Bestseller, Headquartered in Denmark, is an internationally operating fashion retailer with almost 9,000 shops worldwide, mostly in Europe and Asia. The company owns brands such as Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only, and Indifusion – they are typically known for their ‘fast fashion’ and affordable fashion for women, men and children.

In India, Bestseller has a footprint of around 400 brand outlets and a presence in over 1,200 shop-in-shops in external multi-brand stores throughout the country.

As part of its digital ambition, Bestseller wants to modernise and scale its technology backbone. Part of the modernisation drive includes consolidate the IT landscape on a “robust & secure hybrid cloud platform,” said the company in a statement.

“Technology and artificial intelligence will play a pivotal role in the coming years, and this transformation will help us grow with a tech-forward and data-driven approach,” said Vineet Gautam, CEO and Country Head of Bestseller in India.

Supporting the digital transformation is IBM Consulting, which will provide both advisory, technology build and implementation services. The consultants will work in close association with technology partners such as Google Cloud, Microsoft and SAP.

“The retail and fashion sector is in the midst of an exciting industry transformation driven by data, analytics, and artificial intelligence. We’re excited to work with Bestseller India on its end-to-end transformation journey, applying the power of intelligent workflows for better decision-making, improved supply chain visibility, enhanced customer experience and more,” said John Granger, a Senior Vice President at IBM Consulting.

The partnership comes on the back of a longstanding relationship between the two companies. Previously in India, IBM helped the fashion retailer launch Fabric.ai, an AI-driven tool that helps Bestseller’s employees with improving preseason design, planning, production and forecasting.

An algorithm powered by IBM’s infamous IBM Watson technology for example helps predict the best products for new offerings, determine the right product mix for each store and improve the efficiency of the supply chain. “Introducing Fabric.ai was a big change for us, for the planning teams to move from a gut feeling to AI-delivered information that we wanted to implement,” said Sameer Ambalkar, Head of Business Solutions at Bestseller in India.

The Fabric.ai platform also helps Bestseller better meet the large differences in consumer markets and segments within India, and with optimising complex supply chain matters.

Building on the experience gained with Fabric.ai, Gautam said he is confident about the collaboration going forward. “We’re highly positive that the innovations and digital prowess of IBM will create a robust and secure, end-to-end platform for our operations in India,” he said.