Analytics in Action: How a Startup Is Transforming Fashion Retailing with Jade Huang, Co-Founder and CEO of StyleSage

In the era of digital transformation, information is power. And with increasing online accessibility, consumers now have more information at their fingertips than ever before — often more than retailers themselves. So how do brands keep up with this ultra-savvy, digitally native generation of customers? Award-winning technologist and former fashion designer Jade Huang talks about this and more as she joins Thomas A. Stewart on The Leading Edge — a place where new ideas emerge and are sharpened, and where leaders look to find the edge that brings success for themselves, their teams, and their enterprises.

Huang has worked with world-class retailers including ASOS, Zalando, and Neiman Marcus, empowering them with real-time data so they can make more informed, market-driven, and profitable decisions. Her company, StyleSage, has been recognized by CNBC, Vogue, and more for its AI-powered, fast-track solutions for retailer success. Using image recognition and machine learning tools, StyleSage’s platform helps brands analyze the complex details behind a product, understand consumer purchase drivers, and stay up to date on the shifting trends of the fashion industry–even learning when and in what locations competitors put specific items on sale, for example.

With an extensive background in technology, Huang understands that digital is here to stay. When e-commerce first emerged, it was a very small part of retail, taking up between 1% and 5% of sales. Now, that number has jumped between 15% and 20% for hybrid businesses (and often much higher for digitally native brands). E-commerce initiatives and up-to-date market research are a must if you want to compete with the big-name brands. With StyleSage, companies that don’t have the scale and reach of larger retailers can still analyze local and global consumer trends to revolutionize their digital strategies–and big companies can track the behavior of rivals that might otherwise have flown beneath their radar.

In this episode of The Leading Edge, Thomas A. Stewart sits down with Jade Huang, Co-founder and CEO of StyleSage, to talk about transforming the retail industry through AI-powered data analytics. Huang shares how her company is helping retailers make data-driven decisions, the lessons she learned on self-care and building out processes, and why technology enablement is vital to the success of current retail brands.

Here’s a glimpse of what you will learn:

• Jade Huang discusses how StyleSage empowers both world-renowned and challenger brands to make data-driven decisions
• How Huang helped one global retailer transform communication between the local and corporate levels
• Key lessons to take away from digitally native merchandisers versus brick-and-mortar-first brands
• Huang talks about founding StyleSage and how Zara’s market research strategies inspired the business
• The personal and organizational challenges Huang faced while scaling her company
• Huang shares the valuable lessons she learned from three failed pilots
• Huang’s advice for entrepreneurs building their businesses: put lessons into action and iterate

About Our Guest:

Jade Huang is the Co-founder and CEO of StyleSage, an AI-powered data analytics platform designed for the fashion, beauty, and home industries. An ex-fashion designer-turned-technologist, Huang has over 10 years of award-winning experience in digital strategy, design, and technology.

Huang is a frequent industry speaker, having presented in more than six countries over the span of her career. She studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design and holds a bachelor’s degree in international trade from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Huang also has an MPA in international economics from Columbia University and an MBA from INSEAD, where she was awarded the L'Oreal Scholarship for Creativity and Entrepreneurship Spirit.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• AchieveNEXT
• Thomas A. Stewart on LinkedIn
• Jade Huang on LinkedIn
• StyleSage
• “Global production chains in the fast fashion sector, transports and logistics: the case of the Spanish retailer ‘Inditex’†by Ana Isabel Escalona Orcao and David Ramos Pérez
• “Jumpstarting value creation with data and analytics in fashion and luxury†by Sandrine Devillard, Holger Harreis, Nicholas Landry, and Carlos Sanchez Altable
• New York Fashion Tech Lab
• FULLBEAUTY Brands

Sponsor for this episode:

The Leading Edge is brought to you by AchieveNEXT.

AchieveNEXT empowers individuals, teams, and enterprises to meet ambitious growth goals through our powerful combination of peer-to-peer learning and solutions.

We bring together thousands of the top finance and HR leaders from across North America to connect and share business and industry insights through our Alliance Networks.

We empower individuals, teams and enterprises through powerful solutions which include

- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training & Leadership Development

- Business Relationship Training

and Executive Coaching for individuals and teams.

This powerful combination helps today’s business leaders level up and achieve next-level growth.

Learn more at AchieveNEXT.com.

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