Running clothing campaigns in the hotel and catering industry: the Bragard example

For professionals in this sector, Bragard is a must. The French company, based in Épinal in the Vosges, designs the workwear they cannot do without.

Founded in 1933, the company now holds the position of international leader. It dresses working professionals and apprentices in training alike.

Karine Alexandre, schools project manager, oversees in particular the distribution of uniform kits to the students of the schools and colleges that are Bragard customers. She explains how those institutions use the FitiPro solution online to put together their kit and equip their students : (collection / product management, campaign management, remote measurement capture, online ordering, online payment and delivery).

Why did the Bragard group choose to use FitiPro?

Karine Alexandre: Four years ago, we chose to take our clothing campaigns paperless with Fitizzy’s FitiPro solution because we were facing two major problems.

First, we have over 150 schools in our portfolio. Before we used FitiPro, our sales representatives travelled to the schools to take the students’ measurements. Those measurements were taken within a short window, just before the summer. Once the measurements were in, the kits were ordered for each student so that they would arrive before the start of the school year.

These institutions train hundreds of students every year. As a result, taking those measurements tied up our sales force for a considerable amount of time, far away from prospecting.

Second, we have two shops, one in Paris and a second in Lyon. Ahead of the back-to-school period, a lot of students came into the shops to see and try on our garments. Over August and September, those shops were completely clogged up. That flow was difficult to manage and led to:

1. dissatisfaction among our student customers,
2. pressure on our teams,
3. frustration among our professional customers, who could not be served in decent conditions.

So we needed to find a tool that would let us save time and make our work with the schools easier in the run-up to the new school year.

Initially, you used FitiPro for remote measurement capture. Today, the solution lets you run an e-commerce site aimed at students.

That’s right. At the start of our collaboration with Fitizzy, we used the FitiPro software solely to take the measuring of students paperless. Since then, the service has been expanded to digitalise our processes even further. It now works like a genuine online clothing store.

1. To log in, the student enters their school’s ID number.
2. Depending on their course, they will find the kit they need to order. That might include a jacket, a pair of trousers, a pair of shoes and a chef’s hat, for example.
3. Before they buy, the FitiPro solution asks the student a series of questions to collect morphological data (height, shoulder width, chest, stomach…) and specific information for an optimal fit.
4. Based on that information, the solution selects the ideal sizes for them for each garment in the kit.
5. Once the garments are in the basket, the student can place the order and pay by card.
6. The order is delivered to their home or to a pick-up point.

When we adopted the FitiPro solution four years ago, our primary objective was to be more efficient in distributing kits to the thousands of students at our partner institutions.

With the social distancing imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, FitiPro allowed us to keep our business running. Use of FitiPro has clearly grown exponentially among our target audience since the health crisis began. Fitizzy has been able to advise us and support us through that growth.

Has the FitiPro solution been adopted by all the schools you work with?

Not entirely. The hardest part is changing the habits of the large vocational colleges, which like having a sales representative present when measurements are taken. Having a professional come to the school adds value and is reassuring. I think it gives an impression of “made to measure”. And new technology is always a little frightening before it is adopted.

But with Covid, clothing habits have changed. Everyone now goes online to get kitted out, because social distancing demands it. There is still some reluctance in a few institutions. In those cases, we carry on taking measurements in person and offer them the FitiPro solution for restocking.

Are you satisfied with the size recommendations the solution gives your customers?

The reliability of this recommendation tool is very good today. It has to be said that Fitizzy has been training its algorithm for several years with a great many customers.

What are your medium-term objectives?

We have tested FitiPro with our customer base in France. Our aim now would be to roll this solution out internationally with our subsidiaries abroad, in Switzerland, Italy and Asia.

If you would like to find out more about FitiPro, head over here!
We walk you through the solution’s interfaces, how it works for the people wearing the clothes, how your clothing collections are integrated into it, and what its benefits are.

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