PVH Corp backed startup HATCH signs HAVAIANAS as first customer to license its Digital Showroom software

Innovative startup HATCH, backed by PVH Corp., owner of a portfolio of iconic brands including TOMMY HILFIGER and Calvin Klein, has signed the globally renowned flip flop brand HAVAIANAS as its first customer to license its Digital Showroom software.

Operating at the intersection of fashion and technology, HATCH is pioneering a fully digital-guided wholesale selling experience. The implementation of HATCH’s Digital Showroom technology has enabled HAVAIANAS to conduct its 2021 selling season entirely digitally, practically eliminating all physical samples.

First developed in 2014 by PVH Corp., the Digital Showroom technology has since revolutionized the wholesale selling process for Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Since January 2020, startup HATCH has been leveraging its five years of fashion-tech expertise and real-world learnings to bring the Digital Showroom to the wider fashion industry through a SaaS model: a software licensing model in which access to the technology – hosted on the cloud – is provided on a subscription basis. Based on this expertise, HATCH also offers Digital Transformation consultancy services to ease a brand’s transition into the future of wholesale selling.

Merel Werners, EMEIA Marketing Director at HAVAIANAS: “Working with HATCH has been an exciting and transformative experience for HAVAIANAS. We have been very impressed by the combination of technology and the human touch, and how HATCH puts the brand first in a digital way so that the Digital Showroom feels completely HAVAIANAS. The process has been seamless and we look forward to partnering with HATCH and collaborating on future innovations that will make digital selling even more successful”. 

Anne-Christine Polet, SVP Digital Ventures (HATCH), PVH Europe: “The digitization of wholesale selling plays a critical part in driving a more efficient, more resilient and more sustainable fashion value chain. By partnering with HAVAIANAS, we will gain valuable insights to fuel the innovation process and make the HATCH Digital Showroom even more effective. This is the future of fashion and we’re excited to see the technology take on the industry.”

HAVAIANAS’ focus on digitizing its near sixty-year-old brand was accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis, with traditional wholesale selling methods no longer an option. The flexibility built into the Digital Showroom software allowed for the company to conduct remote appointments with customers; provided an effective sales process that also incorporated the HAVAIANAS brand’s storytelling; and removed the need for multiple wholesale selling tools and software. HATCH’s consultancy services further supported the onboarding of HAVAIANAS’ European sales force. All teams were set up within eight weeks with the support of HATCH masterclasses and training on digital selling, and the intuitive nature of the Digital Showroom.

By removing the need for physical samples, the HATCH Digital Showroom improves speed to market, enabling brands to give customers what they want faster than ever before, better optimize their assortments, and take a positive step towards a more sustainable future for the industry.

hatchstudio.co

www.havaianas.com