Dive Brief:

• Tommy Hilfiger has partnered with mobile commerce enabler PredictSpring to build and launch the lifestyle brand’s first mobile app targeting the European market, according to a press release.

• The app caters to consumers in 17 countries and supports four languages, offering users the ability to, among other things, shop looks directly from the brand’s Instagram feed, including looks from the TommyxGigi capsule collection. A "buy button" encourages purchases and makes checkout fast, simple and secure, the companies said.

• The app is also the first to integrate the Hilfiger Club loyalty program, allowing members to log-in to their loyalty accounts via the app and receive personalized messages, promotions and event invitations. Consumers also have immediate access to loyalty rewards.

Dive Insight:

In addition to the shopping and loyalty features mentioned, the app offers a couple of other notable features. One is in-store item scanning, which allows app users to scan tags in-store to check product availability and order items directly through the app. In the age of omnichannel, this is becoming a fairly essential capability, giving the customer the power to check inventory availability beyond the confines of the store's walls. It might sound counterintuitive to keeping a customer in the store, but it could be key to keeping them as a customer.

Another feature of the app is enhanced personalization. Under this capability, consumers receive push and geo-fence notifications, allowing them to access wishlists, purchase history and a store locator feature within the app. Again, these sorts of functions are significant to helping customers feel that a desktop shopping experience and a mobile shopping experience don't have to be very different.

Meanwhile, this is another big win for PredictSpring, a company started just a couple of years ago by a former Google executive that has very quickly built a reputation as a builder of mobile commerce experiences and apps for some of the biggest names in fashion apparel. Tommy Hilfiger joins a list that also include Charlotte Russe, whose mobile app just last month exploded past one million downloads, and Cole Haan, which like Hilfiger, used PredictSpring's technology to help it crank out sales via Instagram images.

The fashion retail market continues to be incredibly turbulent, so feature-rich, highly functional mobile apps are going to be increasingly important for both retailers and the global brand names that want to make sure they can stay in front of customers no matter what happens next.