The Digital Transformation of Levi Strauss in Latin America

The digital shift is undeniable in many parts of Latin America that are among the most connected economies on the planet, but the cultures of this continent are famed for a vibrant human spirit, and brands operating there must find the ideal balance of humans and digital.

A high-profile example of this is the quintessentially American brand Levi Strauss & Co., 150 years in the making. It is now emerging as a LatAm favorite, using new strategies and styles in a part of the world where physical retail is still the heart of how shoppers like to engage.

Focusing on immersive store experiences, Levi Strauss Senior Vice President and Managing Director Latam Rui Araújo da Silva told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster that the brand is still in the early stages of using digital and data to inform experiences there, leaving lots of room to grow.

Asked about creating deeper connection and engagement with the LatAm consumer, da Silva pointed to opening the fifth Haus of Strauss location in Mexico City earlier this year, noting, “Each day I see more that the consumers buy not only the product … but the brand that’s behind the product, the values and the purpose that is behind the brand and the company. That’s very important.”

That push is taking the iconic brand into new territory beyond its core 501 jeans and perennially popular denim apparel, and the company is taking a measured approach to blending digital with physical while playing to cultural preferences.

“We are a lifestyle brand much more than a fashion brand or a fast fashion brand,” he said. “That’s the way that we’re trying to build it in Latin America. If we have the right product and the right brand behind it, the right values and the right purpose, I think that’s the perfect match.

“A good example is the recent Levi’s® Haus of Strauss that we opened Mexico. That’s an example of where we want to take the brand and how we want to express the brand.”

See also: Levi’s Says Casual Trend, Baggy Jeans, Larger Waistlines Driving Denim Demand

Engagement in Any Dialect

As to why the focus up until now has stayed largely on reinventing the physical retail experience as opposed to a full-court press on digital and direct-to-consumer (DTC), da Silva said there are different types of “momentum” that Levi Strauss is prioritizing in this region.

Calling Haus of Strauss “something that we use as a platform to follow the engagement of key opinion leaders,” he said the reason it’s proving successful is because “it’s more a statement where it’s about the culture of the country and the culture of Latin America, because we want to connect the brand with the culture. It’s a statement on where the brand wants to go.”

A case study in how to prove out experiential retail concepts, Haus of Strauss takes the chore element out of shopping, immersing shoppers in an utterly authentic Mexican cultural expression that resonates with fans and inspires new generations to embrace a legacy brand.

At that point, he said the question becomes, “Do we take that experience to our best stores with omnichannel capabilities, tailor shop capabilities, customization capabilities, etc.”

The Levi Strauss flagship store on Mexico City’s prime shopping thoroughfare, Madero Street, is a prime beneficiary of Haus of Strauss learnings. They’re taking that knowledge to other territories like Brazil, where digital is a leading form of commerce and payments.

“We are start testing, especially in Brazil,” he said. “Brazilians are more advanced in technology and access to technology, especially Sao Paulo and Rio. If your visit our stores in Mexico, we already have some stores with [digital] capabilities. It needs to come to the consumer because not everybody is going to have access to the Haus.”

That’s where more digital clienteling is making its way into the mix.

He continued, “We are Latins. We like contact. If you have Karen on the staff that sold to you, did WhatsApp you with on new fashion things that are arriving, that’s very important for us. But we continue to see the physical world as very active and positive. That’s something in Latin America that must be a priority.”

See also: Levi’s Flexes Brand Power Pricing Muscles, Touts D2C Success of Next-Gen Stores

Digitizing Denim

Saying that trying to embrace every eCommerce trend as it happens can cause a brand like Levi Strauss to lose focus of its core appeal, da Silva and his team are looking at mobile point of sale (POS) as an opportunity to bridge the physical and digital while collecting valuable data.

He said full-out digital integration is “still new for us. It’s on our agenda. We are still a little bit behind if you compare us with the U.S. or Europe, but for sure it’s something to unlock a lot of opportunities.”

The mobile POS test starts in 2023, but he’s true to the power of physical retail, saying, “I’m always telling the team that mobile POS in an apparel world, in a fashion brand, it’s not as easy as going to Apple and buying your iPhone.”

Which is not to say Levi Strauss in LatAm is behind the digital curve, per se, but it’s taking a more thoughtful journey as it integrates omnichannel and DTC more and more.

“We generate data, but now I think it’s more about generating more traffic to the stores through media and engagement campaigns,” da Silva said. “It’s about also the training of the staff, the operation of the staff that for me is much more important. It’s about human relation, not only digital. I think we need to play all over on variety.”

While the Levi Strauss app isn’t a strong push in Latin America yet, he told Webster, “We are still in that [digital transformation] phase, but the future is going to be around loyalty CRM, etc., as we are already [doing] in the U.S. and especially in Europe.”

Photo courtesy of Levi Strauss