How To Enhance UX For Your Fashion eCommerce
Over the last few years, eCommerce has become the way to shop. Long gone are the days when we queued up at Zara for ages (remember them?)... Today, a couple of clicks are all it takes to have your most coveted fashion items delivered right to your doorstep. This convenient shopping approach is undoubtedly the present and the future. Witnessing a remarkable 10.3% surge from 2022 to 2023, the global fashion eCommerce market is bustling with activity. This dynamic growth underscores the intense competition among numerous contenders vying to claim the title of the most innovative, sought-after, and resilient fashion eCommerce store in the market.
But what truly will help your brand drive traffic, create sales and also create a strong community of fashion lovers? Imagine being in the shoes of your visitor; the aim is to provide an encounter that's contemporary and groundbreaking, while placing utmost emphasis on simplicity. A smooth, effortless experience is the goal, streamlining the purchasing process and needing very little thought.
Brand identity
In recent years, brand identity has become more important than ever. In fact, 81% of consumers need to trust a brand before buying. So how do you create that trust?
A strong brand identity is one that is recognizable and directed at their target audience. It can be translated through its visuals and tone of voice. The goal is to create a memorable experience through the brand identity - what makes you different from your competitors? Perhaps you are a green fashion brand, or you supply more sizes, or maybe you empower women through donating to charity? Whatever your values are, they need to be pushed in your brand identity.
If you’re just starting out, here are our tips to forging a bold brand identity that will help make your eCommerce a go-to destination:
Start with the foundations: What kind of brand will you be? A sportswear brand, a lingerie label? What price point will you be at?
Who will be your target audience?: What kind of consumer do you want to attract to your eCommerce, determining this will help you for the next steps…
What are your values?: Your values will be what drives you into the spotlight. Are you creating more sustainably and ethically-made footwear? Are you an empowering “girl-power” kind of brand?
Who will you be for the consumers?: Who/what do you want to be? Do you want to be seen as a brand, or do you want the faces behind the brand to be more visible?
Study the competition: Audit your competitors to see how they position themselves in your market. What are they missing? What can you provide?
Create a visual direction: Whether you are working alone or have a creative director, you need to create an editorial line that will create consistency and aesthetic edge to your brand. This also includes creating the logo!
Write your brand guidelines: Brand guidelines are important for consistency, especially if you are recruiting eCommerce managers, copywriters or digital marketing specialists. This will help create a seamless experience from the homepage to the order confirmation.
Merchandising
Online merchandising is a valuable asset for your eCommerce store as it will drive sales. There are many different ways of optimizing your merchandising, depending on your CMS and the plug-ins available should you need them.
Effective online merchandising improves the overall shopping experience. It helps customers find products quickly, view them from different angles, and understand their features, leading to higher customer satisfaction. It also allows you to maintain a consistent brand image and message across your digital storefront. This consistency builds trust with your customers and reinforces brand identity.
Merchandising tools often provide valuable data and analytics. You can track customer behavior, sales trends, and product performance, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to improve your offerings.
Here are a few ways to create amazing merchandising that respects your brand’s aesthetics while amplifying sales:
Drag and drop: This is only suitable for small catalogs of products, but drag and drop is perfect for brands with up to 50 products that rely heavily on their incredible imagery for sales. This is perfect for a small jewelry brand with dreamy visuals for example.
AI: Some CMS, like Salesforce Commerce Cloud, offer native merchandising solutions that use AI and therefore update the merchandising regularly. You can choose to create merchandising rules with the bestsellers from the last 7 days, stock availability and even by color.
A/B testing: If you want to see if your consumers prefer purchasing by stock availability and bestsellers or by discount, then A/B testing is a must. It is particularly valuable during sales periods as it truly allows you to understand your visitors and their online behavior.
Personalization: Personalized product recommendations and content make customers feel that the eCommerce store understands their preferences and needs. Personalization can significantly boost conversion rates and drive higher sales, as customers are more likely to add relevant items to their cart and complete transactions.
Mobile optimizations
According to a study in 2022, mobile eCommerce sales reached $2.2 trillion and now make up 60% of all eCommerce sales. Mobile devices provide unparalleled accessibility to online shopping, meeting the modern consumer's desire for convenience and flexibility. Customers can browse and make purchases anytime, anywhere, making it essential for businesses to offer a seamless mobile shopping experience.
Plus, the trend toward mobile-first shopping is undeniable. Many consumers now prefer shopping on their mobile devices over traditional desktops or laptops. eCommerce businesses that prioritize mobile-friendly design and functionality can tap into this trend and offer an optimal shopping experience to their customers. Whether it’s optimizing your website for mobile or developing an app, you need to engage with your mobile users, who represent an important percentage of the market.
One-page checkout
One-page checkouts are vital for any eCommerce brand - in terms of user experience, it creates a seamless and easy-to-navigate checkout that requires very little thought for the consumer, but it also gives them little opportunity to change their mind - see it as encouraging impulse purchases. Statistics show that one-page checkouts are likely to increase your conversion rates by 10% to 20% vs the old-school multi page checkouts.
When you increase conversions, you decrease abandonment. A lengthy and complex checkout process is a common cause of cart abandonment. With a one-page checkout, there are fewer opportunities for customers to become frustrated or second-guess their purchase decision, resulting in lower cart abandonment rates and higher conversion rates.
On the top of all this, a smooth and efficient checkout process reflects positively on your brand. Customers are more likely to view your eCommerce store favorably when they have a hassle-free shopping experience, which can lead to improved customer loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.
In the dynamic world of fashion eCommerce, enhancing the user experience (UX) is not just a strategy; it's a necessity. With the global fashion eCommerce market experiencing remarkable growth, staying competitive means setting yourself apart through innovation and simplicity. Your success in this bustling market hinges on providing a contemporary and groundbreaking encounter, all while keeping simplicity at the forefront of your strategy.