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A consumer realizes that she needs a new dress for an upcoming party. Instead of going directly to the mall to look for an ideal item, she opens her mobile phone and goes to her favorite shopping website. There, she finds the dress, crafted by a renowned fashion brand, worn by professional models. She finds the dress perfect for her bohemian-themed party so she immediately reads the detailed material description and reviews. Without further ado, she goes directly to the shipping terms page then chooses her mode of payment. She gets even more excited after learning that the item is on sale. Three days after, she receives her package.
Convenient, easy, and of great quality - this is how fashion e-commerce changed the way people think about shopping.
The fallout's of fashion e-commerce:
Though it's a growing trend, fashion e-commerce still has some fallouts that may affect the consumer's preference. First is the intangibility of the items on the store. The gratification that consumers get from the standard shopping experience is lessened since the consumer cannot touch and wear the item. Seeing the item only on the website is not enough to distnguish the quality especially when some websites don't have innovative and interesting product galleries.
Next is the “trust issues” the consumers have in terms of their security. In online shopping, people are dealing with a virtual, computer-generated entity who gets their personal information. If the business is new to e-commerce, it may be difficult for you to gain the trust of customers since they already put their trust and loyalty to reputable websites. Addition to this is the lengthy and complicated “return” and “replace” procedures. Since consumers are not able to try out their garments, they are likely to return or replace it once they find out that it is not suited to them.
Lastly, there's a lack social proof, or the invisible magnetic force that attract a person to buying a certain product just by seeing a bunch of people doing it as well.
Despite all these issues, fashion e-commerce continues to thrive. In a survey conducted by Microsoft and Retail Week in 2015, 62% of 1000 consumers still prefer shopping in stores. Though the statistics shows that more still prefer the conventional way of shopping, the remaining percentage is still a great hint that fashion e-commerce will thrive since 49% of the Millenials or those depicted with more spending power in the succeeding years prefer shopping online.
Building relationship with consumers in fashion eCommerce:
The bar graph of the U.S. apparel and accessories retail e-commerce revenue of Statista looks like an ascending staircase, indicating the growth of the sales from 2013 to 2015, and the expected revenue until 2018. This is just one of a few surveys that shows that investing in fashion e-commerce is a great choice for brands and retailers. But in order to gain a fulfilling profit, the key to every business' success is the good relationship that they built with their consumers.
1. Electronics
Technology plays a vital role in building relationship with consumers, especially in fashion e-commerce. Yes there are great-looking apparels and accessories posted in the website but are these enough to win the patronization from consumers? Fashion e-commerce platforms are constantly innovating, thinking of creative tactics to entice consumers.
Well, it is just a matter of innovative product presentation. Incredible photography skills, beautiful models with 360º turns, visually-appealing website design, and detailed description of the good's quality of material, brand, size, and precautions are some of the things to be considered. Since the consumers cannot try out the garments, investing on a few technological improvements and partnerships that may help the consumers visualize themselves wearing the apparel would make the business gain edge over the others. Several virtual fitting applications like Fits.me, Virtusize, and True Fit have allowed consumers to realize that “one size does not fit all.” These applications provide accurate scales based on consumer's body shapes and sizes and therefore help reduce unwanted returns.
2. Environment
Shopping is not merely about the product purchased, but also about the fun and interactive experience that lies in the process, building camaraderie among friends and strangers. Shopping online also promotes an interactive environment by engaging people to interact with one another through sharing reviews, comments, and ratings. The satisfied customers undoubtedly are the best marketers. Based on the Local Consumer Review Survery of BrightLocal, 92% of consumers read online reviews before purchasing a particular product or service and 40% of them form an opinion by reading only 1 to 3 reviews. A business' reputation is mostly measured by the number of “stars,” the survey says.
Perceptions from first-hand buyers are more genuine and convincing however, more readers are becoming concerned about fake reviews. So aside from relying on external reviews to drive consumers to buying the product, a business may entice more consumers by having a separate portion for reviews, ratings, and comments within the website. Sharing of reviews promotes an interactive environment not only among consumers but also between consumers and brands.
Another common tactic of every fashion e-commerce stores is having social sharing buttons on the product page. The number of positive insights as well as the number of tweets, likes, and shares help a business evaluate the “voice” of the consumers, whether they are positive or negative, improve on the quality of their service, and gain credibility.
3. Experience
The main reason why a customer keeps on coming back is not only the low cost, or the beauty of the website, but the overall experience. Nothing beats the sense of satisfaction when a customer finally receives a package that fulfills his or her expectations at the right time and at the convenient place. Well, these are also the reasons why most of the online shoppers don't come back.
In order to give their shoppers a rewarding experiences, fashion e-commerce stores sweeten the deals through many different ways. First is by giving out coupons and discounts that will win back the customers. In a statistic presented by Kissmetrics, 54% consumers will purchase the goods in the shopping cart if these are offerered at a lower cost.
Second is by offering a more personalized approach that can tickle the fashionable senses of their patrons. For instance, there are services like “Rent the Runway” which gives a shopper the chance to rent and wear designer clothes and accessories at a very affordable price, and return it within 4 to 8 days. Another personal approach is engaging the customers in becoming the fashion designers of their own. There are websites that utilize platforms that enables users to join in design competitions. “Online Stylists” are also present in other websites wherein a consumer may learn how to mix and match and discover creative ways on how to pull off a chic look.
Lastly, by giving a prompt and effective delivery. All these great processes of virtual shopping will be put to waste if the shipping of goods to consumers is of poor quality. It all starts by choosing the right shipping partner that also has high standards in terms of customer service. In most cases, unwanted items, shipping delays as well as hidden shipping costs discourage customers from returning to the online store. Aside from this, packaging should also be considered. Think of a more creative way in presenting the goods to the consumer. For instance, you can use customized materials or an unconventional shipping box. You may also include a personalized thank you note that never fails to make a customer smile. Unwrapping a package, just like when we were kids, is the most exciting part of one's shopping experience.
Author Biography:
Aside from taking amazing photographs using her 4-year old camera, Carmina Natividad also loves writing blogs about the rise of e-commerce and great finds online. She writes for Zapals, a renowned global shopping website located in Australia, Hong Kong, and China. 
