Ministry of Supply

As an apparel brand that has heavily shifted to e-com, one of our biggest challenges is addressing this fundamental truth: "Customers see with their hands." When we rely on our site and digital ads to convey the aesthetic, performance, and hand-feel of our products, the question becomes: How do we replicate a tactile experience of touching our clothing - and particularly our fabrics online? I had this insight while visiting a perfumery in Grasse, France—the world’s fragrance capital. There, a “Nose” played a semicircular table filled with hundreds of scents, arranged from high to low notes—much like an organ. The words they used to describe the scents were rooted in familiar experiences and places, similar to how we might describe “Coffee with notes of nuts and dark chocolate” or “Wine with oaky notes, dark cherries, and a vanilla finish.” This inspired me to think about how we communicate the feel of fabrics just as thoughtfully as we describe flavors and aromas. Smell and taste are among our most primal senses, processed in our "lower brain," which is why they evoke strong feelings of nostalgia. Similarly, touch is processed more emotionally than sight or sound. This suggests that we should think carefully about our fabric choices—and how we communicate their qualities—just as we do with other sensory experiences. Long before LLMs, in the 1990s, researchers in Japan sought to correlate subjective descriptions of "fabric notes" (e.g., loftiness, softness, smoothness, drape) known as the Kawabata Evaluation System with objective physical parameters (such as bending and stretch rates) (Matsudaira & Kubo, 1993). Their goal was to create a predictive framework for improving fabric hand-feel, specifically for futon fabrics. I think one of the coolest parts was their creation of a predictive model based on physical characteristics to determine comfort and softness of fabrics. They identified five primary "notes," which were tested with feedback from a panel of 50 consumers and retail associates with over 20 years of experience in apparel sales. These five characteristics describe fabrics in a MECE way. Much like musical notes, these fabric notes can be experienced individually or, better yet, blended to create a harmonious and pleasant "feel." At MoS, we conducted our own regression analysis by running 16,851 customer reviews against fabric data to understand how our products align with these notes—and to identify where we could fine-tune our language. There's a big opportunity to continue honing this framework to describe fabrics—much like wine or coffee terminology—can convey tactile qualities with clear, emotive words, moving beyond overused terms like “yummy” and “buttery.” This approach allows us to combine the science of fabric evaluation with emotionally resonant language, creating a more engaging e-com experience.

It’s sweater weather. I’ve always loved those little moments when you discover non-linearity in the world around you. When we compare Merino wool to other fibers, we often use microns to describe how fine (and in turn, how soft) the wool is by defining its diameter. Turns out, we had it all wrong. ? 70 microns – Human hair, which can feel quite coarse at the ends (think of a beard!). ? 24 microns – Regular wool, which can feel itchier when your skin brushes against the tips of the fibers. ? <19.5 microns – Merino wool, known for its ultra-soft feel. But 24 vs. 19.5 microns doesn’t seem like that big of a difference, right? It’s only about 20% narrower in diameter. It’s actually a huge difference. We perceive softness through the stimulation of our skin nerve endings and the force required to bend a fiber. Less force = soft. The force required is called flexural rigidity, determined by the Bending Stiffness formula. It’s not a linear function of the difference in diameter… it’s quartic – the difference to the fourth power. This means regular wool is 2.3x stiffer (and therefore less soft) than the narrower Merino wool fiber. We just launched our Atlas Merino sweater line and often, when we market products, we try to simplify the message and not delve into the details, but sometimes these mathematical relationships are both surprising and insightful. So if you’re shopping for wool sweaters, remember: microns matter!

A while back, Ministry of Supply partnered with Treet to power our Infinity Resale Market - which has been a wonderful experience (both from a financial and sustainability lens). Here's a conversation we had diving deeper: https://lnkd.in/eD-6j93X

Traditional Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are losing their luster. Economic uncertainty is on the rise, and the recent election has added another layer of unpredictability for consumers. When the outcome of an election leaves a significant portion of the electorate uneasy, it can cast a shadow over consumer spending—especially during the holidays. In this climate, Boston Consulting Group highlights that discounts need to be 30% or more to capture attention, with shoppers leaning towards blanket discounts over flash sales. But even steep discounts may not be enough to capture customers' attention. All this means that ?????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? (????) ???? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ????????. In a market flooded with bargains, brands that offer exceptional support can still command premium prices. Wealthier shoppers might delay their spending, but they’re willing to pay more for a superior experience. Consistently delivering top-notch support can turn these trends to your advantage. Great customer service also drives customers to talk about your brand. This is the best marketing you can find - and it's free. But during the holidays, when providing great CX is most important, it's also the hardest. Most companies scale their CX teams for the holidays, bringing on new agents who aren't as familiar with the brand. And customers have extremely high expectations - so it's easy to disappoint them. This year, looming port strikes could spell disaster for ecommerce companies who rely on the international supply chain. How you can ensure your CX team delivers an exceptional support experience despite these challenges? We're going to talk more about these issues on a live event next week.?? Join Zach Goldstein of Public Rec and Ben Segal of Create CX and our own George Tillotson on ????????. 10 ???? 1 ??.??. ????.?? We'll talk about forecasting demand, navigating holiday deals, and ensuring your support team delivers excellence when it matters most. Don’t miss out – we’d love to see you there!?? ?? https://lnkd.in/gvxcEhCa #HolidayTrends #CustomerExperience #Webinar #PeakSupport #RetailStrategy #CXExcellence