works]<\/p>\n

Technology changes the game for a bra experts\u2019 business opportunity \u2013 peach\u2019s business is the experts\u2019 business. \u00a0If \u00a0the experts aren\u2019t limited by geography, the value they can offer their customers is much higher.\u00a0 An expert can measure a customer for a bra from half way across the world.\u00a0 Even women in her own town \u00a0can take advantage of the convenience of showing their expert the fit of her new bras the second they arrive in the post via peach\u2019s technology.
\n\"peach-photo-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.discoverpeach.com\/how-it-works]<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2016-11-17-at-6-08-13-pm\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Virtual fittings also allow peach, as the home office, to start doing national advertising.\u00a0 Now that they have technology and can access people across the country, all of a sudden, anyone can travel to peach’s homepage and \u201cmeet\u201d an expert.\u00a0 Technology can become a customer acquisition channel.<\/p>\n

Remember though, the bottleneck for peach has not disappeared, it has just shifted from being the experts to building and maintaining the technology.<\/p>\n

[Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WithLovePeach\/]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Additional Steps peach should Consider:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Customers are responding well to virtual fittings.\u00a0 Janet, peach\u2019s CEO, had the idea of some sort of virtual experience for over a year but nothing had come of it.\u00a0 Then one day an expert confessed that she had been fitting people by Skype, and \u2018Virtual peach\u2019 was born. \u00a0The experts who are good will figure out ways to do this on their own – clear demand from clients and experts.\u00a0 For peach, it is imperative to control the narrative and the experience around the brand, especially as it is developing and growing, and Virtual peach sacrifices a significant amount of head office\u2019s control for future growth.[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n

However, consumers in general are hesitant about technology, whether because of privacy concerns or general discomfort.[v]<\/a>\u00a0 So how do you convince a woman, not in the same room as you, to be measured for a bra over the internet?<\/p>\n

I did a fitting with a peach expert to better understand the selling process and the potential problems with it.\u00a0 peach does a good job.\u00a0 The expert is warm, comforting and knowledgeable and you are not required to take your shirt off \u2013 just to have a tight white tank top on which the expert is also wearing – but it is a strange experience.[vi]<\/a> \u00a0This friction, surrounding comfort with technology, has the potential to be a big bottleneck as the company continues to grow.\u00a0 One option would be to expand the target consumer for peach.\u00a0 There is huge potential to shake up the kind of person that you can attract if you use technology.\u00a0 Trying to attract a, \u201cmillennial boss babe\u201d[vii]<\/a> to broaden the company\u2019s appeal and to breach the technology gap could help to significantly increase sales.<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2016-11-17-at-6-17-22-pm\"<\/a>Another issue peach is facing is the selling of basics, (cardigans, leggings, etc.).\u00a0 It is difficult to sell basics remotely.\u00a0 peach has found that if the experts put the clothes on so the client can see it helps, but one of peach\u2019s best selling points it a proprietary material that they use.\u00a0 Over technology a customer can\u2019t feel the texture of the material, which is a problem.\u00a0 How to combat this? \u00a0Include a few basics in each shipment of lingerie to a customer so that the customer can feel and try the product. \u00a0Give people 21 days to return the products or keep them and pay.<\/p>\n

peach has expertly identified an inefficiency within the women\u2019s lingerie market and is adapting its business and operating models to include technology to combat it.\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait to watch them continue to succeed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.discoverpeach.com\/products\/simply-soft-high-low-swing-tank]<\/p>\n

Word Count: (799)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> http:\/\/thelingeriejournal.com\/us-lingerie-dominates-global-market\/<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> http:\/\/www.inc.com\/magazine\/201611\/liz-welch\/busting-out-feminine-product-revolution.html<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> Personal interview conducted with Rebecca Wyman, \u2018Head of Fit Experience\u2019 at peach<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> Ibid<\/p>\n

[v]<\/a> http:\/\/www.businessnewsdaily.com\/7756-online-shopping-preferences.html<\/p>\n

[vi]<\/a> Personal fitting with peach stylist<\/p>\n

[vii]<\/a> http:\/\/www.bossbabe.me\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

"How do you convince a woman, halfway across the country, to be measured for a bra over the internet?"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1980,"featured_media":15970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[2263,2167,2261,2033,16,392,2262,1018],"class_list":["post-15969","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-direct-selling","category-e-retail","category-lingerie","category-online-shopping","category-retail","category-shopping","category-underwear","category-women"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/digitization-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nBras in a Digital World - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bras in a Digital World - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""How do you convince a woman, halfway across the country, to be measured for a bra over the internet?"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Peach-photo-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"774\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"445\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bras in a Digital World - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Peach-photo-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-18T22:28:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Peach-photo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Peach-photo-1.png\",\"width\":774,\"height\":445},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/bras-in-a-digital-world\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Bras in a Digital World\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bras in a Digital World - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bras in a Digital World - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":""How do you convince a woman, halfway across the country, to be measured for a bra over the internet?"","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":774,"height":445,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Peach-photo-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/","name":"Bras in a Digital World - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Peach-photo-1.png","datePublished":"2016-11-18T22:28:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Peach-photo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Peach-photo-1.png","width":774,"height":445},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/bras-in-a-digital-world\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Bras in a Digital World"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/15969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1980"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/15969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}