Published on May 11th, 2019 | by Sunit Nandi

Here’s How E-Commerce Benefits the Fashion Industry

In today’s advance age of technology, what satisfaction means for customers is having access to an entire range of items on their fingertips. Being able to browse through a wide variety of brands on a mobile device, tablet, or a desktop computer, is what people now find convenient. One thing that people frequently browse online are fashion products — this makes the fashion industry the biggest e-commerce sector across the world.

Fashion brands and retailers model their business with the latest technologies to meet the demand of consumers and stay ahead of competition. The fashion industry is booming with the growing number of customers from e-commerce websites. To help you understand better, we have listed below some of these benefits.

Source: Pexels

Rise in Investor Confidence

According to recent news, a fashion e-commerce company based in London had a business of over 40 million dollars in record time. Similarly, another online fashion retailer in Germany showed an outstanding result of progress, all in just few years of business. This is a proof that the fashion e-commerce industry is reaching new heights and investors are confident about it.

Though it is important to remember that only great profits in fashion e-commerce are not the reason behind the big investments, the consumer’s behavioral changes are an important factor to gain the confidence of investors. Surveys indicate that over 62% still prefer to shop in person, but the remaining 49% chose to shop online as it’s a more convenient option for them. The reason why these 49% matter is because this includes an age group of people between 25-34, and these are the people who have more spending power.

Even though the percentage of people who prefer online shopping is less, it is still a very high number that people who invest in fashion brands cannot overlook.

Virtual Fitting Options With the Use Of Technology

When it comes to fashion, fitting is one of the most important thing that matters, and this is the biggest barrier in online shopping. According to a survey, when people were asked why they preferred going to a physical store rather than shopping online, almost 58% of the consumers said it was because they get to try on the products which helps them make better decisions.

For example, Virtusize is a website that lets you compare clothes you already have with the ones you are about to buy, this helps you nail the right fit.

Similarly, there are other renowned websites and software that offer custom made clothes to help people look better. Also there are virtual representation of garments in different fabrics for people to make better buying decisions. But these are limited to certain brands, there are many more e-commerce fashion brands that need to look into it and come up with innovative technologies.

Online Shopping as a Social Activity

Before the concept of e-commerce came into existence, shopping was a social activity, where people would go out to a store, mingle with each other and socialize. Today, although a great percentage of consumers have shifted to online shopping, this has not stopped people from being social.

With the advancement in technology, online shopping has become a social activity, where consumers use different tools to connect with other human beings, this is done through customer reviews, Q&A support, or visual CGC. A number of brands like Offer Factor have these services available on their website.

Different studies have also shown that because of these tools of social interaction, there has been a progress in the number of users that visit the websites. And after Net-A-Porter launched the world’s first shopping social network, the entire concept of socializing via fashion e-commerce is going to revolutionize. According to the news, this app will allow users to connect with fellow like-minded consumers, style leaders, designers, and brands, and share their style, preferences, and inspirations.

Sharing Economy Extending to Fashion

Sharing economy, also known as collaborative consumption or in easy words, peer-to-peer sharing, is a concept that gives an individual the ability or choice to borrow goods rather than buying them. When we think of this concept, the first thing that comes to mind is Uber, because that’s what their entire idea is based on, but sharing economy is also extended to the world of fashion e-commerce.

There are now websites, which offer options to borrow clothes and accessories. This is great for those who can’t afford expensive clothes. This is not only beneficial for consumers, but highly profitable for the brands as well, as their sales increase and they make loyal customers.

Fashion — No Longer an Exclusive Industry

The fashion industry has changed over the years, it is no more an exclusive circle, but an ecosystem everyone has access to. And this is only a good thing for the brands and designers, because by extending their territory they have increased the chance of gaining more and more customers.

The influence of fashion bloggers has also made a great difference. There was a time when only media and celebrities played a major role to influence customers, but now there are a great number of bloggers who discuss fashion and help brands get more customers, as they are the voices consumers listen to.

Today the industry of fashion belongs as much to the average consumer as it once did to a certain elite.. By brands opening their doors to more customers, they have allowed the consumer to co-create the brand, which is a great step to gain trust and loyalty of consumers.

Tags: benefits, e-commerce, fashion, how, industry

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.