{"id":3250,"date":"2015-12-08T18:10:16","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T23:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/indochino-transforming-the-custom-suit-industry\/"},"modified":"2015-12-08T18:10:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T23:10:16","slug":"indochino-transforming-the-custom-suit-industry","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/indochino-transforming-the-custom-suit-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Indochino: Transforming the Custom Suit Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Company<\/u><\/p>\n

Founded by Canadian business students Kyle Vucko and Heikal Gani in 2007, Indochino is the global market leader in the nascent online custom suit industry. With over 100,000 customers across 50 countries, Indochino has surpassed revenues of $10M and has received $17.25M in VC funding across four rounds.<\/p>\n

Business Model<\/u><\/p>\n

Indochino\u2019s core business is predicated on offering high-quality, well-fitting suits with customer service that rivals Amazon and Zappos. \u00a0It offers a range of suit fabrics, presented as collections that include \u201cEssential\u201d, \u201cPremium\u201d, and \u201cSpecial\/Seasonal\u201d. The suits are priced starting at $449 and ending at $849; at the entry price, Indochino\u2019s offerings are up to 50% cheaper than comparable fabric suits at brick-and-mortar custom tailors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Because ordering a custom suit online involves the inherent risk of a poor fit, Indochino offers customers a step-by-step video tutorial on measuring oneself. Measurements are inputted into a \u2018customer profile\u2019 to allow for easy purchasing on subsequent orders. Most importantly, Indochino stands by its proprietary measurement system by offering $75 in local tailor alterations and free refunds or remakes when that is not possible.<\/p>\n

Since 2011, Vucko and Gani have evolved their business model to include first a \u201ctraveling tailor\u201d and then local showrooms in the biggest U.S. cities. The traveling tailor concept was developed in response to potential customers\u2019 hesitance to measure themselves \u2013 essentially, Indochino\u2019s tailors would visit big cities over two week periods and offer free 15-minute measuring appointments to those interested. That concept was furthered in 2014 to include full showrooms and measurement appointments in cities including New York, San Francisco, and Boston. These showrooms have granted Indochino omni-channel presence and expanded its customer base to those men unwilling to buy suits online, but kept costs low because the small showrooms carry no raw inventory and require minimal physical space.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/0uus-RnLBis<\/a><\/p>\n

Operating Model<\/u><\/p>\n

Indochino\u2019s operating model is a complex balance of production planning, purchasing, materials management, distribution, forecasting, and customer service. Wool is purchased from Australia, milled in Italy, and constructed in Shanghai. The factories in which the suits are constructed were traditional mass suit producers that made 10,000 suits every 4 months; Vucko convinced these manufacturers to reconfigure their entire floors, instead operating on a new \u201cmass customization\u201d model that produces one new suit every 1-2 days. Indochino pays the factory workers but does not own any assets, a decision reflective of its business model that keeps all input costs low and passes the savings on to the customer. Traditional suit manufacturers have grown to welcome Indochino\u2019s production model because the higher margins on custom suits more than offset the loss in output.<\/p>\n

\"indochino<\/a>The company\u2019s proprietary measuring algorithm serves its business model well, as the algorithm has been refined numerous times to achieve the perfect fit across all body types. Though Indochino offers $75 or a free remake\/refund, it bets that the quality of its measurement model has minimized all potential errors, thereby reducing their fixing costs and maintaining overall margins.<\/p>\n

Indochino\u2019s information systems keep the whole operating model afloat \u2013 because they have minimal inventory, the computer model determines when to purchase new materials and how to coordinate shipping between Australia, Italy, and China. This system also takes all orders, relays them to the Shanghai factory, and ensures customer delivery within 4 weeks. Meanwhile, a small creative team decides which types of wool to source based on current fashion trends. This team also publishes an online style guide, in turn affecting customer purchasing decisions and therefore increasing predictability in sourcing.<\/p>\n