How Eileen Fisher Achieves Omnichannel Success

Lauren Croke, director of web and e-commerce at luxury fashion brand Eileen Fisher, pointed to her company's collaborative atmosphere as the driver of its omnichannel success during a panel at Luxury Interactive yesterday in New York City.

“At Eileen Fisher, we don't have a top-down hierarchy,” said Croke. “Eileen has a small group of people she counts on and they work together collaboratively to achieve goals. And the customer is always at the center of decision making.

“Our clothes, for example, have always been designed to make things easier for women — the pieces work together so women can get dressed quickly and easily," Croke continued. "And when we take that element of her [Eileen's] design principles out to our omnichannel initiatives, where things work together quickly and easily for the good of the customer, then Eileen is happy.”

The synergy extends to the company's marketing team and influences its actions.

“We have a great synergy across all of the different areas of our company,” said Croke. “Our marketing team and advertising team come together and each come up with the spend we need to achieve our common goals.”

The company picks it spots carefully when deciding if it's more appropriate to advertise in magazines and newspapers or to be more digitally focused.

“This year, we're celebrating our 30th anniversary, so we feel it's more appropriate to be out on billboards and in Grand Central Station and to move away from e-commerce,” Croke said. “But, in general, Eileen is very interested in digital and asking us to play more.”

Croke said that when it comes to growth, Eileen Fisher doesn't focus on the newest buzzword or what everyone else is doing in the space.

“We do what's right for Eileen Fisher,” Croke said. “We never start with the bottom line. However, we believe that if you do the right things, then the bottom line comes … knock on wood.”