The fashion e-commerce industry is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world as the pandemic seems to be under control and consumers are happily returning to their old shopping habits. . While many sectors have experienced severe upheaval, fashion e-commerce revenue has grown steadily throughout the years, despite the many challenges and difficulties this business model poses.
What's the secret behind this seemingly insignificant industry? And how could it become an opportunity for the fashion e-commerce sector?
We found out by analyzing the latest market statistics and by highlighting the online shopping trends that will influence the success of online fashion brands in 2023.
1. Ease and variety in search
The opportunity to find the right products, accompanied by offers that are much broader and more complete than those that any physical store can offer is certainly one of the main motivators. for customers when shopping online, especially in fashion e-commerce.
But on the other hand, this generous offer can become a problem for brands. They risk confusing customers, they may not fully appreciate certain elements of a collection, or even risk not being able to show the most relevant products to each user.
For this reason, one of the most fundamental aspects of successful fashion e-commerce businesses is having a perfect User Experience (UX) on the website. In an industry where diverse, complex, and often high-value products are a must, the ability to flexibly, simply, and effectively educate consumers is the first critical success factor.
Therefore, the best clothing e-commerce websites are focusing precisely on improving these aspects, trying to provide an innovative shopping experience, focusing their efforts on how the product is received by the customers. research for the first time and how to recommend the product to them.
2. Focus on the customer's online experience
Online sales channels have a major drawback when selling clothing products which is the lack of all the components related to the senses. Touch, sight, smell, and hearing… are all extremely powerful factors that physical stores can exploit to convey ideas of quality, price, and luxury.
When customers shop online, these aspects are completely missing and must be replaced by other tools.
First, very accurate information about the product is needed to make up for a physical deficiency.
Second, there is a need to develop a truly experiential and engaging buying process, where technology can help deliver the same results. In view of this, fashion e-commerce stores must consider their entire value chain from a customer experience perspective, starting with the way they present their products.
3. Delivery is an important factor
Online payments and shipping are among the most sensitive stages in the fashion e-commerce industry, because this is where the lack of offline strengths can have the most impact. Consumer confidence can be shaken by the impact of news, press and friends
However, the delivery stage is also where there is the most potential to provide customers with a valuable experience.
An efficient and advanced logistics system allows customers to receive the goods they have purchased online on the same day, even within hours, and can sometimes personalize each delivery, tailoring it to their schedule. By promising free home delivery, store owners can incentivize their customers to shop impulsively, with the unthinkable "no worries" guarantee of in-store purchases. real clothes.
4. Prioritize mobile devices
Nowadays, the habits of users have changed a lot, all experiences on the web are happening more and more on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) and happen quickly and often. while on the go.
Potential customers connect via smartphone and expect the same shopping experience as a laptop, or even better, or else they'll switch to another option.
It's no coincidence that Google has long since begun to consider mobile-friendliness an essential element of positioning. E-commerce fashion stores that fail to adapt will experience a drop in organic traffic to their online stores.
The entire smartphone shopping experience must be perfectly optimized, from product research to checkout, through both up-selling and cross-selling. The ambition must be to provide a pocket-sized, personal shopper that is always accessible to customers on their mobile phones.
5. Femininity will take the throne strongly
According to Pinterest, the 2023 fashion trend is that femininity will take the throne strongly with lace and ruffled materials that will appear more from social networks to the street.
Described as a “window into the future,” the Pinterest Predicts 2023 report analyzed global search data from 400 million people using the platform each month, from September 2020 to September 2022, to predict predict explosive trends in the coming year.
According to the platform, romantic comedies, liberal styles, fringe outfits and galactic designs will shape fashion trends in 2023.
Pinterest is very confident about these results because over the past three years, 80% of their trend predictions have come true. In the field of beauty, light hairstyles will be increasingly popular. People are increasingly interested in scalp care and prefer light makeup.
Gen X and Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) will prioritize skin care, focusing on scalp and hair care. According to the search data, the keywords about scalp massage techniques, scalp cleaning and how to make natural hair masks spiked.
Tassels are another important trend that you cannot ignore. Gen X and Millennials are ready to embrace the catwalk-inspired “tassel free dress” trend. Pinterest says searches for fringed skirts have increased by 225% and black fringed dresses by 155%. With search results up 45%, brides of 2023 are more likely to opt for fringed wedding dresses.
