As per the Statista Digital Market Outlook, fashion eCommerce Industry is the biggest eCommerce segment, growing at a rate of 9.1% per year. The question that arises is – how do you remain relevant within it?
The world is currently battling the Coronavirus pandemic, and it is safe to say that all sectors and industries have been affected by it. But, fashion, even though being a luxury, hasn’t taken a backseat when it comes to B2C spending.
Thanks to changing technology, eCommerce has played the role of a white knight to divert fashion sales through the online medium. This has led to a broad digital transformation of the industry to cater to a new set of audiences, demanding better experiences and seamless checkouts.
Tapping on the move, big names such as Zalando, Hugo Boss and Inditex have reported a drastic increase in their sales numbers amid changing times. To get your name on the list, we at Apexon have compiled a list of trends you can leverage to amplify your CX strategy.
Also read: Customer Experience (CX) Changing The Face Of Online Retailers
Let’s dive in.
1. Text and Video Reviews
Towards the end of 2020, Instagram, the social media platform, introduced Instagram reels. Now, this has fuelled the careers of influencers and marketers. Here’s how it matters.
One of the things the pandemic has seen is reviews for fashion products through the video format. By giving a complete visual run-through, a piece of apparel is displayed in a 360° view that might not be possible with static images. Also, at the end of the video, the link is either highlighted or mentioned in the description.
These fashion eCommerce marketing tactics have contributed towards ease of ordering. Plus, with the right social media integrations on your website, it connects the experiences, promising a disruption-free journey with the brand.
Check out some of the best tools below that can be used to produce video content –
Also read: 10 Easy Tips To Double The Conversion Rate Of Your Online Store
2. Omnichannel Presence
Today, a dynamic approach is a given. One way of getting this right is to adopt an omnichannel strategy. This helps bridge the online and offline divide by a holistic view of customers (using data). There are three access points to take care of –
- eCommerce website,
- retail stores, and
- wholesale collaborations and marketplaces.
Additionally, omnichannel means diversification in strategy by catering to customers right where they are. The selling tactic focuses on integration and offering customers consistency across touchpoints. What you get is an all-inclusive approach to the digital shopping experience.
Fashion retail eCommerce today has evolved such that customers have several options. And the only way to have brand recognition in such a space is through an omnipresent structure. For instance, Lululemon, Happy Socks and Rhone are online-born shopping labels that have proved their worth by maturing into owned retail.
APL or Athletic Propulsion Labs, the shoe brand, inverted the trend by starting as an online DTC (direct-to-consumer) brand in 2016. It also launched its first store during the latter half of 2019, serving as a prime example of the reversal in the fashion eCommerce template.
Do check how we implemented omnichannel solutions for top brands on Oracle CX Commerce platform
3. Impact of Augmented Reality
Yet another contributor to the fashion eCommerce trends has been the rise of Augmented Reality or AR.
Now, with the accelerated onset of virtual spaces, the tangibility of the fashion and apparel industry has been fading. So, it becomes furthermore crucial to bring back the personalized touch of each apparel and accessory.
Watch this video to learn how wonderfully IKEA implemented Augmented Reality for their brand
AR allows your customers to see the products in their natural space, providing a pseudo physical shopping experience. It replicates a near-authentic feel of the in-person environment. Customers essentially get to visualize what a particular product would look like in daily life, boosting conversions manifold.
Also read: 5 ECommerce Marketing Trends That Cannot Be Avoided In 2021
4. The Adoption of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have automated shopping experiences for customers. Going ahead, AI, along with AR, will mean a drastic change in the SEO for the fashion eCommerce industry as well.
Currently, AI focuses on gathering data on the behaviours and patterns of customers. Chief among them is finding out what they look for in products, services and solutions. There is no one-size-fits-all, and hence, AI breaks the bulwark by attempting to find intent.
Companies like Apexon specializes in leveraging artificial intelligence and data science to scale profits for businesses.
The fashion eCommerce industry is already going ahead to fundamentally transform the way brands market, manufacture and sell their products. Whether it be to create awareness or demand, AI is making things easier for all.
For instance, mavens like Nike, Dior, Macy’s and Nordstorm continually make it a part of their CX strategy, enhancing both promotion and sales.
Download the case study now – Learn how Apexon’s scalable eCommerce implementation helped this fashion retailer to improve its online business
5. Contribution of Chatbots to The Fashion Retail eCommerce
Chatbots are an excellent way of enhancing shopping experiences. It is well-known that eCommerce customers love to have a personalized touch, and this has been reiterated through research time and time again.
One such study reports that 51 per cent of people are more likely to purchase if there is a live chat feature in place. On the other hand, 44 per cent of them consider a real-time response to queries among their core expectations.
Hence, bots today are very crucial to the eCommerce space. They are the support system and the lifeblood, especially for retaining customers and offering after-sales services. The whole idea stands on the foundation of 24/7 availability that can be provided without the excess costs or resources.
Another aspect is using chatbots as a marketing tool. The tomorrow that customers stand to inherit will entail chatbots augmenting fashion eCommerce marketing by suggesting products based on previous data, including browsing and purchase history and patterns.
They’ll work as an alternative recommendation engine that streamlines the customer journey across the portal.
Given below are some best Chatbot tools that you can implement on your online store
6. Voice-Based SEO for Fashion eCommerce
SEO is a strategy that helps fuel organic – or unpaid – traffic towards a brand. It helps increase awareness and enhance web traffic. However, SEO goes beyond typing keywords and phrases into Google or other search engines. With Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa becoming more prevalent, shoppers are using voice search to browse and purchase items. This technology provides the fashion eCommerce industry with further insights into the interests and spending patterns of customers.
To give an example, while writing, people are subconsciously aware of what they want to type. But when it comes to voice searches, the psyche is the polar opposite. Voice search assistance has rendered considerable confusion and tampered with traditional SEO techniques.
You can utilize tools like Answer the Public for your eCommerce website to build an editorial content strategy for voice search.
Further breaking the wall of fashion and eCommerce is the fact that text-based keywords are crisp and concise while voice-based searches are akin to human conversations. For instance, what questions do people ask about products and services? How are the questions being phrased? These are aspects that businesses should include in their website and content creation strategy. Much depends on what the customer is doing, their intent and coherence at the time.
To Sum It Up
The above trends speak of customer experiences using solutions such as AI, AR and ML as a starting point. As the fashion industry moves at the speed of light, these patterns will give rise to a digitally fluent customer.
Being a market leader, your job shall be to stay relevant while tapping on these trends in a contextual manner. In other words, it will be about being where your customers are, exceeding their expectations at every touchpoint.
And this is exactly what Apexon has been perfecting for a while now.
Our work in digital commerce coupled with experience, mobility and management solutions helps create a customer-centric strategy that builds a global outlook towards your conversion drivers.
Fashion eCommerce stands to have the 2nd highest rate of return in the entire eCommerce industry. It’s time you banked on that number.