As one of the hardest-hit sectors in the pandemic, there were few success stories to have come out in fashion retail. Simply holding firm through the worst of the crisis was not enough as the industry shifted beyond recognition. Adapting to the new retail landscape became a prerequisite to surviving Covid-19.
For many brands and retailers, the challenges proved insurmountable but not Indonesian jewellery brand Aeroculata.
Aeroculata
Founded by CEO Fenny Angela as a university student, Aeroculata was built on the personalisation of accessories. From reselling jewellery in 2011 to manufacturing its own range, Aeroculata’s core values have shaped its retail journey.
We recently sat down with Fenny Angela to find out more about how the brand has not only survived the 2020 retail slump but came out thriving.
The brand currently offers a wide range of ready-to-wear and personalised jewellery from 925 silver base to 18k gold. What sets Aeroculata apart, however, is the lifetime warranty available with each purchase of personalised jewellery and a one-year warranty for ready-to-wear products.
Aeroculata stayed true to its values of meeting customer wants and needs through the retail crisis. With complete visibility on the local and global market, the brand was able to understand how demand has shifted and quickly adapt with the right assortment and the right prices.
Visibility on consumer demand and the competitive landscape gave Aeroculata the edge it needed at a turbulent time. Here’s how the brand used Omnilytics to tackle the retail crisis, according to CEO Fenny Angela.
It’s important to see where our brand is positioned in the market compared to others, how the market will respond to our prices and if trends have commercial value. - Fenny Angela
Sell the Right Products at the Right Prices
While most brands took a conservative ‘less is more’ approach in 2020, Aeroculata drove sales by expanding its assortment. In an unpredictable market, producing more SKUs may seem counterintuitive but Aeroculata was able to minimise risk with a comprehensive view on demand.
Fenny credits market visibility and trend analysis tools on Omnilytics for empowering her team in monitoring their competitors’ movements and differentiating true trends from fads.
With Omnilytics, we can keep track of emerging global trends and introduce them to Indonesia before the rest of the market.
Validating design ideas at a granular level with data-driven analysis has been a key factor in Aeroculata’s success as it takes the guesswork out of assortment planning.
The brand applies the same methodology when it comes to pricing. Repricing its products to fit with the current consumer sentiment has opened up opportunities with new customers which translate to more sales. However, bringing prices down at a fixed rate can quickly eat into profits and Aeroculata knows this all too well.
Fenny added that Omnilytics allowed her brand to look beyond its immediate competitors for a more holistic view of price demand. The ability to price-match with high precision maximises margins without deterring customers.
Validating Ideas with Data
The conventional processes of gaining competitive insights are time-consuming and yield inaccurate results. With deeply insightful data at the ready, Fenny and her team are able to streamline these tedious tasks and access the information they need at a fraction of the time. The team benchmarks against direct and indirect competitors from global markets to spot opportunities before anyone else.
With more time on their hands, Aeroculata doubled down on its marketing efforts to capitalise on the rise of digital consumption with creative online campaigns, which has been instrumental in driving sales. Fenny revealed, “When the TikTok craze hit Indonesia in mid-2020, we aggressively increased endorsement to relevant influencers, which brought growth and awareness to new market segments.”
The brand also ramped up its visual merchandising by updating its five-year-old website with compatibility and user-friendly features. Fenny credited the Omnilytics Visual Merchandising module for providing ideas and insights on other jewellery brands’ visual direction.
With data to enhance existing processes, Aeroculata was able to allocate more time for informed decision making and be creative with promotion.
“Trading is very efficient with Omnilytics as all the market information we need is on one dashboard”, says Fenny. “The accurate insights speeds up brand growth and eases current processes, leaving more time to improve on other aspects of retail”.
Aeroculata strives to continue spreading the spirit of celebration at all life milestones by offering a wide range of jewellery validated by real-time data while committing to quality.
About Aeroculata
Founded by Fenny and Marco, Aeroculata is well known as a highly-personalised jewellery brand since 2011 and specialises in jewellery gifting services with a wide range of materials to mark special moments and celebrations. Check out their site here.
