Rachel Sam

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On December 13, 2015, Rachel Sam commented on Inditex, king of fast fashion :

Very interesting post. I’m curious as to how Inditex and its brands are adapting to the growing threat of e-commerce. It seems like companies like ASOS.com offer a similar “fast fashion” value proposition but have the advantage of being online-only (centralized inventory; no costs for retail stores…). Is Inditex growing its online presence to stay relevant and/or do its physical stores actually create a competitive advantage against online-only threats?

On December 13, 2015, Rachel Sam commented on Paperless Post: Design Meets Technology :

I think it’s really interesting that PP chose to enter the print market. On the one hand, they do have certain assets they can leverage for print, as you point out.

On the other hand, it seems like a whole other ballgame of production, logistics, etc. Also seems like a different target market — and a shrinking market — than the one they were originally going after with the electronic-only approach. Seems counter-intuitive and risky that they would make an investment in a dying industry that’s not fully aligned with their existing operating model.

Final minor point: people who buy print are spending more money and probably inherently care more about the quality of their invites. I would imagine they would prefer to go to a company that allows them to see and feel the invites before making a full order — does PP offer that option?

On December 13, 2015, Rachel Sam commented on Rent the Runway: A Successful Fashion Forward Business :

Loved reading about the behind-the-scenes operations of a company I’ve used. I’ve noticed RTR has at least one physical storefront location where customers can try on dresses before renting them online. Seems like that strategy would increase costs (rent, staff, inventory management) but might help increase revenue by helping to build the RTR brand and bring on skeptical new customers. Would be interested to know what trade-off calculations management made when deciding to pursue this approach, and whether this is something they’re looking to expand further.