Case Study

The North Face partners with ShowLabs to increase
production 3X and elevate B2B content creation

The North Face

Founded: 1968

Employees: 4,700

Headquarters: Denver, CO

Key metrics

300%

Increase in content production

7 min.

Average time to shoot each product

6 days

Total time to market

Expanding from a single storefront in San Francisco, The North Face has been revolutionizing outdoor gear and inspiring a global movement of exploration for nearly 50 years. Built on innovation, the brand offers unrivaled, technically advanced outdoor products designed for everyone from the most accomplished climbers, mountaineers, snow sport athletes and endurance athletes to novice explorers in search of adventure.

Challenge

Over the last several years, The North Face has achieved many milestones in their digital transformation of B2B wholesale product launch and go to market sales efforts. They were one of the first outdoor brands to eliminate print catalogs and go entirely digital. Although an impressive achievement, the digital catalog utilized mostly 2D sample line drawings. Since then, the brand has been challenged to produce compelling digital assets at the wholesale launch stage of their sales cycles given their incredibly large sample line and unforgiving timelines. In addition, there were other logistical challenges they needed solved:

  • Given compressed production and content creation timelines, The North Face needed to maximize every possible opportunity between product arrivals and sales launch
  • Sales reps demanded higher caliber wholesale selling tools and better content across the full product line in order to empower their customers to make informed purchasing decisions
  • Knowing the benefits it has on sales (increasing average order value by 23%), they were looking to be one of the first to effectively integrate video and interactive into the wholesale ecommerce experience
  • Like all brands, The North Face was looking to increase quality of their digital assets while simultaneously leveraging opportunities for cost savings

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Partnering with ShowLabs allowed us to meet and exceed our vision for truly elevated content creation. Their speed, versatility and drive to innovate is what sets them apart from anything else we’ve seen in the market.”


Senior Director, Sales Operations

The ShowLabs Solution

ShowLabs’ studio system, production process, and individualized client workflow provided the brand the opportunity to produce high-quality on model video and photography within the tight timeline between their product arrivals and seasonal sales launch. In addition, ShowLabs’ preferred partnership with Elastic Suite (the industry’s leading B2B and wholesale ecommerce platform) allowed for a collaboration that resulted in the creation of a unique product video viewing experience for The North Face’s retail accounts — delivered right within their existing Elastic catalogs.

Proprietary software, SHYFT, allowed for same-day “set-to-site” workflow where videos and photos were delivered directly into Elastic catalogs. From there, the brand could seamlessly review and push assets directly into their production site.

Success snapshot

  • 254 products received, shot, returned
  • 730 on-model images published
  • 155 on-model videos published
  • 12 produced tech videos
  • 88 on-mannequin images published
  • 155 product showcase videos
  • 6 days total time to market
  • Paced to 70 products captured/published daily on-model
  • 7 min. avg. (front/back/detail/video)

The Results

ShowLabs helped The North Face meet its expectation of elevated B2B assets by delivering 985 high-quality digital assets — a mix of mode and mannequin images, and on-model video and tech videos — in six days. The improvement in quality and asset variety brought their retail accounts closer to the new product lines and equipped the sales team with an all-around better sales toolkit.

The North Face increased their total content production by 3X with ShowLabs with the addition of interactive 360 degree photography for footwear and equipment.

About ShowLabs

Founded in April 2021, ShowLabs is the world’s premier visual commerce solution built to provide brands both with a solution for producing high-quality visual assets at neck-breaking speeds while also empowering them with an AI-powered software platform capable of managing those assets through the entire commerce lifecycle. ShowLabs customers benefit from increased productivity, high volume asset creation, a full spectrum of innovative content types, and deployment productivity and insights. Based in Denver, Colorado, ShowLabs is backed by First Mile Ventures and Stout Street Capital and supports customers worldwide.