Selling Fashion Online

Taking the customer through the purchase funnel to drive conversions

In the brick-and-mortar store, conversion is all about turning shoppers into buyers. In online retailing, it’s exactly the same — help shoppers find whatever they’re looking for and turn them into buyers. It is the conversion rate that ultimately translates into sales, the only real measure of success for any retailer.

But conversion remains a top challenge in online retailing. For the majority of retailers, conversion rates remain mediocre, in the low single digits.

In order to improve conversions, merchants must first understand the multiple kinds of online customers and their various shopping behaviors. Then, take them through the purchase funnel from the moment they land on a merchant’s website all the way through to checkout until an order is submitted or, alternately, completed through a visit to a brick-and-mortar store.

I have recently published an article on the key areas where merchants can effectively drive conversions on zippycart.com. To read the full article, please click here. 

 

Follow us on Twitter.

Like us on Facebook.

Follow us on Linkedin. 

Win at the key items

According to the Pareto principle (a.k.a. the 80-20 Rule), for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. In online merchandising, some styles are just more important than others and they contribute to a greater percentage of total sales than others. To win, merchants must win at the few that matter the most.

Each retail fashion brand defines its key items differently. Here are some of the most common characteristics of a winning key item:

• A key item must have a unique and marketable name.
• A key item must be available at many price points.
• A key item must be available in many fits and sizes.
• A key item must be available in many styles and colors.
• A key item must be available everywhere, across all markets and channels.
• A key item must be backed by a merchant's ability to repeat the inventory.
• A key item must have proven results, demonstrated either through sales or testing.

The Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt is a great example of a winning key item. The polo comes in every possible fit, size, color, silhouette, with a monogram or personalization and even with mass-customization for made-to-order. The product is well positioned within the shopping navigation, well-marketed with offers and promotions and is easy to shop. It certainly has all the ingredients required to succeed as a key item.

It takes an online merchant to truly understand the financial structure, product assortment, customer's insights and to work with cross-functional partners to product winning results with key items.

 

Fan us on Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter.

Follow us on Linkedin.

Should a fashion item be merchandised at the style or style-color level?

Imagine two brick-and-mortar stores. In presenting an item (let's say a cardigan), the merchant in our first store displays all the colors on the selling floor. In our second store, lacking space to display every color, sale associates must inform customers of the additional color options. In the store where all colors are displayed, the merchant is less likely to miss a sale and customers can help themselves to the entire color selection. This merchant can also play with the colors, distorting or de-emphasizing the hottest selling color, a new color, a liquidation color, a seasonal color, a promoted color and so on. However, when only a sample of colors is displayed, sales can be lost when customers are not attended to and the information about the additional colors is not communicated.

Our first store is using active merchandising to drive conversion, a strategy that's equally effective for the online merchant as well.

Online, within a category or a collection page, many merchants are still selling at the style and not at the style-color level.

As fashion shoppers, we tend to shop at the style-color level and not at the style level.

If we were shopping for a cardigan, we would like to quickly browse the whole color selection. To enable this existing shopping preference is an online merchandising opportunity for many retailers, one that enhances the shopping experience while helping drive conversion rates.

There are about 5 different methods used in merchandising at the category and collection page level. Let's look into each of the method and consider their pros and cons. 

Method 1

Product is merchandised at the style level with a callout of more colors available. Retailers merchandising with this method include J Crew, BEBE, and Forever 21. The advantage of this merchandising method is a shorter and cleaner category or collection page that is easier to shop. However, there is one major downside to this method - it misses the opportunity to actively inform customers of additional colors available at the category and collection level, thereby, foregoing the chance to sell a product unless if the customer takes the additional step (and expends the additional effort) of drilling all the way down to the product page to see a full display of color choices.  

Method 2

The second method also merchandise at the style level. However, the difference is that the number of color options is called out. For example, available in 3 colors. With this method, a customer still doesn't know what the color options actually are. American Eagle Outfitters is an example of online merchant using this method.  

Method 3

By far the most common method today is to show color at the category or collection level. By clicking on a color swatch, the selling images will be updated with the selected color. The only downside to this approach is that it flattens out the relative importance of any given color, leaving merchants unable to distort or de-emphasize certain colors to drive online merchandising objectives, Retailers using this approach include Tommy Hilfiger, Chicos, Lands' End, Antropologie and Ann Taylor. 

Method 4

This method shows every single style-color available. Every color is photographed or color-swapped to be presented separately. This allows the merchant complete control in merchandising for each color. However, it is expensive shooting for every style-color and this expanded display could create a very long category or collection page, one that is potentially harder to shop. Top Shop and Banana Republic are among the retailers using this method.  

Method 5

Method 5 is a hybrid of the Method 3 and 4. With this approach, a product is merchandised at the style or style-color level as necessary. This gives the merchant complete control over the assortment within a category as well as allowing the ability to distort or emphasize key items and best-sellers by selling them at the style-color level. For example, the Cotton Cashmere Wrap Sweater comes in 10 colors. However, only the key colors are photographed and shown separately. Notice, too, this method also allows the merchant to sequence each color independently.

So - for your brand- which method has the greatest potential to drive conversion rates? The cataloguers just seem to be better at managing products at the style-color level. Other retailers, too often let the merchandising and e-commerce system dictate the execution. The real answer will depend on the set-up of your enterprise merchandising system and the e-commerce merchandising system, your creative requirements and your customer's preference. 

 

Fan us on Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter.

Follow us on Linkedin.  

Guiding customer through the online purchase funnel

Typically, there are two types of customer. One knows exactly what he or she is looking for. This customer is more likely to use the search box or to go directly to a category or a product page to conclude the purchase. The second customer type is more likely to take time and casually browse your site. This second customer is more open to "seduction" through the merchandising features and callouts. In serving both groups, merchants must effectively plan and execute to the online purchase funnel.

 
Homepage. An effective homepage should provide a quick and easy "on ramps" to the merchandise for the customer who arrives at your site already knowing what he or she wants. This is accomplished through an effective shopping navigation and robust search function. The homepage is frequently compared to a shop window. An effective homepage creates the awareness and seduces the shopper with exciting merchandising offerings.

Category page. When the shopper navigates directly to a category page, typically he or she is already considering a purchase within a particular category. Therefore, an effective category page must call out the most important offering within a category as well as communicate the merchant's point-of-view. In this example, the merchant features the most exciting offerings within the bra category: cotton bras 3 for $39; the trendiest bras 2 for $36.50; even more bras at $9.99. 

 
Collection or sub-category page. On a collection page, the shopper is typically making a selection among many different options. Merchants need to clearly communicate what a collection stands for and help shoppers in making a selection. Here is a good example on positioning a collection: Canada Day Collection.  

 
Product page. By the time a shopper has arrived at a product page, he or she is almost ready to make a purchase. Precise product information, clear visual presentation, and convincing customer review and feedback are key elements for driving the conversion.