John Varvatos

The Challenge – Driving the best customer experience, wherever customers shop

The John Varvatos brand is rooted in rock and roll. Since 2000, the menswear brand has been worn by the biggest names in music, including Led Zeppelin, Iggy Pop, The Who, and Alice Cooper. As the company evolved, staying true to the brand while growing relationships with customers became more difficult, especially as ecommerce and wholesale accounts grew.

John Varvato’s leadership team recognized that the best shopping experiences require the brand to come to life for customers, whether they’re in company-owned stores, online or shopping at luxury stores that carry the line. However, finding an omnichannel solution that supported the company’s relationship-focused strategy seemed like a pipe-dream — until they found KWI.

The Solution – KWI’s Powerful Omnichannel Support

KWI has allowed John Varvatos to realize its goal of creating a unified shopping experience across all channels, while keeping customers and the brand at the center. The platform is leveraged by associates in store, as well as by the digital marketing team that brings the brand to life, online.

In store, associates access KWI on mobile devices to ring up customers, check inventory and manage customer relationships. A head stylist at John Varvatos  says, “The fact that the POS is mobile has been really useful for us, especially when we’re short staffed. Associates can check stock for customers, right on the floor, without leaving the customer’s side. Or, we can sit on the sofa with a customer and ring up his order without the formality of going to the till.”

KWI’s POS solution also helps drive loyalty and improve customer service by allowing stylists to quickly check inventory. If a particular item is out of stock in the store, stylists can do a quick search and see if it’s available somewhere else. Then, they can ship it to the customer from another store or from the warehouse. The head stylist adds, “It’s a super helpful feature and a great omnichannel experience for customers.” 

Associates can also enter notes about customers and build profiles of their best customers, which is important as stylists grow their book of business. The head stylist explains, “We are successful in-store because we have an incredible, long-serving team and also because we have the digital tools we need from KWI to manage the relationships. We document how we help our individual customers on the floor, entering data into their profile, to ensure we can continue to nurture those relationships in the future.”

This close relationship that stylists have with their customers has dramatically improved since using KWI’s platform. John Varvatos and All Saints President Misti Blasko says, “During the pandemic, it became clear how important our stylist-customer relationships are. Even with the stores closed, our stylists stayed in touch with their individual customers. They talked about recipes, their pets, their families… It wasn’t just about sales and seeing if they needed anything from the store. Rather, it was about truly building relationships and connections. That trust and that relationship were things that not a lot of brands can do authentically.”

The Results – Better Customer Service and Real-Time Insights

With KWI, store employees can grow and maintain relationships with their best customers, which drives revenue and loyalty. In the West Hollywood location, it’s common for customers to pop by with their pets or family to say hi to their favorite stylist before getting their morning coffee or lunch. 

And, real-time reporting gives insights they need to understand what’s working and where they need to invest more time. The head stylist explains, “KWI’s sales dashboards provide insight into our business in real-time. If we see that our conversion is down, we learn and coach and develop our teams to figure out what’s happening. And, that data helps us change our behaviors to engage differently with our customers. Data and behaviors can definitely help us grow the business.”