Theo Marchetti
Covers stores, omnichannel retail and the economics of the shop floor.
Articles by Theo Marchetti
Virtual try-on in fashion: how does it work and does it reduce returns?
Generative AI can now show a garment on a photo of the shopper. That helps with style decisions, but fit and size are a different problem. What the technology does, what it needs and what the evidence says.
What is GEO, and how can fashion brands be found in AI search?
Generative engine optimisation aims to make a brand's products and content visible in AI-generated answers. What the research and the platforms actually say, and what fashion brands can do now.
How Zalando uses AI: the assistant, personalisation and size advice
Zalando has put AI into search, discovery and fit. What it built, how the data and models fit together, which results it has published and what remains unproven.
How Ralph Lauren uses AI: Ask Ralph and the conversational shopping assistant
Ralph Lauren launched Ask Ralph, a conversational styling assistant built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI, in its US app in September 2025. What it does, what has been disclosed and what remains open.
How Kering uses AI: luxury clienteling and conversational commerce
From Gucci's generative AI pilot in client service to the Madeline shopping assistant and an AI-powered unified client base announced in 2026: what Kering has built and disclosed.
AI for fashion e-commerce managers: a practical guide
Where AI helps fashion e-commerce managers with search, personalisation, product content, size advice, service and merchandising, what data it needs, legal duties and a 30-day starting plan.
AI in sportswear: how it shapes performance product, community and demand
Sportswear brands combine technical product, athlete storytelling and huge launch volumes. AI helps in design, content and demand, but performance claims and athlete data raise the bar.
AI in resale and second-hand fashion: authentication, pricing and listing
Every second-hand item is a unique product that must be identified, checked, priced and described. That makes AI more central to resale economics than to almost any other fashion segment.
AI for product descriptions and content: a quality checklist
Generative AI can draft product copy, translations and attributes at scale. Without a quality process it also produces errors, bland text and compliance risks. A checklist for content teams.
Omnichannel in fashion retail: what it actually requires
Omnichannel is not a website plus stores. It is a set of shared data, stock, processes and incentives that let customers move freely between channels.
What independent fashion retailers need from their brand partners
Independent boutiques buy with tight budgets and small teams. Brands that make buying easy, share risk in season and protect full-price selling keep them.
Concession, consignment and wholesale: the three models compared
Who owns the stock, sets the price and carries the markdown risk depends on the commercial model. How wholesale, consignment and concessions differ.
Inventory visibility across channels: the basics for fashion businesses
Stock that cannot be seen cannot be sold. What inventory visibility means, which stock states to track and how to build it step by step.
What the physical fashion store is for now
Stores are no longer just places that hold stock. They are showrooms, service centres, fulfilment hubs and return points, and must be measured that way.
How the department store model works, and why it is changing
Department stores are part merchant, part landlord. How their model makes money, why it came under pressure and what brands should ask of them now.
Clienteling: personal service in a data-driven fashion store
Clienteling turns store associates into relationship managers. What it is, what a programme needs, and how to introduce it without the common pitfalls.
Why returns are fashion e-commerce's costliest problem
Returns hit fashion harder than almost any other online category. Where the real costs arise, why they distort data, and what retailers and brands can do.
Endless aisle and drop shipping between brands and retailers
Retailers want wider ranges without more stock; brands want more sales from the stock they hold. How endless aisle and drop shipping connect the two.