In Conversation with Onebeat COO Viki Slavin

Up Close is Sourcing Journal’s regular check-in with industry executives to get their take on topics ranging from personal style to their company’s latest moves. In this Q&A, Viki Slavin, chief operating officer of inventory management software firm Onebeat, discusses how fashion can use data analytics for more agile allocation and the power of bringing the brick-and-mortar experience online.

Name: Viki Slavin
Title: Chief operating officer
Company: Onebeat

Which other industry has the best handle on the supply chain? What can apparel learn?

The electronics industry, particularly global operations and cloud infrastructure sectors, showcases exceptional supply chain management, leveraging real-time analytics, predictive maintenance and a highly integrated vendor-customer ecosystem. Apparel can adopt these strategies, emphasizing data-driven decision-making and agile logistics, to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.

What should be the apparel industry’s top priority right now?

Digital transformation, with an emphasis on cloud adoption and data analytics. By leveraging cloud platforms, apparel companies can gain insights that allow them to quickly identify and adapt to changing market trends and consumer demands. It also enables flexibility in the timing of decisions. Where allocation decisions could once only be made at the start of the season, retailers can now evaluate inventory performance and make decisions continuously throughout the season for maximal profits.  

What innovation or development holds the greatest potential to improve operations in the apparel and textile industries?

Cloud and AI analytics tools hold transformative potential for any company dealing with inventory, most especially apparel. Enhanced inventory visibility and predictive analytics are giving retailers the opportunity to use the time sensitivities that often lead to stock imbalances to their advantage. 

Where do you look for personal style inspiration?

I love shopping, and I’m still fond of the “old school” experience of trying things on in store. I appreciate the new trend of online wardrobe curation that uses technology to personalize online shopping experiences and help [customers] capture the feel of the in-person retail experience—a huge hit for professionals who don’t have as much time to shop as they might like. 

How do you shop for clothing? How would you describe yourself as a fashion consumer?

I notice my shopping habits are growing more diverse as the retail technology ecosystem expands. As a result of retail’s use of personalization to improve shopping experience, I’ve had brands that are a great fit for my personal tastes brought straight to my feed, so finding what works for me couldn’t be simpler. 

What are the top three product attributes that you factor into your purchasing decisions?

Whether it’s a personal or business purchase, quality and durability are primary for me. I prefer to invest more in products that offer durability to ensure long-term use and reduce waste, technological integration for added functionality and enhanced user experience, and ethical production to support sustainable practices and fair labor. These attributes align with a vision for a sustainable, technologically advanced and socially responsible fashion industry.

What is a retail experience that stands out to you?

I’m a fan of the one-on-one attention that a consumer gets when they visit the store. I’m happy to see that brands are using NLP (natural language processing) to recreate in-store experience online. One experience that stood out for me was at a cosmetics site, where a combination of chatbot and AR (augmented reality) technologies helped me to find a perfect lipstick color in less than 10 minutes. 

How would you describe your corporate culture?

Our company has amazing connectivity, especially given the fact that we operate from three continents and over a dozen countries. Our global team is collaborative and creative, always building. For me, it’s the epitome of what’s meant by “hive mind”—every person brings their unique know-how and talents to create something that is always busy, buzzing and dynamic. 

What’s the best decision your company has made in the last year?

I’m proud of our continued investments in advanced analytics and machine learning to empower retailers with tools that improve inventory and process efficiency for a healthier operational base and bottom line. I think the attention we give to data—to really understanding what retailers need to know to maximize sell-through and margins—allows us to keep refining our models and give retailers of all sizes, in every sector, the opportunity to capitalize on AI-backed predictions that have until now largely been reserved only for large enterprises. 

What keeps you up at night?

Waste! In retail, almost 50 percent of inventory is never sold. These surpluses lead to meaningful losses on the three big Ms: materials, manpower and margins. What’s especially worrisome about this waste—which is widespread across the industry—is that too many retailers are in the dark about the easy-to-deploy solutions in reach. For example, Onebeat’s combination of automation and AI has helped brands operate with 30 percent less inventory; that’s not only reduced waste but time and money saved! 

What makes you most optimistic?

Advances in AI are making problems of every kind more solvable. At Onebeat, we’re blending AI and devops to help retailers master inventorying, reducing product waste and over manufacturing. It’s lovely to see how using technology to solve a business problem contributes to big-picture issues, like environmental sustainability.

Tell us about your company’s latest product introduction:

Our latest offering is a cloud-based analytics platform that leverages machine learning and AI to provide apparel retailers with unparalleled insights into consumer behavior, demand forecasting and inventory management. This tool empowers retailers to optimize their operations, reduce waste and build margins and customer loyalty.