With the retailing landscape changing due to technological advancements resulting in globalisation, many brands are suffering from active inertia. Global players ASOS, Net-a-porter, Covetish.com and even sellers on Etsy and Ebay are proving to be tough competition for local Australian retailers.
In recent years, technology has become a focus for many fashion brands in the promotion and distributing garments.
The rise of the Fashion blogger
A recent article in The Age around L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival highlighted the growing influence of high profile fashion bloggers on fashion savvy consumers across the globe. Many designers acknowledged their influence at the recent runways shows with front row seats. It seems that these blogs have an appeal to both consumers and brands. In comparison to fashion magazine editorial, blog photography is often slightly more attainable and easier to relate to. Many brands have noticed spikes in sales based on comments and posts from influential fashion bloggers and celebrities. In the age of inbound rather than outbound marketing, blogging, micro-blogging, real time content generation and curation is only likely to continue to rise in popularity.
Mobile in one hand, garment in the other
Interestingly, many smartphone users are accessing the web whilst shopping. In some cases they are comparing items in the flesh against items online in terms of price and style.
Diesel recently brought their offline store into the world of social media with their in-store like campaign. They set up QR codes within the store and encouraged people to “like” the item in exchange for a discount. It’s an interesting concept to reward for liking in store and encouraging your customers to advertise to their friends on your behalf. Lorna Jane also adopted when they recently introduced technology into their store that allows customers to take a photo of themselves in an outfit and post it into their Facebook page or Twitter feed.
Other examples of offline meets online are stores that provide iPads so that customers can scroll through online catalogues and order items that are in store. This is an interesting concept as it could allow stores to carry only one of each size and encourage visitors to buy online and have the item delivered to their home.
Online tools to encourage cross-selling and instill confidence
Online fashion brands have been innovative in reassuring customers who may have had hesitations about purchasing online without being able to physically try products on. To counteract this concern, many sites offer free returns or exchange within X number of days. This reassures customers that they won’t be stuck with an ill fitting garment. The new online virtual dressing rooms take this one step further with the ability to “try on” clothes using a web camera.
Many fashion brands have also adopted a range of tools to encourage cross-selling and upselling. Recommendation engines have become extremely popular and when executed well, can have great success. Brands like net-a-porter are doing a great job of utilising this tool while some brands haven’t been quite so successful.
Many fashion brands are now starting to realise that they may need to embrace technology in order to survive in the global market. What tools do you rely on when shopping online?
References
Breen, J, 2012, Bloggers indulge their passion for fashion, The Age Online edition, viewed on 14th April 2011, http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/bloggers-indulge-their-passion-for-fashion-20120313-1uyf4.html
Chaffey, D, Ellis-Chadwick, F, Mayer, R, Johnston, K, 2009, Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation, and Practice, Pearson Education, England.
Miller, M, 2010, The ultimate web marketing guide, Pearson Education, USA.
Reed, J, 2011, Get up to sped with online marketing, Pearson Education, England.
The Drum, 2012, Report: integration of online and offline crucial to success of online retailers, viewed on 14th April 2011, http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2012/04/30/report-integration-online-and-offline-crucial-success-online-retailers
