The United Kingdom is the fourth-largest market for eCommerce, with a revenue of US$97 billion in 2020. Today, with an increase of 18%, the UK eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 26% in 2020. Fashion is the largest segment in the United Kingdom and accounts for 34% of the eCommerce revenue in the country.
In such a fast-growing global market, brands are hustling to fill every gap in the fashion industry.
Due to the pandemic, eCommerce has become an even more critical touchpoint for developing direct relationships with customers.
The fashion industry has always been a den for new trends, and technology is no exception. While the entire eCommerce industry is working towards creating an experience rather than making a sale, experience-driven commerce is the umbrella of all the trends. That said, let’s take a look at the eCommerce trends driving the fashion industry in 2021.
Brands are increasingly driving growth with machine learning, artificial intelligence, and eCommerce automation tools that offer highly relevant and personalized customer experiences.
From visual recognition to purchase and trend prediction, AI is the heart of technological advancements in the fashion industry.
AI fashion eCommerce tools and AI-powered personalization tools are becoming more and more necessary for fashion eCommerce. AI-powered personalization strives to ensure that – customers don’t waste their time looking through irrelevant products.
AI helps retailers gain an in-depth insight into each shopper as a unique individual. It empowers retail companies to understand a shopper’s size and preferred style, and price points. This deep consumer knowledge matched with relevant products and pricing help the shopper feel understood – and more willing to buy.
A Transformation centered on creating personalized relationships with customers.
Burberry encourages customers to share their data through various reward and loyalty programs and further leverages it right to offer tailored recommendations – both in-store and online. In-store, sales associates use tablets to give shoppers personalized suggestions based on their purchase history and social media habits.
Further personalized recommendations were provided by RFID tags fitted to products in stores. These tags passed on information related to product delivery, production and use suggestions.
These strategies led Burberry to a 50 percent increase in repeat customers, thanks to its investment in these tailored customer management systems.
Intelligent chatbots and other assistive technologies have forever changed the way shoppers interact with fashion brands. Right from tracking sales leads to recommending products, chatbots have improved conversions and create a seamless brand experience.
As shoppers today turn to text to discover and buy products, chatbots have enabled many brands to scale personal shopping services.
Chatbots In Action – Lighting the Spark Through Chatbots – Estée Lauder
Estée Lauder partnered with a London-based pop-up shop, and together, the two brands were able to bring the best of online and in-store shopping into one by leveraging chatbots.
Anyone in London could access the chatbot to browse and buy various products. After the purchase, the chatbot provided the option to pick up the product at the store or use their express delivery option. This was a great way to offer the ability to make purchases, browse, and ask questions just with the tap of a finger.
Leveraging social interaction is the best way to build trust today. User-generated content is the new word of mouth marketing. You are probably asking yourself, what are the benefits?
Higher conversion rates, better SEO, lower CPA, lower bounce rate, more traffic, build trust, build loyalty and user feedback, to name a few. If leveraged right, social media will keep you on your toes, but it will also do you a lot of good.
UGC In Action – A whopping 75% increase in sales by UGC campaign -Topshop
Topshop’s most successful UGC campaign was during London Fashion Week in 2014. They created “the world’s first fashion show created by digital imagery” and asked customers to share photos with the #TopshopWindow; the hashtag for a chance to be featured on a virtual catwalk.
The innovative campaign went viral and led to an 11:1 return on investment and a 75% increase in sales. In the process, the company was able to engage with four million potential customers.
Whereas omnichannel is a type of experience, unified commerce is a means to deliver that experience. Unified commerce not only benefits you financially but also helps create a better customer experience (CX). Here is how?
Nike leveraged a unified commerce strategy to provide a seamless customer experience. All Nike’s stores are now integrated with its online platforms.
Nike invested 30% of its revenue in the digital business, which was approximately three years ahead of schedule, increasing 82% in the three months to August 31, 2020.
The More Fashion Changes, the More Fashion Stays the Same
While the industry will always meet and conquer new frontiers – the center of every trend is going to be the customer – Every change is a step towards the roots of accessibility and identity, engaging new audiences.
For eCommerce fashion retailers, it’s time to try on these easily transitional changes. Platforms like Adobe and Magento have made it easy to implement seamless eCommerce experiences more than ever.
We hope these trends gave you an idea of where the industry is headed. Got some ideas for your eCommerce store? Let’s make it happen!
We, at Krish, are an Adobe Gold Solution Partner and have extensive experience in implementing, maintaining and supporting enhanced customer experience, commerce, and marketing solutions. We empower businesses with innovative solutions.
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Shivi Rao is a content marketer with Krish. She has worked in various industries spanning technology, science, rural marketing, startups & unicorns, eCommerce business, and digital marketing, believing that content is the foundation to facilitate the visibility of any organization and ensuring her words do the same. In her free time, you can either find her lifting weights in the gym or feeding the strays.
21 December, 2022 After WooCommerce, Shopify is the 2nd most loved and used eCommerce platform worldwide. Shopify is an entirely feature-rich eCommerce platform. It offers many drag-and-drop options, and its apps work tremendously for store owners. In addition, Shopify is easy to use as it doesn't require depth coding.
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