RTW Retailwinds, Inc. Announces Multi-Year Partnership with Salesforce for Ecommerce Platform Relaunch

NEW YORK , February 26 /Businesswire/ - Today, RTW Retailwinds (NYSE: RTW) announced that Salesforce will be its new digital ecommerce platform partner for all businesses, including New York & Company, Fashion to Figure, and Happy x Nature. The move aims to optimize the user experience and provide seamless and personalized content across all channels, while improving conversion and increasing sales, for each fashion brand within the RTW portfolio on Salesforce.

RTW has commissioned Salesforce Commerce Cloud, a best-in-class, cloud-based solution with a proven track record in accelerating clients’ sales and customers’ online experiences, to rebuild all of its websites. This shift is expected to increase key metrics, including conversion, basket size and average dollars per sale. This data-driven approach is also expected to increase the effectiveness of promotional offers to maximize sales and margins across all of the Company’s retail platforms.

“Our strategy of relaunching on a new platform is to improve our overall customer experience and align our focus on becoming a digitally dominant retailer to drive conversion and sales,” said Greg Scott, Chief executive Officer, RTW. “Focusing on an enhanced customer experience will ultimately improve the customer journey, and thereby increase sales.”

The Company’s customer-first mandate provides a clear objective upon executing a new commerce platform for the company. “As soon as we can begin targeting each customer with a more personalized experience and anticipating what they want to see, we will be able to fully revolutionize our ecommerce strategy. We’re very excited to take this journey with our customers, support them with insight-driven marketing, and share with them relevant user-generated content,” says Timothy Mack, Chief Digital Officer, RTW. “We are creating a transformational personalized digital customer experience that will position us as the leader across our industry’s peers.”

The company is working on an accelerated timeline to bring fully relaunched websites online by Fall 2020. Upon implementing this new ecommerce platform, customers can expect an elevated journey through artificial intelligence, optimized content, more relevant promotions and real-time communications from each RTW brand.

“We’re excited about the scalability that Salesforce offers, especially in how it will handle peak-season traffic,” says David Strobelt, EVP/Chief Information Officer, RTW. “Our existing websites have struggled to keep pace with the growing spikes of customer online demand. Currently, in order for us to scale up or down, we have to procure equipment, roll a truck, and physically ‘rack and stack’ the environment. This is extremely time consuming and has led to overbuilding our current infrastructure. Salesforce Commerce Cloud will allow us to flex up and down seamlessly and instantly alongside the peaks and valleys of customer demand.”

RTW historically has relied upon its own internal teams to develop all new digital features. “With Salesforce’s large customer base and investment in their product roadmap, RTW will tap into the customer community to utilize existing research and development strategies established by like-minded clients and will continue to take advantage of new innovations as the platform evolves. RTW’s internal teams will therefore be able to focus more on features which make the experience more unique and distinctive,” added Strobelt.

“The retail industry is in the midst of a rapid transformation. It has never been more important for retailers to deeply understand customer preferences and deliver a relevant experience at every touchpoint,” said Mike Micucci, CEO, Salesforce Commerce Cloud. “We are thrilled to be a trusted digital advisor to RTW Retailwinds, supporting them as they roll out Salesforce Commerce Cloud and establish a new standard for personalized shopping across their digital platforms.”

About RTW Retailwinds, Inc.

RTW Retailwinds, Inc. is a specialty women's omni-channel and digitally enabled retailer with a powerful multi-brand lifestyle platform providing curated fashion solutions that are versatile, on-trend, and stylish at a great value. The specialty retailer, first incorporated in 1918, has grown to now operate 387 retail and outlet locations in 33 states while also growing a substantial eCommerce business. The Company's portfolio includes branded merchandise from New York & Company, Fashion to Figure, Happy x Nature, and collaborations with Eva Mendes, Gabrielle Union and Kate Hudson. The Company's branded merchandise is sold exclusively at its retail locations and online at www.nyandcompany.com, www.fashiontofigure.com, www.happyxnature.com, and through its rental subscription businesses at www.nyandcompanycloset.com and www.fashiontofigurecloset.com. Additionally, certain product, press releases and SEC filing information concerning the Company are available at the Company's website: www.nyandcompany.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements made within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some of these statements can be identified by terms and phrases such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimate,” “continue,” “could,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” and similar expressions and references to assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable and relate to its future prospects, developments and business strategies. Such statements, are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These include, but are not limited to: (i) the Company’s dependence on mall traffic for its sales and the continued reduction in the volume of mall traffic; (ii) the Company’s ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends; (iii) the impact of general economic conditions and their effect on consumer confidence and spending patterns; (iv) changes in the cost of raw materials, distribution services or labor; (v) the potential for economic conditions to negatively impact the Company's merchandise vendors and their ability to deliver products; (vi) the Company’s ability to open and operate stores successfully; (vii) seasonal fluctuations in the Company’s business; (viii) competition in the Company’s market, including promotional and pricing competition; (ix) the Company’s ability to retain, recruit and train key personnel; (x) the Company’s reliance on third parties to manage some aspects of its business; (xi) the Company’s reliance on foreign sources of production; (xii) the Company’s ability to protect its trademarks and other intellectual property rights; (xiii) the Company’s ability to maintain, and its reliance on, its information technology infrastructure; (xiv) the effects of government regulation; (xv) the control of the Company by its largest shareholder and any potential change of ownership of the Company including the shares held by its largest shareholder; (xvi) the impact of tariff increases or new tariffs; and (xvii) other risks and uncertainties as described in the Company’s documents filed with the SEC, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise the forward-looking statements included in this press release to reflect any future events or circumstances.

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