5 E-Commerce Marketing Tips For Your Fashion Brand
Today’s customers are always shopping.
We’re all guilty of shopping online whilst in the office. Not that long ago, we went to the closest fashion district, had a short lunch, and took our time to shop. Now, we do our shopping online whilst at home, work, or even during an Uber ride, browsing on our mobiles.
Today’s customers are always shopping because we’re constantly browsing on our smartphones or surfing the internet.
E-Commerce apparel & accessories in 2021.
Since the pandemic hit, businesses have accelerated their need to focus on their e-commerce websites. I remember seeing dozens of social posts in Facebook groups back in March 2019, asking for immediate help to build and launch WordPress or Squarespace websites for businesses that needed to shut for the foreseeable future.
Retail e-commerce sales in the U.S. are estimated to hit $843.15 billion in 2021, increasing 12.8% from last year’s forecast.
“Perhaps the most consequential digital story of 2020, the widespread embrace of ecommerce during the pandemic unexpectedly accelerated the channel’s progress by almost two years. In January, we forecast total ecommerce sales would be $674.88 billion in 2020; now we have that figure well over $100 billion higher, at $794.50 billion.”
As we move into the future new businesses will need a digital strategy before opening brick-and-mortar stores. As a restaurant you might need to choose between delivery platforms like Just Eat Takeaway or Uber Eats.
E-Commerce on-site search findings.
According to a recent study done by 55 brands, retailers, and agency partners with expertise in e-commerce, there’s a massive deficiency in how companies create effective on-site search experiences.
Highlights from: The state of site search study
- The majority of product research now happens on a company’s owned website before making a sale.
- 59% of brands, retailers, and e-commerce agency specialists responded that their site search experience is poor or fair. Only 3% responded with excellent.
- Brands are increasingly becoming omnichannel, utilizing their own website to pull shoppers through every stage of the funnel, from discovery to sale.
- 37% of respondents agreed that on-site search improvements drive off-site e-commerce sales at brick-and-mortar resellers.
- To improve the on-site customer experience, 52% of respondents answered that they didn’t have personal or internal expertise.
- When analyzing customer intent based on search data, only 20% responded with ‘very proficient,’ 28% ‘proficient,’ 40% with ‘somewhat proficient,’ and 12% with ‘not at all proficient.
“We need to ensure that our customers are able to interact with our brand in the most seamless and frictionless way.” — Chiara Klamp, head of global omnichannel at Dutch denim brand G-Star RAW
5 E-Commerce curation websites for brands.
Independent designer founders and fashion startups will need an e-commerce website as part of their digital strategy. Many independent fashion brands entering the market use e-commerce curation websites like ASOS marketplace (below).
SSENSE
Stylight
Shopstyle
MODASTO
ASOS
The downsides of e-commerce fashion curation websites.
When researching these e-commerce platforms for fashion apparel and accessories, it becomes clear that there are some drawbacks to relying on main curation sites. Brands that can access customers from these curation websites to sell a stock is advantageous;
- Most e-commerce sites that curate a collection of fashion brands do not track intent, i.e., what customers enter in the search.
- Main e-commerce curation sites do not use search data to push sales of your brand’s products. Basically, this is how they operate due to the unbiased nature these websites owe to their partner brands.
- Having control over your own email list is critical if these curation sites stop stocking your apparel and/or become unpopular.
- Your brand might lack marketing exposure across emails, onsite banners, and reminders from abandoned carts with your stock.
- Solely relying on main curation sites means you’re missing out on opportunities to expand your brand’s digital footprint. Establishing your brand on multiple platforms will allow customers to discover you more easily.
As per the research findings done by retail brands, on-site search issues exist, so curation websites will impact how a boutique brand generates sales.
5 Platforms to market your brand.
Having your own company website is essential. To keep costs low, you can leverage other platforms to set up your free payment system. It’s important to reflect your brand and let customers know more about how you manufacture your products. Please keep it simple and make sure to add an email capture field to build your own customer database.
1. Instagram
Instagram checkout launched in March 2019 just as cities globally started closing brick-and-mortar stores. Instagram’s e-commerce payments system is free, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t use it.
2. Pinterest
Pinterest is definitely the underdog when it comes to social media platforms. Content on Pinterest has a long shelf life because people are always pinning old images and content of recipes, home ideas, and fashion. It doesn’t take much effort to go onto your website and pin your clothing pieces. This will help with SEO and hopefully drive traffic to your website.
3. Amazon
Amazon’s share of the U.S. e-commerce market is 45% and growing, which means they have a huge audience you can tap into. Their onsite search algorithm is best because it matches keywords from the items people purchase with similar keywords on other items across its platform. This means that it is unbiased, and you don’t have to put Ad spend behind your items to gain visibility like Instagram.
4. Upwork
SEO is important for your website so consider paying a freelancer through Upwork a small fee to write about your brand. Pitch it as a PR release that highlights your brand’s new season launch. Paying a great writer can also help you see your brand from a different perspective. You can publish the article across blogs and use the content for your website or next newsletter.
5. Etsy
Depending on your fashion brand Etsy might be a great way to tap into their large community. Set up costs are low, and you only pay for transaction costs when you make a sale. If you’re starting to sell vintage clothing and don’t have many outfits, then this might be your first option.
Final thoughts.
E-commerce curation sites open opportunities to wider audiences; however, they can make it difficult to stand out amongst other brands. There is also the downside of promotional activity to drive sales for your clothes.
The bottom line is that independent fashion brands should consider their own e-commerce website to ensure they have a presence across all digital touchpoints. This will ensure better exposure, build trust and credibility, and provide a better experience for customers.
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Thank you for reading,
Rick Govic
