Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the fashion industry by:

  • Improving the design process
  • Predicting trends
  • Increasing personalization
  • Improving the customer experience

AI isn’t new. Hollywood had AI robots at least as early as 1939, with the Tin Man in the film The Wizard of OZ.

But the concept wasn’t just for fiction. And it grew.

“By the 1950s, we had a generation of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers with the concept of artificial intelligence (or AI) culturally assimilated in their minds.”
– Harvard University

The popularity of AI has ebbed and flowed since then, but it dominated the news in 2023. Popular discussions were about how AI will change how we work, eliminate entire jobs, or make some job functions obsolete.

Use Cases of AI in Fashion:

Fashion designers save time and effort using AI to generate unique, innovative designs. Fashion forecasters use AI to predict trends. AI’s ability to analyze vast amounts of consumer data combined with what and where consumers purchase is valuable.

With all the success AI can deliver, fashion brands should be able to produce the perfect silhouette, target the right audience, and maximize sales every season. AI could make empty shopping carts and out-of-stock scenarios obsolete.

AI will enable companies to optimize their inventory management and supply chain processes, leading to more efficient design delivery.

AI is also helping the industry optimize inventory control, ensuring brands have the correct quantity of products in the right place at the right time. Planners use AI algorithms to enhance demand forecasts, preventing overstock or understock issues. This improves the customer experience and increases corporate revenue.

Overall, you might think there are only positives with the use of AI.

Navigating the AI Landscape in Fashion: Challenges and Limitations

However, the use of AI also has challenges and limitations.

One is the accuracy of AI algorithms in predicting customer preferences and trends. Although AI can analyze vast amounts of data, it struggles to capture the nuances of individual tastes.

Implementing AI technology can be costly for smaller fashion brands, making it harder to compete by adopting these advanced systems.

Lastly, there is the ethical concern of AI replacing people, leading to job loss and unemployment.

These challenges and limitations highlight the need for careful consideration and ethical implementation of AI. By taking a methodical and focused approach to AI, companies can solve business problems and free up valuable human capital to tackle high-return projects.

AI Potential Using SAP S/4HANA Fashion:

AI running inside of SAP S/4HANA Fashion could:

  • Help HR create job descriptions
  • Extract the correct data to produce reports in minutes
  • Reduce manual labor for custom orders within a warehouse

Developing use cases, training and testing the AI algorithms, and implementing solutions in a disciplined approach leads to continuous improvement. Adopting embedded AI solutions is another way to introduce AI into an organization.

SAP embedded AI and machine learning into solutions like S/4HANA Fashion and Vertical, would allow users to focus on tasks that produce results and deliver high margins.

Partnering for Success:

Working with a partner who knows the fashion industry and SAP’s solutions is crucial to your fashion brand’s success. We ensure the success of your implementation by using our preconfigured accelerator – Fashion Suite for SAP S/4HANA Fashion. It combines proven procedures and deep-domain expertise from implementing SAP fashion solutions at over 80 fashion companies globally.