When the most important wedding event in the world (a wedding technology fair in New York) was canceled on February 27, the sector's opportunities in Italy had long since disappeared. Italy: one of the most affected countries, and the one where marriage is most popular. How to stop the crisis?
In the Bel Paese it is an important part of the events and tourism sector. In the wedding crisis, Covid has, in recent months, at all levels.
Indeed, it is perhaps the sector that sees the greatest number of "actors" in contemporary crisis. The "clients", future spouses, cancel the event or experience it with anxiety and progressive date changes. Location, Catering and Banqueting are not moving. Decorations, florists and accessories ditto. Do we want to talk about honeymoons?
To signal a reaction, the bridal sector brands that have quickly started developing digital resources to present the new wedding dresses with images, lookbooks and, in some cases, videos.
The next step for manufacturers and retailers would be October. Hopefully, we will also see a “mini boom” in fall weddings. However, the doubts are still the same, perhaps even greater due to the fear of a "second wave", or a resurgence of the pandemic in the autumn.
The wedding sector, in short, has been forced to deal with the limits of its historical "high-touch" and personal approach to satisfy the new needs of the public. But is the technology in the wedding sufficient to fill these gaps?
A new era in wedding
The pandemic has undoubtedly caused damage to retail. 83.000 companies involved, 1 million workers. The looming collapse.
Wedding retail has not escaped the chaos. By early spring, many couples were simply moving their wedding dates to late summer or fall. However, there is now a growing recognition that the type of event itself will absolutely have to evolve.
More intimate events
The industry is now realizing that this situation is not short-term, and there is no end date for this. This is why the marriage formula is being recalibrated.
Many of the couples choose to move forward, but keep a small, intimate ceremony. Everyone is moving towards different packages, because individual needs (which often also depend on different regulations, for example on crowded events) influence the interaction with sellers and retailers, and realign spending priorities.
The dress, however, remains the dress
Technology, as mentioned, can prove to be an ideal way to integrate product and event offerings. But not everything: Brides, for example, may be willing to make part of their special day digital, but the transition to buying a wedding dress online may be difficult for some.
“There hasn't been a single bride who has felt comfortable selecting a wedding dress over Zoom or through a virtual consultant.” To report it is an important atelier that does not want to appear. “It's not something our customers have embraced yet. They are more likely to do this for bridesmaid dresses.”
This obviously does not mean that consumers will never be ready to buy a garment like this online. Some retailers have gone further with bolder offers.
Sites like matchedfashion.com, mytheresa.com or net-a-porter.com exhibit designs of all kinds with prices that are on average 30 to 50% lower. The famous MarieClaire magazine even adapted its editorial plan with an article of suggestions on how to buy.
After all, they say in the sector, people now also buy cars for 30.000 euros without ever seeing them up close. Why couldn't it be the same for clothes too?
Technology and wedding: drinking or drowning, in any case.
Most clothing retailers, including those in the bridal segment, have been pushed to close temporarily to block the spread of the virus. In April, sales of clothing and accessories fell 89%. The segment recovered somewhat in the following months ("only" -25% in June), but compared to other years it is still in great difficulty.
CreditRiskMonitor clearly tells us that half of the retailers who could go bankrupt in 2020 are in the footwear or clothing sector. Online conversion may not be a pure choice, but a necessity.
Digital tools
Dreams are desires for happiness, said that Disney song. He seems right, given that the average number of visits to wedding dress websites is up 25% compared to last year. Love is a driving force, and the market is still alive. The identikit of the bride-user is of a girl who moves 30-60 days after an event (when she purchases) and uses digital resources. She consults the clothes sheets, obviously prefers details, communicates with chatbots and virtual or remote assistants to ask for advice.
But does retail wedding need all that post-pandemic technology?
What will remain
There is what is needed now and what is needed in the future. Couples will still get married, even if the ways of doing so will change. The wedding industry, which is rich in ritual and fantasy fulfillment, has been incredibly slow to adapt to some of the digital and e-commerce transformations.
Couples are also learning that technology can be part of their planning and expenses. wedding day.
They are oriented, for example, on more restricted and intimate ceremonies, perhaps with the addition of a live streaming to show all the salient parts of the ritual, or reception. They evaluate solutions to offer the remote food experience in whole or in part. An “extended” wedding cake (with a smaller version, perhaps printed in 3D, for those present) to be sent also to relatives who follow from home. It sounds absurd, but it's already in someone's plans.
Whatever the proposals, the prize and the market will go to those companies that are bold innovators. “The retailers who first develop the right technology to safely go out or connect remotely with their customers will be the ones who come out on top.
