Fashion Brand Cuts Turnaround Times in Half with Stylish Efficiency

An international fashion retailer operates a successful online platform with a portfolio of designers. The company maintains a strong international presence through a network of offices and partnerships across the world.

The fashion brand relies on in-house editors and external translators to localize approximately one million words per week with quick turnaround times and frequent production peaks. 

Challenges

Facing the Fabric of Multilingual Content Challenges

A long-term customer of Phrase, the company has traditionally relied on human translators for its multilingual content needs, including product descriptions. However, during high-demand periods, its internal staff reached capacity, necessitating costly support from external translators and agencies. However, the quality of these translations often fell short of expectations.

Seeking to enhance efficiency and quality, the company consulted Phrase to harness the potential of machine translation (MT) to:

• Reduce turnaround times
• Increase translation quality
• Increase daily workload capacity
• Better manage and flatten production peaks internally
• Cut costs by reducing dependency on external translation services
• Ensure continuous engagement for its in-house linguists

In response, Phrase recommended its Phrase Custom AI solution.

Solution

Weaving Wonders with Machine Translation 

As a seasoned Phrase client, the fashion brand seamlessly integrated Phrase Custom AI. This integration refined translation speed and quality, managed high-demand periods internally, and minimized reliance on external translation resources.

The fashion brand also showed a keen interest in enhancing linguistic quality through machine translation (MT). It particularly valued the use of MT glossaries and the integration of the advanced MT engine, Phrase NextMT, into its current processes.

Phrase embarked on a proof-of-value with the client. Upon verifying the fashion brand’s readiness with at least 10,000 segments for MT engine training, Phrase took action. It  supported the selection and cleansing of data using sophisticated AI-driven filters, streamlining what is typically a labor-intensive task for linguists.

Further assistance from Phrase enabled the fashion brand to train the Phrase NextMT engine and evaluate its performance. A dedicated workshop was also conducted to show how to further train and implement additional MT models efficiently.

Remarkably, the transition from initial consultation to full deployment spanned less than two weeks. As an existing Phrase client, the fashion brand effortlessly migrated its data to Phrase Custom AI via a simple click from the Phrase Translation Management System (TMS). The deployment of Phrase NextMT was completed swiftly, eliminating the need for extensive engineering involvement.

Results

Seamless Success with
Phrase Custom AI

The tests highlighted an increase in productivity and a reduction in turnaround times. The company was also very impressed with the ‘near perfect’ quality of the Phrase NextMT.

• Speed to Market: A significant reduction in turnaround times by an impressive average of 55.3% across various languages, facilitating faster product launches and marketing campaigns in multiple regions. 
• Cost Efficiency: By cutting down the need for external translators the fashion brand can allocate resources more efficiently, reducing operational costs. Savings in translation services can be redirected towards design innovation, marketing, and expanding into new markets.
• Brand Consistency: The high-quality translation ensures that marketing messages and product descriptions are consistent across all languages, preserving brand voice and integrity, building trust and loyalty
• Increased Operational Capacity: The fashion brand can handle more marketing projects and product launches simultaneously due to improved productivity
• Scaling at speed:  The intuitive, self-explanatory interface of Phrase Custom AI and the ease of customizing AI models for additional languages mean that the fashion brand can quickly adapt its messaging for new markets. This capability supports its global expansion without the need for extensive technical training.

Conclusion

Tailoring for Tomorrow: Staying Ahead of the Trend with Phrase Custom AI

Incorporating Phrase Custom AI positions the fashion brand to not only enhance its operational efficiencies but also to solidify its global market presence. This is achieved through faster product introductions, cost savings, and maintaining a consistent brand voice across diverse markets. These strategic benefits are essential for staying competitive and achieving long-term success in the global fashion industry.