5 Ideas to Help You Expand Your Fashion E-Commerce Business
One of the most influential sectors in the world is none other than the fashion industry itself – the place that creates the latest trends and has the world wrapped around its business for generations.
Naturally, this has attracted many business owners into trying their own hand in creating an eCommerce company in the fashion industry and reap the profits from its popularity. However, as tempting as it can be to indulge in the fashion business, it can be quite a struggle to manage your company if you are only going into it half-heartedly.
In reality, finding success in the world of eCommerce fashion can be a daunting task. The competition is always fierce, and a major part of your success is defined by the mobility and appearance of your website. Additionally, there are always new trends popping up that need to be quickly and efficiently added into the business processes; otherwise, you will lose important revenue that could increase your company’s credibility.
The usability of your website also plays a major role in how people interact with your business. According to a report by Statista, around 25% of online users tend to abandon their shopping cart because of complex website navigation, 15% due to timing out of websites, and 21% because of the long ordering processes. Abandonment of shopping carts, in particular, are increasing every year, and many fashion eCommerce businesses are experiencing staggering momentary losses. In fact, a report conducted in 2015 has stated that merchandise worth $4 trillion has been abandoned in online carts.
Hence, it has become of utmost importance that fashion eCommerce businessmen should start investing in opportunities that can turn the odds in their favour. A prime example can be to utilize the growing influence through mobile. Since many companies are improving their business expansion through mobile use, this can be an ideal opportunity that no retailer should ignore. The eMarketer has even made predictions about how 25% of fashion eCommerce sales will be conducted via mobile devices using eCommerce platforms for small businesses. This action will thus turn into billions of dollars and will continue to increase over time.
And this is just one of the many ways you can grab more market shares than your competitors. What you really need is a comprehensive marketing strategy that will help you stand out from your rival companies and put you out there in front of your potential customers. To help you get started, here are a few tips you can make use of to maximize the effects of your current marketing strategies and expand your fashion eCommerce business more effectively.
Give Love to Your Regular Customers
Indulging in strategies where you are focused on making experiences better for your regular customers can significantly help your business in the long run. Moreover, according to Harvard Business Review, it can cost up to anywhere around 5% to 25% more to invest in methods that can bring in new customers than to keep your current ones.
Consequently, it is essential that your customers’ retention strategies should include loyalty programs like discounts and bonuses for regular customers. This way, your customers will not consider indulging in your rival websites because they know they can avail better products and services with more favourable prices through your fashion eCommerce business.
Exception Customer Support
There are times when even if you have created your webpage easy to navigate, there will still be several customers who will struggle to work their way around it. As such, having a customer service system can be a great way to meet their needs.
Although, it is crucial that you must focus on how well your customer services are because there is nothing more frustrating for a customer than to deal with poor customer service. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, it was found that more than a third of all online transactions are returned. So, if you are not careful, you might end up losing precious customers who will start looking in different businesses with better facilities than yours.
Consider having agents of customer services available 24/7 and train them to meet the customers’ needs and solve their queries adequately. Plus, an excellent customer support system can reduce your sales cycle and significantly improve organic revenue.
Focus More on Product Description
One of the major problems that come from fashion eCommerce stores is that products can appear quite different in pictures as compared to the ones delivered at the customers’ doorsteps.
If the customer does not get what they asked for, they will no longer be interested in your products, no matter how good they might be. Consequently, give attention to product detail information and be specific about each detail like the materials, colour, sizes, etc.
Search Engine Optimization
Indulging in search engine optimization (SEO) practices can play a major role in your fashion eCommerce marketing strategy.
In order to reach success with your business, your business needs to be discoverable on the internet – which can be made possible through effective use of SEO. Consider getting a professional SEO consultant who will ensure that your web page is optimized for each of your products, including the meta tags, which are crucial in giving search engines the data they need to adequately index product pages.
Marketing Though Popular Influencers
Nowadays, people are more invested in social media influencers’ content and are more likely to consider looking into companies that have been recommended by their favourite or popular influencer.
This can be a great opportunity for fashion eCommerce business owners to make use of as working with an influencer can increase your sales, boost your brand and can help you reach out to your target audience in a way that would take you a long time to achieve.
The first thing you need to do is find the perfect influencer who has a large following for your target audience. You can then approach them and create business deals that can benefit both parties. One of the additional benefits you can also get out from this strategy is that, if all goes well, you can continue working with the same influencer in the future while simultaneously attracting other popular influencers who might also be willing to collaborate with your business.