AI-powered search is rapidly changing how consumers discover and shop for fashion. Google's new Gemini AI integration and virtual try-on feature, while imperfect, signal a necessary shift in SEO strategies for fashion brands. Beyond AI, Nike's return to Amazon highlights a re-evaluation of DTC strategies, while legal battles over intellectual property and leadership changes at Dior underscore ongoing dynamics in brand protection and luxury fashion.
Key takeaways
Brands need to start optimizing product listings for AI readability, not just human readability or traditional keywords, to rank in new AI search interfaces like Google's AI Mode and ChatGPT.
Nike's return to Amazon after a 5-year DTC-focused strategy suggests that a diversified wholesale approach may be more effective for some brands in the current retail climate than a pure DTC model.
Fashion brands must rigorously protect their intellectual property, as evidenced by Adidas's lawsuit against Steve Madden, to safeguard unique design elements and brand identity.
Even with current limitations, the trend of AI-powered virtual try-on tools will necessitate brands to consider how their product imagery and data can best integrate with and benefit from such technologies.
The absence of advertising in emerging AI search platforms like ChatGPT presents an opportunity for brands to evaluate new organic visibility strategies and potential future ad placements.
Themes
ai & automationretail & omnichanneldtc strategybrand & content
On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week. This week, in our news segment, we break down Nike’s return to Amazon as it rolls back the DTC-focused strategy it launched five years ago and returns to wholesale. We also discuss a lawsuit between Steve Madden and Adidas, which points to Adidas’s zealous protection of its stripe motif. And finally, we talk about Maria Grazia Chiuri stepping down as artistic director of Dior’s women’s collection. Later in the episode, we take a deep dive into AI-powered search. Google announced last week that it is revamping its search function, infusing every step with its Gemini AI technology. For fashion brands, the most notable announcement is a new AI-powered virtual try-on option in the Google Shopping tab of search results. The tool lets users pick nearly any item of clothing from a Google Shopping result, upload a photo of themselves, and see an AI-generated image of the clothing fit to their body. The result is a bit lackluster. We test-ran the program and found it prone to jumbled text and strange outfit choices. Additionally, it sometimes alters the item itself, making it appear different from the listing. But Google’s AI try-on feature does raise an interesting question for brands about the future of search engine optimization. For years, brands have structured their strategies around keyword optimization and other tactics designed to float them to the top of traditional search bar results. But as ChatGPT becomes a go-to search engine for many consumers and Google rolls out AI Mode, in which consumers can shop through a chat interface rather than a traditional search bar and results, those strategies may change. Moves like optimizing product listings to be more readable by an AI program may help get a brand to surface better in an AI search. For now, ChatGPT does not have ads in its AI sea
Brands need to start optimizing product listings for AI readability, not just human readability or traditional keywords, to rank in new AI search interfaces like Google's AI Mode and ChatGPT.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Nike's return to Amazon after a 5-year DTC-focused strategy suggests that a diversified wholesale approach may be more effective for some brands in the current retail climate than a pure DTC model.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Fashion brands must rigorously protect their intellectual property, as evidenced by Adidas's lawsuit against Steve Madden, to safeguard unique design elements and brand identity.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Even with current limitations, the trend of AI-powered virtual try-on tools will necessitate brands to consider how their product imagery and data can best integrate with and benefit from such technologies.
What does this episode say about ai & automation?
The absence of advertising in emerging AI search platforms like ChatGPT presents an opportunity for brands to evaluate new organic visibility strategies and potential future ad placements.
