Free eBook available
The fashion and apparel industry has been around for centuries and, like many industries, it’s in the midst of a digital shake-up.
It’s one of the largest industries in the world. According to Fashion United data, the fashion and apparel sector is valued at more than $3 trillion—or about 2% of the world’s GDP—and employs about 3.4 billion people across the globe. And that valuation has led to more retailers entering an already-crowded fashion marketplace, each eager for their own slice of the trillion-dollar pie.
What’s more, thanks to improvements in social media, technology and the supply chain, every one of these fashion brands are a lot more accessible to consumers around the world. A Business of Fashion-McKinsey report predicts that more than half of all fashion sales will originate outside of North America and Europe in 2018.
Today’s shoppers want more, and apparel retailers want happy, repeat customers. The good news is that both B2C and B2B retailers can do a lot to not only keep up with the shifting fashion tides, but strut ahead of the competition and enjoy success in the digital-focused future.
02
For today’s consumers, it’s not enough to have an online store and a social media presence. In fact, when going digital, having a sales and marketing strategy in place is a bare-minimum requirement.
It’s true that traditional marketing channels, such as magazine spreads and television ads, have been supplemented or even replaced by social media. But now even social media is being disrupted: social ads are giving way to influencer marketing, which seeks out online celebrities to promote products to their own fans and friends. The Instagram influencer market, for instance, is already a billion-dollar industry, and Media Kix expects it to grow to $2.38 billion in 2019.
This trend also points to consumers’ shifting roles from passive buyers to active shoppers. People want to influence the brands they interact with, and they care about the social perception of those brands. Since these perceptions often start and are solidified on social media, brands need to ensure their digital reputation is as sterling as possible.
According to a Deloitte article, “a misaligned or generic digital offering may actually widen the digital divide and even pose a threat to brand reputation.” What’s more, this digital experience must seamlessly follow people when they move in-store.
When it comes to going digital in today’s fashion marketplace, the details truly matter. Retailers—both B2C and B2B—need to reimagine the service and experience that they offer to customers. Of course, a well-run eCommerce channel is crucial, especially for B2B retailers.
Nearly half of all B2B buyers are millennials, according to a Google study, and they’re increasingly taking their personal preferences, such as online shopping, to their work. In fact, a Forrester report estimates that, by 2021, B2B eCommerce will reach $1.2 trillion and will account for more than 13% of all B2B sales in the US.
Learn how you can build your B2BeCommerce business.
The fashion and apparel industry is highly competitive. It’s nearly impossible to get an accurate count of the number of global fashion brands—new brands are born every day and, unfortunately, some go the way of the dodo bird.
Last year, more than 1,875 fashion retailers closed their doors for good and, according to Shopify, that number is expected to rise to approximately 10,000 in 2018.
That competition is not only bolstered by its seasonal and style-focused nature, but also by people’s increasingly limited attention span and budget. Fashion retailers must expand and streamline their businesses if they want to survive in this new digital world, and that expansion is dependent on providing the best experience possible for consumers.
The good news is that there’s no shortage of tools to use to provide those experiences.
Diversity is the name of the game when it comes to thriving in the digital fashion industry. Both B2C and B2B retailers need to embrace different ways of selling if they’re going to stay competitive. For B2C retailers, that might mean adding wholesale or B2B sales to your revenue mix; for B2B sellers, that could mean adding an eCommerce channel to better serve B2B buyers.
For both, that certainly means looking to the omnichannel.
According to TechTarget, the omnichannel is a multi-channel approach to sales and marketing that aims to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience, no matter where they shop.
This often involves integration between distribution, promotion and communications channels on the backend, in order to provide a consistent experience for customers, whether they’re shopping in-store, online or over the phone.
Many fashion retailers are already embracing the shift toward the omnichannel experience. Consider UK retailer Oasis: the company has equipped the sales associates in its stores with iPads, enabling them to check inventory on the spot, and even cash out customers. What’s more, if the product isn’t available in-store, these associates can have the product shipped directly to the customer’s home.
Of course, this cross-channel cooperation means it’s even more important for retailers to leverage technology when it comes to their operational processes, like supply chain management or wholesale distribution.
AR, for instance, can help both B2C and B2B retailers control their inventory. Inventory is one of the most complex components of the supply chain, especially for B2B apparel merchants and fashion retailers with revenue in both the wholesale and direct-to-consumer markets. According to Digitalist Magazine, AR can provide more visibility into inventory, ensuring consumer demand is met without creating an unsellable stockpile of inventory. These digital tools can use predictive technology to alert business owners when inventory needs replenishing or when integrated systems need maintenance.
Digitizing and automating other operational processes can also go a long way in helping fashion retailers grow their businesses and expand into new markets. Not only can automation and digitization help save time and money, but it frees up staff time for more meaningful tasks, such as more effective marketing campaigns, the development of new products, or using technology to improve the customer experience.
Consumers are demanding a seamless experience to follow them from social media to online research and in-store or online purchasing. This demand for a positive omnichannel experience is only possible with the right tools in place.
In fact, it’s nearly impossible to maintain a competitive edge in the fashion and apparel industry while running out-of-date technologies and back-office systems. Fashion retailers need to upgrade their operations with a staunch focus on the latest technologies that can improve efficiency, customer service and the bottom line.
04
They anticipate recommendations based on the things they’ve searched for online and they actively interact with the tools that make this level of personalization possible. According to Business Insider, about 45% of end users prefer chatbots as the primary communications channel for customer service inquiries.
The one-size-fits-all approach to the fashion and apparel industry is rapidly receding. Retailers need to look to the latest digital tools to not only ensure that shoppers have a positive experience both in-store and online, but that those experiences are efficiently produced.
Navigating a highly personalized retail landscape is challenging. Many fashion retailers lack the insights they need to forecast their future and plan the right next steps. Thankfully, there’s an unexpected benefit to the consumer trend to hyper-personalization: big data.
See how Superlove Merino uses data to forecast their future inventory needs and grow their baby and toddler clothing brand.
