Based in 1922, Dickies is without doubt one of the oldest and most commemorated manufacturers within the clothes business. It’s identified for its sturdy and cozy workwear—and a method that resonates as a lot with popular culture icons because it does with auto mechanics.
I not too long ago spoke with Calvin Anderson, Vice President of International Digital Technique at Dickies, to learn the way information helps the enduring firm cement its standing as the worldwide chief in functional-yet-fashionable work garments.
Calvin’s ardour for—and understanding of—information stems from a relentless, hands-on strategy to fixing enterprise issues. He joined Dickies lower than two years in the past, however as the next Q&A attests, he has rapidly change into the driving power behind Dickies’ digital transformation.
Q: What’s Dickies’ historical past with enterprise intelligence (BI) and utilizing information to tell selections?
A: Dickies turned 100 this yr and was family-owned till it was acquired in 2017 by VF Company. Dickies’ tradition has all the time had an unimaginable thirst for information insights, however the atmosphere that hosted that information grew severely tangled through the years. This left us with outdated code, a slew of patches, and difficult documentation—the results of which was a scarcity of knowledge belief, and an every-man-for-themselves atmosphere with low synergy.
Q: What had been a few of the use circumstances to your information that you just had been contemplating as you started on the lookout for a BI resolution?
A: Probably the most thrilling locations for information is round buyer developments and behaviors. As a result of a lot of Dickies’ enterprise is wholesale, we had to usher in lots of the e-commerce fundamentals to energy a contemporary, digital atmosphere. This meant issues like designing an atmosphere that generates distinctive buyer IDs, making certain that the rising ranges of knowledge are ruled appropriately, constructing out viewers segments, and creating shopper journeys.
With this information, we discovered a lot about our customers. We noticed a stunning variety of ladies shopping for males’s garments for themselves, which has enabled us to relook at our ladies’s product choices. Seasonality for product varieties, resembling shorts or outerwear, got here into focus. Moreover, we had been capable of put core shopper KPIs in entrance of the entire enterprise to be able to assist business crew members align and focus their efforts.
Q: How is Domo serving to you make the most of all that information?
A: Domo has cracked the code in delivering pleasant information to non-experts. It’s really easy to search out your approach across the app. The drill functionality is extremely simple. Whereas we’ve provided many inner trainings, the truth is most customers simply bounce in and begin taking part in with the info. We actually don’t need analytics to really feel like a chore. As a income proprietor, checking in in your stats must change into a path of low resistance. That’s been the magic of Domo for us. The UX (person expertise) is simply so intuitive.
Q: What led you to select Domo as a BI associate?
A: I all the time say that information discovery ought to begin on the macro and waterfall into the micro. Domo has an unimaginable means to indicate your prime KPIs after which allow you to click on proper into them to see what’s affecting the noticed development.
The flexibility to go as deep as wanted to search out an issue, then screen-grab it, tag a colleague, and depart a remark is highly effective. It turns into an ideal atmosphere for collaboration.
Moreover, in at the moment’s fast-moving atmosphere, a mobile-first design is a should. We’re in a enterprise atmosphere the place we’re consistently being requested to make extra selections—and higher selections—quicker. Individuals want their information on the go. No platform does a greater job at cellular than Domo’s app.
Q: You simply began with Domo a couple of months in the past. What are your greatest successes with Domo to date?
A: As of now, our greatest success story is person adoption. Engagement is greater than it’s ever been. The in-app collaboration is at a stage I’ve by no means seen earlier than. Our enterprise is embracing utilization, aligning behind a single supply of reality, and dealing to interchange all ad-hoc reporting with automated Domo dashboards.
Q: What does the way forward for information appear like at Dickies?
A: My goal is to have each piece of knowledge in a single trusted atmosphere that’s environment friendly for the amateurs and democratic for people who need to self-serve. All verticals ought to be capable of see and perceive our enterprise.
An instance of this atmosphere working is perhaps a state of affairs the place nice opinions and social media engagement draw sudden consideration to a product. That product picks up momentum and begins quickly promoting in all channels. We’d instantly see that stated product is a extra worthwhile product as a result of the identical information atmosphere that tracks social and gross sales additionally reveals profitability. We might then develop a plan to handle stock, capitalize on shopper demand, and drive direct gross sales.
Knowledge selections like this could movement from vertical to vertical, identical to an organism naturally responds to its atmosphere. This will solely occur if information is deep, vast, and accessible throughout the group. It’s the complete “circle of life.” To be able to function this fashion, our information should draw from in every single place, and contact all the pieces.
