In the first of our Overdose & Chill live Instagram interviews, we talk to Tom Franey, Head of Ecommerce @ Scotch & Soda Australia, about his journey, what makes the brand unique, the impact of Covid-19, and how the company is managing customer retention.
#001 : Scotch & Soda designs, manufactures, and sells eclectic, modern, luxury clothing for men, women, and kids. Its clothing range is supplemented by denim, footwear, and accessories, such as fragrances and eyewear, which continue to cement Scotch & Soda as a brand for discerning shoppers who consciously choose a lifestyle of freedom and choice.
From its humble beginnings in Amsterdam, the past 35 years have seen Scotch & Soda expand from a menswear-only brand to the all-inclusive global offering it is today. Its designs can now be found at over 7,000 selected retailers and in 247 standalone stores worldwide. Customers in over 70 countries can avail themselves of its growing online service.
In this first of our Overdose & Chill LIVE sessions, Todd Welling (CEO – Overdose) chats with Tom Franey (Head of Ecommerce at Scotch & Soda Australia) about his journey, what makes the brand unique, the impact of Covid-19, and how the company is managing customer retention.
From his initial job in sales on a shop floor, Tom quickly took up an opportunity to train and gain experience in retail marketing and online content. He joined Scotch & Soda in 2019 to lead their digital transformation and omnichannel retail strategy across Australia and New Zealand.
With a tagline of “Amsterdam Couture,” Scotch & Soda is a luxury European brand aimed at discerning consumers who demand style and quality in both wardrobe staples and statement pieces.
Speaking of the company’s emphasis on the importance of each customer’s in-store experience, Tom describes the impact of “the smell, the touch of the products… the brass and the gold finishings throughout the store” to the Fashion Hosts and Stylists whose priority it is to make a one-to-one connection with each customer who comes through the door, regardless of how busy the store is.
With Tom at the helm, Scotch & Soda has put its Australia/New Zealand digital transformation and omnichannel retail strategy in very good hands.
In order to help Scotch & Soda meet its desired business outcomes, Overdose has been working with Tom and his team to integrate launch a new Magento 2 Commerce Cloud website, integrated with its Apparel 21 ERP via Comestri middleware. The utilization of Comestri allows for bi-directional transfer of product, order fulfillment, shipping, and accounting functions whilst allowing the company to syndicate products to their additional channels.
Scotch & Soda has created a way of thinking that has helped shape today’s global brand. Its passion for original thinking and rejecting the normal and mundane has opened the way for its clothing styles to be seen as a key indicator of the wearer’s beliefs and an outward symbol of belonging to a distinct subculture and movement. This ongoing journey with Overdose and Magento will further enhance the digitization of the customer experience to grow and shape this global brand in the future and to amplify the retailing of its distinctive brand of shirts, sweaters, suits, outerwear, shoes, and accessories to individuals around the world who want to make a statement.