A greater environmental and ecological sensitivity combined with an unprecedented digital transformation (accelerated by the pandemic), are radically shaping the Fashion e-Commerce sector.
Eco-fashion is a real trend supported by data that reflects the needs of many consumers.
The fashion sector is gradually adapting, as demonstrated by the increasing number of awareness campaigns on the environmental impact, carried out by large and small brands.
Digital, environment and an increasingly omnichannel perspective are redefine the purchasing process in the fashion sector.
The winning idea is the complementarity between online and offline business: an offer capable of get the consumer an easy and integrated service.
In this article we present some useful tips for a fashion e-Commerce strategy in line with these trends that you may want to experiment with your online business as well.
Why open a fashion e-Commerce?
Let’s take a step back and recover the reasons why develop an online fashion business.
These reasons could be permanent (related to the advantage of developing an e-Commerce) or contextual (that depend on the opportunity to start an online business for a specific time and context of reference).
Among the first, permanent, we find:
- The ability to sell 24 hours a day while keeping our online store “open” without time limits
- The ability to reach an international audience and customer base
- Strengthening your brand identity
- Possibility of reaching a precise target thanks to the analysis of data on purchases and customer behavior
- Possibility of developing a digital marketing plan
Among the contextual reasons, we can certainly consider the recent pandemic crisis of Covid-19.
In many cases, in fact, e-Commerce has turned out to be the only sales channel for many businesses forced to long periods of closure due to restrictions.
For many, the pretext of selling online has turned out to be a lucky opportunity to exploit the unexplored part of their business.
Opening an e-Commerce is a step that must be evaluated in terms of investment and resources.
The best results in this fields are obtained by ensuring a series of quality services such as:
- customer care
- shipments and returns
- optimized website with excellent User Experience
- detailed and captivating product sheets
- high quality photos and graphics
The importance of trends
Each business is affected by the influence of purchasing and costumer behaviour trends.
Paying attention to these trends does not mean complying tout court with them or accepting any principle in your core business simply because it works.
After a phase of a trend’s detection and analysis you will need to spend time to investigating whether that particular trend is compatible with the values / possibilities / resources of your company.
Below we propose a short list of trends that have positively influenced sales for the fashion e-Commerce sector, according to various estimates recorded in the current year.
1. e-Commerce customization
The pandemic has take away the customers from the store but has not changed the needs and requirements that drive them to purchase.
The online experience of the consumer should try to meet their needs exactly as if he were buying in a store.
For this, technology comes to the rescue.
Applications, software and management systems are increasingly widespread allowing you to customize the buyer experience of fashion e-commerce.
Their operation is based on automated data analysis processes that are able to profile the customer based on his behavior on the site (searches, tags, clicks on products), thus creating a system of “suggestions” made especially for him.
These mechanisms, based on Artificial Intelligence, are essential to help the customer stay on the site, stimulate his curiosity about the offer of related products and increase his satisfaction in the research phase.
2. Green fashion and sustainability
According to a research conducted by Fashion Revolution in 2020, 33% of respondents prefer to buy products that respect the environment and 66% would be interested in knowing more about the environmental and labor policies implemented by individual brands.
This denotes a trend of increasing consumer awareness on the issue of environmental policies which translates into certain purchasing trends in fashion e-Commerce.
It is no coincidence that sustainability and transparency are the inspiring principles of many new marketing campaigns implemented by large and small brands.
Considering this new lever of interest could not only help you attract new targets and broaden your catchment area but also offer you the opportunity to renew your company policy.
Please note: before structuring strategies and campaigns, be sure to analyze the compatibility of your corporate values with the trends mentioned above. The risk is to “force” brand identity in a direction that is inconsistent with the past and be accused of “greenwashing”, a recent trend in marketing aimed at “washing” the corporate image on issues related to environmental impact.
3. Keyword: Omnichannel
In recent years, the tendency was trying to reach the interested user through multiple contact channels at the same time.
This ‘multi-channel’ approach has recently been perfected and completed with a further approach that finally sees the user at the center of the marketing and communication strategy.
From the multichannel system we have therefore moved on to talk of ‘omnichannel‘. This presupposes not only that the strategy conforms around the user but that there is an exchange relationship in a collaborative sense between the channels themselves, whether online or offline.
Speaking in terms of consumer experience, the user can always move through links at any point of the path so that his “journey” is as fluid and integrated as possible.
A QR-code in the dressing room, click & collect service (which allows the product to be collected in the store) and other cross-channel services are the right tools to achieve the right level of integration between channels.
4. Pay attention to marketplaces
Small e-Commerce companies are undergoing increasingly fierce competition from more or less generalist marketplaces like Amazon, e-Bay but also Zalando, Asos, Privalia, Yoox.
Two are the options:
- continue to invest exclusively in your e-Commerce, making your particularity the winning key against the competition.
In this case, resources should be committed to building branding and finding a consistent and loyal niche of buyers. - decide to exploit, even or exclusively, the sales channel offered by one or more marketplaces
In the second case, there are a number of factors to consider including the commissions to be paid and the fact that buyers are likely to become more loyal to the marketplace than to your brand or product.
It is a consideration that we advise you to make in strategic planning, always in the logic of the most efficient allocation of resources and investments on the future of your online business.
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