Key Takeaways of the Success Story
- Reduced seasonal SKU count by 10% through early visibility into over-assorted styles
- Rapid, one-month implementation of VibeIQ enabled immediate adoption and tangible benefits
- Centralized product visuals and data for improved cross-functional collaboration
- Faster, more targeted decision-making that cut unnecessary sampling and drove healthier margins
Challenge
Vera Bradley, the iconic American luggage and handbag brand, was preparing for a significant brand refresh and needed to centralize their concepting and planning processes. Their teams struggled with siloed information—CADs, product data, and planning documents were scattered across multiple platforms, leading to disconnected workflows and duplicated efforts. The resulting over-assortment also complicated the go-to-market calendar, driving up sampling costs and cutting into margins.
Solution
Vera Bradley selected VibeIQ as a real-time, single source of truth for their entire product line—from initial concept through final assortments. Within just one month, they successfully migrated critical product data into VibeIQ, empowering their design team to:
- Collect and visualize all product data and imagery in one platform
- Identify and address assortment redundancies early
- Collaborate seamlessly, cutting down on lengthy email threads and repetitive presentation decks
This consolidated workflow meant product data stayed accurate and up to date, allowing stakeholders to make faster, more informed decisions.
Results
By having a unified view of product data and imagery, Vera Bradley uncovered over-assorted styles far earlier than ever before—enabling them to eliminate duplicative designs and strategically reduce their seasonal SKU count by 10%.
“We didn’t realize we over-assorted as much as we did,”
—Katherine Kovac, Design and Technology Manager, Vera Bradley
This proactive visibility also helped teams spot underrepresented categories at a glance, respond with new concepts faster, and minimize the need for costly samples. With fewer outdated spreadsheets and decks circulating, Vera Bradley achieved smoother collaboration and a more cohesive product story—leading to healthier margins and accelerated time to market.
Change Management
- Rapid Implementation: Vera Bradley was fully operational on VibeIQ in under a month, thanks to the platform’s intuitive interface and guided onboarding.
- Collaborative Onboarding: Frequent training sessions ensured every stakeholder quickly grasped how to add and update data, upload visuals, and collaborate in real time.
- Centralized Communication: By replacing fragmented tools with VibeIQ, teams streamlined their processes, keeping critical decisions and progress tracking in one place.
Looking Ahead
Vera Bradley plans to deepen its integration of VibeIQ by exploring robust API connections to their PLM system and expanding usage to additional teams, such as Marketing and Sales. By bringing these cross-functional roles onto VibeIQ, Vera Bradley will strengthen end-to-end visibility across the assortment lifecycle, further reducing sampling costs and accelerating time to market.
See VibeIQ in Action
Curious how VibeIQ can unify your product data and streamline your go-to-market process? Contact us to learn more or request a personalized demo.
