The blockchain in the future of the fashion industry

For 6 out of 10 millennials, the fashion shopping industry will be increasingly influenced by the impact of new technologies, including blockchain: more than half of this segment of the population, technologically mature and with an increasingly important role in the fashion industry, claims to appreciate services such as self-service stores (58%), voice assistants (50%) and augmented reality (65%). About 1 in 3 is likely to increase their purchases by 50%, both in-store and online, thanks to these new innovative payment tools and methods. 

The third edition of Lanieri Fashion Tech Insights 2018, the annual report on new technological trends in the world of fashion, produced by the Istituto Piepoli per Lanieri, an e-commerce of tailor-made Made in Italy men’s clothing, provides an overview of this picture.

One Italian in 5 (21%) has an all-encompassing approach towards fashion purchases, distributing his or her shopping equally between the web and the physical stores. Whereas Millennials prefer an integrated approach, with results exceeding the sample average: 1 in 3 (31%), in fact, usually buys both in-store and on the web. 

The conventional store, however, is not compromised by the omnichannel strategies of the brands: 42% of those interviewed declare that they make all their fashion purchases here; indeed, although only 17% of the younger people choose it exclusively, for those over the age of 54 the percentage rises to 69%. 

38% of Italians say they like stores where they can make purchases independently through their smartphones without the help of sales assistants and cashiers, while more than half of those interviewed would increase their purchases if they could access a store like this. For the remaining 49%, however, the role of the salesperson seems to remain fundamental, to the extent that this part of the sample would not make purchases in a store without being able to rely on their expertise.

A concept store of this type attracts a particularly conscious group, both from the technological point of view and from the stylistic one, namely millennials. In fact, 58% of them would willingly go shopping in a store without checkouts and sales staff: 1 in 3 would increase their purchases by 50% thanks to this technology. Many of them, especially among millennials (60%), would welcome the introduction of facial recognition for making purchases.

What about payment methods? In this case too, the results of the survey are very interesting for understanding trends and possibilities to be taken advantage of in the fashion industry in general. Above all, the theme of the blockchain, although for now it concerns a small niche in the world of Italian online shoppers. 

The blockchain in the fashion industry

As many as 79% of Italians say they do not own cryptocurrencies and are not interested in them. But the chances that they will one day have an important impact on buying habits in the high-profile luxury and fashion market are promising. A millennial in 10, in fact, would increase their purchases on the web if they could pay with bitcoin. 

The spread of innovative mobile payment methods, on the other hand, would considerably increase the buying tendency for half of the sample interviewed: in particular, about 1 Italian out of 10 would increase their purchases by 75% and 1 out of 5 would increase their shopping by 50%. 

Once again, it is the millennial category that is the most significant: 1 in 3, for example, would increase their purchases by 50% if they could use these tools. Lastly, an important issue, especially in the field of e-commerce, is certainly that of privacy. 

Half of Italians, in fact, would not use technologies such as facial recognition because they are worried about sharing their data. 1 in 5 Italians indicated greater data protection at the time of online payments (21% of the sample) and the guarantee that their personal data will not be shared with third parties without their consent (19%).